# Domain Rating Checker > Check any website's Ahrefs Domain Rating (DR 0–100) for free, no signup. Size up backlink targets, directories and competitors in seconds. Use it free at https://swipetolaunch.com/tools/domain-rating ## How to use it 1. **Paste a domain.** A bare domain like example.com or any full URL. We strip the path and the www. 2. **Check DR.** We ask Ahrefs' free Domain Rating API for that domain and cache the answer for a day. 3. **Read the score.** 0–100, logarithmic. Use it to rank outreach targets, directories and guest-post sites before you spend time on them. ## What Domain Rating measures Domain Rating (DR) is Ahrefs' score for the strength of a site's backlink profile, from 0 to 100. It looks at how many unique domains link to a site with followed links, and how strong those linking domains are in turn. It does not measure traffic, content quality or how well a page ranks for a given keyword. The scale is logarithmic. Going from DR 10 to 20 takes a handful of decent links; going from 70 to 80 takes thousands. Two sites a few points apart at the top end are much further apart than two sites a few points apart near the bottom. ## How founders use a DR check - **Pick directories worth the effort.** A listing on a DR 70 directory with a followed link passes far more authority than one on a DR 8 site. Check before you fill in another submission form. - **Qualify outreach.** Guest posts, podcast pages and "best tools" roundups vary wildly. A quick check sorts the list. - **Benchmark competitors.** If a competitor sits at DR 45 and you are at 12, you know roughly how much link building separates you on competitive keywords. - **Track your own progress.** DR moves slowly. Check monthly, not daily. ## What DR does not tell you A high DR site can still give you a nofollow link, bury your page five clicks deep, or be in an unrelated niche. Relevance and placement matter as much as the number. Pair a DR check with the [dofollow checker](/tools/dofollow-nofollow-checker) to see whether a page's outbound links pass value at all. New sites sit at DR 0 until other domains link to them. That is normal. A launch on a few well-linked directories is usually the fastest way off zero. Scores come from Ahrefs' public Domain Rating API and are shown with the credit their licence requires. ## What you get - Live Ahrefs Domain Rating, 0–100 - Accepts a domain or any URL - No account or API key needed - Plain-language band for every score ## Questions ### Is this the real Ahrefs DR? Yes. The score comes from Ahrefs' own free Domain Rating API, the same number Ahrefs shows in its paid tools. Results are cached for 24 hours. ### What is a good Domain Rating? It depends on the niche. Under 20 is typical for new and small sites, 40–60 is a well-established business, and 70+ is a major publication or platform. Compare against sites competing for the same keywords rather than against an absolute number. ### Why is my new site DR 0? DR only counts followed links from other domains. Until a few sites link to you, the score stays at 0. Listings on directories and launch sites with followed links are a common first step. ### How often does Domain Rating update? Ahrefs recalculates continuously as its crawler finds new links, but meaningful movement usually takes weeks. Checking once a month is plenty. ### Is Domain Rating the same as Domain Authority? No. Domain Authority (DA) is Moz's score and Domain Rating (DR) is Ahrefs'. Both estimate backlink strength on a 0–100 scale, but they use different link indexes and formulas, so the numbers differ.