How much does yoast cost

Thinking about how much Yoast SEO costs for your website? I remember my first time looking into all the different SEO tools, and honestly, the pricing can feel a bit like a maze. But don’t you worry, I’ve got the scoop on what you can expect to pay for Yoast, from the free essentials to the premium power-ups and even those helpful add-ons.

Yoast SEO offers a couple of main routes: there’s a free version that gives you a solid foundation for your WordPress site’s SEO, and then there’s Yoast SEO Premium, which packs in a lot more advanced features for a yearly subscription. The Premium version generally costs $118.80 per year for a single site, which works out to about $9.90 per month when you pay annually prices are as of July 1, 2025, so always a good idea to double-check their official site for the very latest.

Now, if you’re just dipping your toes into the world of SEO, the free Yoast SEO plugin is an awesome starting point. It’s got the core tools you’ll need to get your content seen by search engines, helping millions of websites worldwide. But if you’re serious about bumping up your search rankings, managing a growing site, or you’re a content creator churning out a lot of posts, the premium options really do step things up. They offer features designed to save you time and give you a real edge in the competitive online space. It’s less about just paying for a plugin and more about investing in a tool that can genuinely help your website thrive.

Yoast SEO Free: The Essential Foundation

Let’s start with the good news: you can get a ton of SEO power without spending a dime! The free version of Yoast SEO is incredibly robust and is actually used by over 13 million websites globally. It’s your go-to for nailing the basics and setting up a strong SEO framework for your WordPress site.

Here’s what you typically get with the free Yoast SEO plugin:

• Basic SEO Analysis: This is super helpful. As you write, Yoast gives you real-time feedback on your content’s SEO, checking things like keyword usage, meta descriptions, and readability. It’s like having a little SEO coach right inside your editor!
• Readability Checks: Beyond SEO, it also analyzes how easy your content is to read, which is crucial for keeping visitors on your page. Clear, engaging content often ranks better.
• One Focus Keyphrase: You can optimize each page or post for a single focus keyword. This helps ensure your content is targeted for a specific search term.
• SEO Titles and Meta Descriptions: You can easily edit these crucial elements, controlling how your page appears in search results. The live snippet editor lets you preview exactly what people will see before they click.
• XML Sitemaps: Yoast automatically generates XML sitemaps, making it easier for search engines to crawl and understand your site’s structure.
• Schema Markup: It adds schema markup behind the scenes, helping search engines understand your content better and potentially display rich results like review stars or recipes in search results.
• Breadcrumbs: This feature helps with site navigation and user experience, letting visitors know where they are on your site.

For many beginners, small businesses, or bloggers just starting, the free version of Yoast SEO offers more than enough functionality to learn the ropes and confidently optimize content. If you’re consistently creating quality content and focusing on good site structure, you can absolutely rank well with just the free plugin.

Yoast SEO Premium: Unlocking Advanced Power

Now, if you’re ready to really ramp up your SEO efforts and tackle more complex strategies, Yoast SEO Premium is where the magic happens. It’s a yearly subscription that builds on the free version, adding a suite of advanced tools and features designed to save you time, boost your visibility, and streamline your workflow.

As of July 2025, Yoast SEO Premium costs $118.80 per year for one website. It’s important to remember this is a yearly cost, not a one-time purchase, and it includes updates, new features, and 24/7 premium support. Some sources mention $99 per year, but the $118.80 figure is based on more recent pricing information from July 2025. This slight difference might be due to regional pricing e.g., USD, EUR, GBP or tax exclusions.

So, what makes the premium version worth the investment?

