Best Free Brand Authority Checkers (2026)

Moz invented the Domain Authority metric and it remains the most widely recognized backlink authority score. DA is a 0 to 100 score predicting how likely a domain is to rank in search results based on its link profile. The free tool shows your DA score, top linking domains, top pages by link authority, and discovered and lost links. Moz also provides Page Authority (PA), which scores individual pages rather than the entire domain. The free version gives 10 queries per month. The link index updates monthly, so scores reflect backlink changes with a 2 to 4 week delay. DA is a comparative metric, not an absolute one. A DA 40 in a niche where competitors average DA 25 is strong. A DA 40 in a space where competitors average DA 70 is weak. Always evaluate DA relative to your specific competitive set. Moz is transparent about DA methodology: it uses a machine learning model trained on Google search results, factoring in linking root domains, total links, and link quality. DA does not measure brand authority, content quality, or AI visibility. It measures backlink strength.

• The original domain authority metric with the largest recognition among SEO professionals and clients
• Page Authority scores individual URLs so you can compare specific pages, not just entire domains
• Link explorer shows top linking domains and which of your pages attract the most backlinks
• Monthly index updates are transparent so you know when score changes reflect actual link gains or losses
• Spam Score identifies toxic backlinks that could hurt your rankings if left unaddressed

Ahrefs provides Domain Rating (DR), their equivalent of domain authority. DR scores the strength of a website's backlink profile on a 0 to 100 logarithmic scale. The free tool shows your DR, the number of referring domains, and total backlinks. Ahrefs crawls the web continuously and has one of the largest backlink indexes in the industry, which means DR updates faster than most competitors. The logarithmic scale means moving from DR 30 to 40 requires significantly more link building effort than moving from DR 10 to 20. DR focuses exclusively on the quantity and quality of domains linking to your site. It does not factor in content quality, traffic, or brand recognition. A brand new site with three links from the New York Times, Harvard, and BBC could have a higher DR than an established company with thousands of low-quality directory links. The free checker is limited to basic DR data. The full Ahrefs suite (paid) provides backlink analysis, competitor link gap analysis, and historical DR tracking.

• One of the largest backlink indexes in the industry with continuous crawling for faster updates than monthly tools
• Logarithmic DR scale better reflects the diminishing returns of link building at higher authority levels
• Referring domain count is shown alongside DR so you can distinguish few-strong-links from many-weak-links profiles
• Historical DR tracking in paid plans shows whether your backlink authority is trending up or down over time
• Link intersect feature in paid plans reveals which sites link to competitors but not to you

Majestic takes a different approach to authority measurement by splitting it into two scores. Trust Flow measures the quality of backlinks based on how close your site is to a set of trusted seed sites (manually curated). Citation Flow measures the quantity of links regardless of quality. The ratio between the two is useful: a site with Trust Flow 30 and Citation Flow 60 has many links but most are low quality. A site with Trust Flow 40 and Citation Flow 45 has fewer links but they are high quality. Majestic also categorizes backlinks by topic using their Topical Trust Flow system. This tells you whether your backlinks come from relevant industry sites or random unrelated domains. A marketing agency with most backlinks from marketing publications has stronger topical relevance than one with backlinks from generic directories. The free version provides basic Trust Flow and Citation Flow scores. The paid plans include the full backlink profile, historical data, and topical analysis. Majestic is best used alongside Moz or Ahrefs because it measures authority through a different methodology, giving you a more complete picture.

