You probably stumbled on this page because you are looking for a cheaper and good Yoast SEO Alternative.
Don’t worry; you’ve come to the right place.
But why would anyone look for an alternative to the most popular WordPress SEO plugin in the world?
That’s an interesting question…hmm.
Just listen to what I have to say. After all, finding a better Yoast SEO alternative means you get to cut your expenses so that you can use that money elsewhere.
For example, the spare change can get you an excellent hosting service from Bluehost at a discounted rate. Now, that’s something!
It’s not foreign to see top websites out there preach in their SEO posts that Yoast SEO plugin is the best for your WordPress SEO needs.
I understand their point of view perfectly well. Leaving an old habit can be tough at times, and it happens to everyone.
As for me, I’m not loyal to anything online, if your product is lacking good features, I make the switch.
To make this a fair fight, though. Let’s explore some of the key differences between the free version of Yoast SEO and the paid version of Yoast SEO.
After that, we will see how the premium version of Yoast compares against Rank Math, a newer WordPress SEO plugin.
Table of Contents
Yoast SEO Free vs Yoast SEO Pro
Yoast SEO is a household name in the WordPress community when it comes to playing the SEO game.
It has been around since 2010, and it isn’t going anywhere. With over 5 million active users and close to 200 million downloads, its authority seems unmatched.
I have managed to put everything in a tabular form to make it easier for you to scan. Check out the differences between the free and pro version below:
FEATURES | YOAST SEO PRO | YOAST SEO FREE |
Use of Breadcrumbs | ✔ | ✔ |
Canonical Post URL | ✔ | ✔ |
.Htaccess Editor | ✔ | ✔ |
Enable Sitemaps | ✔ | ✔ |
Readability Check | ✔ | ✔ |
Robots.txt Editor | ✔ | ✔ |
Plugin Updates | ✔ | ✔ |
Social Snippet Preview | ✔ | ✘ |
Internal Link Suggestion | ✔ | ✘ |
Manage Redirects | ✔ | ✘ |
Content Analysis | ✔ | ✘ |
Use of Mulitple Keywords | ✔ | ✘ |
No Advertisement | ✔ | ✘ |
One Year Free Support | ✔ | ✘ |
Export Focus Keywords | ✔ | ✘ |
It looks to me like Yoast free users are missing out on a lot of features, hmm. Anyway, let me introduce you to the newest SEO plugin in town.
Join me to welcome, Rank Math, everybody! *Claps.
A Better Yoast SEO Alternative – Rank Math SEO
Before we explore the many differences between Yoast SEO and Rank Math, a little introduction of Rank Math isn’t a bad idea, since you’ve probably heard of Yoast SEO before.
Rank Math is a free WordPress SEO plugin created in Nov 2018 for writing SEO-friendly content and ranking higher on search engines.
Compared to Yoast SEO and many other WordPress SEO plugins out there, Rank Math is still very new in the market.
I like the fact that the Rank Math team took their time to study the top SEO plugins and managed to infuse all their features in one plugin.
For example, a feature to improve Local SEO is only available through an add-on (cost an extra $69 for one site) in Yoast SEO but comes as a built-in feature in Rank Math and it is 100% free.
It’s insane, right? Well, hold up, because it gets more interesting. Everyone knows that the more plugins you have installed on your WordPress site, the more resources it consumes.
I am merely telling you that it’s a bad idea to keep installing different plugins when you can get all you need in one plugin which doesn’t cost a penny.
The Rank Math team has also managed to beat the Yoast SEO team in terms of size and features combined.
Here’s a screenshot of what happens when you have Yoast and its addons installed compared to Rank Math.
Now, for the most intriguing part. The following table shows without a doubt that Rank Math is a better Yoast SEO alternative.
It makes you wonder why on earth Yoast SEO is charging so much for their service.
Don’t ask me, ask the Yoast SEO team. Moving on.
Here’s how the best Yoast SEO alternative (Rank Math SEO) compare against Yoast SEO itself. Brace yourself because this is a very long comparison table.
