Ahrefs Backlink Checker & API: Bulk Backlinks & Anchors

Ahrefs Backlink Checker & API: Bulk Backlinks & Anchors

Check backlinks for a list of domains or pages with Ahrefs data: total backlinks, referring domains, Domain Rating (DR), dofollow share and the top backlinks of each target with the linking page, its DR, anchor text and the linked URL. Check a whole domain, a domain without subdomains, a folder (URL prefix) or one exact page. Turn on the tracker to see new backlinks since the last run.

{ "targets": ["competitor.com", "https://ahrefs.com/blog/", "https://example.com/pricing"] }

No Ahrefs account, no API key, no captcha tokens, no browser setup on your side. Works on the free Apify plan. Use it as a bulk Ahrefs backlink checker, an Ahrefs backlinks API alternative for competitor backlink research, link prospecting, outreach lists and SEO reports.

What you get

One row per backlink. Real example, 17 October 2026:

target	#	linking page	linking DR	anchor	links to
backlinko.com	3	seoreviewtools.com/rank-checker/	75	25 AMAZING Free SEO Tools [2022 Reviews]	backlinko.com/best-free-seo-tools
backlinko.com	4	de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perplexity.ai	97	Perplexity AI User and Revenue Statistics.	backlinko.com/perplexity-statistics
css-tricks.com/snippets/css/a-guide-to-flexbox/	1	getbootstrap.com/docs/4.0/layout/grid/	91	Read this CSS Tricks flexbox guide	(the page)
css-tricks.com/snippets/css/a-guide-to-flexbox/	3	web.dev/learn/css/flexbox	92	CSS Tricks Guide to Flexbox	(the page)

Every row also carries the target's totals:

target	mode	DR	backlinks	referring domains	dofollow backlinks
backlinko.com	domain + subdomains	90	390,962	59,100	78%
moz.com	domain + subdomains	91	18,017,059	101,523	33%
css-tricks.com/snippets/css/a-guide-to-flexbox/	exact page	90	29,153	5,462	69%
ahrefs.com/blog/	exact page	91	32,988	4,723	58%
nytimes.com/games/wordle/index.html	exact page	94	91	38	87%

Field	Description
target, mode, input	Checked domain or page, the target mode (subdomains, domain, prefix, exact) and what you entered
position	Place in Ahrefs' top backlinks list (one backlink per linking domain, up to 20)
sourceUrl, sourceDomain, sourceTitle	The page that links to the target, its domain and title
sourceDomainRating	DR of the linking site
anchor, textBefore, textAfter	Anchor text and the words around the link
targetUrl	The exact URL the link points to
redirectChain	Redirects between the link and the final page (URL and HTTP code)
inRawHtml, inRenderedHtml	Whether the link is in the page's HTML or appears only after JavaScript runs
targetDomainRating, targetBacklinks, targetReferringDomains	The target's DR, total backlinks and referring domains
targetDofollowBacklinksPercent, targetDofollowReferringDomainsPercent	Dofollow share of backlinks and of referring domains
isNew	Tracker on: the backlink was not in the target's top on the previous run
note, error, checkedAt	"No backlinks" note, failed check message, time of the run

The TARGETS record (Storage → Key-value store) has one summary per target: DR, backlinks, referring domains, dofollow shares and, with the tracker, new and dropped top backlinks and the change in backlinks and referring domains since the last run.

What to check: target modes

Mode	What counts	Example
Auto (default)	A domain = domain with subdomains; a URL with a path = that exact page	apify.com, https://apify.com/store
Domain with subdomains	All pages of the domain and its subdomains	blog.example.com links count for example.com
Domain only	The domain without subdomains
URL prefix	The page and everything under it	https://example.com/blog/ = the whole blog
Exact URL	Only this page	your pricing page, a competitor's top article

Ahrefs' free Backlink Checker always checks a typed domain with its subdomains. This Actor lets you pick any of Ahrefs' four modes, so you can check backlinks to a specific page or a blog folder.

