--- title: "Domain Rating Checker: DR3 vs DR4 | FoundrList Free Tools" description: "Enter a domain or subdomain to see its current Ahrefs Domain Rating (DR3) next to its new DR4 score, and how far it moves. Live data, free, no sign-up." ai_summary: "Domain Rating Checker: compares a domain's DR3 and DR4 scores, read live from Ahrefs' free Domain Rating API. Free on FoundrList, no sign-up, and searches are not saved." canonical_url: "https://www.foundrlist.com/tools/domain-rating-checker" markdown_url: "https://www.foundrlist.com/tools/domain-rating-checker.md" category: "SEO, GEO & AI Search" category_url: "https://www.foundrlist.com/tools/category/seo-geo" engine_kind: "live-lookup" keywords: - "domain rating checker" - "dr4 checker" - "ahrefs dr4" - "dr3 vs dr4" - "check domain rating" - "website authority checker" --- # Domain Rating Checker: DR3 vs DR4 Enter a domain or subdomain to see its current Ahrefs Domain Rating (DR3) next to its new DR4 score, and how far it moves. Live data, free, no sign-up. ## Formula & Methodology `Change = DR4 − DR3, both read live from the free Ahrefs Domain Rating API. FoundrList doesn't calculate or estimate either score.` **Result with the default inputs (Change from DR3 to DR4):** −2 stripe.com scored 95 on DR3 and 93 on DR4 on 6 November 2026. [Domain Rating by Ahrefs](https://ahrefs.com/) ## Default Inputs - **Domain** (`domain`, text): Default = `stripe.com` ## Sample Output Metrics - **Domain:** stripe.com - **DR3:** 95 - **DR4:** 93 ## How to Use 1. **Enter a domain:** Type a domain or a subdomain, such as yourdomain.com or blog.yourdomain.com. A full URL works too. 2. **Compare the two scores:** You get the current DR3 score, the new DR4 score and the change between them, straight from Ahrefs. 3. **Check your competitors:** Run the sites you compete with as well. A drop means more when you can see whether similar sites moved the same way. ## Reference Figures - **Sites with a DR4 score:** About half. Ahrefs says around half as many sites have a DR4 score as have a DR3 score, because DR4 puts more weight on links from sites it estimates get organic search traffic. Source: [Ahrefs, Introducing a Preview of DR4 (2026)](https://ahrefs.com/blog/domain-rating-dr4/), accessed 2026-11-06. - **Top 1,000 domains by organic traffic:** 64.3% went up. Ahrefs reports 15.8% stayed the same and 19.9% went down, with a median drop of 4 points. Source: [Ahrefs, Introducing a Preview of DR4 (2026)](https://ahrefs.com/blog/domain-rating-dr4/), accessed 2026-11-06. - **Spam domains scoring 30 to 70 on DR3:** Down 15 to 20. The median drop Ahrefs reports for these domains. It says non-spam domains stayed close to zero across most DR3 ranges. Source: [Ahrefs, Introducing a Preview of DR4 (2026)](https://ahrefs.com/blog/domain-rating-dr4/), accessed 2026-11-06. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is DR4? DR4 is the fourth version of Domain Rating, the Ahrefs score for how strong a site's backlink profile is compared with others in its database. Ahrefs plans to switch its tools over to DR4 on December 1, 2026, so scores can still move until then. ### Why is Ahrefs changing Domain Rating? To make the score reflect link strength more closely. DR4 gives more weight to links from sites Ahrefs estimates get organic search traffic, and in its tests DR4 lined up better with Google rankings across domains and subdomains than DR3 did. ### What's the biggest change? Subdomains are now rated on their own links instead of borrowing the score of their root domain. That's why so many subdomains fall. help.ahrefs.com goes from 91 to 77, while ahrefs.com itself scores 92 on DR4. ### My score dropped. Did I do something wrong? Not necessarily. Domain Rating only measures your backlink profile, and it's relative to other sites. It says nothing about your content or product. Check similar sites too, since they may have moved in the same way. ### Where can I read more? Ahrefs explains the update in its [DR4 announcement](https://ahrefs.com/blog/domain-rating-dr4/) and covers the metric itself in [What is Domain Rating?](https://help.ahrefs.com/en/articles/1409408-what-is-domain-rating-dr). ### How can I give feedback on DR4? Ahrefs runs the scores, so feedback on them goes to Ahrefs. Its announcement has a [rollout and feedback section](https://ahrefs.com/blog/domain-rating-dr4/#seven) with a form. If something is wrong with this page, [tell FoundrList](/support). ### Where do these numbers come from? Every score comes from the free Ahrefs Domain Rating API. FoundrList doesn't calculate, adjust or estimate them. The sample tables are a dated snapshot of the same data. ### Why does my site show 0? A score of 0 means Ahrefs returned no rating for that host. Ahrefs says only about half as many sites have a DR4 score as a DR3 score, so a new or lightly linked site can show 0 on DR4. ### Are my searches saved? No. FoundrList doesn't store the domains you check. 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