SiteSEO vs Yoast SEO (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, SiteSEO grades higher than Yoast SEO: 3.0 against 2.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
SiteSEO grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
SiteSEO
WordPress SEO plugin from Softaculous with a yearly Pro license
Yoast SEO
WordPress SEO plugin with content analysis, schema and sitemaps
Which one is for you
Pick SiteSEO if
- Fits if you want instant indexing pings and sitemaps on a free WordPress plugin
- Works for WooCommerce or Easy Digital Downloads stores adding product schema on Pro
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if your site isn't on WordPress, as there's no standalone app
- Tight if you stay free, since redirects, 404 monitoring, schema types, breadcrumbs and the robots.txt editor need Pro
- Watch out: SiteSEO AI needs Pro plus a token pack, from $3 for 100,000 tokens to $20 for 2 million, each valid a year
- Watch out: there's no trial, only a 30-day money-back guarantee, and token packs are refunded only if none are used
Pick Yoast SEO if
- Fits if your site runs on WordPress and you want SEO checks shown while you write
- Works for writers who want readability notes next to the SEO ones
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if your site isn't on WordPress, as Yoast for Shopify and the Google Docs add-on are separate products
- Tight if you stay free, since redirects, link suggestions and AI drafts all need Premium
- Pricey if you run several sites, as each needs its own $118.80 a year and bulk discounts start at 5
- Watch out: AI Brand Insights on AI+ checks 5 questions once a week, and another brand means another $358.80
How we grade them
| 3.0GPASiteSEOVery good | 2.6GPAYoast SEOGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | APersonal is $49 a year for 1 site, about $4.08 a month, under $4.79, which is 60% of where this category's cheaper quarter starts. Professional is $99 a year for 5 sites and Business $249 for unlimited sites. AI tokens cost extra. | CPremium is $118.80 a year for one site before VAT, about $9.90 a month, a bit above this category's cheaper quarter ($8.25). WooCommerce SEO is $178.80 and AI+ is $358.80, each for one site or brand. |
| Free plan and trial | BThe free plugin covers titles and meta, content analysis for unlimited keywords, XML and HTML sitemaps, social tags and instant indexing. A site could run on it, but redirects, schema types and breadcrumbs aren't included. | BThe free plugin writes meta tags, canonicals, sitemaps, schema, breadcrumbs and llms.txt, and checks one keyphrase per post. One site could run on it, but redirects, link suggestions and AI drafts aren't in it at all. |
| Features | BTitles and social tags, 20+ on-page tests, sitemaps including news and video, schema, local business markup, redirects with 404 monitoring, file editors, llms.txt and Search Console reports. It covers the whole job, with much of it on Pro. | BContent and readability checks, meta tags, schema, sitemaps, redirects, internal link suggestions, Local, Video and News SEO, and an AI crawler blocker. It covers the whole job, with redirects and links on Premium only. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. It runs in the WordPress admin, but there are title templates, keywords per post and Google connections to set up before it does much. | CNo rating on record. It sits in the WordPress admin, but each post needs a keyphrase set before the checks tell you much, and there are site-wide settings to go through first. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, inside WordPress, with Google Search Console, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, Elementor and IndexNow listed. No standalone app. | BWeb only, inside WordPress, with no app of its own. It works with Semrush, Wincher, Elementor, Site Kit, WooCommerce, Advanced Custom Fields, Algolia and Jetpack. The Shopify version is a separate product. |
| Best for | free indexing pings and sitemaps in WordPress | SEO checks inside the WordPress editor |
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: SiteSEO and Yoast SEO. How we grade
Price against what you get
SiteSEO starts at $4.08 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Yoast SEO starts at $9.90 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and SiteSEO starts $5.82 a month lower. Of the other SEO plugins and apps on the chart, none scores higher than SiteSEO for less, and 1 scores higher than Yoast SEO 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
- Yoast SEO also covers AI search visibility.
At a glance
| SiteSEO | Yoast SEO | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $49 per year for 1 site | $118.80 per year for 1 site, ex VAT |
| Free plan | Free plugin on WordPress.org: titles and meta with dynamic variables, content analysis for unlimited keywords, XML and HTML sitemaps, Open Graph and X cards, Google Indexing API and IndexNow. | Free plugin from WordPress.org: SEO and readability analysis for one keyphrase, meta tags, canonicals, XML sitemaps, schema, breadcrumbs, llms.txt and a bulk metadata editor. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Softaculous | Yoast BV |
| Price read from | siteseo.io | yoast.com |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
SiteSEO
- It runs only inside WordPress; there is no standalone app.
- Redirects, 404 monitoring, schema types, breadcrumbs, news and video sitemaps and the robots.txt editor need SiteSEO Pro.