How it works

Step	What happens
1. Live check	Each target is checked live in Ahrefs' own free Backlink Checker. The Actor passes its human check itself, so you pay nothing extra for captcha solving
2. Top backlinks	The same check returns the target's top backlinks: up to 20, one per linking domain, in Ahrefs' order
3. Tracker	With Track new backlinks on, every target's top backlinks and counts are remembered under the tracker name and compared on the next run

Why this Actor

	This Actor
Page-level backlinks	Yes: exact URL, URL prefix, domain or domain with subdomains
Free Apify plan	Yes: captcha solving is built in, not a paid third-party service
Bulk	Up to 1,000 domains or URLs a run, duplicates checked once
Spreadsheet-ready	One row per backlink, with the target's totals on every row
New backlinks since the last run	Yes: isNew per backlink, "only new" mode, backlinks and referring domains change
Filter by linking DR	Keep only backlinks from sites with DR 50+, 70+...
Failed checks	Free: you pay only for targets with data

Watch a competitor's new backlinks

1. Put your competitors' domains or their best pages into Domains or page URLs.
2. Turn on Track new backlinks between runs and give the list a Tracker name (e.g. competitors).
3. Schedule the Actor (Console → Schedules) daily or weekly. Turn on Return only new backlinks to get just the new strong links: ready-made outreach targets.

The first run only remembers the backlinks. From the second run on, the New backlinks view lists links that entered each target's top.

Pricing

Pay per event:

Event	Free / Starter	Scale	Business
Target checked (DR, backlinks, referring domains and up to 20 top backlinks)	$0.00999	$0.00899	$0.00799
Run start (per GB of memory)	$0.003	$0.003	$0.003

Examples on the Free plan, default 2 GB memory:

Run	Cost
1 competitor, 20 top backlinks	$0.006 + $0.00999 = ~$0.016
100 domains or pages, up to 2,000 backlink rows	$0.006 + 100 × $0.00999 = ~$1.00
Weekly tracker of 10 competitors	~$0.11 a run

A target is charged once whatever the number of its backlinks; targets with no backlinks are charged as checked. Invalid entries and failed live checks are free. Set a maximum cost per run in Console and the Actor stops at it.

Speed and memory

Checks run in a browser: 1 at a time with the default 2 GB (about 2 targets a minute), 2 with 3 GB, 6 with 4 GB (about 20 targets in 5-6 minutes). The price per target is the same; more memory only adds the run start fee per GB. Each check takes 15-60 seconds because it passes Ahrefs' human check.

Other Ahrefs tools

Actor	What it does
Ahrefs DR Checker & API	Bulk Domain Rating, referring domains, organic traffic and traffic value for thousands of domains, 12-month history, DR and traffic change tracker
Ahrefs Keyword Generator & API	Keyword ideas and questions with volume and difficulty for many seeds, exact KD, search volume and SERP for keyword lists, new ideas tracker
Ahrefs Traffic Checker & API	Organic traffic, traffic value, top pages, countries and keywords for websites, folders or single pages, by country, traffic change tracker

FAQ

How many backlinks per target? Up to 20: Ahrefs' free tool shows the top backlinks, one per linking domain. For the full list of millions of links you need a paid Ahrefs plan. The totals (backlinks, referring domains, dofollow share) cover the whole profile.

Is the top sorted by DR? No, it is Ahrefs' own order of the strongest backlinks. Sort or filter by sourceDomainRating in the table, or set Minimum DR of the linking site.

Are the numbers the same as on ahrefs.com? Yes, they come from Ahrefs' free Backlink Checker at the time of the run.

Is this the official Ahrefs API? No. The official Ahrefs API needs a paid Ahrefs plan with API units. This Actor reads the same public data Ahrefs shows in its free tool, for any number of targets, without an Ahrefs account.

What if a check fails? The target comes back with an error and is not charged. Run it again later.

Use with the API and AI agents

Call the Actor from the Apify API, Python or JavaScript clients, Make, Zapier, n8n, or as a tool for AI agents through the Apify MCP server. Input is one JSON object, output is one JSON row per backlink.