Yoast SEO review: our take
Yoast SEO is the WordPress plugin that marks up a post while it is being written, scoring SEO and readability in the editor and handling schema in 50+ types, XML sitemaps and indexing controls in the background. The free version covers that much, and for a small blog it may be the whole requirement. Premium, at $118.80 a year before VAT, adds AI titles and meta descriptions, internal linking suggestions, a redirect manager and the Local, News and Video modules.
WooCommerce stores pay $178.80 for product schema, and AI+ at $358.80 adds brand tracking in ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude. None of it does keyword research or rank tracking. Squirrly covers that inside WordPress, with 5 AI keyword researches a month on its free plan.
What Yoast SEO does
Yoast SEO is a WordPress plugin that analyzes posts for SEO and readability as you write, generates schema markup (50+ types), creates XML sitemaps and manages indexing controls. Yoast SEO Premium adds AI-generated titles and meta descriptions, internal linking suggestions, a redirect manager, crawl optimization settings and the former Local, News and Video SEO add-ons. Higher tiers add WooCommerce product SEO and AI brand monitoring across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude; a Shopify app and Google Docs add-on are sold separately.
Who Yoast SEO is for
Best for
- WordPress site owners and bloggers
- WooCommerce stores
- Content teams writing in WordPress or Google Docs
Not for
- Sites not on WordPress or Shopify
- Users needing keyword research, rank tracking or backlink data
Yoast SEO features
- F1Real-time SEO content analysis
- F2Readability checks
- F3Schema markup (50+ types)
- F4XML sitemaps and indexing controls
- F5AI-generated titles and meta descriptions (Premium)
- F6Internal linking suggestions and redirect manager (Premium)
- F7Local, News and Video SEO (Premium)
- F8AI brand visibility tracking (AI+)
Yoast SEO pricing and plans (2026)
| Plan | Monthly | Billed yearly, per month | What it includes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yoast SEO (free) | $0 | $0 | core plugin: real-time SEO and readability analysis, schema, XML sitemaps |
| Yoast SEO Premium | — | $9.90 | $118.80/year ex. VAT; AI features, internal linking, redirect manager, Local/News/Video SEO, 1 Google Docs add-on seat |
| Yoast WooCommerce SEO | — | $14.90 | $178.80/year ex. VAT; Premium plus product schema, WooCommerce sitemaps, AI product metadata |
| Yoast SEO AI+ | — | $29.90 | $358.80/year ex. VAT; WooCommerce SEO plus AI brand visibility tracking in ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude |
| Yoast SEO for Shopify | $19 | — | $19 per 30 days ex. VAT; 14-day free trial |
Free plan: yes. Prices as listed by the vendor, before tax; they change, so check the pricing page before you buy.
Yoast SEO interface
Yoast SEO FAQ
- Does Yoast SEO have a free plan?
- Yes, Yoast SEO has a free plan.
- What are the alternatives to Yoast SEO?
- Tools that cover the same jobs include Rank Math, Squirrly SEO, Link Whisper, WordLift.