The honest Ahrefs alternative
A straight comparison — including the parts where Ahrefsis simply better. If you mainly need domain authority and backlink data, you probably don't need to pay $129/mo a month for it.
| Capability | Seoluma | Ahrefs |
|---|---|---|
| Domain rating (authority) score | Free, unlimited | Paid plan |
| Referring domains list | Free, unlimited | Paid plan |
| Link intersect (competitor gap) | Free | Paid plan |
| Index size | 118M domains, 7.1B links | Larger, proprietary |
| Data freshness | Per Common Crawl release | Continuous crawl |
| Anchor text per link | Via link verifier | Yes, at scale |
| Historical link trends | Two releases | Years of history |
| Keyword explorer | Paid plan | Yes |
| Rank tracking | Paid plan | Yes |
| Entry price | $0 | from $129/mo |
The data behind the free tools is real
Our authority and backlink numbers are computed from an independent index of 117,963,409 domains and 7.1 billion links — the open Common Crawl web graph, not a marketing estimate. You can read the full authority distribution of the entire web and verify any number yourself.
Domain rating and referring domains: free and enough to decide
The two Ahrefs numbers people quote most are Domain Rating and referring domains. Seoluma gives both free: an authority score from the same mathematical family (harmonic centrality) and the full list of linking domains sorted by strength. For judging a prospect, a competitor or your own progress, that is enough to make the call without a subscription.
Freshness, anchors and history: the real Ahrefs edge
Ahrefs' crawler updates continuously and stores years of history, so it catches new and lost links fast and shows anchor text at scale. Seoluma refreshes per Common Crawl release (every few months) and resolves anchors by crawling on demand, not across the whole index at once. If link monitoring speed and historical depth are your job, Ahrefs is genuinely ahead.
The pricing reality
Ahrefs Lite is $129/mo with tight limits; Standard is $249. That is a serious line item for occasional link checks. Seoluma's link tools are free forever; the paid plan only appears when you want scheduled monitoring, alerts and a full site audit — the workflow layer, not the raw lookup.
What genuinely costs money — and what doesn't
Ahrefs' real expense is its crawler: keeping a fresh, historical view of the whole web's links is hard and costly, and that freshness is what you pay for. The authority score and referring-domain list sitting on top of that crawl are just computation over a link graph — which is why Seoluma can offer them free over an open index. Split the product that way and the decision gets clear: pay Ahrefs when link freshness, anchor data and history are your daily work; use the free tools when you're auditing a profile or scouting a competitor now and then.
Which one should you choose?
- Backlink auditing at scale is your daily job
- You need anchor text and years of link history
- You want the freshest possible new/lost-link detection
- You want domain rating and referring domains free
- You check links occasionally, not all day
- You want to verify where the data comes from
Ahrefs is the backlink specialist with one of the largest live link crawlers, from $129/mo. If you run search marketing full time and need its full breadth, it earns its price. If you mainly need to check domain authority, referring domains and link gaps — the things most people open Ahrefs for — Seoluma does those free, with no account and no trial countdown. Use the free tools first; reach for a paid suite when you actually hit their edge.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free Ahrefs alternative for backlinks?
Yes. Seoluma's backlink checker and domain rating are free with no account, over an independent index of 118 million domains and 7.1 billion links. You give up Ahrefs' continuous crawl and anchor-text-at-scale, but the core referring-domain data is free.
Is Seoluma's authority the same as Ahrefs' DR?
It is the same idea — a 0–100 score built from the link graph — but not the same number. Ahrefs runs a proprietary crawl and formula; Seoluma uses harmonic centrality over the open Common Crawl graph. Trends match; exact values will not.
How fresh is Seoluma's link data?
It updates with each Common Crawl release, roughly every few months. Ahrefs updates continuously, so for catching brand-new or just-lost links quickly, Ahrefs is fresher. For a point-in-time audit, the open data is fine.
Can Seoluma replace Ahrefs?
For checking domain rating, referring domains and link gaps — yes, free. For large-scale daily backlink monitoring with anchors and history, keep Ahrefs and use Seoluma free alongside it.
Related comparisons
Deciding between the paid tools themselves? These independent head-to-heads go deeper: