LinkChecker
check links in web documents or full websites
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. LinkChecker is actively maintained, production-stable, has low install friction, carries no known vulnerabilities, and solves a concrete problem for site maintenance and QA. The GPLv2+ license is a consideration only if you plan to incorporate it into proprietary software; for internal use or open-source projects it is unrestricted.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.9 or later.
- Low install friction with three common dependencies (beautifulsoup4, dnspython, requests).
- Actively maintained with recent commits and stable production status.
License · maintenance · safety
copyleft license (copyleft) — GPLv2+ copyleft license: any derivative work or distribution must also be open-source under GPL. Suitable for internal tools and open-source projects, but incompatible with proprietary software that would incorporate it.
last release 2025-07-28 (382 days) · last repo commit 2026-07-28 · 1,069 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 256,731 downloads/mo, #8,458 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install linkchecker
linkchecker https://www.example.com- Whether the multithreaded crawling performance scales well for very large sites
- Current state of the web interface mentioned in features
- Whether check plugins are bundled or require separate installation
What it is and what it does
LinkChecker is a command-line and web-based tool that crawls websites to find broken links, invalid URLs, and other link-related issues. It performs recursive, multithreaded checking across pages and can output results in multiple formats (text, HTML, SQL, CSV, XML, sitemap). It supports a wide range of link types including HTTP/HTTPS, FTP, mailto, and local files, and includes features like proxy support, HTTP authentication, robots.txt compliance, and cookie handling.
The tool is designed for site maintainers and QA workflows who need to verify link integrity across their web properties. It runs as a standalone command-line utility or Docker container, making it easy to integrate into CI/CD pipelines or run on-demand. With active maintenance, Python 3.9+ support, and no known security vulnerabilities, it is a stable choice for link validation tasks.
Use it for
- Audit a website before deployment to catch broken internal and external links
- Regularly check a production site for link rot and report results in HTML or CSV format
- Validate links in documentation or static site generators as part of a build process
- Check compliance with robots.txt and crawl restrictions during site analysis
- Generate a sitemap graph or XML report of all discovered links on a domain
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
LinkChecker is actively maintained, production-stable, has low install friction, carries no known vulnerabilities, and solves a concrete problem for site maintenance and QA. The GPLv2+ license is a consideration only if you plan to incorporate it into proprietary software; for internal use or open-source projects it is unrestricted.
Install
linkchecker on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction with three common dependencies (beautifulsoup4, dnspython, requests). Actively maintained with recent commits and stable production status.
Requires Python 3.9 or later.
License in practice
GPLv2+ copyleft license: any derivative work or distribution must also be open-source under GPL. Suitable for internal tools and open-source projects, but incompatible with proprietary software that would incorporate it.
Quickstart
pip install linkchecker
linkchecker https://www.example.comVerify before relying
- Whether the multithreaded crawling performance scales well for very large sites
- Current state of the web interface mentioned in features
- Whether check plugins are bundled or require separate installation
Package facts
| License | copyleft license copyleft |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.9 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 3 packagesbeautifulsoup4dnspythonrequests |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 382 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 256,731 / month, #8,458 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableLicense :: OSI Approved :: GNU General Public License v2 or later (GPLv2+)Programming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9Topic :: Internet :: WWW/HTTP :: Site Management :: Link Checking |
Evidence: LinkChecker-10.6.0-py3-none-any.whl
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