7 Best Link Building Tools for 2026 [Free + Paid]

Building backlinks (links from other sites to yours) has long been one of the most effective ways to improve your authority and SEO performance. 

As it turns out, backlinks are also important for AI SEO. Our recent study showed that domains with high-quality backlink profiles are much more visible in AI-generated responses.

In short, backlinks matter as much as ever. And while getting them takes time, the right tools let you discover opportunities faster, manage outreach more efficiently, and track your progress in one place.

In this guide, we tested seven of the best link building tools for 2026 to see which deliver the most value for different goals and budgets.

Here’s our list of the best link building tools:

1. Backlink Gap

Best for: Easily spotting competitor backlinks you don’t have and turning them into outreach opportunities

Semrush’s Backlink Gap tool helps you spot link building opportunities by comparing your link profile to those of up to four competitors. 

In a 15-minute test, I found 22 high-potential link building prospects.

I looked for one type of article: tool round-up listicles that feature other tools, but not the “you” domain.

Go to Backlink Gap. Enter all five domains, then click “Find prospects.”

You’ll see this long list of websites linking to your competitors but not to you.

To see the pages that link to a competitor, click on one of the numbers that has an arrow next to it. And here it is: a tool round-up!

I spent 10 minutes going through this list and found 22 websites that have tool listicles that link to the “you” domain’s competitors.

To save the prospects you want to contact, select each and click “+ Start outreach.”

Select the project. If you don’t have a project, select “Create new project” and the tool will walk you through the setup process. Review the list, then click “Send prospects.”

This action will save your prospects in the Link Building Tool, which we’ll show you in the next section.

Your file will be downloaded, and you can import it into your outreach tool of choice.

What I Like About Backlink Gap

Here’s what I like:

• Missed opportunities that are easy to find: Backlink Gap makes it easy to find websites that link to four of your competitors. These websites are more likely to link to you, too. Making them great opportunities for link building.
• Integration with the Link Building Tool: Backlink Gap speeds up the outreach process by allowing you to quickly send prospects to the Link Building Tool

Backlink Gap is fast and intuitive for surfacing missed backlink opportunities. You’ll still want to manually vet each site for quality and relevance, but it streamlines the discovery process.

Pricing

You can start using Backlink Gap for free. The number of results you’ll be able to see will be limited, though.

To unlock the full version of Backlink Gap, opt for one of Semrush’s paid plans:

• Pro ($139.95/month)
• Guru ($249.95/month)
• Business ($499.95/month)

2. Link Building Tool

Best for: Managing the complete outreach process in one place

Semrush’s Link Building Tool allows you to find prospects based on your target keywords and competitors, start outreach directly from the platform, and keep track of your campaigns.

In this test, I looked at a list of prospects that Backlink Gap found to see what the dashboard for sending out emails was like.

Go to the Link Building Tool, and select “Prospects” from the menu at the top.

Analyze the list of prospects, and when you decide they’re worth reaching out to, click “To In Progress” in the same row as the prospect.

Click “In Progress” to view the selected prospects and start outreach.

Then, click “Contact” in the “Email” column of the website you want to send an email to.

Next:

• Connect your mailbox by clicking “+ Add mailbox”
• Enter the prospect’s email address
• Customize the subject line and email body

By clicking “Follow-up,” you can add a follow-up email and create a sequence.

What I Like About the Link Building Tool

Here’s what I like:

• Easy integration with Backlink Gap: Sending prospects from one tool to another was smooth, and I like that I can start outreach without having to leave the platform
• Sending email sequences from the platform: Being able to create follow-up sequences and send them from the tool saves time compared to doing everything from your email inbox

Semrush’s link-building ecosystem is well-connected. You can move prospects straight from Backlink Gap into outreach. The interface does take a little time to learn, but once you’re set up, it saves hours of manual coordination.

Pricing

You can use the Link Building Tool for free for one project. If you want to use it for multiple projects, you’ll need to opt for one of Semrush’s paid plans:

• Pro ($139.95/month)
• Guru ($249.95/month)
• Business ($499.95/month)

3. BuzzStream

Best for: Large outreach and public relations (PR) teams and agencies that need to coordinate campaigns, contacts, and communication history

BuzzStream is a platform that PR and link building teams use to keep track of their campaigns and media contacts in a single place. It can also find prospects’ contact information and allows you to create email sequences.

