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W3C Link Checker vs Ahrefs Broken Link Checker: catalog facts
W3C Link Checker	Ahrefs Broken Link Checker
Free Free to use on the W3C website.	Free The checker is free; it is a lead-in to Ahrefs' paid SEO platform.
Web	Web
Checks anchors as well as full URLs Recursive crawling with a configurable depth	No signup or download required Shows both inbound and outbound broken links
Plain interface with a text-heavy report Works best when the pages already have valid markup	Deeper reports need a paid Ahrefs account Results depend on Ahrefs' index rather than a fresh crawl of your site
Web application	Web application
Closed source	Closed source
License not stated	License not stated
No account needed	No account needed
Needs internet	Needs internet
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 23, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.