Free SEO Tool

Broken Link Checker

Find dead links, 404 errors, and broken redirects on any page. Or check your entire sitemap at once. Paste a URL and the tool scans up to 2,000 pages with status codes and response times.

Last updated: April 2026

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How this broken link checker works

The tool fetches a page's HTML and parses every <a href> tag it finds. Each link gets a HEAD request to check the HTTP status code and measure response time. Internal links (same domain) show up first because those are the ones you control. External links are checked too, but they're separated so you can focus on what matters.

Switch to Bulk mode and the tool discovers your sitemap automatically. It reads robots.txt for a sitemap reference, then tries common paths like /sitemap.xml and /wp-sitemap.xml if nothing turns up. Once found, it parses every URL and checks them in parallel with controlled concurrency. Most free link checkers cap at 100 URLs. This one handles 2,000.

Redirect chains get flagged separately. A single 301 is fine. But when the tool sees A redirecting to B redirecting to C redirecting to D, it flags the chain. Each hop adds 50-300ms of latency and dilutes the link equity that flows through the chain. Two hops is the practical limit before you start losing real performance.

Why broken links cost you more than you think

Sites with broken internal links leak PageRank into dead ends. Every 404 is a crawl budget slot wasted on a page that returns nothing. Google's crawlers have a limited budget per site, and if 5% of your URLs return errors, that's 5% of your crawl budget gone on pages that don't exist.

The user impact is worse. A HubSpot study found 77% of users who hit a 404 page don't come back. That's real traffic lost to a problem you can fix in an afternoon.

And it's not just Google anymore. AI systems like ChatGPT and Perplexity follow links when building answers. If they hit a dead link while verifying your content, you lose the citation. That's the GEO angle that nobody talks about yet.

An Ahrefs study of 2 million links found that 66.5% of links from the past 9 years are dead. Link rot is constant. Monthly checking is the minimum.

What the status codes mean

200 OK - page loads fine. 301 - permanent redirect, link equity passes through. 302/307 - temporary redirect, link equity may not pass. 403 - server blocks the request (bot detection or geo-restriction). 404 - page not found. 410 - page permanently removed. Google deindexes 410 pages about 3x faster than 404s, so use 410 when you've intentionally deleted a page.

500/502/503 - server error, usually temporary. Timeout - server didn't respond within 15 seconds. Response time matters too. A 301 that takes 800ms is technically "working" but slow enough to affect Core Web Vitals if it's in the critical rendering path.

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FAQ

How many URLs can I check for free?+

Up to 2,000 URLs per scan. Enter a domain and the tool finds your sitemap automatically, or paste URLs directly. No account needed, no queue.

What is the difference between a 404 and a 410?+

A 404 means the page wasn't found but might return. A 410 means it's permanently gone. Google deindexes 410 pages faster than 404s, so use 410 when you've intentionally removed a page.

Do broken links actually hurt SEO rankings?+

Not directly. Google's John Mueller has said broken links aren't a ranking factor by themselves. But they waste crawl budget, break internal link equity, and create dead ends for users. Sites with more than 2-3% broken internal links tend to see ranking problems.

How does the sitemap scan work?+

Enter your domain and the tool checks robots.txt for a sitemap reference. If none is found, it tries common paths like /sitemap.xml. Once found, it parses every URL from the sitemap and checks each one for HTTP status, response time, and redirects.

Why does a link show as broken here but works in my browser?+

Some servers block automated requests with 403 or 429 status codes while serving normal pages to browsers. Geo-restrictions, bot detection, and JavaScript-rendered content can also cause differences. The tool uses standard HTTP requests, not a full browser engine.

How often should I check for broken links?+

Monthly is a good baseline. Check immediately after site migrations, CMS updates, or large content changes. Sites publishing daily should check weekly. An Ahrefs study found 66.5% of links from the past decade are dead, so link rot is constant.

Find broken links before they hurt rankings

Lumina checks every link on every page you visit. Dead links, redirects, missing pages.

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