Same idea, different math
Both metrics try to answer the same question — how strong is this site's link profile, relative to the rest of the web? Both use a logarithmic 0–100 scale where the highest end is disproportionately hard to reach. But DR is built entirely from Ahrefs' own backlink index, while DA comes from a machine-learning model Moz trained on its own crawl data, its own definition of "linking root domains," and its own read of link quality. Different inputs, different scores.
Why the same domain shows two different numbers
It's normal — not a bug — for a domain to show a different DR on Ahrefs than its DA on Moz. Each tool indexes a different, overlapping-but-not-identical slice of the web's links and weighs them with its own model. Comparing a DR number to a DA number directly is comparing two different rulers.
Which one should you use?
Pick one and stay consistent, especially when comparing your own inventory of sites against each other or against a prospect's site. Mixing "our site is DA 40" against "their site is DR 40" isn't a fair comparison. Most link building marketplaces and outreach conversations default to DR simply because it's the more widely cited metric in the space today.
| Domain Rating (DR) | Domain Authority (DA) | |
|---|---|---|
| Built by | Ahrefs | Moz |
| Scale | 0–100, logarithmic | 1–100, logarithmic |
| Based on | Ahrefs' own backlink index | Moz's link index + ML model |
| Used by Google? | No | No |