Best Backlink Exchange Platforms 2026

A backlink exchange platform introduces site owners who want to trade links. The better ones also check that both sides did what they agreed, and keep checking afterward. That second part is where these platforms differ most, so it is what this comparison looks at.

Swappsy is our product, so read our own entry with that in mind. For every other platform we read its own website in October 2026 and report only what it says there. Prices and features change, so check the platform's site before you pay.

Quick comparison

"Not stated" means we read the platform's pages and found nothing about it. It does not mean the platform doesn't do it.

How backlink exchanges work

Every platform here runs one of three patterns, or a mix of them.

• Direct swap. Site A links to site B and site B links back to site A. It is the easiest deal to arrange.
• ABC swap, also called 3-way. You give a link from one of your sites and receive a link to a different one. No two sites link to each other.
• Credits. You earn a credit when you link to a member and spend it to get a link from a different member. The platform keeps the score, so the two of you never need a matching pair of sites.

What to check before you join

• Does it make people prove they own the site? Without that, you can agree a swap with someone who has no way to publish on the site they offered. You place your link and theirs never appears.
• Does it check the link, and keep checking? Links get removed months later, often when a page is edited or an editor changes jobs. A platform that only looks once leaves the rest to you.
• What does it show besides DR? Domain Rating is easy to inflate. Traffic from Google and a history of finished deals tell you more.
• Is anyone there in your niche? A new network can be well built and still have nobody relevant for you. Sign up free first and look before you pay.
• What does a link really cost? A monthly fee divided by the two or three swaps you will actually finish is the real price.

The platforms

1. Swappsy

Swappsy covers three kinds of deal: link exchanges, guest posts (content collabs) and tool listings. You verify a site before you can post it or send a request from it, through Search Console, a DNS record, a meta tag or an email to an address at the domain. Every deal has a deadline. When each side pastes the page where the link was placed, our crawler opens it and the deal completes only when both links are found.

After that, both links are checked every day. If a partner removes a link within 90 days, they get a strike, and a third strike hides them from partner search for 30 days. For an ABC swap, either side can say on the deal that the link points to a different site.

Price: free for 1 site, 50 watched backlinks and 10 requests a month. Pro is $4.99 a month. See pricing.

Watch out for: it is a young network, so in a narrow niche you may find few partners at first.

2. AnyBacklink

AnyBacklink is a free platform for direct swaps. You must verify your site by uploading a file, adding a DNS record or connecting Search Console before you can list it or request a swap. Matching uses three keywords you choose, and the site says plainly that it does not use Domain Authority. It places no links itself: the two owners agree and publish. Once one side publishes, the other has seven days to do the same.

Price: free, with no paid plan.

Watch out for: its pages describe a check when a link is submitted, and say nothing about rechecking it later.

3. Ranking Raccoon

Ranking Raccoon is a marketplace where link builders find each other and talk in a built-in chat. It supports direct and ABC swaps, and its team reviews sites by hand before they are listed. It says it has verified sites across 54 industries.

Price: Lite is free forever, but a Lite account can only be found and contacted. Browsing the sites and starting a chat needs Pro at $25 a month.

Watch out for: on the free plan you wait for others to write to you.

4. pressplaced

pressplaced swaps guest posts instead of single links. Hosting a member's post earns a credit, and a credit gets your post published on another site. Posts must be at least 500 words with exactly one dofollow link to your own domain. You verify a site with a meta tag or a DNS record, and can add up to five domains.

It says it checks backlinks every 24 hours. If a host removes a link and doesn't restore it, the host loses two credits and yours is returned.

Price: free. The pricing page shows a Pro plan at $0 a month for now.

Watch out for: every exchange costs you a full article.

5. CrossMention

CrossMention is a credit network for B2B companies. Its site says exchanges are "always three way, never reciprocal", and that blogs, affiliate sites and consumer brands are not what it is for. Credit values follow DR tiers. Placed links are rechecked every 2 days for 90 days, and your credits come back if the link is gone.

Price: free for the first 100 founding members. A card is required but not charged.

Watch out for: it was still filling those first 100 places when we looked, so the network is small. Checking also stops after 90 days.

6. KarmaLinks

KarmaLinks allows ABC exchanges only, tracked with points, and asks for a minimum DR of 15 to join. Its site promises continuous monitoring with a notice when a link goes missing.

Price: a free plan, and Pro at $19 a month.

Watch out for: the DR floor keeps new sites out.

