Monitor Backlinks vs LinkGuard: one of them is SEOptimer's now
Monitor Backlinks still works, still sells from $25 a month, and has served link buyers since 2012. It has also belonged to SEOptimer since 2023, and SEOptimer's own page calls it the legacy tool. Here's what that changes for a portfolio you pay to watch, and where each one is the better buy.
The short version
Two different bets on what a link monitor should be.
| LinkGuard | Monitor Backlinks | |
|---|---|---|
| Who runs it | Us. It's the only thing we ship | SEOptimer, since August 2023 |
| Pricing model | Prepaid tokens, spent per check | Subscription from $25/mo |
| Entry price | $0 — 1,000 tokens free, no card | 30-day trial, then $25/mo (Start) |
| What $25 buys | ~2,000 full checks a month | 2,500 monitored links on 1 domain |
| Finds links you don't know about | No. You bring the list | Yes, via Google Analytics |
| JavaScript-rendered donor pages | Real-browser retry before we call a link lost | Not stated on their site |
| Keyword rank tracking | No | Yes, 50 keywords on Start |
| Cost while you pause | $0. Tokens wait, they don't expire | The subscription keeps running |
What happened to monitorbacklinks.com
If you typed the old address and landed somewhere else, this is why.
SEOptimer announced the acquisition on 1 August 2023. Monitor Backlinks had been running since 2012 and, by its own count, had served more than 100,000 marketers and site owners. The domain now returns a permanent redirect to seoptimer.com/monitor-backlinks/, and the working app sits at monitorbacklinks.seoptimer.com.
The tool did not die. It takes new signups, runs a 30-day trial, and lists its old plan ladder. SEOptimer's page describes it as the legacy tool and says it "still remains fully usable and functional," while SEOptimer "rolled over the best features into the core SEOptimer platform." Adam Krzywda, SEOptimer's CEO, put the direction plainly at the time of the deal: "Longer term, we will look to integrate backlink research, discovery and monitoring into SEOptimer and offer a full suite of SEO tools under the one brand."
So the honest read in 2026: you can still buy it and it will still watch your links. What you can't assume is that the roadmap belongs to the product you're paying for. If you'd rather buy the newer thing, SEOptimer's own plans start at $39 a month for White Label, which monitors 3 sites. Their $29 DIY SEO plan doesn't include backlink monitoring at all.
Looking for a Monitor Backlinks alternative?
Most people who search that phrase are not running from a broken tool. They're reacting to the word legacy, and what they want is a monitor whose owner has no bigger product. The honest shortlist: Linkody is the cheapest flat subscription, Ahrefs is the one to buy if you need discovery rather than monitoring, and LinkGuard is the one that charges per check instead of per month. If your portfolio is large and watched constantly, staying put and paying their $25 is a defensible answer too.
You don't need an account to start narrowing it down. Take one placement you're unsure about and run it through the free lost backlink detector — no signup, no card, nothing to upload.
Why this comparison exists at all
I bought links for clients for years, and Monitor Backlinks was on the shortlist every time. It did one job and did it without ceremony. Watching it get absorbed is what convinced me a dedicated monitor needs an owner whose whole business depends on it.
LinkGuard is that bet. One product, priced per check instead of per month, built for donor pages that render half their content in JavaScript. If Monitor Backlinks covers your portfolio at a price we can't match, take it. I'd rather write that here than have you find out after paying us.
— Andrii, founder of LinkGuard · LinkedIn
On price, let's be straight
At full capacity their plan is cheaper than ours. That's arithmetic, not modesty.
Their Start plan is $25 a month for one domain and up to 2,500 monitored links, or $20 without competitor tracking. Their ladder runs up to $249.90 for ten domains, though every tier above Start currently carries a promotional discount of 5% to 25%, so check what their page shows you today. On our side a full check costs 12 tokens (5 to fetch and parse the donor page, 7 to check whether the linked page is still indexed), and $25 buys 25,000 tokens. Same money, roughly 2,000 full checks a month: about 480 links on a weekly schedule, or around 2,000 links checked once a month.
Fill their plan and they win on price by a distance. Notice what you're committing to, though: $300 across a year, whether you ran a campaign in March or not. The other end is where per-check pricing earns its keep. A hundred bought placements watched weekly costs about $5 a month with us against their flat $25. In a quarter with no campaigns you pay nothing at all, because tokens sit in the balance until a check spends them, and they don't expire.
Which one fits you
There are portfolios we're wrong for.
Pick Monitor Backlinks if…
- You want links discovered for you. Connect Google Analytics and it finds what points at your site.
- Your portfolio is large and watched constantly, so a flat fee beats per-check pricing.
- Keyword ranks and competitor tracking belong in the same dashboard as your links, not a second tab.
- You want one bill and one number, not a balance you watch go down.
Pick LinkGuard if…
- You monitor placements you bought or negotiated, and you already have the list.
