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SE Ranking vs Yoast SEO

SE Ranking logo

SE Ranking

SEO

SEO and AI visibility platform with daily rank tracking, priced on published tiers plus per-unit extras

From
$129/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Yoast SEO logo

Yoast SEO

SEO

The longest-established WordPress SEO plugin, free core with a flat-rate Premium tier

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Yoast SEO has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: SE Ranking keyword allowances are counted as targets, keyword multiplied by search engine, so a set tracked across Google desktop and mobile consumes twice the allowance and a plan sized on a raw keyword count runs out early.; Yoast SEO premium is licensed per site, so an agency or publisher managing many WordPress installs pays linearly per site with no volume discount tier published, unlike Rank Math's site-count-bundled plans.
  • They diverge on capability: SE Ranking covers Daily rank tracking, Yoast SEO covers Readability and SEO analysis.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which SE Ranking and Yoast SEO actually diverge.

Attributes where SE Ranking and Yoast SEO differ
AttributeSE RankingYoast SEO
Starting price$129/monthFree
Pricing modelPer month by tracked keywords and projectsFreemium, per site per year
Free tierNoYes

Identical on both: platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (SEO).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in SE Ranking

  • Daily rank tracking
  • Target-based keyword counting
  • Competitive and keyword research
  • Backlink research and monitoring
  • Website and on-page audit
  • On-page checker and SERP analyzer
  • AI search tracking
  • AI competitive research

Only in Yoast SEO

  • Readability and SEO analysis
  • Redirect manager
  • Multi-keyphrase optimisation
  • Bundled add-ons
  • AI-assisted metadata
  • Google Docs add-on

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

SE Ranking

  • Tracking daily keyword positions across up to 10 client projects on the entry plannot Yoast SEO
  • Auditing large sites, with 250,000 pages per month included on Core and 2 million on Growthnot Yoast SEO
  • Running SEO reporting for an agency that needs more than one manager seatnot Yoast SEO

Yoast SEO

  • A WordPress site owner who wants a predictable flat annual price with no renewal surprise, unlike some competitor pricing patternsnot SE Ranking
  • A multi-site publisher needing Local, Video and News SEO functionality bundled rather than bought as three separate add-onsnot SE Ranking
  • A small blog that can run indefinitely on the free tier without hitting a feature wall that forces an upgradenot SE Ranking
  • A content team wanting AI-assisted bulk metadata generation to clear a backlog of missing titles and descriptionsnot SE Ranking

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

SE Ranking

  • Keyword allowances are counted as targets, keyword multiplied by search engine, so a set tracked across Google desktop and mobile consumes twice the allowance and a plan sized on a raw keyword count runs out early.
  • There is no free tier at all, only a 14-day trial, so evaluation is time-boxed rather than open-ended and comparison against Moz or Ahrefs free tools is not like for like.
  • Enterprise pricing is not published, so the only tier suited to large keyword volumes cannot be budgeted from the pricing page without contacting sales.
  • Core includes exactly one manager seat, so the second person needing full access means extra seats from 16 USD each or the jump to Growth at 279 USD.
  • Three of the add-ons, Agency Pack at 69 USD, the API at 45 USD and the discounted AI Search price, are available only on annual billing, so a monthly customer either pays more or commits for a year.
  • Audit capacity on Core is capped at 250,000 pages per project as well as per account, so a single large site consumes the whole allowance and leaves nothing for other projects that month.
  • Its keyword and backlink databases are smaller and less frequently refreshed than the Ahrefs first-party crawl, so it is a better tracking and reporting tool than a link discovery one.

Yoast SEO

  • Premium is licensed per site, so an agency or publisher managing many WordPress installs pays linearly per site with no volume discount tier published, unlike Rank Math's site-count-bundled plans.
  • The free tier's schema output is more basic than Rank Math's free tier, which ships more predefined schema types at no cost.
  • There is no rank tracking feature at all, free or paid, so any team wanting to monitor rankings needs an entirely separate tool regardless of Yoast tier.
  • Some previously free features have migrated behind Premium over successive releases, so long-time users have seen the free-to-paid boundary move against them.
  • The AI-assisted content and metadata features are newer additions and reviewers note they are less mature than dedicated AI content tools such as Surfer SEO or Frase.

