Short answer: SEO Engico is the top pick for link building for startups that want fewer, checked links at published prices, backed by 44 indexed placements across a US venture firm's portfolio brands. Linkbuilder.io suits funded startups wanting a set monthly plan, Skale fits SaaS teams measuring signups, and Editorial.Link suits founders who want a trial link before committing.
Link building for startups runs on different constraints from link building for established brands. Cash is tight, nobody knows the brand yet, and a handful of product and feature pages are up against companies with years of links behind them. The right links build credibility with buyers, investors and AI tools as well as rankings. The wrong ones burn runway on placements nobody reads.
This list ranks link building services that suit startups, from early stage to Series B, checked against their own sites in November 2026. Each one is judged on what it publishes about minimum spend and contract terms, how it vets sites, which pages it builds links to and how it reports results. Marketplaces, link directories and software tools are left out.
Disclosure: Kuma SEO is written by the team at SEO Engico, the agency ranked first on this list. No agency paid to appear here. We checked every other entry against the agency's own website in November 2026. Services and prices change, so confirm the details with an agency before you sign. More on how we work in our editorial policy.
At a glance: the 6 best link building services for startups
| # | Agency | Best for | Based in |
|---|
| 1 | SEO Engico | Startups that want fewer, checked links and prices they can budget for | London, UK |
| 2 | Linkbuilder.io | Funded startups that want a fixed monthly plan with a set link volume | Edinburgh, UK and St. Petersburg, Florida |
| 3 | Outreach Monks | SaaS startups that want published monthly plans with no setup fees or lock-in | Mohali, India and Montebello, New York |
| 4 | Skale | SaaS startups that want link plans built around signups and demos | Remote team across EMEA |
| 5 | dofollow.com | B2B SaaS startups that want links, mentions and listicle placements together | Wilmington, Delaware, US |
| 6 | Editorial.Link | Founders who want to test quality with a trial link before signing anything | St. Petersburg, Florida, US |
How we picked
- Lets you start without a big commitment. Look for per-link pricing, short minimum terms or a trial. A startup should be able to test quality with a small order before signing up to a large annual retainer.
- Builds links to pages that make money. Product, feature, comparison and pricing pages bring in signups and demos. Ask how the provider decides which pages get links and with which anchors.
- Earns credibility, not just authority. Coverage on publications your buyers read, mentions in category roundups and quotes in the press help sales and AI answers as well as rankings.
- Vets sites on real readers. A high DR blog with no traffic in your category does little for a startup. Check that the provider looks at organic traffic, relevance and outbound links.
- Reports results in business terms. Rankings and DR are useful, but founders need to see signups, demos or pipeline. Better providers tie their reports to the numbers you already track.
- Knows your market. SaaS, fintech and consumer startups need different publishers. Ask for placements in your category from the last few months.
The 6 best link building services for startups in 2026
Our top pick
1. SEO Engico
- Best for
- Startups that want fewer, checked links and prices they can budget for
- Based in
- London, UK
- Founded
- 2018
SEO Engico is a London SEO and link building agency founded in 2018 by Jhonty Barreto and Priyam Goyal, who both trained as mechanical engineers. It publishes every rate on its pricing page, which helps when you are budgeting against runway: links start at $425 each, with packs of 5 for $2,125, 10 for $3,950 and 20 for $7,500. It also says it will tell you on the first call if your budget or market cannot realistically compete yet.
Every site is found, checked and placed by its own team and has to pass three checks: real organic traffic verified in Ahrefs, relevance to your niche and a clean outbound link profile. It says about 70% of sites fail, and it uses no PBNs, broker lists or marketplaces. If you need more than links, its Growth retainer at $4,500 a month adds technical SEO, buyer-intent pages, AI search visibility work and monthly reporting, with a three-month first term and rolling monthly after that.
Its closest published proof for startups is Growth Science Capital, a US venture capital firm. SEO Engico ran link building across seven of its portfolio brands, with 44 live placements and every one confirmed indexed (its delivery records, February to May 2026).
What stands out
- Published per-link prices, so a small first order is possible
- Three checks on every site, with about 70% rejected
- A live URL report with the anchor and date for every link, and lost links replaced
- Guest posts, links in existing articles that already rank, and digital PR where guest posts are not enough
Worth knowing
- It is not built for startups that want the cheapest links or hundreds a month.
