Free broken link checker
Scan every link on a web page for 404s, server errors, timeouts and redirects, with the anchor text so you can find each one fast.
Free to use, no signup needed.
Find and fix broken links
Paste the URL of any page. The checker reads its HTML, collects every unique link, and requests each one in parallel, without downloading the full page. Each link gets a status: OK (2xx), redirect (3xx, with the target), broken (4xx or 5xx) or failed (timeout, DNS or TLS error). Broken links are listed first.
How to fix a broken link
For internal links, point the link at the correct live page, or add a 301 redirect from the missing URL to its closest replacement. Check the redirect with the redirect checker. For outbound links, swap in an updated source or remove the link. Links that redirect still work, but linking straight to the final URL is faster and cleaner.
Broken links tend to come back after migrations, CMS changes and deleted products. A RareMatter plan crawls your whole site on a schedule and flags new broken links as they appear.
Frequently asked questions
Is this broken link checker free?
Yes, with no signup. It checks up to 150 unique links on one page per run. To scan every page of your site on a schedule, create a RareMatter account.
What counts as a broken link?
Any link that returns a 4xx or 5xx status, such as 404 Not Found, 410 Gone or 500 Server Error. Links that time out or fail DNS are shown separately, because they may be temporary.
Why do some links show 403 or 999?
Some sites, especially social networks, block automated requests. A 403 or 999 on LinkedIn, for example, usually still works in a browser. Check those by hand before removing them.
Do broken links hurt SEO?
A few broken outbound links will not sink your rankings, but broken internal links waste crawl budget, strand pages and frustrate visitors. Fix internal ones first, then outbound links on your important pages.