At a Glance
| Spec | Value |
| Installs | 10M+ |
| Rating | 4.8★ (27,819 ratings on WordPress.org) |
| Free tier | One focus keyphrase, readability analysis, basic schema, XML sitemaps |
| Starting price | $118.80/year, per site (Yoast SEO Premium) |
| Best for | Beginners and brand-conscious sites that want one polished, well-supported plugin |
Short Verdict
Yoast SEO is the plugin most WordPress users have heard of, and the install numbers back that up: 10+ million active sites and a 4.8-star rating from nearly 28,000 reviews. The free version covers the basics well — snippet editing, readability analysis, sitemaps, basic schema — but it’s noticeably narrower than Rank Math’s free tier, limiting you to one focus keyphrase and leaving redirects, internal-linking suggestions, and WooCommerce SEO as paid add-ons. What you get in exchange for Premium’s $118.80/year is a cleaner, more guided interface, 24/7 support, and — as of 2024 onward — Yoast’s AI-assisted title and meta drafting bundled in. If you want the gentlest onboarding and don’t mind paying for the features Rank Math gives away free, Yoast is still a reasonable default. If budget or feature-per-dollar is the priority, it’s worth comparing against Rank Math first.
What Yoast SEO Is
Yoast SEO is a WordPress SEO plugin owned by Yoast B.V., part of Newfold Digital (itself backed by Clearlake Capital and Siris Capital since a 2021 acquisition). It’s one of the longest-running and most widely installed SEO plugins on WordPress.org, with 10+ million active installations and a 4.8-star rating from 27,819 reviews as of this writing. The pitch is simplicity: a traffic-light scoring system for on-page SEO and readability, a setup wizard, and integrations with Elementor, WooCommerce, ACF, Semrush, and Google Site Kit.
What’s in the Free Version
Yoast’s free plugin includes:
- Real-time SEO and readability analysis, scored against one focus keyphrase per post
- Inclusive-language analysis
- A search-result (snippet) preview and a bulk editor for titles and meta descriptions
- Cornerstone content tagging
- Basic schema.org structured data, plus FAQ and HowTo blocks with schema markup
- Breadcrumbs and canonical URL controls
- Automated XML sitemaps and crawl settings
- A setup wizard with import from other SEO plugins
- llms.txt file management, for controlling how AI crawlers access your content
That covers the fundamentals, but the one-keyphrase limit is the free tier’s most-cited constraint — Rank Math’s free version, by comparison, doesn’t cap focus keywords at all.
What’s Behind the Paywall
Yoast restructured its pricing in mid-2025, collapsing what used to be separate Premium, Local SEO, News SEO, and Video SEO add-ons into a single Yoast SEO Premium subscription at $118.80/year per site (ex. VAT). That price is higher than the old standalone Premium price, but it now bundles the Local, News, and Video SEO modules that used to be sold separately — a better deal if you previously bought more than one add-on, a worse one if you only ever wanted the core plugin. WooCommerce SEO was spun out as its own product at $178.80/year rather than folded into Premium.
Premium adds: a redirect manager with bulk CSV import; up to five focus keyphrases and synonyms per post, instead of one; internal-linking suggestions and an “orphaned content” finder; Yoast AI Optimize, which drafts SEO titles and meta descriptions in bulk; a content planner for AI-assisted post ideas and drafts; social media preview cards; schema aggregation and a bot-management tool for AI training crawlers; and 24/7 support plus access to Yoast’s SEO training academy.
Common Complaints and Known Limitations
Yoast scores well on WordPress.org (4.8★) but somewhat lower on G2 (4.5/5 from 203 reviews), where perceived cost shows up repeatedly as a theme — G2’s own comparative data places Yoast in the highest “perceived cost” bracket among the SEO tools it tracks. The recurring criticism in head-to-head comparisons is feature-gating: one keyphrase free versus Rank Math’s unlimited, and redirects, WooCommerce SEO, and local SEO all requiring separate paid purchases rather than being bundled into the core plugin. Some forum and community threads also describe Rank Math as the “lighter” plugin performance-wise, though several of the same threads note the real-world difference is minor on most sites.
Pros
The largest, most battle-tested install base of any WordPress SEO plugin, which means extensive documentation and third-party tutorials exist for almost any setup question. A clean, beginner-friendly interface built around a simple scoring system. AI-assisted title and meta drafting bundled into Premium rather than sold as a separate add-on. 24/7 support on paid plans and a genuinely useful SEO training academy for site owners who want to learn the fundamentals, not just automate them.
Cons
The free tier’s one-keyphrase limit is restrictive compared to the free tier of its closest competitor. Redirects, internal-linking tools, and WooCommerce SEO all require a separate purchase, where some competitors bundle equivalents into their free plugin. The July 2025 pricing restructure raised the headline Premium price, and WooCommerce SEO is now priced as a separate $178.80/year product rather than included in Premium at all.
Who It’s a Good Fit For
Beginners and content-first site owners who want one well-documented plugin with a simple scoring system, bundled AI drafting, and responsive support, and who are comfortable working with one focus keyphrase at a time on the free tier.
Who Should Look Elsewhere
Budget-conscious site owners, WooCommerce stores that don’t want to pay for a second product on top of their SEO plugin, and agencies managing many sites who want keyword tracking and client-management tools without per-plugin licensing for each one — independent comparisons consistently point these use cases toward Rank Math instead. See our full roundup for a side-by-side breakdown.
Bottom Line
Yoast earns its install base with a genuinely simple interface and strong support, and its 2025 pricing restructure made the paid tier more valuable if you need its Local/News/Video modules together. But the free tier’s single-keyphrase cap and the number of features sold as separate products mean it isn’t the best “free forever” option in the category — that’s a trade you’re making for polish and support, not a universal upgrade.
Sources
- Yoast SEO — WordPress.org plugin listing (install count, rating, free feature list)
- Yoast SEO Premium — pricing
- Yoast — 2025 plan restructuring details
- Yoast SEO — G2 reviews
- Yoast vs. Rank Math comparison
- Newfold Digital’s acquisition of Yoast
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