Domain Compare: a beginner's guide
Compare rankings and authority for multiple domains
Side-by-side domain comparisons: the apples-to-apples framework
A domain comparison is a structured side-by-side check of two (or more) domains across the same set of dimensions, designed to make the differences immediately visible. Where a competitive teardown is usually a marketing artifact aimed at sales, a domain comparison is more often a technical or operational artifact aimed at vendor evaluation, M&A diligence, infrastructure migration planning, or a security review of "how does our domain stack up against the industry leader?" The format is simple: pick the dimensions, pick the domains, run the same checks on each, and lay the results out in a table.
You should care because most decisions about "which one is better" are made on incomplete data, and the data is incomplete because nobody has bothered to run the same checks on both sides at the same time. The purchasing team evaluating a SaaS vendor reads each vendor's marketing pages but has no objective way to compare their infrastructure quality. The M&A analyst doing diligence on an acquisition target compares the target against the acquirer's own systems but only on the dimensions the seller chooses to disclose. The security team comparing two open-source frameworks reads each project's docs but never runs the same security checks against both. A side-by-side comparison forces every dimension to be measured the same way for every domain.
The five dimensions every domain comparison should include:
DNS and infrastructure. Same nameserver provider? Same CDN? Same hosting region?
Security posture. TLS configuration, certificate hygiene, security headers, DNSSEC status.
Performance. Core Web Vitals, response times, page weight.
Content and SEO. Title tags, structured data, sitemap quality, content freshness.
Compliance and privacy. Cookie banner, third-party trackers, privacy policy presence.
Three questions a side-by-side domain comparison answers:
For a vendor evaluation, which of these two providers has better infrastructure quality?
For an M&A diligence pass, how does the target's tech compare to ours?
For a competitive benchmark, how do we stack up against the recognized industry leader on every measurable dimension?
The cost of comparing by intuition is bad decisions made with incomplete data. The fix is to define the dimensions in advance, run the same checks on every domain, and force the comparison to be apples-to-apples. This is one of those small operational disciplines that pays disproportionate dividends in the quality of every decision built on top of it.
The Domain Compare endpoint, in plain language
In one sentence: Compare rankings and authority for multiple domains
Compare up to 10 domains side-by-side on ranking, WSA (Website Authority) scores, domain age, category, and more. Powered by the WebsiteLaunches Top 100M dataset.
Don't worry if some of the words above are still unfamiliar — there's a plain-language glossary at the bottom of this page, and most of the terms link to their own beginner guides if you want to learn more.
What is actually happening when you call it
Here's what's actually happening behind the scenes when you call this endpoint:
Accepts a comma-separated list of domains and returns comparative data including global ranking, rank tier, WSA authority score, domain age, category classification, and descriptions. Results are sorted by rank.
If you're using an AI assistant through MCP, you don't need to understand any of the technical details — the assistant calls the tool and translates the result for you.
Why this specific tool matters
Let's skip the marketing fluff and answer the only question that actually matters: why should you, a real human with a real to-do list, care about the Domain Compare tool? Here's the plain-English version, written the way you'd hear it from a friend who happens to do this for a living.
Essential for competitor benchmarking, brand portfolio analysis, and investment due diligence. Quickly see how domains stack up against each other in terms of authority and traffic ranking.
Picture this in real life. Imagine a marketing analyst. Here's the situation they're walking into: Compare your domain ranking and authority against top competitors to identify gaps and opportunities. Without the right tool, that person would be stuck copy-pasting between five browser tabs, reading documentation written for engineers, and crossing their fingers that the answer they cobble together is correct. With the Domain Compare tool, the same person gets a clear answer in seconds — no spreadsheets, no guessing, no waiting for someone on the infrastructure team to free up.
Three questions this tool answers in plain English. If any of these have ever crossed your mind, the Domain Compare tool is built for you:
Can I get the entire story about a domain in a single report instead of running ten checks?
What is the single document I would share with my team, my client, or my board?
Where should I focus my next hour of work to make the biggest difference?
You can either click the tool and get the answer yourself, or ask your AI assistant — connected through MCP (Model Context Protocol) — to ask the question for you and translate the answer into something you can paste into Slack.
