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Ambolt Link Checker

Broken links, found and fixed.

A link checker for WordPress and every other kind of website. Accurate about what is broken, light on your server, and honest about what is free.

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Run a free check now →

Illustration · sample dataLinks from posts, pages, menus and widgets, filtered by status, with the fix next to each problem. Pick a fix and the plugin changes the link where it lives, then rechecks it.

The problem

Broken links cost you twice

Visitors hit a dead end, and search engines spend their crawl on pages that are gone. Finding them by hand does not scale, and the usual complaints about link checkers are these:

  1. False alarms

    A site that blocks bots is reported as broken, so the real problems get buried.

    Blocked is reported as blocked

  2. Heavy scans

    Checks that run on page loads or fill the database slow the site down.

    Background batches with a time budget

  3. Free in name only

    The useful part needs an account, a card or an upgrade.

    A free plan that works without a card

We built the Link Checker around those three.

How a check works

A link is not just up or down

Most checkers sort links into working and broken. Ours separates the cases that need different action, so you only fix what is really broken.

  1. Checked properly

    Every link gets a real request. If a server refuses a HEAD request, the link is asked again with GET. Server errors and timeouts are retried after a pause before anything is called broken.

    example.net/old-guideSample data
    1. HEAD405Method not allowed: ask again with GET
    2. GET404Not found

    BrokenBroken: the page is gone

  2. Broken and blocked, told apart

    A 404 means the page is gone. A 403 or a challenge page means a site refused an automated visitor, and people can usually open it. That is reported as blocked, never as broken.

    example.com/blog/spring-updateSample data
    Blocked

    shop.example.org/

    403 Bot protection challenge

    People can open it. Not counted as broken.

    Broken

    example.net/old-guide

    404 Not found

    Visitors hit a dead end. Needs a fix.

  3. Fixed in one click

    Each broken link comes with a fix: update the address, link an archived copy, add a redirect, or unlink it and keep the text.

    example.com/blog/spring-updateSample data
    Brokenexample.net/old-guide404
    Link an archived copy
    OKweb.archive.org/web/2024/example.net/old-guide200

    OKFixed. Recheck: 200 OK

The five answers

OK
The link answers. Nothing to do.
Redirect
It works, through a detour. Point it at the final address and save a hop.
Broken
404, 410, a host that does not exist, or a server that still fails after a retry. Replace it, link an archived copy, or unlink it.
Blocked by bot protection
The site refused an automated visitor (403, 429 or a challenge page). People can usually open it, so it is never counted as broken.
Skipped
An address that cannot be checked from outside, such as a private network address.

How it works

Find, check, fix

  1. Find

    The plugin reads links from posts, pages, menus, widgets and template parts, and optionally from comments and custom fields. The cloud monitor crawls any public site.

  2. Check

    Each link gets a HEAD request with a GET fallback, a retry with backoff and a polite per-host rate limit, from an honest user agent: AmboltLinkChecker/1.0.

  3. Fix

    One click: edit the URL, unlink, link an archived copy from the Internet Archive, add a redirect (with the Redirection plugin), mark as not broken, or recheck.

Accurate and light

Why you can trust the result

No benchmark claims here. This is how the checker decides, and what it does to your site.

How a link is judged

AnswerWhat we report
200 to 299OK
301, 302, 303, 307, 308Redirect, with the final address (up to 5 hops)
404 or 410Broken
5xx or a timeoutRetried once after a pause; broken only if it fails again
403, 429, a captcha or challenge pageBlocked by bot protection, never broken
405 or 501 to a HEAD requestAsked again with GET before anything is decided
Host not foundBroken, with the reason

What runs on your site (plugin)

WhereWhat happens
Page loadsNothing. Checks never run when a visitor opens a page.
BackgroundSmall batches with a time budget per run (Action Scheduler or WP-Cron).
DatabaseOne compact table with automatic cleanup.
UninstallRemoves its table and settings completely.
Outside callsOnly to the links being checked, as listed in the readme.

Release gate: before the first release, the checker must pass our own test on a 500-URL set with live, missing, redirecting, slow and bot-protected links. At most 1 % of working links may be reported as broken, and at most 2 % of broken links may be missed. The result is published with the release.

WordPress

Free WordPress plugin

Coming soon to WordPress.org

Free and fully functional without an account or a card: unlimited local checks, filters by status, bulk fixes, a dashboard widget and an optional weekly e-mail digest. No tracking and no credit link.

It will be listed on WordPress.org. This page links to it the day it is live; there is no download anywhere else.

Illustration · sample data

One click to fix

Pick a fix and the plugin changes the link where it lives, then rechecks it.

Any website

Monitor any site

The cloud monitor checks any public site on a schedule, whatever it runs on: WordPress, Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, Webflow or hand-written HTML. Alerts when something breaks, reports for clients, and an API on the Agency plans.

Illustration · sample data

A report your clients can read

Cloud checks for any site, with an alert when a link breaks and white-label reports for clients on the Agency plans.

Questions

Is the WordPress plugin really free?

Yes. The local engine is fully functional with no account and no card. A free account adds 500 cloud checks a month for a second opinion on links the plugin cannot judge.

Why is “blocked by bot protection” not broken?

A 403, 429 or challenge page means the site refused an automated visitor, not that the page is gone. People can usually open it. It is shown separately so it never buries a real break.

Will it slow my site down?

No checks run on page loads. Work happens in background batches with a time budget, in one compact table that cleans up after itself.

Which sites can the monitor check?

Any public website: WordPress, Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, Webflow or custom. It checks from our servers, so nothing has to be installed.

What is sent where?

The plugin only contacts the links it checks. Cloud checks send the link addresses to Ambolt, where they are kept for 30 days. The privacy policy has the details.

When can I buy a plan?

Billing opens with the first release. Until then every plan button says so, and nothing can be charged.

Can I check a page right now?

Yes. The free online check takes one page a day per visitor, up to 60 links, with no sign-up.

Check a page now

One free check a day. No sign-up, no card, no cookies.

Check a page