• Trust Flow and Citation Flow split quality from quantity so you can diagnose whether you have a link quality problem or a link quantity problem
• Topical Trust Flow categorizes backlinks by industry relevance rather than treating all links equally
• Manually curated seed sites create a trust metric that is harder to manipulate with spam link building
• Fresh Index and Historic Index let you compare recent link activity against your full backlink history
• Useful as a second opinion alongside Moz DA or Ahrefs DR because it uses a different methodology

Semrush Authority Score is a composite metric that combines backlink data with organic traffic data and spam signals. Unlike pure backlink metrics (Moz DA, Ahrefs DR), Authority Score factors in how much organic search traffic the domain receives, which means a site with fewer links but strong organic performance can score higher than a link-heavy site with no traffic. The free tier gives limited daily checks and shows Authority Score, organic traffic estimates, and total backlinks. Authority Score updates monthly and uses a machine learning model that weighs link quality, link quantity, organic search data, and a spam detection penalty. The spam component is useful: it actively penalizes sites that rely on paid link building or link networks, making the score harder to inflate artificially. For brand authority analysis, Semrush is useful because traffic data provides context that pure backlink tools lack. A site with DA 50 and 500 monthly organic visitors tells a different story than a site with DA 50 and 50,000 monthly visitors. The full Semrush suite adds competitive gap analysis, position tracking, and content audit features.

• Composite metric blends backlinks with organic traffic so authority reflects actual search performance, not just link counts
• Built-in spam detection penalizes artificially inflated link profiles that would fool simpler authority metrics
• Organic traffic estimates show whether domain authority translates into actual search visibility
• Competitive domain comparison benchmarks your Authority Score against specific competitors in one view
• Position tracking in paid plans connects authority changes to actual ranking movements over time

Ubersuggest provides a domain authority score alongside SEO keyword data, backlink counts, and traffic estimates. The free tier offers 3 searches per day with no account required. The tool is best suited for marketers who want a quick authority check combined with keyword opportunities in a single dashboard. Ubersuggest shows your domain score (0 to 100), organic monthly traffic, organic keywords you rank for, and total backlinks. The interface is less technical than Moz or Ahrefs, making it a practical starting point for founders and marketers who need directional data without learning a complex SEO platform. The domain score methodology is less transparent than Moz DA or Ahrefs DR. Ubersuggest does not publish the exact factors or weighting. For competitive analysis, the tool compares your domain against competitors and shows where they rank and you do not. The paid plan ($29/mo) unlocks more daily searches, historical data, and content ideas. For pure authority checking, Ubersuggest is a good free option when you need a quick number and do not need the depth of Moz or Ahrefs.

• Three free daily searches with no account required make it the easiest authority check for quick comparisons
• Combines domain authority, traffic estimates, and keyword data in one view so you do not need three separate tools
• Non-technical interface is practical for founders and marketers who find Ahrefs or Moz overwhelming
• Competitive comparison shows ranking gaps alongside domain authority so you can connect authority to keyword performance
• Affordable paid plan at $29/mo is significantly cheaper than Moz Pro, Ahrefs, or Semrush for small teams

SmallSEOTools provides a free bulk domain authority checker powered by Moz's API. The main advantage is bulk checking: paste up to 20 domains at once and get DA, PA, Moz Rank, and total backlinks for each. This is useful when you need to compare your authority against a list of competitors in a single check rather than looking them up one at a time. The tool requires no signup and has no daily query limit, though results may load slowly during peak traffic. Because it pulls from Moz's index, the DA scores shown are identical to what you would get from Moz directly. The added value is the bulk interface and the fact that it is completely free without the 10-query monthly cap that Moz's own free tool imposes. SmallSEOTools also provides a Page Authority check, spam score, and IP address for each domain in the bulk results. For agencies comparing multiple client sites or marketers evaluating link building targets, the bulk check saves significant time compared to checking domains individually on Moz or Ahrefs. The tool does not provide backlink details or historical data. Use it for quick bulk authority comparisons, then switch to Moz or Ahrefs for deeper analysis on specific domains.

• Bulk domain checking for up to 20 domains at once saves time when comparing against a competitor list
• Completely free with no signup, no credit system, and no daily query limits
• Pulls from Moz's API so DA scores are identical to official Moz data, not a proprietary approximation
• Includes PA, Moz Rank, spam score, and IP address alongside DA for each domain in bulk results
• No cap on monthly queries means you can check as many domains as needed without waiting for a reset