# Website authority checker: free Ahrefs Domain Rating (DR)

> Check any website's authority for free with its Ahrefs Domain Rating (DR), 0 to 100. Size up a site before you submit, trade links or buy a listing.

Canonical: https://indielaunch.dev/tools/domain-rating-checker
Last updated: 2026-11-03

Type a domain to see its Domain Rating, the 0 to 100 score Ahrefs gives a website for the strength of the links pointing at it. Makers use it to judge a directory before submitting, to check a site that offers a backlink, or to track their own site as links come in.

The tool itself is interactive: open [Website authority checker](https://indielaunch.dev/tools/domain-rating-checker) in a browser to use it.

## How to use it

1. Type a domain, like example.com. A full URL works too: only the domain is checked.
2. Press Check DR. The score comes straight from Ahrefs.
3. Read the score with the guide below it, and compare sites against each other rather than against a fixed target.

## What it checks

- Domain Rating (DR), 0 to 100, from Ahrefs.
- What the score means, from new site to very strong, to read it against other sites.
- The date the figure was read. A result is reused for a few days, so the same domain answers instantly the next time.

## FAQ

### What is Domain Rating?

Domain Rating (DR) is Ahrefs' score for how strong a website's backlink profile is, from 0 to 100. It looks at how many different sites link to it with followed links, and how strong those sites are in turn. It's Ahrefs' own metric: Google doesn't use DR, but it tracks the same thing Google cares about, which is links from sites people trust.

### What is a good Domain Rating?

It depends on what you compare. The scale is logarithmic, so going from 70 to 80 is far harder than going from 10 to 20. A new product's site usually starts near 0. Rather than chasing a number, compare a site with the others in its niche: a directory with a higher DR than its peers usually passes more value with a followed link.

### Is this the same number as on Ahrefs' website?

Yes. It comes from Ahrefs' own Domain Rating data. Ahrefs recalculates DR as it crawls, so the figure can move by a point or two from day to day, and a result here may be up to a few days old.

### Is Domain Rating the same as Domain Authority?

No. Domain Rating (DR) is Ahrefs' score and Domain Authority (DA) is Moz's. Both rate how strong a site's links are on a 0 to 100 scale, but each uses its own link data and formula, so the same site gets different numbers. Compare sites using one of them, not a mix.

### Why does a site show DR 0?

Either Ahrefs has found no followed links to it from sites that have any strength themselves, or the domain is very new. Getting listed on a few directories that give followed links is usually the first thing that moves it.

### Does a high DR mean a site will rank on Google?

No. DR is about links to the whole domain. Ranking for a search also depends on whether the page answers it, how fast and readable the page is, and links to that page itself. A low-DR site can outrank a high-DR one for a narrow search it answers better.

## Related

- [Dofollow / nofollow link checker](https://indielaunch.dev/tools/nofollow-link-checker)
- [Directory finder](https://indielaunch.dev/tools/directory-finder)
- [Open Graph checker](https://indielaunch.dev/tools/open-graph-checker)
- [Submit your startup](https://indielaunch.dev/submit-your-startup)