When you resell link building, a supplier’s missed deadline becomes your missed deadline, and their report becomes the document your client judges you on. Choosing a service is really choosing how much of that risk you carry yourself.
Rhino Rank is the link building service we rank first for SEO freelancers, because it pairs self-serve ordering and no minimums with white-label order reports and a 12-month replacement promise on each delivered link, with curated links from $60. Above Apex is best for freelancers whose clients sit on ongoing retainers and who want editorial backlinks on a fixed monthly plan. White Label Links is best for single-link orders, with DR 40+ links from $30 and reports delivered in your agency’s own template.
Plenty of SEO work gets done one person at a time, and one survey gives a glimpse of that. In a 2024 study published in the Journal of Infrastructure Policy and Development, roughly half of the SEO specialists surveyed were freelancers, a result that describes that sample rather than the industry as a whole. Still, anyone who has worked solo will recognize the workload behind a number like that: no procurement process, no account manager on the other end, just a spreadsheet, a few clients and a stack of reports to compile and send yourself. Links need to show up when promised, and the paperwork around them lands on one desk.
The money context sharpens things. Monthly retainers for SEO services typically run $5,000 to $50,000+, and enterprise agency partnerships can reach $20,000 to $100,000+ per month, according to Conductor’s 2026 pricing guide. Those figures cover whole SEO programs, not link orders, and a freelancer reselling links into client budgets works at a very different scale. Per-link pricing, gentle minimums and client-ready reporting carry more weight than agency-style account management, because each link bought is a unit that has to leave margin when it gets billed on.
#1 Rhino Rank
Rhino Rank is the pick for freelancers who want to order exactly the links they need, brand the output as their own and know there’s a safety net under every placement.
Flexible Self-Serve Ordering
The detail we keep coming back to is the ordering model. Rhino Rank is self-serve with no minimums and no contracts, so you can buy a single curated link at $60, add a guest post at $75 per placement, or batch an order into a per-link package and save 8%. You browse by referring-domain counts, with options from RD 20 up to RD 1000+, which makes it simple to match a placement to each client’s budget before you commit. Its delivery target is 7 to 14 days, giving you a window to plan campaigns around rather than a fixed date to sell on.
The menu goes well past curated links and guest posts. Listicle placements include vetting of the host site and run $135 at DA30+, $220 at DA40+, $340 at DA50+ and $450 at DA60+. Press release packages start at $99 with the writing included, rising to $279 for a Growth tier that includes Business Insider, AP News and USA TODAY, and $679 for an Authority tier that adds Yahoo Finance as well as The Globe and Mail. It’s a wide menu for a self-serve shop. That range matters when one client wants a single niche placement and another wants a full listicle campaign.
When the workload grows past what you want to manage yourself, you can bring in a dedicated strategist to run everything, with managed spend from $500 a month. The reporting splits along the same line. Self-serve orders come with an unbranded white-label report, while managed campaigns add monthly reporting that keeps retainer clients in the loop, and you can cancel anytime, which keeps the arrangement as flexible as the workload. The company says it’s trusted by more than 7,000 clients.
The part we like most is the safety net. Rhino Rank states that each delivered link has a 12-month replacement window, so a link that drops inside that window gets replaced, and its first-order refund policy covers any service, whatever the reason, to a limit of $550. For a freelancer whose fee is already committed to client work, that pairing softens the cost of a placement going wrong. Accountability is easy to promise. A written replacement window and an any-reason refund are what it looks like in practice.
Put it together and this is the most freelancer-shaped offer on the list. The single-link freedom of White Label Links, the structure of a monthly plan and first-order refund cover all live in one place, and you never have to buy more than the next client ordered.
When to Use Managed Support
The managed option is built for steady, recurring volume. If you place the occasional one-off link, you’ll live on the self-serve side and the strategist tier will simply go unused, which costs you nothing but is worth knowing before you picture guided campaigns.
#2 Above Apex
Above Apex is the retainer play, a fixed monthly service for freelancers whose clients already pay them by the month.
