Ahrefs alternative
What MrKeyword does and does not offer on links, stated plainly.
Read moreThe metric
What a domain authority checker measures.
Domain authority is a 0–100 score that estimates how strong a website is likely to be in search, based mainly on the quantity and quality of other sites linking to it. It is logarithmic — moving from 20 to 30 is far easier than moving from 70 to 80 — and it is best read relative to your competitors, not as an absolute promise of rankings.
The original “Domain Authority (DA)” metric was created by Moz, and most free checkers simply resell a paid third-party API. MrKeyword takes a different, more transparent route: it computes its own score, MrKeyword Link Authority, from data it can show you. It is comparable in spirit to Moz DA and it is not the same metric, so the numbers will differ.
How it is calculated
PageRank over a real link graph.
MrKeyword runs a damped PageRank across followed, cross-domain links in its own index plus the open Common Crawl web graph, then log-scales it 0–100 against the strongest domain it has seen. Domains that show link-farm signals — huge one-way outbound hubs or reciprocal rings — are detected and down-weighted, so authority reflects genuine trust rather than manipulation.
- Followed, cross-domain links only
- Link farms and reciprocal rings down-weighted
- Log-scaled 0–100 against the strongest domain seen
- Referring domains and backlinks from pages actually crawled
Compare
Read the score beside the domains around you.
Authority is most useful when it is comparative. Put the score beside a small set of domains in the same market and keep the underlying referring-domain counts visible so the comparison has context.
- Authority bars for multiple domains
- Referring domains and backlinks beside the score
- Confidence and as-of date remain visible
History
See whether the link profile is moving.
A score is a snapshot. The history view adds the trend, new referring domains and confidence band so you can tell a durable change from a noisy data point.
- Authority over time
- New referring-domain activity
- Confidence band and data freshness
How to use the checker
Three steps to a score you can explain.
- 1
Enter a domain
Your own, or a competitor's — with or without https://. Authority does not need Search Console, so any domain works.
- 2
Sign in free
Create a free account or sign in, no card. The domain is carried through, so the score is waiting when you arrive.
- 3
Read it with its working
The score, referring domains and backlinks, each with a confidence level and an as-of date — or “No data” where we have not seen the links.
How the numbers are made
Provenance on every number.
Every figure here is first-party and traceable — no invented numbers and no black box.
Our own index
Links MrKeyword's crawler has fetched, plus the open Common Crawl web graph. No resold third-party backlink database.
A Derived metric
Link Authority is calculated deterministically from measured links, and labelled Derived wherever it appears.
“No data”, never a guess
A domain we have not seen linked shows “No data” instead of a made-up score. That honesty is the whole point.
Scope
What this does not do
A domain authority score is useful. It is also easy to over-read.
- It is not Moz DA or Ahrefs DR. It is MrKeyword Link Authority, calculated its own way and labelled as such.
- It is not a full backlink profile. It covers links MrKeyword and the Common Crawl graph have seen, and says so.
- It does not predict rankings. Authority is one input among many, best read against the competitors for a specific keyword.
- Newer or smaller domains may show “No data” until links to them have been discovered.
Read next
Related pages.
FAQ
Questions about domain authority.
Enter a domain above and see its score with the working shown.
Check a domain freeIs this the same as Moz Domain Authority (DA)?
No. This shows MrKeyword Link Authority, our own 0–100 score derived from a PageRank over our own link graph. It is a comparable domain-strength metric, but it is not Moz's proprietary DA and the numbers will differ. We chose our own metric so we can show you exactly how it is calculated.
Is the domain authority checker free?
Yes, on a free MrKeyword account — no credit card, and the Free plan never expires. Enter a domain, sign in, and the score is waiting when you arrive.
Why do I have to sign in?
The check runs inside a free workspace, so what you looked up is kept with its source and date, and the result opens in the full tool rather than as a single number on a web page.
What counts as a good authority score?
Because the scale is logarithmic and relative, there is no universal good number. As a rough guide: under 30 is emerging, 30–59 is moderate, and 60+ is strong for most niches. What matters most is beating the specific competitors ranking for your keywords.
Why does a domain show “No data”?
We only score domains we have actually seen linked in our own crawl and the Common Crawl web graph. If we have not discovered links to a domain yet, we say “No data” rather than inventing a figure.
How is this different from other free DA checkers?
Most free checkers are thin front-ends over a paid third-party API. MrKeyword computes authority from its own link index and stamps every number with its source, a confidence level and an as-of date — so you can explain what you are seeing.
Is this a website authority checker for any site?
Yes. Unlike rank tracking, authority does not need Search Console access: you can check your own domain or a competitor's, because the score comes from MrKeyword's link index rather than from the site's owner.
See the full picture behind the score.
A free account adds rank tracking, keyword research and a 60-check site audit, with the same provenance on every metric.
Get started free No credit card required.