What Domain Rating measures
This DR checker returns the Domain Rating (DR) of any domain, the same number you would see in Ahrefs, and nothing to sign up for. Here is what that number is measuring.
Domain Rating is Ahrefs' 0 to 100 score for the strength of a site's backlink profile. It looks at one thing: which domains link to yours, and how strong those domains are themselves. It ignores your content, your traffic and your on-page SEO. A site with the best guide on the internet and no links sits at DR 0.
The scale is logarithmic. Each ten points is harder to earn than the last, which is why a new product can go from 0 to 15 in a month of directory listings and then take a year to reach 30. Two things move it: more unique referring domains, and referring domains with a higher DR than yours. Twenty links from the same site count roughly once.
For a founder the number is useful as a gap measure. If the products ranking for your keywords sit at DR 40 to 60 and you sit at 8, content alone will not close it. Links will.
How it's calculated, in practice
Ahrefs counts the domains linking to yours with at least one followed link, weights each by its own DR, and divides the weight by how many sites that domain links out to. A followed link from a DR 91 site that links to fifty thousand others is worth less than you would hope, and still far more than a nofollow link from anywhere.
- Followed links from a domain that has not linked to you before.
- The linking domain's DR, discounted by how many sites it links out to.
- Nofollow, ugc and sponsored links. They send visitors, not authority.
- A second, third or hundredth link from a domain that already links to you.
- Content, traffic, page speed, social followers.
Two consequences. A nofollow listing on a DR 90 launch platform does nothing for DR, however much traffic it sends. And ten followed links from ten different DR 60 directories beat one from a DR 90 site that links out to everyone.
What counts as good
There is no universal good number, only a good number for your stage and your competitors. The bands below are what we see across founders' sites and the 126 directories we track, whose median DR is 58.
| DR | Where a product usually is | What moves it next |
|---|---|---|
| 0–5 | Fresh domain, nobody links to it yet | The first ten directory listings with followed links |
| 5–20 | Launched, a handful of listings and a Product Hunt page | Finishing the directories that fit, then one press or partner link |
| 20–35 | A year in, some organic mentions, listings done | Linkable assets, guest posts on DR 40+ sites, integrations |
| 35–55 | Established product with a marketing function | Press, original data, partnerships; directories no longer move it |
| 55+ | Category leader or a well-known brand | Brand mentions arrive on their own |
The comparison that matters is with the sites above you in search results. A DR 25 product beating DR 20 competitors on the keywords that bring customers is in a strong position; a DR 40 site in a category where everyone is at 60 is not.
What DR stands for
DR is short for Domain Rating. When people say DR checker, DR score or DR rating, they mean the same Ahrefs 0 to 100 number this tool reports. It is a domain-level score, so every page on a site shares one DR; individual pages have their own URL Rating, which is a separate Ahrefs metric this checker does not cover.
DR vs Domain Authority
Domain Authority is Moz's equivalent score. Both run 0 to 100 and both are driven by links, but they read different crawls with different weightings, so the same site can show DR 45 and DA 30. Neither is used by Google. Founders and directories almost always quote DR, which is why every number on this site is Domain Rating by Ahrefs and why the checker above reports it and nothing else. Pick one score and track the trend, not the level.
Why DR drops
- A linking page went away. Directories prune dead or unpaid listings; blogs get redesigned. This is the usual cause and the one worth checking.
- Ahrefs recalibrated. The index is relative. If the web gains links faster than you do, your score drifts down with no change on your side.
- A linking site lost value. Their DR fell, so the link is worth less.
One to three points either way is noise. Five or more, look at the lost-links report and re-check the listings you completed; a good number of directories require a badge on your site to keep the link followed.
How to grow it
DR only responds to followed links from domains that have not linked to you before. Ordered by how fast they work for an early product:
1. Directory listings, the ones that fit
The cheapest followed links a new product can get. Of the 126 directories, launch platforms and review sites we track, 40 give a followed link on an ordinary listing, 18 of those for nothing. 40 of them have a DR of 70 or more, and 7 of those follow the link. Ten of these is the whole first step.