- Half your donors render in JavaScript, where a plain fetch misses links that are visibly on the page.
- Your link buying comes in bursts and a monthly fee through the quiet months annoys you.
- Nothing else competes for the roadmap. This is the only product we ship.
Where LinkGuard falls short (so you're not surprised)
- No discovery. We check the links you give us and will never surface one you didn't know about.
- No keyword ranks, no competitor tracking, no Majestic metrics — Monitor Backlinks bundles all three from $25. We surface Ahrefs DR where we already have it cached.
- No white-label client reports and no disavow-file builder inside the product. Both matter to agencies, and both are on their side of the line.
- We're new. They've been running since 2012 and their sign-up flow has had a decade of polish.
- On a full 2,500-link portfolio checked weekly, we cost several times their $25.
- Our free start is 1,000 tokens, about 83 checks. Their trial is the whole product for 30 days. On a portfolio of any size, theirs is the more generous look.
Moving a list over takes about five minutes
Export your links to CSV from the legacy app or from whatever spreadsheet you actually trust, then upload the file. Monitoring starts on import, with no API keys and no onboarding call. The 1,000 tokens you get at signup cover about 83 full checks, which is enough to run your real placements through both tools and compare the verdicts before any money moves.
Questions people ask
Is Monitor Backlinks still active in 2026?
Yes. SEOptimer bought Monitor Backlinks in 2023 and moved its best features into the SEOptimer platform, but the original tool is still running at monitorbacklinks.seoptimer.com, still takes new signups, and still offers a 30-day free trial. SEOptimer's own page calls it the legacy tool and says it remains fully usable and functional.
What happened to monitorbacklinks.com?
The domain now redirects to seoptimer.com/monitor-backlinks/, which explains the acquisition and points existing users to the legacy app at monitorbacklinks.seoptimer.com. SEOptimer announced the deal on 1 August 2023; Monitor Backlinks had run since 2012 and says it served more than 100,000 users.
How much does Monitor Backlinks cost now?
The legacy app still lists its own ladder: Start is $25/month for 1 domain, 2,500 monitored links, 50 keywords and 2 competitors, or $20/month without competitor tracking. Plus is $49.90 for 2 domains and 12,500 links, and it goes up to $249.90 for 10 domains and 62,500 links. Every tier above Start currently carries a promotional discount of 5% to 25%, so their page may quote you less. Annual plans are advertised as three months free. Buying SEOptimer instead starts at $39/month for the White Label plan, which monitors 3 sites; SEOptimer's $29 DIY SEO plan does not include backlink monitoring.
Is LinkGuard cheaper than Monitor Backlinks?
Only under a certain volume. A full LinkGuard check costs 12 tokens, and $25 buys 25,000 tokens, so the same $25 covers roughly 2,000 full checks a month. That's about 480 links watched weekly, against the 2,500 links their $25 plan allows. Run a big portfolio on a frequent schedule and Monitor Backlinks is cheaper. Watch 100 links, or check only when a campaign needs it, and you'll spend a few dollars with us against their flat monthly fee, plus nothing at all in a month you don't check.
Does LinkGuard find new backlinks like Monitor Backlinks does?
No, and that's a real gap. Monitor Backlinks connects to Google Analytics and discovers links pointing at your site. LinkGuard watches a list you supply, which suits bought and negotiated placements but means we'll never tell you about a link you didn't know existed. If discovery matters to you, that's a point for them.
Can I move my links from Monitor Backlinks to LinkGuard?
Yes. Export your links to CSV and upload the file. Monitoring starts on import, with no API keys and no onboarding call. Your 1,000 signup tokens cover about 83 full checks, enough to compare our verdicts against theirs before you pay anything.
Should I switch from Monitor Backlinks?
If their plan fits your portfolio and you use most of it, no. You would pay more here. Switch if your checking comes in bursts, if your donor pages are JavaScript-heavy, or if you would rather your monitor be someone's only product. Import is a CSV, and the signup tokens cover about 83 full checks, so you can test that on your own links before deciding.
Two Mondays
Same portfolio, same week. The difference is what the check can see.
Without a check that renders the page
Three links on a Framer donor site came back lost. You opened all three. All three were fine, and the twenty minutes were gone. By the fourth false alarm you stopped opening them at all, which is how a guest post you paid three figures for sat stripped for six weeks. The client noticed the drop before you did.
With LinkGuard
The same Framer pages rendered in a real browser before anything was called lost, so nothing fired. The alert you did get was a real removal, caught on the next scheduled check, with the reason written beside it. You emailed the site owner that morning, while their editor still remembered making the change.
Run your real links through both
Bring a handful of placements over, check them here, and compare what each tool says about the same URLs. The signup tokens cover it and there's no card to enter.
Start free1,000 tokens on signup · no credit card · tokens never expire · unused balance refundable for 14 days