// free tool //
Redirect Chain Checker
Trace every hop a URL takes before it lands. See each redirect's status code, count the hops, and catch loops and needlessly long chains. Free, no account needed.
Why redirect chains matter
Every redirect hop costs a full network round-trip before the visitor sees anything, and search engines pass less authority through each extra hop. A URL that goes http → https → www → final is three hops where one would do. Chains longer than two hops are worth fixing; loops - where a URL eventually redirects back to itself - break the page outright.
This checker requests your URL and follows the Location header manually, hop by hop, recording each status code along the way. 301 and 308 are permanent redirects (search engines transfer ranking signals); 302, 303, and 307 are temporary (they usually don't). Mixing them up is one of the most common causes of lost rankings after a site migration.
Redirects also change without anyone deciding they should: an expired plugin rule, a CDN misconfiguration, or a migration script can quietly re-route a money page to the homepage. MyKavo re-checks the redirect behavior of every monitored page on a schedule and alerts you when a destination or status unexpectedly changes.
// questions //
Frequently asked questions
What is a redirect chain?
A redirect chain is when one URL redirects to another, which redirects again, before reaching the final page. Each extra hop costs load time, dilutes link signals and gives another chance for something to break. This tool follows every hop and shows the status code and destination at each step.
How many redirects are too many?
One hop is normal, two is tolerable, three or more should be collapsed. Browsers give up after roughly twenty, but the practical damage starts far earlier through added latency on every request. A redirect loop, where the chain returns to a URL it already visited, never resolves at all and the tool flags it separately.
What is the difference between a 301 and a 302 redirect?
A 301 is permanent and tells search engines to transfer ranking signals to the new URL. A 302 is temporary and tells them to keep the original indexed. Using a 302 for a permanent move is a common and costly mistake, because the new URL never inherits the authority of the old one.
Why did my redirects change without a deploy?
Redirect rules commonly live outside your codebase - in a CDN, a host control panel, a WordPress plugin or a domain registrar's forwarding settings. A change in any of those takes effect without a deploy and without a trace in your repository, which is why redirect behaviour is worth monitoring rather than assuming.