Yoast SEO review (2026): is the free plan enough?
WordPress SEO plugin with content analysis, schema and sitemaps
Yoast SEO report card
Good · out of 4.0 · graded Oct 23, 2026
Best for SEO checks inside the WordPress editor
Yoast SEO writes your meta tags, sitemaps and schema, and grades each post for SEO and readability while you write it in WordPress. The free plugin checks one keyphrase and has no redirects or link suggestions at all. Premium is $118.80 a year for each site before VAT, and none of it runs outside WordPress.
Who Yoast SEO is for
- 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
Who Yoast SEO is not for
- 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
Why Yoast SEO gets a 2.6
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- CValue for moneyPremium 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.
- BFree plan and trialThe 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.
- BFeaturesContent 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.
- CEase of useNo 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.
- BPlatforms and integrationsWeb 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.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Yoast's own pages on 23 October 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/yoast-seo#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/yoast-seo.svg" alt="Yoast SEO: 2.6 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Yoast SEO stands among SEO plugins and apps
Yoast SEO's GPA of 2.6 is higher than 49 of the 78 other SEO plugins and apps we grade, and level with 10.
It stands best on features (B, above 53 of 78) and worst on ease of use (C, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $9.90 a month when paid by the year, against a middle price of $9.99 for the category: 23 of the 58 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. 1 tool scores higher and costs less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 79 SEO plugins and apps we grade, cut by the letter each got. Yoast SEO’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 15 of 78, level with 27
- BFree plan and trialAbove 47 of 78, level with 15
- BFeaturesAbove 53 of 78, level with 25
- CEase of useAbove 0 of 78, level with 59
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 31 of 78, level with 47
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 70 SEO plugins and apps. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
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
Keep Yoast SEO, or make your own?
Keep it
The plain part of Yoast SEO you could make: schema markup and internal linking. What surrounds it you could not. The 5 things listed below take a company, not a weekend.
It costs $118.80 a year.
What you could make
- Schema markup and internal linking: an app builder makes these well.
What you could not
- A score built from what the top results for each keyword cover.
- The same prompts asked of ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google's AI answers every day, and the answers kept.
- It plugs into other products, Semrush, Wincher and Elementor among them.
- AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
- The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.
What this rests on. Yoast SEO’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is Yoast SEO?
Yoast SEO is a WordPress plugin that sets titles, meta descriptions, canonical URLs, XML sitemaps and Schema.org structured data, and grades each post for SEO and readability as it is written. Yoast SEO Premium adds AI-drafted metadata, a redirect manager, internal linking suggestions and the Local, Video and News SEO plugins. Higher plans add WooCommerce tools and weekly checks of how AI chat answers mention a brand.
Worth knowing
- 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
- 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.
Yoast SEO pricing
As of Oct 23, 2026, Yoast SEO has a free plan, and paid plans start at $118.80 per year for 1 site, ex VAT.
- Starts at
- $118.80 per year for 1 site, ex VAT
- Free plan
- 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
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Yoast SEO | $0 | The free WordPress.org plugin: content and readability analysis, meta tags, sitemaps, schema, breadcrumbs and llms.txt. |
| Yoast SEO Premium | $118.80per 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 | $178.80per 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+ | $358.80per 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. |
Read from yoast.com on Oct 23, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Yoast SEO before you buy.
Ways to pay less
- Other savingsBulk 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.
Stated on yoast.com
Works with
- Semrush
- Wincher
- Elementor
- Google Site Kit
- WooCommerce
- Advanced Custom Fields
- Algolia
- Jetpack
Yoast SEO alternatives
- Yoast SEO vs Rank Math
Free plan · from €8.99/mo
- Yoast SEO vs All in One SEO (AIOSEO)
Free plan · from $99/yr
- Yoast SEO vs SEOPress
Free plan · from $49/yr
- Yoast SEO vs The SEO Framework
Free plan · from $7/mo
- Yoast SEO vs Slim SEO
Free plan · from $59/yr
Common questions
Does Yoast SEO have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 23, 2026. Yoast SEO is listed for Web.
Does Yoast SEO have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 23, 2026. Yoast SEO is listed for Web.
Is Yoast SEO open source?
Yoast SEO is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Oct 23, 2026.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 23, 2026.