• Multiple Focus Keyphrases: This is a big one! With Premium, you can optimize your content for up to five keyphrases, including synonyms and related keywords. This helps you rank for a wider range of search queries and capture more long-tail traffic, especially useful for comprehensive articles or competitive topics.
• AI-Powered Optimization and Generation: Yoast SEO Premium now comes with smart AI features. Yoast AI Generate can help you create engaging SEO titles and meta descriptions, giving you multiple options to choose from. Yoast AI Optimize offers suggestions to improve your existing content for various SEO assessments, making it super easy to apply changes.
• Internal Linking Suggestions: Yoast Premium scans your site and suggests relevant internal links to add to your posts and pages. This is invaluable for building a strong site structure, improving user navigation, and signaling to Google which content is most important. It can really help with orphaned content – pages that don’t have many links pointing to them.
• Redirect Manager: Ever deleted a page or changed a URL? The Redirect Manager automatically creates redirects for you, preventing those pesky “404 Not Found” errors that hurt user experience and SEO. This tool is a huge time-saver and helps maintain your site’s health.
• Social Media Previews: While the free version lets you set social images and descriptions, Premium takes it further by showing you a live preview of how your post will look when shared on platforms like Facebook and Twitter. No more guessing how your content will appear!
• Stale Cornerstone Content Finder: This tool reminds you to update your most important content regularly, ensuring your cornerstone articles stay fresh and relevant.
• Content Insights: Get actionable insights on how to improve your content’s readability, SEO, and overall quality.
• Ad-Free Experience: Say goodbye to those “Upgrade to Premium” banners! The premium version gives you a clean, distraction-free interface.
• 24/7 Premium Support: If you hit a snag or have a question, Premium users get direct access to Yoast’s customer support team. This can be a lifesaver when you need quick help.
• Yoast Academy Access: Your Premium subscription often includes free access to Yoast Academy, which offers courses and resources to level up your SEO knowledge.
• Google Docs Add-on: This feature lets you optimize your content directly within Google Docs with real-time SEO and readability analysis, then export it in a WordPress-ready format. This is fantastic for content teams!

For those managing larger or growing websites, or if you’re a content creator frequently publishing content, the advanced features of Yoast SEO Premium can genuinely save you time and significantly improve your site’s SEO performance. It’s about working smarter, not just harder.

Yoast SEO Bundles and Add-ons

Beyond the core Premium plugin, Yoast also offers specialized add-ons and bundles tailored for specific needs. These are often included with the Premium subscription as of July 2025.

Here are some of the popular add-ons:

• Yoast WooCommerce SEO: If you run an online store using WooCommerce, this add-on is a must. It helps optimize your product pages and categories for search engines, adding product-specific schema and metadata. This can lead to more attractive search engine results page SERP listings and boost visibility for your products.
• Yoast Local SEO: Essential for brick-and-mortar businesses, this add-on helps you rank better in local search results. It adds specific schema markup for businesses, locations, and opening hours, and integrates with maps to make your business more visible to local customers.
• Yoast News SEO: For news publishers, this add-on ensures your news content gets discovered quickly. It handles automatic structured data for news articles and generates XML News sitemaps, helping your content appear in Google News.
• Yoast Video SEO: If you embed videos on your site, this add-on helps them get indexed and enhanced with rich results, like thumbnails and timestamps, in search results. No coding required.

Historically, these add-ons were sold separately, often for around $69-$89 per year each. However, as of July 2025, many of these are now included with the Yoast SEO Premium subscription, making the Premium package even more valuable.

There might also be mentions of “Yoast bundles” from third-party sellers e.g., on Etsy or GPL sites offering multiple premium plugins at a very low cost. While these might seem tempting, it’s generally best to be cautious. Often, these are GPL-licensed versions that might not come with official support, automatic updates, or a valid license key, which can pose security risks and leave you without critical features or help when you need it. For official and secure use, always purchase directly from Yoast’s website or trusted partners.

Is Yoast SEO Premium Worth the Cost?

This is the million-dollar question, right? For a single site, you’re looking at about $118.80 per year. So, is it worth it?

Many users find that Yoast SEO Premium is a worthwhile investment, especially for growing websites, businesses, and dedicated content creators. Here’s why:

• Time Savings: Features like the internal linking suggestions, redirect manager, and AI tools can significantly cut down the time you spend on manual SEO tasks. Time is money, after all!
• Advanced Optimization: The ability to optimize for multiple keyphrases, coupled with AI-powered suggestions, helps you create more comprehensive and competitive content that ranks for more terms.
• Site Health and Maintenance: The redirect manager and stale content finder help you maintain a healthy, error-free website, which is crucial for long-term SEO success.
• Support and Education: The 24/7 support and access to Yoast Academy mean you’re never left in the dark and can continuously improve your SEO skills.
• Consolidated Solution: Instead of juggling multiple free plugins that might conflict with each other, Yoast Premium offers a comprehensive, integrated solution for many SEO needs.

