Ahrefs Site Audit is bundled at $99+ a month — around $1,188 a year to keep a crawler that is, underneath, an HTTP client and a cron job. Dr. Link Check wants $14.90+/mo for the same idea. Linkguard is that HTTP client and that cron job: it walks your pages, checks every internal and external link, follows redirect chains, and re-scans on a schedule with a diff. $24, once, on your own box.
If you've searched for a Ahrefs Site Audit alternative, Linkguard is the pay-once option worth putting at the top of the list: Linkguard is $24, one time, and covers the same core job Ahrefs Site Audit charges $99+/mo for.
What makes Linkguard the pick for 2026
- Real crawler — Give it a start URL plus depth and page limits and it walks your internal pages with undici, no headless browser, checking every internal and external link it finds.
- Redirect-chain analysis — Follows redirects hop by hop, stores the full chain, and flags anything over two hops so you catch link-equity leaks.
- Filterable results table — URL, status code, hops, link text and the pages each link was found on, filterable to broken, redirects, over two hops, or OK.
- Scheduled re-crawls with diffs — Daily or weekly re-scans diffed against the last run, so you get new-broken-links-since-last-scan instead of a raw dump.
- Email alerts only on new breaks — SMTP alerts fire only when new broken links appear, so there is no alert fatigue.
Linkguard vs Ahrefs Site Audit, at a glance
| Linkguard | Ahrefs Site Audit | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $24 once | $99+/mo |
| 1 year | $24 | $1,188+ |
| Broken link detection | Yes | Yes |
| Redirect chains + hop flagging | Yes | Yes |
| Scheduled re-checks + diff | Yes | Yes |
| Email alerts | Yes | Yes |
| CSV export | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted, data stays yours | Yes | No |
Less than one month of Ahrefs covers Linkguard outright, and it never bills you again no matter how many pages you crawl.
Common questions
Is it really free on GitHub?
Yes. Linkguard is MIT-licensed at github.com/bensblueprints/broken-link-checker-mvp and always will be. The $24 buys the packaged 1-click installer and setup; building from source is free.
Where does my scan data live?
In a SQLite file on your own server. Nothing is uploaded to us or anyone else, so your crawl data never leaves your infrastructure.
Is there a page or crawl limit?
No metered limit like the subscriptions charge for. Your crawl size is bounded only by your own hardware.
The bottom line
Linkguard won't out-feature Ahrefs Site Audit on every axis — no subscription tool with a bigger team and a bigger roadmap loses on everything. But for the core job, $24 once against $99+/mo forever is a trade most people should at least look at. Linkguard is part of OneTimeSuite, a catalog of pay-once apps that replace subscription SaaS.
Try Linkguard — $24, once
Crawl your whole site for broken links and redirect chains, with scheduled re-checks and diffs.