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SEO keeps changing. Yoast keeps up, so you don’t have to.
Yoast SEO is trusted by 13+ million sites, according to Yoast’s official product page (https://yoast.com/product/yoast-seo-wordpress/).
Yoast SEO is a WordPress SEO plugin with real-time SEO and readability analysis, automatic XML sitemaps, structured data/schema, social previews, breadcrumbs, and technical SEO controls. The free plugin covers core SEO; Premium adds AI-assisted drafting and optimization, multiple-keyphrase analysis, internal-link suggestions, redirect management, bulk metadata editing, Content Planner, Google Docs access, bundled Local/Video/News SEO, Academy access, and 24/7 support.
Good fit for WordPress bloggers, content creators, small businesses, in-house marketing teams, publishers, and agencies that want guided on-page SEO and automated technical foundations without requiring specialist SEO knowledge
Free forever for core Yoast SEO; Yoast SEO Premium is $118.80 per year (ex. VAT) for one site/domain. Bulk discounts apply, and agencies managing 100 or more client sites have custom licensing and pricing.
Yoast SEO
$0
Free forever
Real-time SEO analysis, readability analysis, automatic XML sitemaps, schema markup, FAQ and How-to blocks, social previews, breadcrumbs, REST API, and integrations including Semrush, Wincher, and Google Site Kit.
Core WordPress plugin; no paid essentials; one installation/site is implied by the WordPress plugin model.
Yoast SEO Premium
$118.80 per year (ex. VAT)
Annual
Premium plugin plus Local SEO, News SEO, Video SEO, one Google Docs add-on seat, Yoast SEO Academy, 24/7 support, AI title/meta-description drafting, internal-link suggestions, redirects, bulk editing, Content Planner, and up-to-five-keyphrase analysis.
One site or domain per subscription; additional sites require additional subscriptions; bulk purchases qualify for discounts.
Last verified September 2026 against yoast.com/product/yoast-seo-wordpress. Vendors change packaging often; confirm before buying.
Scorecard
3.3/5 overall, weighted for AI SEO automation tools. How grades work.
Useful keyword and site-content insights, but not a full standalone SEO research suite.
Yoast says Premium analyzes up to five keyphrases and its free plugin integrates Semrush for expanded keyword research: https://yoast.com/wordpress/plugins/seo/ and https://yoast.com/product/yoast-seo-wordpress/
Good in-editor keyphrase, synonym, word-form, and Semrush-assisted research; limited compared with dedicated research platforms.
The product page describes up-to-five-keyphrase analysis, synonyms and word forms, while the free product page names Semrush integration: https://yoast.com/wordpress/plugins/seo/ and https://yoast.com/product/yoast-seo-wordpress/
Uses the site’s own posts/pages for linking and planning context, but no broad business-context ingestion is documented.
The Content Planner draws five ideas from the user’s own site and internal-linking uses site posts/pages: https://yoast.com/wordpress/plugins/seo/ and https://yoast.com/features/internal-linking-suggestions/
Competitor context
Strong guided writing and AI drafting with review controls.
Yoast documents AI titles/meta descriptions, Content Planner starter drafts, readability feedback, and real-time fixes: https://yoast.com/wordpress/plugins/seo/
Schema aggregation, llms.txt, and AI-crawler controls directly support AI discovery, but Yoast does not document cross-engine citation tracking.
Yoast documents machine-readable schema, llms.txt, and controls for GPTBot, CCBot, and Google-Extended. https://yoast.com/features/schema-aggregation/ https://yoast.com/features/ai-features/
Very strong automated technical foundation for WordPress.
Yoast lists automatic XML sitemaps, schema markup, indexing controls, breadcrumbs, REST API, and technical foundations: https://yoast.com/product/yoast-seo-wordpress/
Supports editor feedback, bulk metadata work, redirects, and Google Docs export, with human approval.
Premium provides bulk metadata drafting with approval, redirects, and Google Docs publish-ready export: https://yoast.com/wordpress/plugins/seo/ and https://yoast.com/product/google-docs-addon/
Has rank-tracking and Google Site Kit/analytics connections, but limited native measurement detail is documented.
Yoast names Wincher for rank tracking and Google Analytics/Search Console data via Google Site Kit: https://yoast.com/product/yoast-seo-wordpress/
Machine-readable schema endpoints and llms.txt make the site consumable by AI agents, but autonomous agent operation is not documented.
Schema Aggregation adds a dedicated standards-based endpoint and Yoast AI features lists llms.txt: https://yoast.com/features/schema-aggregation/ and https://yoast.com/features/ai-features/
Agentic workflow coverage
Core SEO is free forever; advanced automation is a relatively clear annual per-site purchase.
Yoast states the free plugin stays free forever and lists Premium at $118.80/year ex. VAT: https://yoast.com/product/yoast-seo-wordpress/ and https://yoast.com/wordpress/plugins/seo/
Yoast publishes a first-party installed-site figure.
The official product page says Yoast SEO is trusted by 13+ million sites: https://yoast.com/product/yoast-seo-wordpress/
No competitor-analysis workflow is documented for Yoast SEO itself; AI Brand Insights belongs to the separate AI+ package.
Internal company data
No connector or workflow for grounding recommendations in internal company data is documented.
SEO data grounding
Grounds guidance in page content, keyphrases, internal-link corpus, and structured site data.
Third-party app grounding
Integrates with Semrush, Wincher, Google Site Kit, Google Analytics/Search Console, and Google Docs, but the evidence does not describe broad retrieval/grounding orchestration.
Custom API grounding
Provides REST API, Surfaces API, and a Schema Aggregation endpoint for programmatic metadata/schema access.
Advanced AI-readiness features are present, including machine-readable schema and AI crawler governance.
Yoast calls structured data and Schema Aggregation AI-readiness features and says Bot Blocker controls GPTBot, CCBot, and Google-Extended: https://yoast.com/wordpress/plugins/seo/ and https://yoast.com/features/bot-blocker/
Google Docs enables contributors without CMS access and Premium includes one seat.
The add-on supports writers/freelancers without WordPress access and gives real-time SEO, readability, and inclusivity guidance: https://yoast.com/product/google-docs-addon/
Covers assisted drafting, bulk editing, redirects, linking, and structured AI access, but not an end-to-end autonomous SEO agent.
Autonomous execution
Automatic sitemaps/schema and redirect prompts exist, but AI changes require review and approval.
Human control and review
Strong user control: AI suggestions can be applied, dismissed, or edited, and bulk changes are reviewed before saving.
Integration surface
Broad WordPress/editor, analytics, SEO-tool, Google Docs, REST/Surfaces API, and AI endpoint surface.
Memory and persistent context
Uses the site’s existing posts/pages and structured graph for contextual suggestions; no durable cross-project memory is documented.
Evaluation and feedback loop
Real-time SEO/readability assessments provide immediate feedback, but no explicit experiment, outcome-evaluation, or learning loop is documented.
Some drafting and automation reduce manual work, but human approval is intentionally required.
Yoast says AI drafts metadata and that users review every suggestion before it saves; redirects and link suggestions are assisted rather than fully autonomous: https://yoast.com/wordpress/plugins/seo/
The free plugin is substantial, though Premium adds the main time-saving automation.
Free Yoast includes real-time analysis, XML sitemaps, schema, FAQ/How-To blocks, social previews, and integrations: https://yoast.com/product/yoast-seo-wordpress/