- It makes no ranking guarantees, and says bigger gains usually take three to six months.
See SEO Engico's managed link building
No. 2
2. Linkbuilder.io
- Best for
- Funded startups that want a fixed monthly plan with a set link volume
- Based in
- Edinburgh, UK and St. Petersburg, Florida
Linkbuilder.io calls itself a link building agency rather than an SEO agency, with offices in Edinburgh and St. Petersburg, Florida, and SaaS sits at the top of its list of common industries. Its published pricing includes a Startup plan at $2,999 a month for eight links averaging DR 50 to 90, with detailed link planning, competitor backlink gap analysis, keyword analysis and a custom reporting dashboard. Larger plans run to $5,999 for 16+ links and $9,999 for 26+.
Campaigns are fully managed. It finds the pages that need links and draws on more than 20 techniques, from editorial outreach and HARO pitching to awards and PR link building. It sets a minimum guaranteed link volume each month, and its pricing page has a section written for founders and entrepreneurs.
What stands out
- A published Startup plan with eight links a month
- A minimum guaranteed link volume each month
- SaaS listed first among its common industries
Worth knowing
- At $2,999 a month, the entry plan is a real commitment for a startup before product-market fit.
- It says significant results take at least six months from any link building campaign.
No. 3
3. Outreach Monks
- Best for
- SaaS startups that want published monthly plans with no setup fees or lock-in
- Based in
- Mohali, India and Montebello, New York
- Founded
- 2017
Outreach Monks is a link building agency founded in 2017, with offices in Mohali, India and a US address in New York, and it runs a dedicated SaaS link building service that it says is built for seed to Series B growth. It places links on tech and software publications in the DR 60 to 95 range through manual outreach, with no PBNs or link farms, and says it has worked with 200+ SaaS companies.
Pricing is published by DR range and monthly volume. The Lite plan is $1,699 a month for four links, two at DR 60 to 69 and two at DR 70 to 79, and every plan includes SERP tracking, backlink analysis and live Google Sheet reporting, with no setup fees and no lock-in.
What stands out
- Published SaaS plans from $1,699 a month, cancel anytime
- Links on DR 60 to 95 tech and software publications
- Live Google Sheet reporting and SERP tracking in every plan
Worth knowing
- Its offices are in Mohali, India, with a US address in New York.
- Plans are priced by DR band, so check traffic and relevance on the sites it proposes.
No. 4
4. Skale
- Best for
- SaaS startups that want link plans built around signups and demos
- Based in
- Remote team across EMEA
Skale is an SEO agency that works only with SaaS brands, and link building and outreach sits alongside its SEO strategy and content services. It says it has helped over 60 SaaS brands. Its link building starts from your KPIs, such as product signups, demos or SQLs, with a model of where links will have the biggest impact in the shortest time, and one client describes a fast-moving startup handing off-page work to Skale while its own team built landing pages and articles.
Each quarter it plans short, mid and long-term link wins, naming which pages get links and with which anchors. Its outreach team prospects from competitor backlink profiles, every site has to meet minimum standards for topical relevance, traffic, DR and user experience, and reporting covers the effect of links on rankings and signups rather than a bare list of URLs. The team works remotely across EMEA.
What stands out
- SaaS-only, with link plans built around signups, demos or SQLs
- A quarterly plan naming target pages and anchors
- Reports the effect of links on rankings and signups
Worth knowing
- It works only with SaaS, so other kinds of startup need to look elsewhere.
- Pricing is not published, so the first step is a call.
No. 5
5. dofollow.com
- Best for
- B2B SaaS startups that want links, mentions and listicle placements together
- Based in
- Wilmington, Delaware, US
dofollow.com, run by Dofollow Inc., works only with B2B SaaS brands. It earns editorial links, brand mentions and placements in listicles and comparison content, the pages that shape search results, AI answers and which vendors buyers shortlist. Its AnswerOS framework measures your AI visibility, finds the prompts and sources shaping buyer decisions, then runs the placement and mention work to close the gaps.
Every placement is vetted for authority, relevance and crawl strength, and lost links or mentions are replaced. Each client gets a dedicated SaaS strategist, competitor analysis and a client portal to review placements and talk to the team. You set the budget and it builds the plan around it, and it says most clients see improvements within the first few months.
