Ahrefs DR4 vs DR3: What Changed for Backlinks? Our Research and Findings

On November 5, 2026, Ahrefs announced DR4, the fourth version of its Domain Rating algorithm. The update changes how backlink profiles are evaluated, and some websites are seeing dramatic differences in their scores. We noticed this immediately. Stay Up measured DR3 39 and DR4 5 in our November preview check. Another project we checked, Name to Avatar, dropped from DR 34 to DR4 5. Neither change meant that the websites had suddenly lost their backlinks.

We started investigating. We compared DR3 and DR4 scores across ten of our domains and the directories in our catalog, then examined what the changes might mean for backlinks. Here's what we found, and what it means for your backlink-building strategy. If you are setting a score goal, our guide to choosing a Domain Rating target explains how to compare relevant competitors without treating DR as a ranking threshold.

What exactly changed in DR4?

According to Ahrefs' official announcement, three major changes affect how Domain Rating is calculated.

1. Backlinks from websites with organic traffic carry more weight

Previously, a website could accumulate a relatively high DR through backlinks from other websites that had little or no organic search traffic. DR4 changes the weighting. Ahrefs now gives more importance to links from websites and individual subdomains that it estimates receive organic search traffic. The impact is substantial: the number of websites with a Domain Rating has been reduced by approximately half.

This means that backlinks from websites without meaningful organic search visibility may contribute much less to your DR than they did before. However, Ahrefs hasn't published the exact weighting formula or traffic thresholds.

2. Subdomains are evaluated independently

Under DR3, subdomains generally inherited the Domain Rating of their parent domain. For example, a website hosted on a platform with DR 90 could also display DR 90, even if that particular subdomain had almost no backlinks of its own. DR4 evaluates subdomains individually. Ahrefs provided examples of hosted websites dropping from DR 92 to nearly zero after losing their inherited scores.

This is particularly relevant to backlinks from GitHub Pages, Notion-hosted sites, Blogspot, and other platforms that let users publish content on subdomains. A backlink from example.github.io should now be evaluated using the authority of that specific subdomain, rather than assuming it has the authority of GitHub or the wider hosting platform.

3. Spam-labeled domains receive lower scores

Ahrefs also confirmed that websites classified as spam are heavily affected by DR4. Among spam-labeled domains previously rated between DR 30 and 70, the median decrease was approximately 15–20 points. Our comparison suggests that spam classification alone doesn't explain every dramatic decline.

Our research: How DR4 affected 10 websites

We compared DR3 and DR4 scores for ten of our own domains, from recently registered projects to sites registered more than twenty years ago. The table is sorted by age, oldest first.

Ages are calculated from registration dates as of November 8, 2026. DR values are from our November 2026 comparisons. Domain Rating by Ahrefs. DR4 values are preview scores and may change before the official rollout. These ten domains are our own, not a representative sample of all websites.

First, dramatic decreases aren't limited to spam-labeled websites. Stay Up has an Ahrefs spam label, but Name to Avatar doesn't. Both lost almost 30 points or more. Meanwhile, DA Comics, which also has a spam label, actually gained three points. This tells us that the label isn't sufficient to predict how a website's Domain Rating will change.

Second, age and score direction aligned in this set. All six domains younger than two years lost DR, while all four domains older than seven years gained DR. Warcry.ru rose from DR3 8 to DR4 32, and associ.ru rose from 1.1 to 7. This is a notable correlation in our ten domains, not evidence that domain age directly affects DR4: Ahrefs says age is not a direct input. The older sites may simply have different backlink profiles, and this small sample cannot establish the cause.

Third, the number of referring domains doesn't tell the whole story. Warcry.ru and Mapfolks had roughly 1,100 referring domains each when we checked them. Yet their DR4 scores were dramatically different: 32 versus 4.9. Having similar numbers of backlinks or referring domains does not mean that two websites have comparable backlink strength. DR4 makes that distinction particularly apparent.

How DR4 changed the directories in our catalog

We compared DR3 and DR4 for all 35 directories in our directory catalog. The table is sorted by DR3.

Scores from our directory catalog, checked November 8, 2026. Domain Rating by Ahrefs. DR4 values are preview scores and may change before the rollout.

What the scores show

All 35 directories had lower DR4 scores in this snapshot. The median decline was 35 points; 28 directories lost at least 20 points, and 14 lost at least 40. The changes varied considerably. OutDR fell from 34 to 28 and Twelve Tools from 84 to 76, while LaunchAF fell from 57 to 0 and Noonlaunch from 60 to 4.9.

