SEOmatic vs The SEO Framework (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, The SEO Framework grades higher than SEOmatic: 3.0 against 2.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
SEOmatic grades higher on value for money. The SEO Framework grades higher on the free plan and ease of use. They get the same grade on features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
SEOmatic
SEO plugin for Craft CMS covering meta tags, JSON-LD and sitemaps
The SEO Framework
WordPress SEO plugin that fills in meta tags and schema automatically
Which one is for you
Pick SEOmatic if
- Fits if you build sites on Craft CMS and want the SEO tags drawn from content fields
- Works for Craft Commerce stores that need product structured data
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if your site isn't on Craft CMS 3, 4 or 5
- Too light for 404 redirects, which need its maker's separate Retour plugin
- Pricey if you run lots of sites, since each Craft installation needs its own license
- Watch out: updates after the first year cost $69 a year
Pick The SEO Framework if
- Fits if you want SEO tags written for you with few settings to touch
- Works for developers running a live and a staging copy of each site
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you need a redirect manager, a 404 log or link suggestions, as none are on record
- Tight if you want focus keyword checks, as they and article and local business schema need a paid plan
- Not for you if you have one site and want to pay for one, as the cheapest plan covers 2
- Watch out: API-backed services are capped each month and shared across all your sites
- Watch out: it runs only inside WordPress, and refunds cover the last payment within 30 days
How we grade them
| 2.6GPASEOmaticGood | 3.0GPAThe SEO FrameworkVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | A$99 once per Craft installation, under a year of this category's $10.99 middle subscription. Updates after the first year are $69 a year, so two years come to $168, and licenses can be returned within 30 days. | BPro is $7 a month billed yearly, $84 a year, for 2 sites, inside this category's cheaper quarter ($8.25). There's no single-site licence; Business is $17 a month for 20 sites and Agency $27 for 200. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan for live sites, but you can try it in a Craft development environment with no time limit. A license is needed before it goes live. | AThe free plugin has no caps: generated meta tags, Open Graph and X cards, a schema graph, a sitemap, 301 redirects post by post and AI crawler blocking. Focus keyword checks and article and local business schema wait for Pro. |
| Features | CMeta tags from your own fields with per-entry overrides, JSON-LD, Twitter and Open Graph tags, sitemaps with files, images and video, robots, humans and ads.txt, and tracking scripts. 404 redirects aren't included; its maker points to the separate Retour plugin. | CAutomatic meta tags, SEO Bar hints, a schema graph, a sitemap and crawler controls, with focus keywords, local schema and a News sitemap on paid plans. The gaps: redirects go one post at a time, and there's no 404 log or link suggestions. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. It's a plugin for your own Craft site, and someone has to map each section's fields to the SEO title, description and image. | BNo rating on record, but once it's on it fills in every tag from your content, and the SEO Bar flags problems on the post list. There's nothing to connect before it starts. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, inside Craft CMS 3 to 5 and Craft Commerce, with Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel, LinkedIn Insight and HubSpot code, and GraphQL for headless sites. No phone or desktop app. | BWeb only, inside WordPress. It works with Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools, WooCommerce, Elementor, WPML, Polylang, Jetpack and Bricks Builder. |
| Best for | meta tags, JSON-LD and sitemaps on Craft CMS | WordPress SEO that fills itself in |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: SEOmatic and The SEO Framework. How we grade
Price against what you get
SEOmatic starts at $5.75 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. The SEO Framework starts at $7 a month and scores 2.7.
The SEO Framework scores higher, and starts $1.25 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other SEO plugins and apps on the chart, 5 score higher than SEOmatic for less, and 1 scores higher than The SEO Framework for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
At a glance
| SEOmatic | The SEO Framework | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $99 one-time per Craft installation, then $69 a year for updates | $7 per month for 2 sites, billed yearly |
| Free plan | None | Free plugin on WordPress.org with unlimited use: generated and editable meta tags, Open Graph and Twitter Cards, a Schema.org graph, a sitemap, 301 redirects and AI crawler blocking. |
| Free trial | Free to try with no time limit in a Craft development environment; a license is needed for a live site | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | nystudio107 | CyberWire B.V. |
| Price read from | plugins.craftcms.com | theseoframework.com |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
SEOmatic
- Runs only on Craft CMS (versions 3, 4 and 5).