The catch is fit. Most directories reject or ignore products outside their niche, and a listing that never goes live is an afternoon lost. The free rank plan reads your site, scores every directory against it, and hands back the ten to submit this week with the listing text ready to paste.
2. Something worth linking to
A free tool, a calculator, an original dataset, a template. Other writers link to useful things without being asked. This checker exists for that reason.
3. Guest posts and podcasts in your niche
One post on a DR 50 blog your customers read is worth more than twenty links from unrelated DR 30 sites, and gets you readers as well as a link.
4. Integrations and partners
Every integration partner has a marketplace page. Every marketplace page is a followed link from a strong domain that competitors cannot buy.
5. Unlinked mentions
Sites that already name your product will usually add a link if asked. Search your brand name, exclude your own domain, and write to the ones that did not link.
The highest-DR directories we track
Sorted by Domain Rating. High DR is only half of it: check the link column, because a nofollow link from a DR 91 site sends visitors and no authority.
| Directory | DR | Link | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| SourceForge | 93 | Nofollow | Freemium |
| Capterra | 91 | Nofollow | Freemium |
| G2 | 91 | Nofollow | Freemium |
| Hacker News (Show HN) | 91 | Nofollow | Free |
| Product Hunt | 91 | Nofollow | Free |
| Crunchbase | 91 | Nofollow | Free |
| Startup Fame | 84 | Nofollow | Freemium |
| Fazier | 83 | Dofollow | Freemium |
| Dang.ai | 82 | Nofollow | Freemium |
| twelve.tools | 82 | Nofollow | Freemium |
The full ranking is on the top 10 by DR page, and the dofollow list has every directory whose link passes authority.
Mistakes to skip
- Buying links. Paid link packages from unrelated sites are the one thing that gets a domain penalised. A paid directory listing is different: it is a listing fee, on a site whose whole purpose is to list products.
- Counting backlinks instead of domains. Five hundred links from three domains is three links.
- Submitting everywhere. Rejected listings cost the afternoon and deliver nothing. Fit first, then DR.
- Forgetting the badge. Several directories only follow the link once their badge is on your site. Do those last, with one snippet, and keep it there.
- Checking daily. Links take one to three weeks to register. Check monthly and compare with the same month's competitor numbers.
Questions founders ask
Is this checker free, and where does the number come from?
Free, no account, no limit that a person would hit. The number is Domain Rating by Ahrefs, fetched from Ahrefs' own API when you check and cached for a day per domain. It is the same figure you would see in Ahrefs.
What is a good Domain Rating for a new SaaS or AI product?
A fresh domain sits at 0 to 5. One round of directory listings usually lands between 10 and 20 within a couple of months. DR 20 to 35 after a year of steady links is healthy. Compare against the sites you want to outrank rather than an absolute number.
How often does Domain Rating update?
Ahrefs recalculates continuously as it recrawls the web, so a new link can show up within days. Directory listings tend to be picked up quickly because directories are crawled often. Expect a lag of one to three weeks between a listing going live and DR moving.
Does Google use Domain Rating?
No. DR is Ahrefs' estimate of something Google measures in its own way. It correlates with the ability to rank because both are driven by links from strong domains, but Google has never used the score itself.
Why did my Domain Rating drop when I did nothing?
Either a linking page was removed or lost value, or Ahrefs recalibrated its index and other sites gained faster than yours. A move of one to three points is noise. A drop of five or more is worth checking against your lost-links report.
How many directory listings does it take to move DR?
Ten followed links from distinct DR 60+ domains is enough to lift a DR 0 site into double digits. Of the 126 directories we track, 40 give a followed link on a standard listing and 18 of those are free. The rank plan puts the ten that fit your product first.