I used to use this tool daily a few years back. So I’ve run a quick test to see it in action in 2025.

I set up one project, imported a few prospects, checked the quality of contact information the tool sourced, and had a look around the prospect cards.

To import contacts, you can paste a list of URLs or import from a CSV file. Then, click “Add Websites.”

You’ll see your prospects in a list like this one:

If you hover over the purple boxes in the “Recipient” or “Discovered Contacts” columns, you’ll see a list of contact information the tool found for you.

When you’re ready to start outreach, click on the name of the website, and its dedicated card will appear.

Here, you can add notes for your team, send emails, add links you got from them, and more.

This is where I ended my test, after which I concluded that the platform still works similarly to a few years ago.

To get the most out of this tool, I would need to launch a few campaigns from it and collaborate with a team. So my test is a bit limited here, but I’m going to share the insights I gathered from using it a while back.

What I Like About BuzzStream

Here’s what I like:

• Large PR/outreach team collaboration: BuzzStream is great for large outreach/public relations teams that launch multiple campaigns at a single time, and potentially have overlapping contacts and prospects. It ensures everyone’s on the same page and prevents you from duplicating communication with a single lead. Plus, you can see the communication history your organization had with each media outlet.
• Email automation and sequences: BuzzStream allows you to create automated email sequences that can be triggered by prospects’ actions. For example, you can configure follow-up emails. But if the prospect responds, the sequence is automatically paused. 

BuzzStream doesn’t always find the best contact information. In most cases, you still need to look for contact information on your own or use an additional tool (like Hunter, which we’ll cover later in the article).

Pricing

At the time of writing this article, BuzzStream offers four plans:

• Starter ($24/month)
• Growth ($124/month)
• Professional ($299/month)
• Custom (starting at $999/month)

All plans, except Custom, have a 14-day free trial.

4. Hunter

Best for: Finding and verifying accurate email addresses for your outreach campaigns

Hunter is an email outreach platform that allows you to find prospects, discover or verify their contact information, and launch outreach campaigns.

I ran a 10-minute test of the platform to check how effective it is in finding prospects’ contact information. The test consisted of finding one specific person’s email address and verifying another email address I found online.

In their Finder tool, I entered the domain and clicked on it in the drop-down menu.

The tool found 638 email addresses, listed with names and job titles. Like this:

If you’re looking for a specific person’s contact information, enter their name in the search bar. If Hunter has their information in their database, the tool will display:

• Their email address
• Their position at the company
• A link to their LinkedIn profile
• A list of the online sources where the tool found the email address

Like this:

Then, I used Hunter’s Email Verifier to verify whether an email address I found elsewhere exists.

And here’s how Hunter verified that this email address exists:

What I Like About Hunter

Here’s what I like:

• Ability to find prospects’ contact information: Hunter makes it easy to find the contact information of the person you want to contact
• Email verification: Verifying email addresses lets you check if an email that bounced is caused by a faulty email address

Hunter gives you quick access to verified contact data, but outreach still requires care. Always confirm that the recipient publicly shares their email for inquiries, and comply with GDPR or CAN-SPAM rules to avoid deliverability or privacy issues.

It’s best to check the sources where Hunter found information to see if this person is OK with receiving outreach emails. Here’s an example where the journalist’s profile page shares her email address and states: “If you have a story idea or a tip, you can email her at …”

Pricing

At the time of writing this article, Hunter offers four plans:

• Free
• Starter ($49/month)
• Growth ($149/month)
• Scale ($299/month)

Hunter also has the option to create a custom plan.

5. Featured

Best for: Pitching expert insights to writers and journalists through a user-friendly Q&A dashboard

Featured (formerly Terkel) is a platform that lists out queries and questions from journalists and content writers, intending to connect them with subject matter experts. Like this:

Side note: In April 2025, Featured acquired and revived HARO (Help a Reporter Out). We’ll cover HARO in the next section, but it’s worth noting that by using Featured, you get early access to HARO requests (even on their free plans).

Last time I used their platform was in April 2023, when I got 19 links out of 73 submitted pitches.

For this test, I’m going to be exploring their free plan to see how the platform has evolved.

I submitted one answer through the platform, and here’s how it went.

I found that Featured is still quite easy to use. You go through the list of questions, skip irrelevant ones, and save the ones you want to answer.