7. Rankchase

Rankchase matches you with sites automatically, by niche, similar DR and traffic, instead of asking you to browse.

Price: the free plan hides the details of the sites it matches you with. Premium is $19 a month per website and adds full match details, more filters and ABC exchanges.

Watch out for: the per-site price adds up for agencies.

8. LinkBazaar

LinkBazaar runs on credits: each link you give earns credits you spend on links from other members. It calls itself a link exchange built for SaaS teams and lists 200+ verified websites, which you can filter by category, location and authority.

Price: free to start. Its pricing page didn't load for us, so we can't give paid prices.

Watch out for: 200 sites spread across every category is a small pool.

9. HASO (Help An SEO Out)

HASO is for local SEO. Agencies list the local business sites they manage and trade links directly, two-way or ABC. The site says Domain Authority is not important there, and that locality and relevance are. It shows 1,209+ websites listed.

Price: the Starter plan is $0 for one website. Solo Biz, which lets you reach out to any listed site, is $187 once, not monthly.

Watch out for: if your sites aren't local businesses, this isn't your network.

10. Distribb

Distribb is an AI content tool with an exchange built in. It writes articles for your site and places links for both sides automatically, always as ABC: you link to one business and a different one links to you. Its plan promises 3 to 5 backlinks a month.

Price: Pro is $97 a month, or $79 a month paid yearly. There is no free plan.

Watch out for: you can't buy the exchange without the content tool, and you don't choose the partners.

11. Authority Exchange

Authority Exchange runs 3-way ABC exchanges with credits, priced by Ahrefs DR tier, for brands, publishers and agencies. Links are verified once they are live, and members are asked to keep them up for at least six months. Its FAQ says full monitoring of links is still being built.

Price: $499 a month for one site and $999 a month for a team.

Watch out for: it is the most expensive option here.

12. BacklinkSwappers

BacklinkSwappers does the matching for you: its team manages the relationships and negotiates terms, with sites of DR 30 and up in similar niches.

Price: not published. Sign-up is an early access form.

Watch out for: you can't see the price, the process or the sites before you apply.

13. Backlink Creators

Backlink Creators is a community, not software. Members meet on Discord and Reddit and arrange swaps between themselves, with no middleman.

Price: free.

Watch out for: nobody verifies sites or checks links, so you do both. Our list of link exchange communities covers more places like this.

Is a backlink exchange safe?

Google's spam policies list this as an example of link spam:

Excessive link exchanges ("Link to me and I'll link to you") or partner pages exclusively for the sake of cross-linking

The word that matters is "excessive". Two relevant sites that link to each other because the pages help their readers are an ordinary part of the web. A site whose links mostly come from trades is what the policy describes.

ABC swaps and credits avoid the obvious pair of links. They don't change what the policy is about, which is links made mainly to move rankings. No platform makes an exchange exempt. A few rules keep you on the right side:

• Trade only with sites your readers would find useful.
• Put the link in the body of a page that has its own reason to exist.
• Vary the anchor text, and prefer the natural phrase over the exact keyword.
• Keep exchanges a small share of all the links you earn.

Which one should you pick?

• You want free, with ownership checks and links watched every day: Swappsy.
• You want free direct swaps matched by keyword: AnyBacklink.
• You only want 3-way exchanges: KarmaLinks or CrossMention, and Authority Exchange if you have the budget.
• You would rather trade guest posts than links: pressplaced.
• You do local SEO for clients: HASO.
• You want it done for you: Distribb, or BacklinkSwappers.

Whichever you choose, keep your own record of every link you were promised and check that it stays live. Most of these platforms stop looking sooner than you would want.

Frequently asked questions

What is an ABC link exchange?

It is a swap across three sites. You link from your site A to a partner's site B, and the partner links from B to your other site C. On a credit network the link back comes from a third member instead. Either way, no two sites link to each other.

Are backlink exchange platforms free?

Several are. AnyBacklink, pressplaced and Backlink Creators are free. Swappsy, Ranking Raccoon, KarmaLinks, Rankchase and HASO have a free plan with limits. Distribb and Authority Exchange are paid only.

How do I know my partner's link will stay up?

You don't, unless something checks. Pick a platform that rechecks links after the deal, or add each link to a backlink monitoring tool yourself.

How many link exchanges are too many?

Google gives no number. As a working rule, exchanges should be a small part of your links, each one with a site that makes sense for your readers.