Broken Link Checker — 404s, Redirects & SEO Audit

What is Broken Link Checker?

Turn a website crawl, direct URL list, or sitemap into a source-linked link health dataset for SEO teams, content operators, migration leads, developers, and AI agents. Each checked URL can include HTTP status, final URL, redirect path, response time, diagnostic classification, source page, anchor text, link type, and collection time, with downloadable dataset and report outputs. Give it a website, a URL list or a sitemap and it tells you which links return 404s, server errors, timeouts or long redirect chains, and which pages link to them.

Cost at a glance: one Link checked event per unique URL verified, plus one Actor start event per run, with Apify platform usage included. maxLinksToCheck caps the number of link events. See the Pricing tab for current prices.

Best fit for this Actor

• Choose crawl mode when the starting point is a website and the goal is to discover and verify links within a controlled page scope.
• Choose list mode when URLs already exist in a spreadsheet, deployment manifest, or quality-assurance queue.
• Choose sitemap mode when the sitemap is the canonical inventory for a technical SEO review.
• After prioritizing important pages, pair this Actor with the Website Uptime Monitor for recurring HTTP, SSL, content, and response-time observations.

From a site migration to a repair queue

A migration lead starts with the production sitemap and requests a complete checked-link inventory. The Actor follows redirects, records timing, and associates discovered URLs with their source pages and anchor text. The lead then groups records by classification, routes high-value pages into a repair queue, and carries sourceUrl, allSources, and redirectChain into each ticket so the team can act without repeating discovery work.

Quick start input

{
  "mode": "sitemap",
  "startUrl": "https://example.com/sitemap.xml",
  "maxLinksToCheck": 500,
  "onlyReportBroken": false,
  "checkExternalLinks": true
}

For a curated inventory, set mode to list and provide full URLs through urls. For site discovery, set mode to crawl and use maxPages to define the page scope.

Input reference

Field	Type	What it controls
mode	string	URL sourcing through crawl, list, or sitemap workflow.
startUrl	string	Website start page or sitemap URL.
urls	array	Full URLs for direct list verification.
maxPages	integer	Page-discovery cap in crawl mode.
maxLinksToCheck	integer	Stable cap on unique URL checks and primary event charges.
checkExternalLinks	boolean	Includes links that point to other domains.
checkAssets	boolean	Includes images, scripts, stylesheets, and frames.
onlyReportBroken	boolean	Chooses a focused repair dataset or a complete checked-link inventory.
slowThresholdMs	integer	Response-time threshold for the slow classification.
requestTimeoutMs, maxConcurrency	integer	Request timing and parallelism controls.

What data you receive

One dataset row represents one normalized URL check. The Actor also creates a summary and an HTML report for review and sharing.

Field group	Useful fields
URL outcome	url, finalUrl, status, statusText, classification, isBroken
Discovery context	sourceUrl, anchorText, linkType, allSources
Redirects	hops, redirectChain
Request evidence	method, durationMs, checkedAt
Diagnostic detail	Structured transport context when a request yields a diagnostic

{
  "url": "https://example.com/old-page",
  "finalUrl": "https://example.com/new-page",
  "status": 200,
  "statusText": "OK",
  "classification": "redirect_chain",
  "isBroken": false,
  "sourceUrl": "https://example.com/resources",
  "anchorText": "Product guide",
  "linkType": "a",
  "method": "GET",
  "hops": 2,
  "redirectChain": [
    { "status": 301, "from": "https://example.com/old-page", "to": "https://example.com/archive" },
    { "status": 302, "from": "https://example.com/archive", "to": "https://example.com/new-page" }
  ],
  "durationMs": 420,
  "checkedAt": "2026-06-02T09:00:00.000Z"
}

Use through the API

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/khadinakbar~broken-link-checker/runs" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "mode": "sitemap",
    "startUrl": "https://example.com/sitemap.xml",
    "maxLinksToCheck": 500,
    "onlyReportBroken": false
  }'

Read the default dataset for URL-level records. The default key-value store also exposes the summary and HTML report through the Actor output links. The OUTPUT record and summary-report include topBrokenLinks: the broken URLs referenced by the most pages, with the pages that link to them, so you can fix the highest-impact links first.

