How much do backlinks really cost in 2026? We checked 132 contractors to save you time.

The lowest price we ever paid for backlinks was $0.017 per link—less than two cents.

As part of an experiment to manipulate domain authority metrics, we purchased 4,169 backlinks from 908 referring domains on Fiverr for $70.

Beware! This was done solely for fun and research purposes. You should never acquire this type of backlink for a real business! They will not boost website rankings and may even harm them.

We paid $70 to get 4,169 backlinks for one of our test sites. Source: Xamsor’s authority checker.

How much does a backlink cost? The short answer.

If you’re here for quick answers, $200 is a realistic average cost for a high-quality link to a general business website.

This assumes the US location for both the link donor and the client. Other locations are usually cheaper. On the other hand, the best authors and publishers can charge thousands per placement.

Our best link was technically around $100. 

It took three hours for a person working for free (myself 🙂). Plus, my editor time was paid to create a guest blog contribution for Backlinko.

However, the research behind this brief contribution took a few weeks and cost more than a thousand dollars. Initially, we conducted it for this blog but later reused it for the Backlinko contribution.

What I’m getting at is that determining the actual price can sometimes be tricky. I’ll explain more about this in a moment.

The backlink to Xamsor from Backlinko.

We evaluated 130+ contractors and their link-building offers. See our detailed backlink pricing research for the key factors that influence cost to make a broader comparison. Then, we hired several agencies and freelancers for our SEO clients to test their “white hat outreach” link-building services and evaluate the results versus the effort and costs.

Ultimately, the outcome ranged from $45 per backlink to infinity—when we paid money and got no links.

We’ll summarize the cost findings from several weeks of link-building market research below if you want to know the details (highly recommended before investing any money).

But let’s start with an overview of the price components.

How a backlink price is built.

The big rocks are—the labor cost, link-donor payment (aka publisher fee), content creation cost, and agency markup.

Here’s the cost breakup of an “average” $200 backlink sold by an agency for $100 profit:

An illustrative cost breakdown chart for an average backlink.

Let’s understand each of these factors.

#1. The labor cost

Finding relevant websites and reaching out to them requires some time and effort. Various contractors worldwide charge between $3 and $100 per hour. After evaluating 132 applications and testing 30 contractors, I found two reliable ones in India and Pakistan for around $10/hour.

It is worth noting that you’ll need to be involved a lot for this check. They can be good in process and disciplined, but you should always check the messaging sent in pitches!

Believe me, it can be really bad otherwise.

That’s the beginning. The contractor reaches out to relevant websites and pitches for a link.

#2. Payment to the “link donor” website owner

In 99% of cases, content placement is business for the website owners. So, every link and content placement has its cost. 

Prices vary based on link-donor performance, traffic geography, domain authority, and other factors. The better the performance, the higher the price.

Also, the price for the link from the same link donor may vary greatly. We wrote a separate post on what influences the cost of the backlink from the same website. If you want to check market prices for the link on a specific website, use a reputable link-building marketplace.

#3. Content creation

Links require content to refer to. You must provide the content, or the publisher/agency will create it for an extra fee.

Based on my experience, a qualified writer rarely costs less than $50/hour in the US and $10/hour in Eastern Europe and Asia. A normal-quality piece of content takes 2-3 hours to put together.

The “average” content creation cost is between $25 to $150. 

#4. SEO or link-building agency markup

If you build backlinks through an agency, the agency has costs and exists to make a profit. Depending on the agency, backlinks from the same website can cost between $10 and $500.

The cost breakup.

So, breaking down our “average” $200 backlink:

• $30 for three hours of work by a $10/hour contractor to find the opportunity and handle the technical tasks.
• $70 for the creation of the blog post.
• $100 to the website owner for publishing the post on their site.

As you can see from the price breakdowns, prices may vary greatly.

You can save a lot by hiring contractors overseas. Hiring all US-based expert-level contractors will push the price beyond $500.

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