Free · Server-side scan
Redirect Chain Checker
Paste a link and follow every hop it takes — status codes, timing, and the true final destination. Catch loops, HTTPS downgrades, sneaky domain switches, and SEO-hurting temporary redirects before they cost you.
What this means
Redirects, explained
A redirect is a server response that says “the page you want is over there” — a status code in the 300s plus a Location header. One redirect is routine. Chains of them slow pages down, leak link equity, and occasionally hide something shady, like a shortened link that hops through three ad domains before landing on a look-alike site. Tracing the chain shows you exactly what happens between click and content.
What is a redirect chain?
It is the sequence of HTTP hops between the URL you request and the page that finally loads. Each hop is a response with a 3xx status code and a Location header pointing at the next URL. This tool requests your URL from our server, follows up to 10 hops one at a time, and records the status, target, and timing of every step.
What is the difference between 301, 302, 307, and 308?
301 and 308 are permanent: browsers cache them and search engines transfer the old URL's ranking signals to the new address. 302, 303, and 307 are temporary: the original URL stays canonical. 307 and 308 additionally guarantee the request method is preserved. Using a temporary status for a permanent move is one of the most common SEO mistakes, so this tool warns when a chain ends on one.
How many redirects are too many?
Aim for one. Each hop adds a network round-trip — often 100 to 500 ms — and Googlebot gives up after about ten. Chains grow silently when redirects stack up over the years (http to https, old domain to new, trailing-slash rules), which is why we flag three or more redirects and stop tracing after ten.
Why test as Googlebot?
Some servers route crawlers differently from people — sometimes legitimately (skipping locale redirects for bots), sometimes not (cloaking). Running the same check with both user-agents shows whether visitors and Googlebot reach the same final URL. Note that sites verifying Googlebot by IP address will still treat our scanner as a regular client, since only the user-agent string changes.
Why does my browser end up somewhere this tool doesn't show?
This checker follows HTTP redirects only. Pages can also forward you with a meta refresh tag or JavaScript — those run when a browser renders the page, so they never appear in the HTTP chain. If the chain ends at 200 but your browser keeps moving, the page is redirecting client-side.
Is the URL I check stored?
No. The scan must run server-side because browsers cannot inspect another site's redirect responses, but the URL you submit is fetched, traced in memory, returned to you, and forgotten — not stored, logged, or shared. Private and internal network addresses are refused outright.