DR3 vs DR4 Checker
See a domain's Ahrefs Domain Rating under both DR3 and DR4, side by side, with the difference.
Results are provided as is, for general information. Check anything important before relying on it. See the Terms of Use.
About DR3 vs DR4 Checker
Enter a domain or subdomain and see its Domain Rating under both the legacy DR3 and the new DR4, side by side, with the change in points. Ahrefs rebuilt Domain Rating as DR4: it is still a 0–100, backlink-only score, but it gives more weight to links from sites that get organic search traffic, and subdomains are rated on their own backlinks instead of borrowing the root domain's score. Ahrefs says the update reaches its standard interface on December 1 and that DR3 stays available through its API only for a short time after that, so this comparison may not be available indefinitely. Enter the domain only, without https:// or a path (a leading www. is dropped; other subdomains are kept as typed). Our server sends the name to Ahrefs after a human-verification check; the Ahrefs API key never reaches your browser. Domain Rating by Ahrefs.
When to use DR3 vs DR4 Checker
DR3 vs DR4 Checker FAQ
What changed between DR3 and DR4?
DR4 is still based only on backlinks; age and content quality are not counted. The difference is weighting: links from sites and subdomains that Ahrefs estimates get organic search traffic count for more, so the pool of sites that can affect a rating is smaller and higher quality. Subdomains are rated on the backlinks pointing to them rather than inheriting the root domain's score, and about half as many sites receive a DR4 score as a DR3 score.
Why is my DR4 lower (or higher) than my DR3?
In Ahrefs' own test of the top 1,000 domains by organic traffic, 64.3% rose, 15.8% stayed the same and 19.9% fell; the average fall was 7.3 points and the median was 4. Domains whose DR3 leaned on links from low-traffic or spam-labeled sites tend to fall most, and domains linked mainly from sites with real search traffic tend to hold or rise. Non-spam domains had a median change near zero. Your own change can differ from these averages.
Why do subdomains differ so much?
Under DR3 a subdomain often showed its root domain's score. Under DR4 it is judged on its own links. Ahrefs' examples: help.ahrefs.com went from 91 to 75 while ahrefs.com stayed at 92, and free-hosting subdomains fell to near zero. A subdomain with few links of its own can drop sharply even when the main domain is strong, and the reverse can happen too.
Which version should I use?
DR4 is Ahrefs' current version and the one that will appear in its standard interface from December 1. Ahrefs reports that DR4 correlates better with Google's top positions in its test of 10 million hosts (0.332 against 0.128 for the top three), but like DR3 it is a third-party estimate, not a Google metric. Use DR3 only to compare with older reports, and compare like with like when you track a site over time.
Why does a domain have a DR3 but no meaningful DR4?
DR4 counts fewer sites, so small or link-poor domains can score 0 or very low where DR3 gave a modest number. A low DR4 for a new or niche site is not a penalty; it means few traffic-bearing sites link to it yet.
Will this tool keep working?
Only while Ahrefs keeps DR3 in its API. Ahrefs says DR3 stays available through the API for a short period after the December 1 interface update, without giving an end date. When DR3 is removed this tool will lose its comparison and be retired; the Domain Rating Checker will keep showing DR4.
Why is the date or figure different from Ahrefs?
The date shown is the day our server fetched the figures, and results can be reused for up to 24 hours. Ahrefs updates its data continuously, so its own interface is the reference if the two disagree. Each lookup asks Ahrefs for both versions, so a comparison uses two of the daily lookups; if a limit is reached the tool says so and you can try again later.
What is sent to the server and to Ahrefs?
The domain you enter is sent to our server and then to Ahrefs twice, once for each version. It is not otherwise stored by this tool. A Cloudflare Turnstile check runs first to prevent automated abuse. The Ahrefs data is shown under Ahrefs' Domain Rating license, which requires the attribution next to every figure.