Free tool
Domain value checker
What a domain is really worth, by the same method we use to price every domain we sell: backlink quality, clean history, brandability, search demand and niche.
Registry data comes live from RDAP, the official successor to WHOIS, and history from the Wayback Machine. We never publish the domains you check.
Our method
How we value a domain, in four steps
The same method prices every domain on our marketplace. The checker above runs steps 1 to 3 on any name.
- 1
Rule out the disqualifiers
Hyphens or numbers, trademark, adult or gambling terms, a spam or takeover past in the archive, mostly non-English history, blacklisting. One fail and there is no Buy-now price.
- 2
Score it out of 100
Six weighted factors make the Domain Score. Backlinks are 45 of the 100 points; the name itself (brandability, keyword, niche) is 40; age is 15.
- 3
Turn the score into a price
Every name starts at $1,000 at Domain Score 35. Every 10 points above doubles it, every 10 below halves it. Then length, search demand and ad value.
- 4
Check it against real sales
In a human appraisal we compare closed sales of similar names and the likely buyer, and move the price toward what those names actually sold for.
The factors
What makes a domain valuable, and what doesn’t
Each factor, its weight in the Domain Score, and what moves it up or down.
Top backlinks
30 of 100The single biggest factor. We look at the strongest sites linking in, by authority or by real traffic: a major site is authority 70+ or 100,000+ visits a month. Only editorial links count: a link inside an article, not a company profile, journalist directory, Wikipedia mirror, social profile or SEO-tool page.
- Raises it: a handful of links from real publications, universities, big forums or brands
- Lowers it: no links from any site people actually visit. Links from spammy sites count for nothing
Link profile
15 of 100How many different sites link in, how clean they are and how many of them are real sites. Full marks at 1,000 referring domains.
- Raises it: hundreds of unique, relevant sites with a low spam score
- Lowers it: big link counts built from automated pages, directories and link farms. We score those near zero, whatever the count
Clean web archive history
Pass / failWe read the domain’s past in the Wayback Machine: every year it was in use, the titles of archived pages and their language.
- Raises it: years of real, on-topic use by a legitimate site
- Lowers it: a past as a casino, pharma, adult or foreign-language spam site. One of those and we won’t price it at all
Age
15 of 100Years of real use in the archive, or of continuous registration, whichever is longer. Full marks at 15 years.
- Raises it: a long, unbroken history
- Lowers it: a recent drop and re-registration: the clock restarts
Brandability
15 of 100Can people say it, spell it and remember it after hearing it once?
- Raises it: one real word or a clean two-word name, short, easy to say
- Lowers it: hyphens, numbers, 3+ word phrases, consonant clusters, awkward spellings
Keyword match
15 of 100Is the name exactly (EMD) or partly (PMD) a phrase people search for and advertisers pay for?
- Raises it: an exact match to a phrase with real monthly searches
- Lowers it: words nobody searches for
Hot niche
10 of 100Buyers pay more in some markets: AI, SaaS & cloud, Cybersecurity, Fintech & payments, Insurance, Legal, Health & medical, Real estate and more.
- Raises it: a niche word buyers are actively paying up for
- Lowers it: a name that sits in no clear market
Search demand & ad value
PriceApplied to the price, not the score: US searches a month for the exact name (up to ×1.6), and searches × Google Ads cost per click, what advertisers already pay for that traffic (up to ×1.5).
- Raises it: thousands of searches in a market where clicks cost dollars
- Lowers it: no measured demand and no hot niche: the price caps at $1,495, whatever the links
Length & extension
PriceShort names are scarce: 3 characters ×4, 4 ×2.5, 5 ×1.6 on the price. The extension is not scored at all: a .com with no links, history or demand is worth little, and a strong name on another extension earns its price like any other.
- Raises it: 3 to 5 characters
- Lowers it: nothing: longer names get no boost, and no extension gets a head start
Worked example: seooptimization.io
A live listing on our marketplace, priced by exactly this method. Its Domain Score is 42/100:
| Factor | Weight | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top backlinks | 30 | 0 / 100 | No links from major sites |
| Link profile | 15 | 10 / 100 | 48 referring domains |
| Age | 15 | 47 / 100 | 7 years registered |
| Brandability | 15 | 74 / 100 | Clean two-word name, 15 letters |
| Keyword match | 15 | 85 / 100 | Exact match to "seo optimization": 4,400 US searches/month |
| Hot niche | 10 | 100 / 100 | Hot niche: Marketing & SEO |
Then the price. It starts at $1,000, like every name at Domain Score 35, and moves with each factor:
| Price factor | Effect |
|---|---|
| Domain Score 42 (every 10 points doubles the price) | +62% |
| 4,400 US searches a month for the name | +30% |
| Advertisers pay about $159,104 a month for that traffic (CPC $36.16) | +50% |
| Buy-now price | $3,195 |
It has no links from major sites, so it earns its price on search demand and what advertisers pay for that traffic, not on backlinks.
Why most valuators are off
Instant appraisals vs. how we value
Most instant tools guess a price from length, keywords and the extension. What actually decides a domain’s price is mostly invisible to them.
| What decides the price | yourdomain | Typical instant appraisal |
|---|---|---|
| Quality of the sites linking in | Measured: authority and real traffic of each linking site | Usually ignored |
| Automated or spammy links | Counted as near zero | Often inflate the estimate |
| Web archive history | Read year by year; spam or takeover past = no price | Not checked |
| Trademark risk | Screened; a match = no price | Not checked |
| Extension | No head start for .com | A big .com premium |
| Search demand and ad value | Live searches and Google Ads CPC for the exact name | Sometimes, as a keyword guess |
| Shows its math | Every factor and its effect on the price | One number |
| Human check | Free appraisal against real closed sales | No |
Want the full detail, with the grade bands? See exactly how we value domains.
Next step
Want a number you can sell at?
Get a free appraisal from a human, checked against real closed sales, or list it with us.
Questions, answered
Frequently asked questions
How much is my domain worth?
Run it through the checker above. It scores the name, age, niche and history instantly and shows what it’s worth with no backlinks, solid links and strong links. Unlock the full check and we measure the real links, search demand and ad value and give you one estimated value.
How do you calculate a domain’s value?
Our Domain Value formula: every name starts at $1,000 at Domain Score 35, doubles for every 10 points above, and then moves for length, exact-match search demand and Google Ads CPC. The Domain Score itself is 45% backlinks, 40% the name (brandability, keyword, niche) and 15% age.
Why are instant domain appraisals so often wrong?
They estimate from surface patterns: length, keywords, the extension. They don’t check who links to the domain, whether those links are real, what the domain was used for, or trademark risk, which is what separates a $500 name from a $5,000 one.
Do backlinks increase a domain’s value?
Only real ones. A few links from major, high-traffic sites can multiply a domain’s value. Thousands of links from automated pages, directories and spam sites add nothing, and we score them that way.
Does a .com automatically make a domain more valuable?
No. We don’t score the extension. A .com still tends to have more buyers, which shows up in real sales and in a human appraisal, but it has to earn its price on links, history, the name and demand like any other.
Does domain age increase value?
Yes, when the history is clean: we score years of real use or continuous registration, full marks at 15 years. A spam past cancels it out.
How do you check a domain’s history?
We read its Wayback Machine archive: the years it was in use and the titles and language of archived pages. Spam, gambling, adult or foreign-language takeovers are the most common reasons an expired domain is worth less than its metrics suggest.
Can you sell my domain?
Yes. Submit it and we will value it and bring it to buyers.
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