Monthly Campaign Planning
The interesting thing here is the pricing shape. Above Apex sells pay-per-link or fixed monthly engagements, with a minimum of $1,500 to $2,000 a month on the pay-per-link model, and that structure mirrors how a freelancer with retainer clients already bills. Money in monthly, links out monthly. Link building becomes a predictable line item, and for a freelancer, that predictability is the product.
On top of the pricing, the link menu covers editorial backlinks and expert quote placements, two distinct formats that give a long campaign some variety across the months. That mix means you can sell a client more than one kind of placement in a single engagement, which keeps renewals interesting. Turnaround runs 10 to 15 days, a touch behind Rhino Rank’s 7 to 14, and reporting is fully white-labeled, so the output goes straight into your own client updates under your branding. The small print we enjoyed most is the exit term. If an engagement ends with budget unspent, any remaining balance is refunded immediately, so a client who cancels mid-campaign doesn’t leave you arguing over stranded money.
We think this is the most appealing option on the list for a freelancer with a stable of retainer clients and monthly deliverables to hit. Above Apex offers pay-per-link ordering alongside its fixed monthly option, and it’s the fixed monthly route that we find the calmer way to run a book of ongoing accounts. It’s also the option we’d point to when a freelancer wants link building to behave like the rest of their retainer services, scoped monthly and reported monthly.
Matching Monthly Spend to Client Demand
That monthly floor is the trade-off. Committing $1,500 to $2,000 a month is real money when your clients are small or their budgets irregular, and a freelancer between retainers will feel it fast. That minimum applies on the pay-per-link model too, so the service is plainly shaped around ongoing engagements. If your book is mostly one-off projects, the monthly model will feel like overkill.
#3 White Label Links
White Label Links is the low-commitment option, built for buying one link at a time and branding everything as your own work.
Client-Ready Report Formats
The detail that grabbed us is the reporting. White-label reports arrive in your agency’s own template, and custom-branded reports, CSV exports and client-ready decks are all included, so the deliverable looks like something your studio produced in-house. The CSV exports mean the link data can go straight into your own spreadsheets, and the decks are ready for clients who expect a presentation. For a reselling freelancer, the report is the thing the client actually holds, and White Label Links clearly treats it that way. It’s a small touch that saves real time every reporting cycle.
The buying side is just as accommodating. You can purchase a single link, DR 40+ links start at $30 with no hidden fees, and its packages start from $99. The catalog runs to high DA and DR links plus .edu links, and a 100% money-back guarantee covers its premium links. Where Rhino Rank spreads its menu across curated links, guest posts and listicles, White Label Links keeps things metric-led, which makes it quick to spec an order when a client hands you a DA or DR target.
Put the pieces together and this is the natural place to run a trial order. Being able to buy a single link, with a 100% money-back guarantee on premium links, makes White Label Links a low-risk way to test a new client’s industry before you commit anyone’s budget. It’s also a sensible home for the odd experimental order, the client in an unfamiliar niche, the industry you haven’t built links in before.
Looking Beyond the DR Threshold
Judge each order on topical fit and the actual placement, not the DR threshold alone, since a metric floor says nothing about whether the page suits your niche. Freelancers who like speccing orders by metric will feel at home here.
#4 Semify
Semify is the white-label partner for freelancers whose client load swings between small accounts and big ones.
Volume-Based White-Label Support
The thing that stands out first is the review record, a 5.0 rating across 11 reviews on Clutch. That’s a small sample, but it says the clients who posted were happy. Its white-labeled reporting is built to be shared directly with clients. The link menu covers guest posts, featured news stories and off-site articles, a news-leaning mix that suits clients who like seeing their name in article-style placements. Featured news stories in particular give you something to show a client beyond a metrics screenshot.
Then there’s the pricing, which is custom and tailored to volume, so your quote reflects how much you order. For a freelancer whose book mixes one large account with several small ones, that can flex in ways a fixed rate card can’t, and it’s worth asking how the rate shifts as your order grows. For freelancers who want one partner that flexes with their book, Semify is the interesting middle ground between a rate card and a retainer.
