SureRank SEO vs Yoast SEO (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, SureRank SEO and Yoast SEO share a 2.6 GPA, both have a free plan, and Yoast SEO starts cheaper, at $9.90 a month when paid by the year against $12.42 a month when paid by the year.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on all five counts.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
SureRank SEO
Lightweight WordPress SEO plugin with site checks and built-in AI
Yoast SEO
WordPress SEO plugin with content analysis, schema and sitemaps
Which one is for you
Pick SureRank SEO if
- Fits if the larger WordPress SEO plugins feel crowded and you want fewer settings
- Works for agencies covering up to 500 client sites on one Business license
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, the link manager, instant indexing, the schema builder and the AI tools are paid
- Watch out: $99 and $179 are first-year prices, and Pro renews at $149 and Business at $249 a year
- Watch out: there's no trial, only a 14-day money-back guarantee, and an expired license loses updates and support
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
| 2.6GPASureRank SEOGood | 2.6GPAYoast SEOGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CPro renews at $149 a year, about $12.42 a month, a little above this category's $10.99 middle, though it covers 10 sites. The first year is $99, and a lifetime license for 10 sites is $399 once. | 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 writes meta and social tags, an XML sitemap and JSON-LD schema, edits robots.txt, runs site and page checks and shows Search Console data. One site could run on it, but redirects and the AI tools aren't in it. | 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 | BMeta and social tags, site and page checks, schema with a builder, XML, HTML, news and video sitemaps, redirects, a link manager, instant indexing and AI fixes. It covers the whole job, with redirects, links and AI on paid plans only. | 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. Its settings are kept short, but you connect Search Console and set templates for each post type before the checks tell you 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, WooCommerce, Elementor, WPML, Polylang, TranslatePress, Astra and Bricks 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 | a WordPress SEO plugin with short settings | 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: SureRank SEO and Yoast SEO. How we grade
Price against what you get
SureRank SEO starts at $12.42 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 Yoast SEO starts $2.52 a month lower. Of the other SEO plugins and apps on the chart, 1 scores higher than SureRank SEO 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
- SureRank SEO can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- SureRank SEO also covers site audit.
- Yoast SEO also covers AI search visibility.
At a glance
| SureRank SEO | Yoast SEO | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $149 per year for 10 sites at renewal, after a first year at $99 | $118.80 per year for 1 site, ex VAT |
| Free plan | Free plugin on WordPress.org: meta titles and descriptions, Open Graph and X cards, an XML sitemap, JSON-LD schema, a robots.txt editor, Search Console data, and site and page SEO checks. | 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 | Brainstorm Force | Yoast BV |
| Price read from | surerank.com | yoast.com |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
SureRank SEO
- It runs only inside WordPress; there is no standalone app.
- Annual prices are first-year rates: Pro renews at $149 and Business at $249 a year.
- Redirects, the link manager, instant indexing, the schema builder, news and video sitemaps and the AI tools need a paid plan.
- Paid plans carry a 14-day money-back guarantee; an expired license keeps working but loses updates and support.
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
SureRank SEO
- Meta and social tags
- Set titles, descriptions, robots tags and canonical URLs per post, with templates for whole post types, and Open Graph and X card tags for sharing.
- Site and page SEO checks
- A site check covers meta tags, Open Graph, sitemap, schema, robots.txt, canonicals, HTTPS and www redirects; page checks also look for broken links.
- Schema and sitemaps
- Outputs JSON-LD, breadcrumbs included, accepts custom JSON-LD and builds an XML sitemap. Paid plans add a schema builder and HTML, news and video sitemaps.
- Search Console in WordPress
- Connect Google Search Console to see clicks, impressions, top queries and visibility trends on the WordPress dashboard.
- Built-in AI on paid plans
- Fixes flagged issues, suggests internal links, writes meta tags in bulk, adds image alt text and makes social preview images, with no API key needed.
- Redirects, links and indexing
- Paid plans add a redirection manager, a site-wide internal link manager, instant indexing requests and a role manager for SEO settings.
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
SureRank SEO
Free$0
The WordPress.org plugin with meta and social tags, sitemap, schema, robots.txt editor, SEO checks and Search Console reports.
Pro$149
per year for 10 sites at renewal, after a first year at $99
Redirects, link manager, instant indexing, schema builder, news and video sitemaps and the AI tools on 10 sites. First year $99.
Business$249
per year for 500 sites at renewal, after a first year at $179
The same Pro features on up to 500 sites. The first year is $179, shown reduced from $249.
Pro Lifetime$399
one-time, lifetime license for 10 sites
Lifetime updates and support on 10 sites, shown reduced from $599. Can be split into 3 payments of $139 at checkout.
Business Lifetime$799
one-time, lifetime license for 500 sites
Lifetime updates and support on 500 sites, shown reduced from $999. Can be split into 9 payments of $94 at checkout.
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
SureRank SEO
- Other savings
Reduced first year on annual plans
SureRank's pricing page lists the first year of Pro at $99 and Business at $179, as introductory prices; renewals are at the full $149 and $249.
- Lifetime license
Lifetime licenses from $399
A single payment of $399 covers 10 sites and $799 covers 500, with lifetime updates and support, shown reduced from $599 and $999.
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, SureRank SEO or Yoast SEO?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Yoast SEO is cheaper to start with: $9.90 a month when paid by the year, against $12.42 a month when paid by the year for SureRank SEO. SureRank SEO starts at $149 per year for 10 sites at renewal, after a first year at $99, and Yoast SEO starts at $118.80 per year for 1 site, ex VAT.
Which has a free plan, SureRank SEO or Yoast SEO?
As of Oct 23, 2026, both SureRank SEO 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.