- SiteSEO AI needs Pro plus a token pack bought separately: $3 for 100,000 tokens up to $20 for 2 million, each valid a year.
- Paid plans have a 30-day money-back guarantee; token packs are refundable within a month only if none are used.
Yoast SEO
- It runs only inside WordPress; Yoast SEO for Shopify and the Google Docs add-on are separate products.
- Each paid subscription covers one site, billed yearly before VAT; bulk discounts start at 5 subscriptions bought together.
- Redirects, internal linking suggestions and AI drafting need Premium; the free plugin has none of them.
- AI Brand Insights runs one weekly analysis of 5 questions per brand, with no extra runs; another brand needs another subscription.
Key features
SiteSEO
- Titles, meta and social tags
- Set titles and meta descriptions globally or per post with dynamic variables, preview them for Google, Facebook and X, and output Open Graph and X cards.
- Content analysis
- Checks each post against any number of target keywords and runs over 20 on-page tests with suggestions, on the free plugin.
- Sitemaps and instant indexing
- XML sitemaps for posts, pages, post types, taxonomies, images and authors plus an HTML sitemap, with Google Indexing API and IndexNow pings. Pro adds news, video and RSS sitemaps.
- Schema and local business
- Pro adds structured data types, automatic site-wide schema, local business markup, breadcrumbs and product data for WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads.
- Redirects and file editors
- Pro adds redirects with 404 monitoring, robots.txt and .htaccess editors, an llms.txt file, SEO alerts and an external links manager.
- Search Console and PageSpeed
- Pro shows impressions, clicks, CTR, positions and top queries from Search Console, and runs Google PageSpeed Insights for mobile and desktop.
Yoast SEO
- Content and readability analysis
- Red, orange and green ratings in the editor for SEO and readability. The free plugin checks one keyphrase; Premium checks up to five, with word forms in 20+ languages.
- Technical SEO and schema
- Writes meta tags, canonical URLs, XML sitemaps, breadcrumbs and Schema.org data automatically. Premium outputs more schema types and joins them into one graph.
- AI metadata drafts
- Premium drafts SEO titles and meta descriptions page by page or in bulk, and nothing saves until it is approved. There is no separate AI subscription or credit pack.
- Redirects and internal links
- Premium prompts for a redirect when a page is moved or deleted, imports redirects by CSV, suggests internal links while writing and finds orphaned posts.
- AI crawler controls
- Manages an llms.txt file on every plan; Premium adds a bot blocker for AI training crawlers such as GPTBot, CCBot and Google-Extended.
- AI Brand Insights
- On the AI+ plan, a weekly report on whether 5 set questions in ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity mention the brand, with sentiment, citations and competitor ranking.
Plans
SiteSEO
Free$0
The WordPress.org plugin: titles and meta, content analysis, sitemaps, social previews, Knowledge Graph and instant indexing.
Personal$49
per year for 1 site
SiteSEO Pro on 1 site with a year of updates and standard support.
Professional$99
per year for 5 sites
The same Pro features on 5 sites, with premium support.
Business$249
per year for unlimited sites
The same Pro features on unlimited sites, with priority support.
Yoast SEO
Yoast SEO$0
The free WordPress.org plugin: content and readability analysis, meta tags, sitemaps, schema, breadcrumbs and llms.txt.
Yoast SEO Premium$118.80
per year for 1 site, ex VAT
AI titles and descriptions, 5 keyphrases per page, redirect manager, internal linking, Local, Video and News SEO plugins and 24/7 support.
Yoast WooCommerce SEO$178.80
per year for 1 site, ex VAT
Everything in Premium plus product schema, product content checks, store sitemaps, canonicals and AI metadata for products.
Yoast SEO AI+$358.80
per year for 1 brand, ex VAT
WooCommerce SEO plus AI Brand Insights: a weekly check of 5 brand questions in ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity, with sentiment and citations.
Ways to pay less
SiteSEO
No public discounts listed.
Yoast SEO
- Other savings
Bulk discount from 5 subscriptions
Yoast takes 5% off 5 or more subscriptions of the same product bought in one order, rising to 40% off 75 or more; 100 or more is quoted.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, SiteSEO or Yoast SEO?
As of Oct 23, 2026, SiteSEO is cheaper to start with: $4.08 a month when paid by the year, against $9.90 a month when paid by the year for Yoast SEO. SiteSEO starts at $49 per year for 1 site, and Yoast SEO starts at $118.80 per year for 1 site, ex VAT.
Which has a free plan, SiteSEO or Yoast SEO?
As of Oct 23, 2026, both SiteSEO and Yoast SEO have a free plan.
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.