LinkThe short version
- Monitor Backlinks is no longer a product of its own. SEOptimer bought it in 2023 and its site now forwards there.
- Closest like-for-like: Linkody, discovery plus daily checks.
- For links you paid for: LinkRot.io, your own list with a price on what broke.
- In a full suite: SE Ranking. Free: LinkCheck.App. Discovery only: Ahrefs alerts.
What happened to Monitor Backlinks
Monitor Backlinks was one of the first tools built around a simple idea: keep a list of the links to your site and get an email when one changes. In August 2023 SEOptimer announced that it had bought the product, and said it would integrate backlink research, discovery and monitoring into its own platform (press release).
When we checked on November 6, 2026, monitorbacklinks.com and its pricing page both forwarded to seoptimer.com. So the choice today is between taking backlink monitoring as part of an SEOptimer plan, and moving to a tool that still does this one job. For SEOptimer's current plans, see its own pricing page; we could not load it to quote numbers we can stand behind.
What to look for in a replacement
Monitor Backlinks did two different things, and the right replacement depends on which one you used.
- Discovery: finding new links to your site and to competitors. This needs a crawler or a backlink index behind the tool.
- Monitoring: checking links you already know about, again and again, and telling you when one is removed, turns nofollow or lands on a page that is gone. This only needs your list and a daily fetch.
If you build links by outreach and want to see what turns up, you need discovery. If you buy placements, you already have the list, and discovery mostly adds noise.
1. Linkody: the closest like-for-like
Best for: people who used both halves of Monitor Backlinks.
Linkody searches for new links weekly and checks tracked links about every 24 hours. It reports removed links, page errors, nofollow, noindex, anchor changes and whether Google has the page, and it adds competitor links, a disavow file generator and access for team members and clients. Plans start at €13.90 a month for 500 links and 2 websites, with a 30-day trial. We compared it in detail in Linkody alternatives.
2. LinkRot.io: for links you paid for
Best for: link buyers who only used the monitoring half.
LinkRot.io is our tool. It has no discovery at all: you paste the pages you paid for, the landing page and the price, and it checks each one daily. It reports a removed link, a dead page, nofollow, sponsored or ugc, a page-wide nofollow or noindex, a canonical that points elsewhere and a changed anchor, and it looks the page up in Google once a month. The result is one number, the share of your link budget that is rotting right now, and a next step for every broken link.
Starter is $79 a year for 300 links and Pro is $199 a year for 2,000, with monthly billing and a 14-day refund. It does not track competitors or build disavow files, and it has no client access. You can try five links in the free check without an account.
3. SE Ranking Backlink Monitor: inside a full suite
Best for: teams that want rank tracking and audits on the same bill.
SE Ranking's monitor takes links you add by hand, from Search Console or from its own backlink checker, and tracks whether they are found, their rel values, anchor and target, and whether the page drops out of Google. Plans start at $129 a month, or $103.20 a month billed yearly, for the whole suite.
4. LinkCheck.App: the free option
Best for: big lists and no budget.
A free account monitors up to 5,000 backlinks across up to 25 domains you verify. You import a CSV or an Ahrefs or Semrush export, and it flags removed links, redirects, attribute and anchor changes. There is no fixed check interval and no discovery of its own.
5. Ahrefs: discovery, if you already pay for it
Best for: finding links, not watching a list.
Ahrefs' backlink alerts email you when a domain, folder or URL of yours gains or loses links in its index. It is the strongest option for discovery, and it explains why a link was lost. It does not take a list of pages to watch, and how soon it notices a change depends on when it recrawls that page. Ahrefs says a complete refresh of its database takes about two months, with popular pages updated far more often (source).
Which one should you pick?
| If you used Monitor Backlinks for | Move to |
|---|---|
| Finding new links and watching them | Linkody |
| Watching links you bought | LinkRot.io |
| Backlinks next to rankings and audits | SE Ranking, or stay with SEOptimer |
| A large list at no cost | LinkCheck.App |
| Competitor link research | Ahrefs |
Prices and limits as shown on each vendor's own site on November 6, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
What happened to Monitor Backlinks?
SEOptimer bought it in August 2023 and has been folding backlink research and monitoring into its own platform. The address monitorbacklinks.com now forwards to a page on seoptimer.com.
Is Monitor Backlinks still available?
Not as a product you can sign up for on its own site: both the home page and the pricing page forward to SEOptimer. Backlink monitoring is now sold as part of SEOptimer's plans. If you still have an old account, ask SEOptimer's support what happens to it.
What is the closest replacement for Monitor Backlinks?
Linkody. It does the same two jobs, finding new links to your site and checking the ones you track every day, at a similar entry price.
Which alternative is best for links I paid for?
LinkRot.io. It checks only the list you give it and tells you what the broken links cost, which is the question a link buyer has.