TLDR
Most “free backlink tracker” listicles are upsells for paid tools (Ahrefs, Semrush). For a solo founder post-PH, the honest free workflow is three tools used in sequence: Plausible or PostHog for referral source by day, Google Search Console for backlinks Google has discovered, and AlternativeTo or Crunchbase for the “alternatives to X” surface. Each has real free-tier limits — listed below — and each does one job well.
This post is the workflow, with each tool’s actual free-tier cap, and what to do with the data.
The 5 free tools
1. Vercel Analytics — the lightest start
Built-in to Vercel deployments. Page views, top referrers, top countries, top pages. Free for the first 25K events/month on a Pro account; free Hobby tier has a small monthly cap.
- Best for: A Vercel-hosted launch page where you just want a referral list without configuring anything.
- Free limit: Generous for a coming-soon site; tighter for a production app.
- Gotcha: Won’t catch referrers behind privacy proxies (some browsers strip referrer headers).
2. Plausible — privacy-first, easy UTM workflow
Plausible’s documentation explains the UTM tag pattern in detail S-006. Free trial; paid after that (~$9/mo at the entry tier).
- Best for: Founders who want a privacy-friendly dashboard and easy UTM-to-source labeling.
- Free limit: 30-day free trial; not a permanent free tier.
- Gotcha: Paid after the trial. Budget $9/mo or move to PostHog.
3. PostHog — the most powerful free tier
PostHog’s session and referrer documentation is broad S-014. Free tier: 1M events/month + session replay, which is plenty for a launch and the first month after.
- Best for: Founders who want a long free runway plus session replay (watch how someone actually used your page).
- Free limit: 1M events/month free.
- Gotcha: UI is denser than Plausible’s. Worth the learning curve for a 30-day post-launch window.
4. Google Search Console — the backlink truth source
GSC shows which external sites have linked to yours (the “Top linking sites” report) once Google’s crawler has discovered them. Free, no event cap.
- Best for: Discovering real backlinks Google found — including ones you didn’t know about (newsletters, Reddit threads, niche blogs).
- Free limit: None.
- Gotcha: Discovery lag — backlinks can take 7–30 days to show up after they’re created. Not real-time.
5. AlternativeTo / Crunchbase — the “alternatives to X” surface
Not tracking tools strictly — they’re directories where you submit your product and earn category-page backlinks S-011 S-019. Together they cover the “alternatives to X” and “company profile” SEO surfaces.
- Best for: Submitting once, earning a permanent backlink with category-page surface.
- Free limit: None (free submissions).
- Gotcha: Doesn’t replace tracking — these are destinations, not tracking surfaces.
Comparison table
| Tool | What it tracks | Free limit | Setup time | Real-time? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vercel Analytics | Page views, top referrers | Generous on Pro; smaller on Hobby | 0 min (built in) | Yes |
| Plausible | UTM-tagged sources, pages | 30-day trial only | 10 min | Yes |
| PostHog | Events, sessions, replays | 1M events/mo | 30 min | Yes |
| Google Search Console | External backlinks Google found | None | 15 min (DNS verify) | No (7–30 day lag) |
| AlternativeTo / Crunchbase | n/a (destination, not tracker) | None | 30 min each | n/a |
The 3-tool workflow
You don’t need all five. Pick three: one for live referrer data, one for backlink truth, one for category-page surface.
Workflow
Step 1 — Live referrer data (PostHog, 30 minutes). Drop the PostHog snippet into your launch page’s <head>. Add UTM tags to every channel post: ?utm_source=showhn&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=launch. Done.
Step 2 — Backlink truth (Google Search Console, 15 minutes). Add the property in GSC, verify via DNS, submit the sitemap. Wait. Check the “Links → Top linking sites” report once a week. New backlinks show up here.
Step 3 — Category-page surface (AlternativeTo + Crunchbase + 1 more, 90 minutes total). Submit your product to AlternativeTo, Crunchbase, and one more directory in your category (e.g., G2 for B2B SaaS — see their listing flow S-020). Permanent backlinks, no ongoing maintenance.
What to do with the data
After 7 days you’ll have:
- PostHog’s source breakdown: which channel drove the highest signup rate, not the highest visitor count.
- GSC’s backlink list: newsletters, niche blogs, Reddit/HN threads that linked to you organically.
- Three category-page submissions earning slow drip traffic over 6–12 months.
The action: double down on the highest-converting channel from PostHog. Email everyone who blogged about you (from GSC’s backlink list) with a thank-you. Track new submissions over the next 30 days.
Concrete example
Founder launches on PH on Wednesday. By Friday morning, the PostHog dashboard shows:
- 6,400 visitors, 84 signups (1.3% conversion).
- By referrer:
- producthunt.com: 4,100 visits, 38 signups (0.9% conv)
- Twitter (utm_source=twitter): 1,200 visits, 22 signups (1.8% conv)
- r/SideProject (utm_source=sideproject): 180 visits, 14 signups (7.8% conv)
- newsletter (utm_source=newsletter): 920 visits, 10 signups (1.1% conv)
The 1.3% headline conversion hides a 7.8% conversion from r/SideProject. The founder’s next move: write a second r/SideProject post on Day 4, then identify the two other niche subreddits where the same audience hangs out. The PH page itself stays up but isn’t where energy goes.
This is the actual point of tracking: not vanity counts, but routing the next-week effort.
Common mistakes
| Mistake | Why it happens | What to do instead |
|---|---|---|
| Tracking only PH upvotes | The PH dashboard is loudest | Open Plausible/PostHog and look at by-source conversion |
| Skipping UTMs on launch-day posts | Founder forgot in the rush | Add UTMs to every link before launch day — even Twitter |
| Paying for Ahrefs to “track backlinks” | Marketing-blog upsell | GSC + AlternativeTo cover 90% of what a solo founder needs |
| Not submitting to category directories | Feels slow / unrewarding | Permanent backlinks compound over years; do it once |
| Watching the GSC backlink report daily | Discovery has a 7-30 day lag | Check once a week, max |
| Tracking everything | Founder is over-instrumented | Three tools is enough |
FAQ
Do I need Plausible AND PostHog? No. Pick one. PostHog if you want a long free runway and session replay; Plausible if you want a simple privacy-friendly dashboard and don’t mind paying $9/mo after the trial.
What about Google Analytics? Works fine, free, but heavier than Plausible/PostHog and harder to read for a quick post-launch dashboard. If you already have it, use it; if you don’t, skip it.
How do I know if a backlink is “good”? A “good” backlink for a solo founder post-launch is one from a relevant domain with non-trivial traffic. GSC’s “Top linking sites” report orders backlinks by domain, not quality — manual review needed.
Does Reddit count as a backlink? Reddit links are mostly rel="nofollow", so they don’t pass SEO weight directly. But they show up in GSC’s referring sites and drive real traffic — track them as a referral, not as a ranking-signal backlink.
What about HARO? HARO is for journalist queries — useful for earning PR backlinks 30+ days after launch. Not a tracking tool. See its terms on the page for the current free tier.
Next steps
Set up PostHog + Google Search Console today. Submit to AlternativeTo, Crunchbase, and one category-fit directory by end of week. While that runs, fill the 7-day recovery scorecard — Tactic 9 (track referrers) is one of the 12 rows. Then read the Why your traffic disappeared taxonomy if your numbers look weak.