Guide
Domain Rating vs Domain Authority
Two companies, two indexes, two estimates of roughly the same idea, and Google uses neither of them. That is the entire comparison. Most articles on this question end by picking a winner, which is worth noticing, because the ones that do are usually published by somebody with a stake in one of the two.
What each one is
- Domain Rating (DR) is Ahrefs’. A 0 to 100 score computed from their backlink index, weighted so that links from strong sites count for more, and scaled so the top of the range is very hard to move.
- Domain Authority (DA) is Moz’s. Also 0 to 100, also built from a backlink index, but explicitly tuned to predict ranking rather than to describe link strength, which makes it a different kind of estimate.
Both are logarithmic in practice, which is why moving from 10 to 20 is ordinary and moving from 70 to 80 is not, and why comparing gaps at different ends of the scale tells you very little.
The part that settles most arguments
Neither number exists inside Google. There is no algorithm reading your DR, no threshold that unlocks anything, and nothing you do to a vendor score changes what Google thinks. They are a shared vocabulary between SEO tools, not a scoreboard.
Why the same site scores differently
Every one of these scores is only as good as the crawl behind it. Two indexes find different links, at different times, and each has blind spots. A link one has found and the other has not moves one score and not the other, and small sites are where the coverage gap is widest, because a crawler visiting the whole web has to decide what is worth revisiting and a small site is rarely near the top of that list.
So a gap between your DR and DA is not evidence that either is wrong. It is evidence that they are two samples of a thing neither can see completely, which is also the reason to pick one and read it consistently rather than averaging them into a number that means even less.
Which should you use?
For most makers the honest answer is: whichever one you will actually look at, used for comparison rather than as a target. Both do the same useful job, which is telling a substantial site from a thin one at a glance before you spend an afternoon writing a submission.
This site charts DR, for a boring reason worth stating: Ahrefs publishes a free endpoint for it, so we can read one number for every site a maker tracks without passing the cost on. That is a practical choice, not a claim that DR is the better metric.
The trap both scores share
Both count inbound links and neither cares what you link out. That asymmetry is what makes them so easy to move in ways that mean nothing: trade badges with enough sites and the score climbs while Google may pass nothing through the links you gave in return.
The rule of thumb that follows is uncomfortable and useful: anything that makes a vendor score easy to move should be read with more suspicion, not less. Reciprocal links are the clearest example.
Worth doing on a directory before you submit to it, and worth remembering that the number tells you how substantial the site is, not whether its listings actually link to you. Look up a DR, no account needed.
What to use instead of either as a goal
A vendor score is an estimate of something you cannot control, produced by a crawl you cannot see. The things you can control are all further down and all checkable: whether the links you built exist, whether they pass credit, and whether the pages carrying them can be read at all.
That set is small, boring and entirely yours, which is why it makes a better goal than a number that moves when somebody else’s crawler happens to visit. The four conditions are here, and our DR page explains why we refuse to tell you how many links reach a given score.
Questions people actually ask
What is the difference between Domain Rating and Domain Authority?
They are two companies’ estimates of the same idea. Domain Rating is Ahrefs’ 0 to 100 score based on their backlink index; Domain Authority is Moz’s, based on theirs and tuned to predict ranking. Because they read different crawls and use different models, the same site routinely scores differently on each, and neither number is used by Google in any way.
Which is more accurate, DR or DA?
Neither, because there is nothing to be accurate about: there is no true value they are approximating. What they differ in is coverage and intent. DR is a fairly direct read of backlink strength; DA is explicitly built to predict ranking, which makes it a different kind of guess. Ask instead which index sees your niche properly, and use that one consistently.
Does Google use Domain Rating or Domain Authority?
Neither. Both are third-party metrics invented by SEO tool companies. Google has repeatedly said it has no site-wide authority score of this kind that it exposes, and nothing you do to a vendor score changes anything inside Google. They are useful as a shared vocabulary for comparing sites, and misleading the moment they are treated as a target.
What is a good Domain Rating?
Only ever relative to who you are competing with. A DR that would be poor for a mature software company can be strong for a niche tool, and both are irrelevant if the sites ranking for your terms sit far above or below you. The useful comparison is not against a benchmark, it is against the pages currently holding the results you want.
Why is my DR different from my DA?
Because they are computed from different backlink indexes and different formulas. A link that one crawler has found and the other has not moves one score and not the other, and both crawls miss things, especially on small sites. A gap between them is normal and is not evidence that either is broken.
Can I increase my Domain Rating quickly?
You can move it faster than you can move rankings, which is exactly the trap. DR counts inbound links only, so reciprocal arrangements and low-quality links can raise it while passing nothing that helps you rank. A rising vendor score is not evidence of progress, and anything that makes it easy to move should be read with more suspicion, not less.
Should I care about these scores at all?
As a rough comparative reading, yes: they are a quick way to tell a substantial site from a thin one before you spend an afternoon on it. As a goal, no. The measurable things are whether the links you built exist, pass credit and sit on pages search engines can read, and those are yours to check rather than a vendor’s to estimate.
A score you cannot influence, next to a record you can.
ShipDR charts your Domain Rating daily and puts it beside the thing that actually moved: which listings went live, which links are dofollow and indexable, and which quietly stopped being either. The chart is context. The record is the work.
- Every listing rechecked on a schedule, not once
- Live, dofollow and indexable, read from the page itself
- Told the day a backlink drops or flips
Adding a website and charting its Domain Rating is free, no card. The backlink engine is $10 once, per website, with no subscription.