Redirect Chain Checker
Free redirect chain checker — trace the full hop-by-hop redirect path of a URL, count the hops, and detect long chains or loops that waste crawl budget.
About the Redirect Chain Checker
A single URL can bounce through several redirects before landing on its final destination, and every extra hop costs speed and crawl budget. This free redirect chain checker follows a URL server-side and maps the entire chain — each hop, its status code, and the final page — so you can spot bloat and breakage.
It counts the total hops, highlights temporary redirects that should be permanent, and helps you catch redirect loops where URLs point back at each other and never resolve. The full chain is laid out in a table and available to copy, making it easy to document or share a problem.
Use it after a site migration, when consolidating URLs, or whenever a link takes suspiciously long to load. A clean setup redirects once, straight to the destination; anything longer is an opportunity to simplify.
How to Use the Redirect Chain Checker
- 1Enter the URL whose redirect path you want to trace.
- 2Click Check to follow every hop server-side.
- 3Read the hop table and the total redirect count.
- 4Shorten long chains and fix loops, then re-check.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a redirect chain?
A redirect chain is a sequence of two or more redirects between the URL a user requests and the final page they reach — for example A redirects to B, which redirects to C. Each hop adds latency and a crawler request, so shorter chains are always better.
How many redirects are too many?
Ideally a URL redirects once. Two hops is tolerable, but three or more starts to noticeably slow loading and waste crawl budget, and browsers give up entirely after about 20 hops. Aim to collapse every chain down to a single direct 301 to the final destination.
What causes a redirect loop?
A loop occurs when redirects point back at each other so the destination is never reached — often from conflicting HTTPS, www or trailing-slash rules. The browser shows a 'too many redirects' error. This checker reveals exactly where the chain turns back on itself.
Do redirect chains hurt SEO?
Yes. Long chains slow the page for users, consume crawl budget as bots follow each hop, and can dilute or lose link equity along the way. Search engines may also stop following very long chains, leaving the final page undiscovered. Keeping chains to one hop protects rankings.
How do I fix a long redirect chain?
Update the first redirect to point straight to the final URL, removing the intermediate hops. For example, if A→B→C, change A to redirect directly to C. Audit your redirect rules and server config to eliminate stacked or outdated redirects.