These results describe the directories in our catalog. They do not establish a directory-specific penalty or identify what caused an individual site's score to change. A separate SaaSCity analysis of 2,405 directories also found large declines among launch platforms. One possible explanation is that links from newly launched websites with little estimated organic traffic now contribute less under DR4, but our score comparison cannot test that explanation.

Are directory listings still worth pursuing?

A lower DR4 does not tell you whether a directory sends visitors, reaches relevant buyers, or offers a useful permanent product page. Those outcomes need to be assessed directly. A directory with DR4 30 that brings interested visitors may be more useful to your business than one with DR4 70 that nobody in your audience uses.

Use the directory catalog to compare submission methods, costs, and requirements, and our guide to choosing a startup directory to judge audience fit. Track the visits and business outcomes from each listing alongside any change in your backlink profile.

Is DR4 better at predicting Google rankings?

Ahrefs reports that DR4 correlates more strongly with Google search visibility across its combined dataset of domains and subdomains. For top-10 Google ranking positions, the reported correlation increased from 0.140 under DR3 to 0.359 under DR4. But there's an important qualification. For root domains alone, the correlation actually decreased from 0.407 to 0.304. In other words, DR4 improves the relationship between Domain Rating and search visibility across all hosts, especially subdomains. It doesn't improve every individual comparison.

And correlation isn't causation. Domain Rating is not a Google ranking factor. Google doesn't use Ahrefs' DR3 or DR4 scores to determine search results. A drop in DR4 doesn't automatically mean that Google has devalued your website or that your rankings will decline.

For example, if your DR drops from 39 to 5 because Ahrefs changes its calculation, your existing backlinks haven't necessarily changed, and your Google Search Console performance may remain unaffected. The most useful indicators of SEO progress remain organic impressions, clicks, rankings for relevant searches, and the business results generated by that traffic.

How should your backlink strategy change?

Based on our analysis, we recommend adjusting how you evaluate potential backlinks rather than abandoning existing link-building channels.

1. Compare DR3 and DR4

A website's DR3 score may differ sharply from how Ahrefs values its backlink profile under DR4. Compare both scores while the preview remains available. At Stay Up, you can explore the current DR leaderboard and the DR4 leaderboard to see how different projects compare.

2. Look at organic search visibility

A backlink from a website with actual search visibility may be a more promising opportunity under DR4 than a link from a site with an impressive DR3 score but virtually no traffic. Evaluate relevant pages, their search visibility, and whether they reach your target audience.

3. Check the exact subdomain

If a backlink comes from a hosted page or subdomain, investigate that specific host. The root domain's DR4 can be misleading when evaluating a particular placement.

4. Don't judge backlink opportunities by DR alone

Even with DR4, Domain Rating is a relative, logarithmic metric. You should also consider topical relevance, the source's backlink profile, the number of domains it links to, the visibility of the linking page, and potential referral traffic.

5. Don't panic when your DR drops

If the decline happens when Ahrefs switches to DR4, first determine whether anything actually changed in your backlink profile. Compare your DR3 and DR4 scores, check your strongest referring domains, review competitors, and monitor Google Search Console. A change in a third-party metric is not necessarily a change in your real search performance.

When does DR4 officially launch?

Ahrefs plans to make DR4 the default Domain Rating metric in its interface on December 1, 2026. Until then, DR3 remains the default, while DR4 can be checked through the free Domain Rating API using the version=dr4 parameter. Ahrefs also plans to keep DR3 accessible through the API for a limited period after the rollout. The numbers in this article are based on the preview available in November 2026. Scores may still change.

Final thoughts

Our research revealed three especially important lessons. First, a dramatic Domain Rating decline doesn't necessarily mean a website lost backlinks, received a Google penalty, or stopped performing well in search. Second, the quality and characteristics of referring domains matter much more than their raw number. Having a thousand referring domains says little without examining where those links come from.

Third, backlink value cannot be reduced to a single DR number. A source with a high DR4, a smaller site serving your buyers, and a directory that sends actual customers represent different types of opportunities. DR4 makes some of those differences more visible, but it doesn't eliminate the need to evaluate backlinks individually.

At Stay Up, we'll continue monitoring how the new scores develop and how they affect the startup directories and backlink sources founders use. The goal isn't simply to chase a higher number. It's to understand which backlinks actually contribute to growth.