Robots Exclusion Checker review (2026): is it any good?
Free Chrome extension that flags robots rules blocking a page
Robots Exclusion Checker report card
Very good · out of 4.0 · graded Oct 23, 2026
Best for finding what stops a page being indexed
Robots Exclusion Checker reads robots.txt, meta robots, the X-Robots-Tag header and canonicals for the page you're on, turns the result into a red, amber or green icon, and checks robots.txt against 14 AI bots, for free. It's Chrome only, looks at one URL at a time, and the store says EU consumer rights don't apply because the developer hasn't identified itself as a trader.
Who Robots Exclusion Checker is for
- Fits if you need to know why a page isn't being crawled or indexed
- Works for checking at a glance whether a site blocks AI crawlers
Who Robots Exclusion Checker is not for
- Skip it if you're not on Chrome, as no other browser is named
- Too light for whole-site audits, since it reports on the URL open in the browser
- Not for you if you want the interface in a language beyond English, German, Spanish and French
- Watch out: the developer hasn't identified itself as a trader, so EU consumer rights don't apply
Why Robots Exclusion Checker gets a 3.0
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- AValue for moneyFree from the Chrome Web Store, with no account and no paid version listed.
- AFree plan and trialFree outright: all six checks, the user-agent switcher and link highlighting, with nothing to upgrade to.
- CFeaturesRobots.txt rules highlighted, meta robots and X-Robots-Tag, canonical mismatch warnings, 14 AI bots from 6 companies, nofollow, ugc and sponsored links, and Googlebot or Bing user-agents. It does indexing checks fully, a smaller job, with no headings or search data.
- BEase of useNo rating on record, but nothing to set up: the icon turns red, amber or green on the next page you load.
- CPlatforms and integrationsChrome only, so computers only, with no Firefox, Safari or Edge version named and no integrations.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from its Chrome Web Store listing on 23 October 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/robots-exclusion-checker#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/robots-exclusion-checker.svg" alt="Robots Exclusion Checker: 3.0 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Robots Exclusion Checker stands among SEO browser extensions
Robots Exclusion Checker's GPA of 3.0 is higher than 17 of the 34 other SEO browser extensions we grade, and level with 16.
It stands best on free plan and trial (A, above 5 of 34) and worst on platforms and integrations (C, above 0).
Robots Exclusion Checker has no paid plan.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. Nothing scores higher for less, though at least one tool matches that score at a lower price.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 35 SEO browser extensions we grade, cut by the letter each got. Robots Exclusion Checker’s own letter is outlined.
- AValue for moneyAbove 4 of 34, level with 30
- AFree plan and trialAbove 5 of 34, level with 29
- CFeaturesAbove 14 of 34, level with 18
- BEase of useAbove 3 of 34, level with 31
- CPlatforms and integrationsAbove 0 of 34, level with 32
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 34 SEO browser extensions. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Keep Robots Exclusion Checker, or make your own?
Keep it
Robots Exclusion Checker is free, so making your own would save you nothing.
And it is not the kind of software a weekend replaces.
What you could not
- A crawler that checks every page of a site.
- The same prompts asked of ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google's AI answers every day, and the answers kept.
What this rests on. Robots Exclusion Checker’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is Robots Exclusion Checker?
Robots Exclusion Checker is a free Chrome extension that shows, for the page you are on, whether anything stops search engines from crawling or indexing it. It reads robots.txt, meta robots tags, the X-Robots-Tag header and canonical tags and turns the result into a red, amber or green icon. Since version 1.3.0 it also checks whether robots.txt blocks AI crawlers from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Perplexity, Meta and Apple.
Worth knowing
- It is listed for Chrome only; the store listing names no Firefox, Safari or Edge version.
- It reports on the URL open in the browser, one page at a time, rather than auditing a whole site.
- The developer has not identified itself as a trader, so EU consumer rights do not apply, as the store listing notes.
- The interface comes in English, German, Spanish and French only.
Key features
- Robots.txt rule finder
- When an Allow or Disallow rule affects the current URL, it shows that rule and the full robots.txt with the rule highlighted.
- Meta robots and X-Robots-Tag
- Flags index, noindex, follow and nofollow directives in the HTML and in the HTTP header, and shows the full header with exclusions marked.
- AI bot check
- Checks robots.txt against 14 AI bots from 6 companies, covering training, search indexing and live browsing, and adds an AI label to the icon when any are blocked.
- Canonical mismatch warnings
- Reads canonical tags from the HTML head and the HTTP header and turns the icon amber when the canonical URL differs from the current one.
- Nofollow, UGC and sponsored links
- Optionally highlights links with those rel values on the page, in colors you choose; off by default on new installs.
- Search engine user-agents
- Simulate what Googlebot, Googlebot News, Bing or Yahoo may access, chosen in settings. 404 pages are flagged in red.
Robots Exclusion Checker pricing
As of Oct 23, 2026, Robots Exclusion Checker is free to use.
- Starts at
- Free
- Free plan
- The whole extension is a free install from the Chrome Web Store, with no account and no paid version listed.
- Free trial
- None listed
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | All six checks, the user-agent switcher and link highlighting, free from the Chrome Web Store. |
Read from chromewebstore.google.com on Oct 23, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Robots Exclusion Checker before you buy.
Robots Exclusion Checker alternatives
Common questions
Does Robots Exclusion Checker have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 23, 2026. Robots Exclusion Checker is listed for no platform we could confirm.
Does Robots Exclusion Checker have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 23, 2026. Robots Exclusion Checker is listed for no platform we could confirm.
Is Robots Exclusion Checker open source?
Robots Exclusion Checker is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Oct 23, 2026.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 23, 2026.