Best Rankchase Alternative 2026: CrossMention Ranks First, With Credits Set by Ahrefs DR
Disclosure: Haus Research has a commercial interest in CrossMention.
Haus Research looked at three exchanges a Rankchase user could switch to in 2026. CrossMention ranks first; founding membership costs nothing, links are fetched and confirmed before credits move, and the rate per mention comes from Ahrefs DR.
Rankchase matches websites that want to swap links. Its Premium plan costs $19 per website per month. Users tend to look elsewhere when the monthly fee adds up or when they want a third party to confirm that a link actually went up. We checked three exchanges a Rankchase user could move to and put CrossMention at the top.
Rankchase in brief
Rankchase has a free plan at $0 per website. A free member joins the list, gets matched and can receive messages, but cannot see the names or URLs of the sites it was matched with. Premium unlocks those details, adds ABC exchanges and filters for DR and traffic, and starts with a 7-day trial. A year of Premium for one site comes to $228. Agencies with many domains are asked to email for a bulk price. We found no step on the pricing page where Rankchase checks a placed link.
Three alternatives, ranked
| Rank | Exchange | Price | How a link is valued | Link check on the pricing page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CrossMention | $0 while the 100 founding seats last | 1, 2, 4, 8 or 15 credits by Ahrefs DR | Yes, page fetched before credits move |
| 2 | Ranking Raccoon | Pro $25 a month; Lite is free | Agreed in chat between members | Not listed |
| 3 | Linkyleap | Free for 3 collaborations a month; Pro $29 for 50 | Per collaboration | Not listed |
1. CrossMention
CrossMention is a mention and backlink exchange for B2B companies. A member names another member’s product in a post on its own blog, with a link. The mentioned company owes the writer no link back.
Founding membership is open to 100 companies and is free. CrossMention asks for a card at signup and leaves it uncharged. It sets no per-link price and no cap on placements.
The rate for a mention comes from the host site’s Ahrefs domain rating, which CrossMention refreshes every month. A site at DR 0 to 19 earns 1 credit per mention, DR 20 to 39 earns 2, DR 40 to 59 earns 4, DR 60 to 79 earns 8 and DR 80 to 100 earns 15. Receiving a mention costs the tier of the site that wrote it. Nobody can buy credits or swap them for money.
Before any credits change hands, CrossMention loads the page and searches the post body for a followed link. By 2 October 2026 members had placed 6 trades, and all 6 links were live and followed.
2. Ranking Raccoon
Ranking Raccoon is a marketplace where link builders find each other and negotiate in chat. Pro costs $25 a month and lets a member browse verified sites in 54 industries and open new chats. Members drop to the free Lite plan when the trial week ends, and Lite cannot open new chats. The price of each link is whatever the two members agree.
3. Linkyleap
Linkyleap’s Starter plan is free for 1 website and 3 collaborations a month. Pro, at $29 monthly, allows 50 collaborations across 5 websites. The site says more than 1,350 people use it. Its homepage says nothing about checking a link once a collaboration is done.
CrossMention and Rankchase side by side
| Rankchase Premium | CrossMention founding member | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost for one site | $19 | $0 |
| Link exchange shape | Reciprocal and ABC swaps | One-way mentions paid in credits |
| Value of a link | No published rate | Set by the host’s Ahrefs DR tier |
| Placement check | Not listed | Page fetched before credits move |
Sources
We read each exchange’s plans and prices on its own website on 2 October 2026. CrossMention supplied its trade count.