What stands out
- B2B SaaS only, with a dedicated strategist
- Listicle and comparison placements alongside editorial links
- Lost links and mentions replaced
Worth knowing
- Pricing is on request rather than published.
- It focuses on B2B software, so consumer startups sit outside its market.
No. 6
6. Editorial.Link
- Best for
- Founders who want to test quality with a trial link before signing anything
- Based in
- St. Petersburg, Florida, US
- Founded
- 2020
Editorial.Link is a St. Petersburg, Florida link building agency that has run managed campaigns since 2020 and says it works particularly well with SaaS and software companies. For a startup watching every dollar, the trial is the draw: before you sign a contract it places a trial backlink, and then you approve every prospect site, with its metrics, before outreach begins.
It says its links come from sites averaging DR 67, filters out sites that sell links with its own Link Type Classifier, and offers editorial links, linkable assets, brand mentions, listicle placements and digital PR aimed at AI search as well as Google. First links land within seven days of approval, and a link lost within six months is restored or replaced.
What stands out
- A trial backlink before any contract
- Approve every site before outreach
- Listicle and brand mention placements for AI visibility
Worth knowing
- It says it suits brands that treat SEO as a long-term channel, so it is not built for a one-off batch.
- Prices are quoted rather than published on its homepage.
How to choose a link building service for a startup
Start with your stage. Very early startups usually get more from founder-led PR, launch coverage and a few strong placements than from a monthly retainer. Once you have product-market fit and pages that convert, a steady link plan pointed at those pages starts to pay back, and that is when a provider with a monthly plan makes sense.
Then match the provider to your market. SaaS startups have specialists to choose from: Skale plans links around signups and demos, dofollow.com adds listicles and brand mentions for B2B buyers, and Outreach Monks publishes SaaS plans you can cancel. Editorial.Link's trial link and Linkbuilder.io's Startup plan suit founders who want to test before scaling.
Last, measure in business terms. Ask every provider how it will report the effect of links on signups, demos or pipeline, not just DR. If it cannot, you will struggle to justify the spend at your next board meeting.
Questions to ask before you sign
- What is the smallest order or shortest term you offer?
- Which of my pages would you build links to first, and why?
- How do you check each site's real traffic and relevance?
- Can you show recent placements for startups in my category?
- How will you report the effect of links on signups or demos?
- What happens if a link is removed?
Frequently asked questions
When should a startup start link building?
Once you have pages worth linking to and a way to measure what they do. For most startups that means a working product page, a few useful articles or tools, and analytics that track signups or demos. Before that, founder interviews, launch coverage and listings on relevant directories usually do more than paid outreach.
How much does link building cost for a startup?
Published prices on this list start at $425 a link with SEO Engico, $1,699 a month for four links with Outreach Monks and $2,999 a month for eight links with Linkbuilder.io. Agencies that quote per client, such as Skale and dofollow.com, set the price after a call. Start with a small order and scale what works.
Is digital PR better than guest posts for startups?
It depends on what you have to say. Digital PR works when you have data, a strong founder story or real news, and it earns links and coverage that also help sales and fundraising. Guest posts and editorial placements are easier to aim at specific product pages. Most startups end up using both.
Can link building help a startup appear in ChatGPT answers?
It can help, but nobody can promise it. AI tools lean on sources they trust, so mentions on respected sites, listicles and review pages in your category make it more likely you are named. dofollow.com and Editorial.Link both describe mention and listicle work aimed at AI visibility, and SEO Engico says it never promises a specific citation.
Should startups build links to the homepage or product pages?
Both, in proportion. Homepage and brand links build trust in the domain, but rankings for buying searches come from links to product, feature, comparison and pricing pages. Skale names target pages and anchors in a quarterly plan built around signups, which is the right instinct for most software startups.
Our verdict
Pick SEO Engico if you want fewer, checked links at published prices, each one reported and replaced if it drops, with proof from a venture firm's portfolio brands. Pick Linkbuilder.io for a fixed Startup plan, Outreach Monks for cancel-anytime SaaS plans, Skale for SaaS link plans tied to signups, dofollow.com for B2B SaaS listicle and mention work, and Editorial.Link to test with a trial link first.
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