Planning Around a Volume Quote
Semify prices each job on volume and tailors the quote to your business, so the number you get reflects the actual work you plan to send. That suits freelancers ordering at volume. Anyone costing a single small job will need the quote in hand first, and that’s the price of a tailored quote.
#5 Outreach Link Agency
Outreach Link Agency is the pay-on-delivery option, where your money moves only when links are live.
Payment After Links Go Live
The payment model is the interesting part. You pay only when the links are live, which removes the classic freelancer headache of chasing a supplier for work you’ve already paid for. Listed prices sit at $60 and $120 per link, so you can rough-quote a client before you order, and the services cover both link insertions and guest posting. For a freelancer testing a new supplier, paying on delivery changes the whole risk calculation.
The refund terms are specific in a way we appreciate. If the agency can’t find a link insertion opportunity in your niche, you get a 100% refund. White-label reports go out when the work completes, customized so you take the credit, which keeps the paperwork tied to delivery rather than trailing behind it. Combined with pay-on-delivery, the obvious failure mode, a niche with no placements in it, costs you nothing.
For a first order with a new supplier, this structure is about as low-friction as it gets.
Matching Refunds to the Ordered Product
That refund promise covers one exact scenario, a link insertion order where no niche-relevant site turns up. It’s a genuinely useful safety net for that one failure, since a full refund lands if no niche-relevant site can be found to match the product you ordered. Know which protection you’re buying before you brief a client on it.
#6 LinksThatRank
LinksThatRank is the structured monthly plan with an express option, for freelancers who like working to a schedule.
Pausable Monthly Plans
The appealing detail is the flexibility inside the structure. Plans start from $697 a month with no contract, and you can pause or cancel anytime, so the commitment is softer than the price tag first suggests. Guest posts also come individually from $177, which gives you a way to try the service before a monthly plan makes sense.
The menu runs wide too, covering guest articles, link inserts, listicles and reviews. That spread of formats makes it easy to vary a client’s link profile across a campaign without switching suppliers. Most orders land in under 21 days, with express 10-day delivery available when a client needs links sooner, and the reports are unbranded and client-ready. The service holds a 4.3 rating across 13 reviews on Trustpilot. Where Above Apex asks $1,500 to $2,000 a month, LinksThatRank gets you onto a monthly plan from $697, so it’s worth a look if you want structure at a lower monthly figure.
The pause option deserves a second look. Freelance work is lumpy, and a plan you can pause between client campaigns and resume when the next retainer lands fits that rhythm better than a cancel-and-resubscribe cycle. Express delivery has obvious value when a client calls with a launch date already fixed.
Matching an Order to the Specifications
LinksThatRank refunds delivered links that fall short of the specifications on its homepage, so the practical move is to read that spec list before you order and match your order to it, because it’s the yardstick any refund request will be measured against. Rhino Rank’s first-order refund covers any reason, up to $550, which gives new buyers a little more room on that first purchase.
What to Weigh
Start with the minimum, because it tells you who the service is really built for. A monthly floor suits a freelancer with retainer clients and predictable volume, while per-link ordering with no minimum suits a book of one-off projects. Ask whether the minimum applies per order or per month, and whether batching an order changes the unit price. Cash flow is the quiet issue underneath. If you pay the supplier before your client’s invoice clears, a pricing model that matches your billing cycle is worth real money. The right answer changes as your client book changes, so revisit it when your mix of one-off and retainer work shifts.
Then study the report, because the report is the deliverable your client actually sees. A good white-label report carries your branding, lists the live URLs and includes enough metric context for a client to verify the work without emailing you questions. Check whether you can adjust the template, whether exports arrive in a format your own reporting can absorb, and whether reports come per order or per month. That’s the difference between forwarding a file and rebuilding one. If a supplier’s report needs cleanup before you can send it, that time comes out of your margin on every order.