Use with AI agents through Apify MCP

Audit this sitemap for link health. Return URL, final URL, HTTP status, classification, redirect path, response time, source page, and anchor text. Read the dataset and summary after completion, group the repair queue by classification and source page, preserve provenance, and keep the check scope within the supplied link cap.

For predictable agent behavior, state the sourcing mode, include the canonical start point, request a complete inventory when comparison matters, and ask the agent to cite sourceUrl beside each recommended action. maxLinksToCheck makes scope and cost explicit.

Connect the workflow

Use the Website Uptime Monitor after a technical SEO audit when selected URLs need recurring health observations. Pass the priority url values into its startUrls input for HTTP, SSL, content, and response-time monitoring.

Pricing

This Actor uses Pay per event with Apify platform usage included. Open the live Pricing tab for current event details, and use maxPages, maxLinksToCheck, and Apify run cost controls to keep the audit aligned with your budget.

Audit	Events charged
List mode with 40 URLs	40 × Link checked + 1 × Actor start
Crawl of 50 pages that finds 1,200 unique links, maxLinksToCheck: 500	500 × Link checked + 1 × Actor start
Sitemap with 300 URLs	300 × Link checked + 1 × Actor start

onlyReportBroken changes which rows are saved, not how many links are checked, so the event count follows the number of unique links verified.

Best results

• Use sitemap mode when the sitemap is a maintained source of canonical pages.
• Use crawl mode with a focused maxPages value when source-page and anchor discovery are central to the audit.
• Keep onlyReportBroken disabled for before-and-after migration comparisons that need the complete inventory.
• Preserve sourceUrl, allSources, redirectChain, and checkedAt in downstream repair and verification workflows.

FAQ

Which results count as broken?

HTTP 4xx responses (except 403 and 429, which are reported as blocked), 5xx responses, timeouts, DNS errors, refused connections, SSL errors and redirect loops are marked isBroken: true. Slow responses (over slowThresholdMs) and long redirect chains are reported with their own classification so you can review them separately.

Why do some links show blocked (403 or 429)?

Some sites refuse automated requests or rate-limit them. Those links usually work in a browser. Review them by hand, lower maxConcurrency, or route requests through proxyConfiguration.

How do I check only my own domain?

Set checkExternalLinks to false. Crawl mode then verifies only same-site links.

Does sitemap mode support sitemap index files?

Yes. Point startUrl at a sitemap or sitemap index; nested sitemaps are read up to the maxLinksToCheck cap.

How long does an audit take?

Most audits of a few hundred links finish in under a minute. If a large crawl gets close to the run timeout, the Actor stops early, keeps every result already checked, and ends with a PARTIAL outcome and a note in OUTPUT. Raise the timeout or lower maxPages / maxLinksToCheck to cover everything.

Can I schedule a weekly audit?

Yes. Save your input as an Apify task and add a schedule. Compare topBrokenLinks and totalBroken between runs to track progress.

How do I export the results?

Download the dataset as CSV, JSON or Excel from the run page, or open report.html in the key-value store for a shareable overview.

Can AI agents run it?

Yes. Call khadinakbar/broken-link-checker through Apify MCP or the API and read the dataset plus the OUTPUT record.

Builder's note

I built the output around both the checked URL and the pages that reference it because I found that a status alone rarely tells a content team where to make the change. Capturing anchor text, link type, multiple sources, redirect history, and timing turns a raw HTTP observation into a repair-ready record.

Responsible use

Check websites and URLs you are authorized to assess, use considerate concurrency, and follow applicable laws, site terms, and your organization's security and quality-assurance policies.