Then, when you’re ready to pitch within Featured, clicking “Answer” will open up a box where you can add your answer:

Once you click submit, the request will be sent to the Featured team for review. They will select the best answer and forward it to the publisher. And you can track the status of your pitches in their “In Review” tab.

What I Like About Featured

Here’s what I like:

• “Questions” dashboard: It speeds up the process of selecting and answering questions. In comparison to other pitching platforms, this is a major advantage. 
• Big name publications: Featured works with journalists and writers from some major publications like BBC, New York Post, Forbes, Business Insider, and more, which gives you opportunities to pitch and be featured in them.

One trade-off of Featured is that it doesn’t allow you direct contact with the publishers. This can impact your ability to establish relationships with journalists and content writers, which usually leads to more features and links in the future.

Featured works best for experienced PR or SEO teams that already understand how to craft strong pitches. Beginners may struggle to get consistent placements, and the free plan’s three-answer limit can feel restrictive until you’ve refined your pitching strategy.

Pricing

At the time of writing this article, Featured offers four plans:

• Free
• Lite ($19/month)
• Pro ($49/month)
• Business ($99/month)

6. Help a Reporter Out (HARO)

Best for: Beginners or small teams who want free access to journalist queries to build backlinks

Help a Reporter Out (HARO) is a free tool (owned by Featured) that connects journalists and content writers with subject matter experts via email.

I signed up for HARO and submitted one pitch through their platform to show you how it works.

First, I signed up on HARO’s website to get access to the email alerts. Then, I started receiving digests three times each day with queries grouped into categories.

After clicking on the query, I could see more details about the request, publication, and the journalist.

Once you’re ready to pitch, click on the anonymized email address, write your pitch, and click “Send.”

What I Like About HARO:

Here’s what I like:

• Affordability: HARO is free, and you can submit unlimited answers through it. This makes it a great option for folks who are just starting and can’t invest in platforms like Featured.
• Access to the publisher: Even though the platform anonymizes journalists’ addresses, you’re still getting more direct access (compared to Featured) to them. They’ll receive your pitch and contact information. And even if they don’t use your answer for this story, they may use it for another or contact you in the future for relevant opportunities.

One thing to note is that the email system HARO uses is quite outdated. This makes it difficult to keep track of selected queries and pitches you sent. To make it work at scale, you’ll need to create a tracking system (e.g., in a Google Sheet or a Trello board).

HARO is a solid option for small teams or individuals just starting with link building. It’s free and great for learning how to pitch journalists.

Pricing

At the time of writing this article, HARO is free to use.

7. Backlink Analytics

Best for: Tracking new backlinks and monitoring your backlink profile growth over time

Semrush’s Backlink Analytics allows you to study your and your competitors’ backlink profiles to find new links and opportunities.

I tested the tool to see if I could find links from a company’s recent PR campaign.

To monitor the links you get during outreach campaigns, go to Backlink Analytics, enter your domain, and click “Analyze.”

Click “Referring Domains” > “New.”

Then look through the list to find domains you recently reached out to.

Once you find them, click the number in the “Backlinks” column to view the source page and the target URL on your site.

What I Like About Backlink Analytics

Here’s what I like:

• Quick to find backlinks: Semrush quickly finds backlinks, allowing you to closely monitor the results of your outreach campaigns
• Historical trends: You can track how your backlink profile grows (or declines) over time, which is useful for spotting spikes or sudden losses

Backlink Analytics is a reliable way to monitor the results of your link building campaigns and track new mentions as they appear. It’s especially useful for seeing whether recent outreach efforts are paying off, though larger sites may need to filter out low-value links to keep data manageable.

Pricing

You can start using Backlink Analytics for free. But the number of backlinks you’ll see will be limited to 10 links.

To unlock the full version of Backlink Gap, you can opt for one of Semrush’s paid plans:

• Pro ($139.95/month)
• Guru ($249.95/month)
• Business ($499.95/month)

Integrate Link Building Into Your SEO Processes

Link building takes consistent effort, but the right tools make it measurable and repeatable.

Semrush brings discovery, outreach, and tracking together in one platform, so you can spend less time managing spreadsheets and more time earning results.

Sign up for Semrush’s free plan today and get access to:

• Backlink Gap: To easily find new opportunities
• Link Building Tool: To launch and monitor your outreach campaign from a single platform
• Backlink Analytics: To easily spot new backlinks