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Batch URL Checker: Process 75,000 URLs in One Job

Paste a list or upload a CSV. Cloud workers check every URL in parallel and return status codes, redirect chains, and a clean CSV export.

What you get back for every URL

Status code and final URL

HTTP code, redirect chain (every hop in order), and the final destination URL after the chain resolves.

Soft 404 detection

Pages that return 200 but show “not found” content are flagged separately, so dead pages disguised as live ones still surface.

Response time and headers

TTFB, total response time, content-type, and the final-hop server header. Useful for finding both broken links and slow ones.

How a batch check runs end to end

  1. Submit the list. Paste up to 75,000 URLs, drop a CSV, or send a JSON array through the API. The CSV parser auto-detects which column holds URLs, so exports from Ahrefs, Semrush, Screaming Frog, and GSC drop in directly.
  2. Fan out to workers. The job splits across cloud workers running in parallel. Each worker pulls from a rotating residential proxy pool, so traffic spreads across many IPs rather than hammering targets from one source.
  3. Domain-aware throttling. Each target domain gets capped at roughly 20 requests per minute. Concentrated lists (say, 5,000 URLs all on one domain) still finish without tripping rate limits or producing false 429s.
  4. Email when done. Close the tab and walk away. The completion email links straight to the results dashboard and CSV export.

Why batch checking beats a one-off script

A 50-line Python script with requests and a thread pool gets you started, then collapses around URL 2,000 for reasons that take days to debug:

  • Your IP gets rate-limited. Cloudflare and Akamai see 10,000 requests from one address and block it. Half your results come back as 429 or 403 with no way to tell which are real failures.
  • JavaScript-rendered pages return wrong codes. A simple HEAD or GET treats a React app shell as 200, even when the actual content is a 404. You miss real broken links.
  • No soft-404 detection. Pages that return 200 with “sorry, page not found” in the body look healthy to a status-code check. They're the most common false negative.
  • Concurrency is harder than it looks. Asyncio with unbounded concurrency floods one domain and starves others. Bounded concurrency runs serially across slow domains.

The hosted checker handles all four: distributed proxies, optional Playwright rendering for JS-heavy pages, body-content soft-404 detection, and per-domain fairness queues built in.

Common batch-checking jobs

  • Content audit: dump every internal and external link from a CMS export and find the dead ones in one pass.
  • Site migration QA: after redesign, verify the old URLs redirect to the right new pages. Diff the redirect targets against what the migration plan specified.
  • Backlink reclamation: a list of 5,000 backlinks from Ahrefs becomes “here are the 87 that now 404 and need outreach” in ten minutes. Covered in detail on Backlink Audit Tool.
  • Agency client audits: upload one combined list per month, slice the CSV by client column, attach per-client reports. Covered on URL Checker for SEO Agencies.
  • Documentation maintenance: verify links in dev docs, README files, and Notion pages still resolve.
  • Affiliate and partner tracking: confirm partner URLs still resolve and redirect chains haven't been tampered with.

Batch checking vs. site crawling

These two are often confused. They solve different problems:

  • Batch checker: you bring the URL list. The tool checks each one. Right answer when you already have URLs from a backlink export, a CMS dump, a sitemap, or a content audit spreadsheet.
  • Crawler: you bring a starting URL. The tool discovers links by following them, page by page. Right answer for full-site audits when you don't have a URL list yet.

A common pattern: crawl with Screaming Frog or Sitebulb to build the URL list, then batch-check that list monthly to catch new breakage without re-crawling.

Frequently asked questions

How many URLs can I check in a single batch?

Up to 75,000 URLs per job on the standard plan. The free tier covers your first 300 URLs with no signup. For larger lists, the cloud workers split the batch into parallel chunks and reassemble the results.

How long does a batch check take?

Roughly 1,000 URLs per minute on a clean list. Slower for lists concentrated on a single domain (we throttle to about 20 requests per minute per domain to avoid triggering rate limits and false 429s). A 10,000-URL list spread across many domains usually finishes in 10 to 15 minutes.

What status codes get returned?

The full HTTP response: 200, 301, 302, 307, 308, 400, 403, 404, 410, 429, 500, 503, and the rest. Soft 404s (pages that return 200 but show "not found" content) are detected separately. Redirect chains are followed and the final destination URL is returned alongside the intermediate hops.

Can I upload a CSV instead of pasting?

Yes. CSV upload accepts files up to 75,000 rows. The checker auto-detects which column contains URLs, so exports from Ahrefs, Semrush, Screaming Frog, and Google Search Console drop in without reformatting.

Will batch checking get my IP blocked?

No. Every request goes through a rotating residential proxy pool, so target sites see traffic from many different IPs rather than one hammering source. The per-domain throttle (20 rpm) keeps each individual site within polite limits.

Do I need to keep the browser open while it runs?

No. Close the tab, shut your laptop, the job finishes on the cloud workers. An email lands when the batch is done with a link to the results dashboard and CSV export.

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