Best free link exchange sites in 2026

Updated 13 November 2026

Short answer: the free link exchange sites worth a look in 2026 are Linkorado, BackLink Ledger, BacklinkXchange and Backlink Exchange, which cost nothing to use, and KarmaLinks, RankChase and Backlyst, which have a free plan next to paid ones. Linkorado checks that both links of an exchange are placed; Backlink Exchange and KarmaLinks also keep checking that they stay.

Linkorado is our own site, so we list it first. We describe it as plainly as the others, limits included. Everything about the other sites comes from their own pages, which we last checked on 13 November 2026. Prices and plans change, so look again before you sign up.

Site	Cost	How it works	Checks the links
Linkorado	Free	Directory in 500+ categories; requests on the site	Yes, both links, when placed
BackLink Ledger	Free; paid banner ads	Directory; contact by e-mail, no account	Not described
BacklinkXchange	Free	Sites by country and niche; contact on X, Reddit or Telegram	Not described
Backlink Exchange	Free	Partner suggestions by niche and language	Yes, keeps checking
KarmaLinks	Free plan; Pro $19 a month	Points for links given; three-way exchanges only	Yes, alerts when a link drops
RankChase	Limited free plan; $19 a month per site	Matches by e-mail	Not described
Backlyst	Free plan; from £44.99 a month	Credits for tasks; earn credits by giving links	Yes, monitors link status
3way.Social	Free to join; platform fee	Credits for exchanging, buying and selling links	Yes, daily

Linkorado

A free link exchange directory, online since 2009. Every site is listed in one of more than 500 categories, so you can find sites with content like yours. You send a link exchange request on the site; the owner accepts or declines. Then you both place a link, and Linkorado checks that both links are placed, on the pages you report, before the exchange counts as complete.

Good for: site owners who want to pick each partner themselves. The limits: you can send up to 10 requests a day for each site, a site is listed in one category only, and some listed owners no longer visit, so not every request gets an answer. Linkorado checks that the link is on the page; it does not look at the rel attribute. Two free tools, with no account needed, fill that gap: the backlink checker for one page, and the reciprocal link checker for up to 10 partner pages at once, to see later whether your partners still link back. How to exchange links explains each step.

BackLink Ledger

A free directory where site owners list their sites and contact each other by e-mail to arrange exchanges. Listing needs no account and no login. Sites are sorted into a few broad categories, such as Business, Tech and Travel. BackLink Ledger sells banner advertising, from $5 to $20 a month, and featured placement; the listings themselves are free.

Good for: getting listed in a minute, with nothing to sign up for. Its pages do not describe any checks of the sites or the links, so you agree and check everything with your partner yourself.

BacklinkXchange

A free list of sites you can filter by country, continent and niche. You contact the owners through X, Reddit or Telegram. To list your own site you sign up with a name, e-mail address and password; your e-mail address is not shown publicly.

Good for: finding partners in your own country, if you already use X, Reddit or Telegram. Its pages do not describe any link checking. See BacklinkXchange alternatives for more.

Backlink Exchange

A free link exchange platform at backlinkexchange.org: “Free forever, no credit card”, it says. You prove you own your site with a meta tag, and the platform suggests partners by niche and language. You can agree a direct swap or join a three-way chain. It checks that placed links stay live, and also looks for nofollow and hidden links; you are told the same day when a link is removed. Members get a reliability score.

Good for: free exchanges with automatic link checks. Its pages describe an ownership check, but no review of site quality before listing.

KarmaLinks

A private exchange for company websites. You earn Karma Points by giving links to other members and spend them to get links. Exchanges are three-way only, so two members never link to each other directly. Sites need a Domain Rating of at least 15, and only followed links count. The free plan allows 2 link requests at a time and includes monitoring, with an alert when a link drops; Pro costs $19 a month.

Good for: B2B company sites that like a points system. Smaller or personal sites may not qualify.

RankChase

You submit your site, RankChase works out its niche, Domain Rating and traffic, and e-mails you matching sites. On the free plan you get the notifications but not the details of the matched sites; premium users can still contact you. Premium costs $19 a month per website. RankChase gives each site a spam score and checks members' domains and e-mail addresses.

Good for: people who want matches to come to them. In practice the free plan is a way to be found; finding partners yourself is paid.

Backlyst

A marketplace for backlink tasks that works with credits: a backlink costs 1 credit, a guest post 2. You can earn credits by giving verified backlinks, or buy them through a paid plan, from £44.99 a month. There is a free plan for verified users. Backlyst says it verifies publishers on 12 points, including metrics, traffic and content, and monitors link status.

Good for: SEO teams that want tasks, publishers and tracking in one dashboard. It is part exchange, part marketplace: when credits are bought with money, the links are paid links.

A network of member sites where you exchange, buy and sell links, paid for with credits. Joining is free; it charges a small platform fee on deals, without stating the amount on its home page. It says it vets sites with AI, and that a link only counts when it is live and followed; approved links are checked daily.

Good for: those who want exchange and paid placements in one place. As with Backlyst, links bought with money are paid links.

Paid platforms

Some well-known platforms are not free beyond a trial:

Ranking Raccoon manually reviews every site, accepts English-language sites only and checks that links are live and followed. It is free for 7 days, then $25 a month; after the trial you can switch to a free Lite plan.
Link Rhinos matches sites with AI and verifies links automatically. A 7-day free trial includes 2 link exchanges; after that it costs $99.99 a month or $999.99 a year.
Authority Exchange arranges three-way exchanges with credits, for vetted members only, from $499 a month.
Collaborator is a marketplace for paid guest posts and press releases, not a link exchange.

Paid links are fine as advertising, marked with rel="sponsored". Paying for links that pass ranking credit is against Google's spam policies. See Nofollow, ugc and sponsored links explained.

A word on three-way exchanges

Several platforms offer three-way exchanges: A links to B, B to C, C to A. They are often sold as safer than a direct swap. We are more cautious: a three-way exchange is still an exchange, and it mostly makes the swap harder to spot. What keeps an exchange healthy is relevance and modest numbers, as Is link exchange safe for SEO? explains.

Which one to pick

If you want it free and want the links checked for you, start with Linkorado, which checks both links when they are placed, or Backlink Exchange, which keeps checking them. If you only want to be listed quickly, BackLink Ledger needs no account. If you run a company site and like points, KarmaLinks has a free plan. Whatever you choose, the site matters less than the partner: use our checklist on how to choose a good link partner before every exchange.