Free tool
What does one earned link really cost you?
Put your own numbers in: how many pitches you send, how many get a reply, how many replies become links, and what your time is worth. You'll see the cost per link for doing it yourself, an agency quote, and an outreach tool side by side.
Your outreach numbers
Defaults are conservative placeholders. Replace them with your own results when you have them.
Doing it yourself
Research, contact, write, follow up.
Email finder, verifier, mailbox.
Agency quote
Outreach tool
Do it yourself
per link
Agency
per link
Outreach tool
per link
The math
How to read the result
The number that moves the result most isn't price. It's how many of your pitches turn into links. Doubling your win rate halves your cost per link in every column. That comes from pitching posts where your product genuinely belongs, finding the person who edits them, and writing a pitch that shows you read the article.
When each option makes sense
- Do it yourself when you're validating whether outreach works in your niche and you have more time than budget.
- An agency when you want a fixed number of links and someone else to own the process. Ask how they get links; if the answer involves paying sites, walk away.
- An outreach tool when you want links every month without spending your week on research and writing, and you still want to approve what goes out.
See plan details on the pricing page, or compare with hiring an agency.
For market prices by method (agencies, marketplaces, guest posts and doing it yourself), see what backlinks cost in 2026. Cheap links are rarely the good ones; our guide to judging backlink quality explains what you're actually paying for.
Questions people ask
How much does one backlink cost?
It depends on how you get it. Doing outreach yourself costs mostly time: research, writing and follow-ups for every pitch, divided by the few that turn into links. Agencies quote a price per link. Buying placements outright is cheaper per link but breaks Google's spam policies. This calculator puts all three on the same per-link basis using your numbers.
What reply and win rates should I use?
Use your own if you have them. If you're starting out, the defaults here are deliberately conservative: a few replies per hundred pitches, and a minority of replies turning into a link. Relevant pitches to posts that already list tools like yours do better than generic guest post requests.
Why count my time at all?
Because it's the biggest cost of doing it yourself. Finding a relevant post, finding the right person, writing a pitch that mentions their article and following up takes real minutes per prospect. An hour of a founder's time has a price even if no invoice arrives.
Are paid links cheaper?
Often, per link. They also violate Google's link spam policies, can be discounted or penalised, and usually come from sites that sell to anyone. That's why paid placements aren't a column here. BacklinkGenie only does editorial outreach and never offers payment.
How is the outreach tool column calculated?
Monthly plan price plus your review time (a minute or two per pitch to approve), divided by the links those pitches produce at your reply and win rates. Pitch volume is capped at what the plan can send at full speed, so the result isn't flattering by default.
Related
Mailbox warmup calculator
See how many days a new outreach mailbox needs to reach full volume, and how many pitches a month you can send across several mailboxes.
Nofollow link checker
Paste a page's HTML and see every link to your domain with its rel attributes: followed, nofollow, sponsored or ugc.
Outreach volume planner
Start from the number of links you want a month and work back to pitches, prospects and mailboxes, including warmup time.
See which posts you could be in.
Paste your URL. The agent finds posts in your niche where your product fits and the editor to contact for each. Free, no card.