Who gets the most out of this. Account executives prepping a sales call, agencies producing a monthly client deliverable, investors doing diligence, and founders building a board deck. If you see yourself in that list, this is one of the EdgeDNS tools you should bookmark today.
What happens if you skip this entirely. Skip it and you have to assemble the same snapshot by hand every time you need it — which means you stop bothering. That's why running this check — even once a month — is one of the cheapest forms of insurance you can give your domain.
Available on the pro plan. The technical details: `GET /v1/domain/compare`.
When would I actually use this?
If you're still on the fence about whether the Domain Compare tool belongs in your toolbox, this section is for you. Below you'll meet three real people — a marketing analyst, a domain investor, and a brand manager — facing three real situations where this tool turns a stressful afternoon into a five-minute task. Read whichever story sounds closest to your week.
Story 1: Competitor Benchmarking
Imagine you're a marketing analyst. Compare your domain ranking and authority against top competitors to identify gaps and opportunities.
Why it matters: Data-driven competitive intelligence for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and marketing strategy.
Story 2: Domain Portfolio Valuation
Imagine you're a domain investor. Compare multiple domains in a portfolio to assess relative authority and market value.
Why it matters: Quick portfolio assessment using authoritative ranking data.
Story 3: Brand Monitoring
Imagine you're a brand manager. Compare your main domain against brand variations and competitor domains to track market position.
Why it matters: Ongoing visibility into brand domain authority versus competitors.
Common situations across teams. Beyond the three stories above, here are the everyday workplace moments when people across the company reach for the Domain Compare tool — or one of the tools right next to it in this category. If any of these are on your calendar this month, that's your sign:
Right before a sales call, to walk in already knowing the prospect.
For a monthly client status update or executive summary.
During M&A or investor diligence on a target domain.
When you want to share "everything we know about this domain" in a single link.
If you can see yourself in even one of those bullets, the Domain Compare tool will pay for itself the first time you use it.
Still not sure? Here's the easiest test in the world. Open Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or any other AI assistant connected to the EdgeDNS MCP server and ask, in your own words: "Is the Domain Compare tool useful for my job?" The assistant will look at the tool, ask you a couple of follow-up questions about what you're trying to accomplish, and give you a straight answer in plain English. No commitment, no signup forms, no jargon.
The easiest way: just ask your AI assistant
If you've connected the EdgeDNS MCP server to Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Cursor, or any other AI assistant, you don't need to write any code. Just ask in plain English:
"Use the Domain Compare tool to check example.com and explain anything that looks wrong in plain language."
The AI will figure out which tool to call, fill in the right parameters, run it, and then explain the result back to you. No copy-pasting between tabs. No reading raw JSON. No memorizing endpoint names.
MCP (Model Context Protocol) access is free on every plan, including the free tier. One API key works for both REST and AI — you do not have to choose.
The technical way: call it from code
If you're a developer and want to call the endpoint from a script or your own application, here's the simplest possible example. Replace the placeholder API key with the real one from your dashboard.
# Replace edns_live_YOUR_KEY with your real API key from the dashboard
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer edns_live_YOUR_KEY" \
"https://api.edgedns.dev/v1/domain/compare?domains=google.com%2Cfacebook.com%2Ctwitter.com"What you need to provide
There's just one piece of information you need to provide. The table below explains exactly what it is and what a real value looks like.
| Field | Type | Required? | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
domains | string | Yes | Comma-separated list of domains to compare (2-10) | google.com,facebook.com,twitter.com |
What you get back
When you call this tool, you'll get back a JSON object with the fields below. If you're talking to it through an AI assistant, the assistant reads these for you and explains them in plain language — you don't need to memorize them.
| Field | Type | What you'll see in it |
|---|---|---|
domains | array | Array of domain comparison objects sorted by rank |
domains[].domain | string | The domain name |
domains[].rank | number|null | Global ranking position (null if unranked) |
domains[].rank_tier | string | Rank tier: top100, top1k, top10k, top100k, top1m, or unranked |
domains[].wsa_score | number|null | Website Authority score (0-100) |
domains[].category | string|null | Primary site category |
compared_at | string | ISO timestamp of comparison |
Words you might be wondering about
If any words on this page felt like jargon, here's a plain-language version. Click any linked term to read a full beginner-friendly guide.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) — Everything you do to help search engines like Google find, understand, and rank your website.
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