However, if you’re just starting out with a small blog, only publish content occasionally, or have a very limited budget, the free version of Yoast SEO is still an excellent choice and can absolutely help your site perform well. You can always start free and upgrade when your site grows and your SEO needs become more complex. It really boils down to your specific needs, the size and goals of your website, and how much value you place on the advanced features and time-saving tools.

Key Takeaways on Yoast SEO Pricing

To sum it up, here’s the lowdown on Yoast SEO costs:

• Yoast SEO Free: It’s absolutely free and provides essential SEO tools like basic content analysis, readability checks, one focus keyphrase optimization, and XML sitemaps. Perfect for beginners and smaller sites.
• Yoast SEO Premium: Costs $118.80 per year for a single site, or approximately $9.90/month when billed annually pricing as of July 1, 2025. This includes advanced features like multiple keyphrase optimization, AI content generation and optimization, internal linking suggestions, a redirect manager, social media previews, 24/7 support, and access to Yoast Academy.
• Bundles/Add-ons: Specialized add-ons like Yoast WooCommerce SEO, Local SEO, News SEO, and Video SEO are now often included with the Yoast SEO Premium subscription, adding significant value for niche websites.
• Multi-site Licenses: If you have several websites, Yoast offers discounts for multiple licenses. For example, some sources indicate multi-site subscriptions starting around $199 per year for up to 5 sites.

Ultimately, the choice between the free and premium versions, or adding specialized plugins, depends on your specific SEO goals, budget, and how extensively you plan to optimize your website. Both versions offer valuable tools, but Premium is designed to give serious website owners and marketers a distinct advantage.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does Yoast SEO Premium cost for multiple websites?

The cost of Yoast SEO Premium for multiple websites typically involves a discount when you purchase multiple licenses. While the exact multi-site pricing can vary, some sources indicate that multi-site subscriptions might start around $199 per year for up to 5 sites. It’s always best to check the official Yoast website for their most current multi-site pricing structures, as these can be updated.

Is Yoast SEO truly free, or are there hidden costs?

Yoast SEO offers a genuinely free version with no hidden costs. You can download and install the basic Yoast SEO plugin from the WordPress plugin directory without spending anything. This free version provides a comprehensive set of fundamental SEO tools, including content analysis, readability checks, meta title and description editing, and XML sitemap generation. The “costs” only come into play if you decide to upgrade to the optional Yoast SEO Premium version or purchase specialized add-ons, which offer more advanced features and support.

What is the main difference between Yoast SEO Free and Yoast SEO Premium?

The main difference between Yoast SEO Free and Yoast SEO Premium boils down to the depth and breadth of features and support. The free version provides essential tools for basic on-page SEO, allowing you to optimize for one focus keyphrase, edit snippets, and perform readability checks. Yoast SEO Premium, on the other hand, includes advanced features like optimizing for up to five keyphrases, AI-powered content generation and optimization, internal linking suggestions, a redirect manager, social media previews, 24/7 support, and access to Yoast Academy. It’s designed for more serious users who want to streamline their SEO workflow and gain a competitive edge.

Can I upgrade from the free version to Yoast SEO Premium later?

Absolutely! You can start with the free version of Yoast SEO and upgrade to Premium at any time you feel you need the additional features. Your existing SEO settings and data will generally transfer seamlessly, so you won’t lose any of the work you’ve already done. This flexibility makes it easy to try out the core features first and then invest in the premium version as your website and SEO needs grow.

Is Yoast SEO Premium a one-time purchase or a subscription?

Yoast SEO Premium is a yearly subscription, not a one-time purchase. When you buy Yoast SEO Premium, you get access to all its features, updates, and premium support for one year. If you want to continue using the premium features beyond that year, you will need to renew your subscription annually. This ensures you always have the latest features, security updates, and access to their support team. Decoding Surfer SEO Pricing: Is It Worth the Investment for Your Business?

Does Yoast SEO Premium guarantee better search engine rankings?

While Yoast SEO Premium offers advanced tools and guidance that can significantly help you optimize your website more effectively, no SEO plugin can guarantee higher rankings. Search engine rankings depend on many factors, including the quality of your content, competition, backlinks, technical SEO, and Google’s ever- algorithms. Yoast SEO Premium provides you with the best possible tools to improve your chances, save time, and maintain a healthy website, but consistent effort and a good overall SEO strategy are still crucial for success.