DA vs DR: Why Your Moz and Ahrefs Scores Don't Match (and Which One to Trust)
July 6, 2026
A client emailed me last spring, a little annoyed. His site showed DA 28 in one report and DR 51 in another, and he wanted to know which agency was lying to him. Neither was. He was looking at two different metrics from two different companies that measure two different things, and nobody had ever bothered to explain the difference.
If you've ever compared your Moz score against your Ahrefs score and wondered why they're 20 points apart, this article is for you. I'll explain what each score actually measures, why they disagree so often, and which one deserves your attention. Short answer: it depends on who you're talking to. Long answer below.
What Domain Authority (DA) actually is
Domain Authority is Moz's prediction of how likely a website is to rank in search results. It runs from 1 to 100. Moz calculates it mainly from the site's backlink profile: how many sites link to you, how strong those sites are, and how trustworthy the whole pattern looks.
Two things people constantly get wrong about DA:
- Google doesn't use it. DA is a Moz invention. Google has never used it, and never will. It correlates with rankings because it measures the same raw material Google cares about (links), not because Google reads the number.
- It's a moving target. DA is graded on a curve against every other site in Moz's index. Your DA can drop even when you did nothing wrong, simply because other sites gained links faster than you did. I've watched site owners panic over a two point drop that meant absolutely nothing.
The scale is logarithmic. Getting from DA 10 to DA 20 might take a few decent links. Getting from 60 to 70 takes years of work. Keep that in mind before you promise anyone a specific number.
What Domain Rating (DR) actually is
Domain Rating is Ahrefs' version of the same idea, also 0 to 100, but the recipe is different. DR looks almost purely at one thing: how many unique websites link to you, weighted by how strong those linking sites are. That's roughly it.
DR ignores a lot of things DA tries to account for. It doesn't care much about spam signals. It doesn't try to model trust. One consequence is that DR tends to run higher than DA for the same site, and it moves faster. A handful of links from strong domains can push DR up noticeably within weeks, while DA barely twitches.
This is also why DR is easier to inflate than most people admit. A site with DR 70 and almost no traffic is a pattern I see weekly when vetting link prospects. The score is real, the links exist, but the site is worthless. Always look at organic traffic next to DR before you pay anyone for a placement.
Why the two scores disagree
Three reasons, and they compound:
1. Different crawlers, different indexes
Moz and Ahrefs each run their own crawler and maintain their own index of the web. Neither has the full picture. Ahrefs generally has the bigger link index, so it simply sees more of your backlinks than Moz does. If half your links only exist in one index, the scores were never going to match.
2. Different math
Even on identical data, the formulas differ. Moz factors in spam signals and applies heavier smoothing. Ahrefs leans harder on referring domains and link strength. Same site, same links, different number.
3. Different curves
Both scores are relative, but they're relative to different populations. Moz curves you against its index, Ahrefs against its own. A change in either company's index can shift your score overnight while your actual site stays exactly the same.
DA vs DR at a glance
| Domain Authority (DA) | Domain Rating (DR) | |
|---|---|---|
| Made by | Moz | Ahrefs |
| Scale | 1 to 100, logarithmic | 0 to 100, logarithmic |
| Main inputs | Links, linking domains, spam signals | Referring domains, weighted by strength |
| Typical behavior | Slower to move, usually lower | Faster to move, usually higher |
| Easiest to inflate | Harder | Easier |
| Google ranking factor | No | No |
So which one should you use?
Honestly, whichever one the person across the table uses. That sounds flippant but it's the practical truth.
- Selling guest posts or link placements? Buyers ask for DR far more often. It's become the default currency of link marketplaces.
- Working with US agencies or older SEO teams? They tend to speak DA. Moz got there first and the habit stuck.
- Vetting sites to get links from? Use both, then ignore both a little. Check the site's organic traffic, look at who links to it, and read a couple of pages. A DR 40 site with real traffic and real content beats a DR 65 shell every single time.
- Tracking your own progress? Pick one, check it monthly, and stop checking it weekly. These scores update on multi week cycles. Daily checking just teaches you to worry about noise.
My own habit: I treat DR as the quick filter and DA as the second opinion. When the two scores roughly agree, fine. When they're wildly apart, that gap is usually telling me something, and it's worth two minutes to find out what.
The trap: chasing the number instead of the thing it measures
Both scores go up for one underlying reason: better sites linking to yours. Every shortcut that raises the score without raising the underlying link quality eventually shows up somewhere, either in a spam score, a traffic chart, or a manual review by whoever you're trying to impress.
So build the links you'd want a human to find. Earn mentions from sites in your niche. Fix your internal linking. Write something worth citing. The scores follow. They always do, just slower than anyone wants.
Check both scores side by side
You don't need a Moz subscription and an Ahrefs subscription to compare the numbers. That's most of the reason this site exists.
- Check Moz DA, PA and Spam Score with the free bulk DA PA checker
- Check Ahrefs DR, UR and referring domains with the free bulk DR checker
- Want Majestic's take too? Trust Flow tells you about link quality specifically, and you can check it with the bulk TF checker
All three pull live data from the provider APIs, so what you see matches what the buyer or client sees on their end. No stale numbers, no arguments.
Quick answers
Is DA or DR more accurate? Neither is more accurate, because they measure different things against different indexes. Accuracy isn't really the right question. Consistency is, and each score is consistent within its own system.
What's a good DA or DR? Whatever beats your direct competitors. DA 25 in a local plumbing niche can be dominant. DR 45 in SaaS might be entry level. Compare within your niche or the number means nothing.
Can my DR be high and my DA low? Yes, and it's common. Ahrefs sees more of your links, and its formula rewards referring domains more aggressively. A 15 to 25 point gap between the two is normal, not a red flag.
Do these scores affect my Google rankings? Not directly, not at all. But the links behind them absolutely do. Treat the scores as a thermometer, not the weather.