Delivery speed and the guarantee belong in the same conversation. A stated turnaround lets you promise dates to clients, and the refund or replacement policy decides what happens when a link drops or a placement falls through. Read the guarantee’s scope before ordering, because some policies cover any reason and others cover only specific failure cases, and the difference shows up exactly when you need it. Replacement cover and refunds solve different problems, one fixes a link that was delivered and later lost, the other exits an order that went wrong, and it’s worth knowing which one a supplier is offering. Ask what happens if a link disappears months after delivery, since that’s the scenario that costs you.
Finally, weigh the link menu against your client base. Guest posts put a new article on a host site with your link inside, while insertions and curated links place your link into content that’s already live, and different briefs call for different formats. A supplier with several formats lets you match the link to the niche and the budget, so you never force one format onto every client. If your clients span industries, that variety saves you from juggling suppliers. Ask whether the supplier writes the content or you do, because that changes both the price and the timeline.
One last habit is worth building. Place a small first order before you commit a client’s budget, read the report you receive as if you were the client, and watch how the supplier handles questions. The answers tell you more than any pricing page.
The Six Services Compared Side by Side
Pricing models at a glance.
| Company | Best For | Starting Price or Pricing Model | Link Types | White-Label Reports |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rhino Rank | Flexible self-serve ordering | From $60 per link | Curated links, guest posts, listicle placements | Per-order reports; monthly for managed campaigns |
| Above Apex | Retainer-based client work | $1,500 to $2,000 per month | Editorial backlinks, expert quote placements | Fully white-labeled |
| White Label Links | Single-link and trial orders | DR 40+ links from $30 | High DA and DR links, .edu links | Reports in your agency’s template, CSV exports, branded decks |
| Semify | Variable client volume | Custom pricing by volume | Guest posts, featured news stories, off-site articles | White-labeled and client-shareable |
| Outreach Link Agency | Pay-on-delivery ordering | $60 and $120 per link | Link insertions, guest posts | Customized reports on completion |
| LinksThatRank | Structured monthly plans | From $697 per month | Guest articles, link inserts, listicles, reviews | Unbranded and client-ready |
Read the starting-price column as a pricing-model column, because per-link rates, monthly plans and volume quotes don’t reduce to a single number. If you resell, the white-label column is the one your clients will experience most directly.
Before You Choose
What Is the Difference Between a Curated Link and a Guest Post?
A curated or inserted link goes into a page that’s already live on the host site, while a guest post is a new article written and published around your link. Rhino Rank sells both, curated links from $60 and guest posts from $75 per placement, and LinksThatRank splits the same ground into guest articles and link inserts. The choice comes down to whether you need new content built around your link or a placement inside something that already exists. Both formats show up across this list, so it’s worth knowing which one a client’s brief actually needs.
Is There a Minimum Budget to Start?
It depends entirely on the supplier, and the range across this list is wide. Rhino Rank has no minimums on self-serve orders, White Label Links lets you buy a single link, LinksThatRank starts from $697 a month, and monthly engagements at Above Apex run $1,500 to $2,000. Testing a supplier calls for the smallest order you can place. Funding links from a client’s retainer can make a monthly plan the tidier fit. Either way, start smaller than you plan to end up.
What Should a White-Label Report Include?
At minimum, look for the live URLs, the linking sites’ metrics and the anchor text, so your client can verify the work without coming back to you. White Label Links goes further, with custom-branded reports, CSV exports and client-ready decks built in your agency’s template, and Semify’s white-labeled reporting is made to be shared directly with clients. Rhino Rank splits the difference: its managed campaigns come with monthly white-label reporting that slots neatly into a retainer cycle, while self-serve orders each ship with a white-label report you can pass straight to the client. If the report needs editing before it goes to a client, factor that time into your margin.
Should You Pay Per Link or Per Month?
Match the pricing model to the way your clients pay you. Per-link ordering, like Rhino Rank’s from $60 or the $60 and $120 rates at Outreach Link Agency, suits project work and irregular volume, since spend stops when the work stops. Monthly plans, from $697 at LinksThatRank or $1,500 to $2,000 at Above Apex, suit retainer clients where links are a standing deliverable, and Semify’s volume-based custom pricing sits between the two. The wrong model costs you margin either way, through capacity you paid for and didn’t use, or through scrambling when a client says yes.