Pricing, plan by plan

SE Ranking

$129/month
  • Core$129/month
    • 103.20 USD per month billed annually, a 20 percent saving paid upfront
    • 10 projects and 1 manager seat
    • 2,000 daily keyword targets, counted as keyword times search engine
  • Growth$279/month
    • 223.20 USD per month billed annually, a 20 percent saving paid upfront
    • 30 projects and 3 manager seats
    • 5,000 daily keyword targets, 250 daily AI prompts, 15 AI research domains
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Custom limits and pricing, quoted by sales
    • Flexible terms
    • Full API and advanced integrations
  • Extra capacity$undefined/month
    • Extra manager seats from 16 USD each
    • Extra tracked keywords from 22.40 USD on Core and from 32 USD on Growth
    • Extra business locations from 18.40 USD each

Yoast SEO

Free
  • FreeFree
    • SEO and readability analysis
    • XML sitemaps and basic schema output
    • Google Search Console integration
  • Premium$118.8/year
    • Flat rate with no renewal price increase, per site
    • Redirect manager and multi-keyphrase optimisation
    • Local, Video and News SEO plugins included

Which should you pick?

Choose SE Ranking if

  • You need daily rank tracking.
  • You also want target-based keyword counting.
SE Ranking review

Choose Yoast SEO if

  • You need readability and seo analysis.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want redirect manager.
Yoast SEO review

Questions people ask

Is SE Ranking or Yoast SEO better?
Neither clearly leads. SE Ranking starts at $129/month and Yoast SEO at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, SE Ranking or Yoast SEO?
Yoast SEO has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $129/month for SE Ranking and Free for Yoast SEO.
Does SE Ranking or Yoast SEO run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Yoast SEO for free?
Yes. Yoast SEO has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. SE Ranking starts at $129/month.
What is SE Ranking best used for?
SE Ranking is most often used for tracking daily keyword positions across up to 10 client projects on the entry plan, auditing large sites, with 250,000 pages per month included on core and 2 million on growth, running seo reporting for an agency that needs more than one manager seat. Of those, tracking daily keyword positions across up to 10 client projects on the entry plan and auditing large sites, with 250,000 pages per month included on core and 2 million on growth are not what Yoast SEO is typically brought in for.
What can SE Ranking do that Yoast SEO cannot?
SE Ranking covers Daily rank tracking, Target-based keyword counting, Competitive and keyword research, Backlink research and monitoring. Yoast SEO covers Readability and SEO analysis, Redirect manager, Multi-keyphrase optimisation, Bundled add-ons.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

SE Ranking: How much does SE Ranking cost?

Core is 129 USD a month, or 103.20 USD a month billed annually. Growth is 279 USD a month, or 223.20 USD billed annually. Annual billing is a flat 20 percent saving charged upfront. Enterprise is quoted by sales.

Yoast SEO: Does the price go up after the first year?

No. Yoast charges the same flat 118.80 US dollars a year per site every year, unlike some competitors that discount the first year and raise the renewal price.

SE Ranking: How does the price change with keyword volume?

Core includes 2,000 daily keyword targets and Growth 5,000. Beyond that you buy extra keywords from 22.40 USD a month on Core and from 32 USD on Growth rather than being forced onto the next tier. A keyword is counted once per search engine, so thirty keywords across two engines uses sixty targets.

Yoast SEO: Is the free version usable long-term, or is it a trial?

It is a genuinely usable free tier; many small sites run on it indefinitely without ever needing Premium.

SE Ranking: What is the difference between Core and Growth?

Growth triples projects to 30, raises daily keyword targets from 2,000 to 5,000 and prompts from 100 to 250, gives 3 manager seats instead of 1, lifts audit capacity from 250,000 to 2 million pages a month, raises on-page checks from 50 to 1,000, adds page changes monitoring, guest links, historical data across the project lifetime and dedicated support.

Yoast SEO: Can one Premium licence cover multiple sites?

No. Premium is licensed per site; multiple sites each need their own licence.

SE Ranking: Does SE Ranking have a free plan?

No. There is a 14-day trial with no credit card required, but no permanently free tier.

SE Ranking: What do the add-ons cost?

Agency Pack for white-label reporting and client seats is 69 USD a month on annual billing only. The AI Search toolkit is 89 USD monthly or 71.20 USD billed annually. The API add-on is 45 USD a month, annual billing only.

SE Ranking: Does it track rankings daily?

Yes, daily on both published tiers, through the full Google Top 100. Moz and Ahrefs both refresh rankings weekly.

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