- It does not handle 404 redirects; its maker points to its separate Retour plugin for that.
- Each Craft installation needs its own license, and updates after the first year cost $69 a year.
The SEO Framework
- It runs only inside WordPress; there is no standalone app.
- There is no single-site licence: the cheapest paid plan covers 2 sites, which the vendor says is for a live and a staging site.
- Focus keyword checks, article and local business schema, Google Analytics and Meta Pixel need a paid plan.
- API-backed services are capped per month and shared across sites; refunds cover the last payment within 30 days of purchase or renewal.
Key features
SEOmatic
- Meta tags from your content
- Pulls the SEO title, description and image from chosen fields for each section, entry type, category group and Commerce product type, per site, with field-level overrides.
- JSON-LD structured data
- Outputs JSON-LD microdata alongside the HTML meta tags, with tools for validating and debugging the metadata.
- Social sharing tags
- Writes Twitter Card and Facebook Open Graph tags that mirror the general SEO settings unless you set them separately.
- XML sitemaps
- Builds a sitemap index per site group with paginated sitemaps per section, and can add PDFs and other files, images and videos from Asset fields.
- Robots, humans and ads files
- Generates robots.txt, humans.txt and ads.txt, and handles SEO-friendly pagination tags.
- Tracking scripts
- Adds Google Analytics, gtag.js, Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel, LinkedIn Insight and HubSpot code from the control panel, only on the live site.
The SEO Framework
- Generated meta tags
- Fills in titles, descriptions, robots directives, canonical URLs, Open Graph, Twitter Card and Fediverse tags from the site's content, all editable, including in bulk.
- SEO Bar
- Color-coded hints on post, term and user list screens flag problems such as unbranded titles or blocked indexing, with a pixel counter for titles and descriptions.
- Structured data and sitemap
- Outputs a Schema.org graph with breadcrumbs, logo, contact and sitelinks search box. Paid plans add article and local business schema and a Google News sitemap.
- Crawler controls and redirects
- Every plan can block AI and SEO crawlers, protect against duplicate content and redirect any post to another URL with a 301.
- Focus extension
- On paid plans, checks content against focus keywords, with inflections in eight languages including English, Spanish, German and Hindi, and English synonyms.
- Other premium extensions
- Local adds local business data, Cord connects Google Analytics and Meta Pixel, Honeypot blocks comment spam and Monitor tracks the site's SEO.
Plans
SEOmatic
Standard$99
one-time per Craft installation, then $69 a year for updates
One license per Craft installation with a year of updates; renew at $69 a year for later updates. Licenses can be returned within 30 days.
The SEO Framework
Free$0
The full core plugin, free extensions such as Transport and AMP, and public support.
Pro$7
per month for 2 sites, billed yearly
All premium extensions on 2 sites, 5,000 API requests a month and private billing and installation support.
Business$17
per month for 20 sites, billed yearly
All premium extensions on 20 sites, 50,000 API requests a month and private developer support.
Agency$27
per month for 200 sites, billed yearly
All premium extensions on 200 sites, 500,000 API requests a month and priority developer support.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, SEOmatic or The SEO Framework?
As of Oct 23, 2026, SEOmatic is cheaper to start with: $5.75 a month when paid by the year, against $7 a month for The SEO Framework. SEOmatic starts at $99 one-time per Craft installation, then $69 a year for updates, and The SEO Framework starts at $7 per month for 2 sites, billed yearly.
Which has a free plan, SEOmatic or The SEO Framework?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only The SEO Framework has a free plan. SEOmatic does not, though it has a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.