Yoast SEO vs Rank Math SEO
FEATURES | RANK MATH | YOAST SEO |
Auto Canonical URLs | ✔ | ✔ |
1 Click Import From AIO SEO | ✔ | ✔ |
SEO Warnings | ✔ | ✔ |
Custom Post Type | ✔ | ✔ |
Bulk Edit Titles & Descriptions | ✔ | ✔ |
Post Preview on Google | ✔ | ✔ |
Content Analysis | ✔ | ✔ |
Control SEO For Single Pages | ✔ | ✔ |
Control The Title | ✔ | ✔ |
Control Meta Description | ✔ | ✔ |
Content Analysis | ✔ | ✔ |
Use of Mulitple Keywords | ✔ | ✔ |
Edit Robot.txt | ✔ | ✔ |
Choose Pillar Posts & Pages | ✔ | ✔ |
Internal Link Suggestions | ✔ | ✔ |
Fix Google Crawl Errors | ✔ | ✔ |
Enable Sitemap | ✔ | ✔ |
Redirect Attachments to Parent | ✔ | ✔ |
Article Rich Snippet | ✔ | ✔ |
Social Media Optimization | ✔ | ✔ |
Default OpenGraph Thumbnail | ✔ | ✔ |
Auto Facebook Open Graph | ✔ | ✔ |
Facebook Authorship | ✔ | ✔ |
FB Open Graph for Homepage | ✔ | ✔ |
Automatic Twitter Meta Cards | ✔ | ✔ |
Default Twitter Card Type | ✔ | ✔ |
Default Share Image | ✔ | ✔ |
Support for knowledge Graph | ✔ | ✔ |
Represent site as a Person and Org. | ✔ | ✔ |
Ping Search Engines | ✔ | ✔ |
Strip Category Base | ✔ | ✔ |
Remove Stopwords from Permalinks | ✔ | ✔ |
Search Engine Verification Tools | ✔ | ✔ |
Article Rich Snippet | ✔ | ✔ |
Compatible with EDD | ✔ | ✔ |
Optimal Settings Pre-Selected | ✔ | ✘ |
Compatibility Check | ✔ | ✘ |
LSI Keyword Tool Integrated | ✔ | ✘ |
Track Keyword Ranking | ✔ | ✘ |
Google Search Console Integration | ✔ | ✘ |
Advanced SEO Analysis Tool | ✔ | ✘ |
Powerful Post Optimization | ✔ | ✘ |
Auto Add Additional Meta Data | ✔ | ✘ |
Google Keyword Suggestion | ✔ | ✘ |
Capitalize Titles | ✔ | ✘ |
Simple 404 Monitor | ✔ | ✘ |
Advanced 404 Monitor | ✔ | ✘ |
Role Manager | ✔ | ✘ |
14 Google Schema Markup Types | ✔ | ✘ |
193 Local Business Types | ✔ | ✘ |
Add Overlay Icons On Social Images | ✔ | ✘ |
Social Previews | ✔ | ✘ |
Alexa Site Verification | ✔ | ✘ |
Pinterest Site Verification | ✔ | ✘ |
Norton Safe Web Site Verification | ✔ | ✘ |
Advanced Link Options | ✔ | ✘ |
Nofollow All External Image Links | ✔ | ✘ |
Nofollow All External Links | ✔ | ✘ |
Open External Links in New Tab | ✔ | ✘ |
Contact Info Shortcode | ✔ | ✘ |
PHP-FIG Coding Standards Used | ✔ | ✘ |
Optimize Author Archive Pages | ✔ | ✘ |
Auto Show Breadcrumbs | ✔ | ✘ |
Google+ URL for SERPs | ✔ | ✘ |
LinkedIn URL for SERPs | ✔ | ✘ |
Instagram URL for SERPs | ✔ | ✘ |
Youtube URL for SERPs | ✔ | ✘ |
Pinterest URL for SERPs | ✔ | ✘ |
Local Business Rich Snippet | ✔ | ✘ |
Product Rich Snippet | ✔ | ✘ |
Restaurant Rich Snippet | ✔ | ✘ |
Review Rich Snippet | ✔ | ✘ |
Video Rich Snippet | ✔ | ✘ |
70+ Detailed SEO Tests | ✔ | ✘ |
SEO Score on Posts | ✔ | ✘ |
Looking at the table above, it’s hard not to see that Rank Math is a much better Yoast SEO alternative.
Conclusion
You should know that I don’t have any problem with the Yoast SEO plugin, but I do have an issue with their pricing.
It cost a staggering $89 to get a single site license minus add-ons. That’s a lot of money.
I hope you’re now convinced to try out Rank Math SEO to boost your website traffic.
Thankfully, you don’t have to set up everything again to make the switch from Yoast SEO to Rank Math.
You can optionally choose to import all your Yoast SEO settings into Rank Math from the setup wizard.
Thank you for getting this far in my exploration of a better Yoast SEO alternative—Rank Math SEO.
If you want to rank on Google, the best way is to start properly, and my guide on how to start a blog can help you with this, step by step.
Let me know what you think about this particular post in the comment section below.
Brenda Geiger
I switched to Rank Math a year ago and like it very much. I wish they’d make it compatible with Google Analytics. 4.0 though. And do you know if there’s a Rank Math plugin or feature to obtain Google+ Authorship?