W3C Link Checker logo

W3C Link Checker

by World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) · Since 1998
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ActiveCloudFree tier
Quick facts
VendorWorld Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
Year launched1998
StatusActive
Location401 Edgewater Place, Suite 600, Wakefield, MA 01880, USA
Countries servedN/A
Languages3
IntegrationsN/A
Free tierYES
Free trialNO
Contact salesNO

About W3C Link Checker

A free tool by the W3C to check for broken links, anchors, and referenced objects in web pages, CSS style sheets, or recursively across an entire website. It helps ensure the quality and validity of web documents.

The W3C Link Checker is a free, authoritative tool provided by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) for web developers and site administrators. Its primary function is to identify broken links, anchors, and other referenced objects within web documents. Users can initiate a scan by entering a URL, uploading a file, or pasting markup directly. The tool can perform a recursive check, allowing it to crawl an entire website to a user-defined depth. It is a purely functional, web-based utility with no pricing, tiers, or commercial support options. It is designed to help maintain website quality and is recommended to be used alongside other W3C validation tools like the Markup Validator. The software is open-source and can be installed locally for users who need to perform extensive checks without the limitations of the public online version.

Pros & Cons

Pros
  • It is a free service provided by the authoritative World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
  • The tool can recursively check an entire website for broken links.
  • Source code is available for local installation, removing online limitations.
  • Supports checking by URL, file upload, or direct input.
  • Helps improve website quality and user experience by identifying broken links.
Cons
  • The user interface is dated and purely functional.
  • The online version has limitations on the number of documents that can be checked recursively.
  • No commercial support, scheduling, or advanced reporting features found in paid tools.
  • Requires some technical knowledge to interpret results and install locally.

Features

Key features

Comprehensive Link Checking

Checks for issues in links, anchors, and referenced objects within a web page or CSS style sheet.

Recursive Site Scanning

Can check linked documents recursively to scan an entire website up to a specified depth.

Multiple Input Methods

Allows checking by providing a URL, uploading a file, or pasting direct input.

Configurable Options

Provides options to summarize results, hide redirects, and control headers sent during the check.

Robots.txt Honoring

Respects robots exclusion rules defined in a site's /robots.txt file.

Additional features

Anchor Validation

Verifies that no anchor is defined more than once within a document.

Redirect Reporting

Warns about HTTP redirects, including directory redirects, to help maintain clean link structures.

Authentication Support

Supports HTTP basic authentication for checking protected areas of a website.

Open Source

The source code is publicly available for local installation and modification.

Pricing

Free trial
Free version
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Countries & Languages

Countries served
3
Interface languages
Billing currencies

Interface languages

EnglishJapaneseChinese

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