Yoast vs Rank Math in 2026: The Free Versions, Measured
Yoast SEO scores 96.5 and Rank Math 94.1. Both are rated 96%, the lab gap is noise and support decides it, so the real choice is what each free version includes.
Yoast SEO beats Rank Math 96.5 to 94.1 on our head-to-head score, a 2.4-point lead. Both are rated 96%, both take full marks for installs and upkeep, and in our lab their difference in server time is within noise. Most of the gap is support: Yoast marked 38 of its last 39 forum threads resolved, Rank Math 40 of 45.
Either is a safe choice on the numbers. The real difference is what each puts in its free plugin, and the two WordPress.org pages draw that line in different places.
Short answer: Pick Yoast SEO if you want readability and inclusive-language checks as you write, a free bulk editor for titles and meta descriptions, and the better-answered forum (38 of 39 threads resolved). Pick Rank Math if you want a redirection manager, a 404 monitor and up to 5 focus keywords per post from its main feature list; Yoast’s page puts its redirect manager and 5 keyphrases in Premium and does not mention a 404 monitor.
Last updated: 21 October 2026. We re-run the numbers every month.
Side by side
| Measure | Yoast SEO | Rank Math |
|---|---|---|
| Final score /100 | 96.5 | 94.1 |
| WordPress.org score /100 | 96.0 | 94.2 |
| Satisfaction /35 | 31.5 | 31.5 |
| Adoption /25 | 25 | 25 |
| Maintenance /20 | 20 | 20 |
| Support /20 | 19.5 | 17.8 |
| Server time points /15 | 14.9 | 14.0 |
| Active installs | 10M+ | 4M+ |
| Rating | 96% (27,820 ratings) | 96% (7,515 ratings) |
| Last updated | 13 October 2026 | 6 October 2026 |
| Support threads resolved (last 2 months) | 38 of 39 | 40 of 45 |
| Weight added (lab) | +1.1 KB | +0.8 KB |
| Server time added (lab, median of 3 runs) | +10.6 ms | +16.0 ms |
| Server time, the three runs | 10.6, 11.4, 8.7 ms | 12.6, 37.3, 16.0 ms |
| Version tested | 28.7 | 1.0.280 |
| Tested up to / requires PHP | WordPress 7.1.3 / PHP 7.4 | WordPress 7.1.3 / PHP 7.4 |
| Listed on WordPress.org since | 11 October 2010 | 19 November 2018 |
How we scored them
The final score is 85% of the WordPress.org score plus up to 15 points for server time. For Yoast that is 96.0 × 0.85 + 14.9 = 96.5; for Rank Math, 94.2 × 0.85 + 14.0 = 94.1. The parts:
- Satisfaction, 35: the star rating, blended with 25 imaginary votes at 80% so a handful of reviews cannot dominate.
- Adoption, 25: active installs on a log scale, 1,000 = 0 and 1,000,000 = full marks.
- Maintenance, 20: updated in the last 30 days earns full marks, sliding to 0 at 365 days.
- Support, 20: the share of the last two months’ support threads marked resolved.
- Server time, 15 (added after the four above are scaled to 85%): 10 ms or less earns all 15 points, 100 ms or more earns 0.
Weight is shown but not scored, because every SEO plugin we tested added about 0–1 KB. Our lab is WordPress 7.1.3 on PHP 8.5 with Twenty Twenty-Five, serving a 1,500-word post with 3 images to a logged-out visitor. Each plugin was installed from WordPress.org on 21 October 2026, activated alone with default settings and measured in three separate runs.
The lab number is an idle cost. The figures show what each plugin adds to an ordinary post, which on most sites is nearly every page. The full method is on how we rank.
Satisfaction: level at 96%
Both plugins hold a 96% rating, Yoast from 27,820 ratings and Rank Math from 7,515, and both blend to 31.5 of 35. With that many votes, our 25 imaginary ones barely move either.
Adoption: Yoast is bigger, and the score stops counting
Yoast SEO has 10M+ active installs, the largest figure in our SEO list; Rank Math has 4M+. Our adoption scale gives full marks at 1,000,000, so both take 25 of 25 and the difference adds nothing to Yoast’s lead.
Maintenance: both current
Yoast was updated on 13 October 2026 and Rank Math on 6 October. Both take the full 20 points and list WordPress 7.1.3 as tested. Yoast’s page says it ships an update every two weeks.
Support: where the gap comes from
In the last two months Yoast marked 38 of 39 WordPress.org support threads resolved, worth 19.5 of 20. Rank Math resolved 40 of 45, worth 17.8. That 1.7-point difference, scaled to 85%, is about 1.5 of the 2.4 points between them.
Treat it as a real but movable lead: a handful of unresolved threads would change the order.
Yoast’s page says it cannot offer one-to-one support to every free user; Rank Math lists dedicated support managers under PRO.
Lab: weight and server time
Out of the box, Rank Math printed no SEO tags on our test page: no meta description, no Open Graph tags, no schema. It holds its front-end output back until you connect a Rank Math account or skip registration in its setup wizard. Yoast printed its full set on default settings. We measured Rank Math after skipping registration and finishing the wizard on its defaults, where a real site ends up, so finish that step if you install it.
Neither makes a page meaningfully heavier. Our test post weighs about 20 KB with no plugin; Yoast added +1.1 KB and Rank Math +0.8 KB. Neither added a CSS or JS file, so the extra bytes are the tags in the page’s own HTML.
Server time is within noise. Yoast added +10.6 ms (runs of 10.6, 11.4 and 8.7 ms) and Rank Math +16.0 ms (12.6, 37.3 and 16.0 ms). Rank Math’s second run is far off the other two, so its number is noisy, and our machine drifts by 15–40 ms between runs; the no-plugin page alone took 60.2 to 65.3 ms. A 5.4 ms gap on the median does not separate them.
That noise still reaches the score: it gives Yoast 14.9 server points to Rank Math’s 14.0, about 0.9 of the 2.4-point gap. The rest is support.
Rank Math’s page calls it the “Fastest SEO plugin with barely any impact on site speed”. In our lab neither was measurably faster, and with a page cache a gap this size matters even less.
What each free version includes
This section comes only from each plugin’s WordPress.org page. Yoast marks Premium items in place and adds a Premium list; Rank Math keeps a main feature list apart from a “Unique Features of Rank Math PRO” list. Where a page does not say which side a feature sits on, we say so.
| Feature | Yoast SEO | Rank Math |
|---|---|---|
| Redirect manager | Premium list | Main list |
| 404 monitor | Not on its page | Main list |
| Focus keyphrases per post | Up to 5 “in Premium”; free number not given | 5 by default, unlimited with a filter |
| Schema markup | Yes; Premium adds “significantly more schema types” | 16+ types; 20+ and a schema builder in PRO |
| Readability and inclusive language analysis | Main list | Not on its page |
| Internal link suggestions | Premium list | Main list; AI-powered suggestions in PRO |
| AI writing tools | Come with Premium | Content AI can be started “for FREE”; needs a Rank Math account |
| Bulk editing of titles and meta | Bulk editor is free; AI drafts are Premium | Bulk actions and quick edit in PRO |
| llms.txt management | Main list | Not on its page |
| Search Console and Analytics | Via its Google Site Kit integration | Integration in main list; rank tracker in PRO |
| Import from other SEO plugins | Import and export tools; plugins not named | 1-click from Yoast, AIOSEO, SEOPress and more |
Yoast SEO
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI says the free plugin gives “everything you need to manage your on-site SEO”, with Premium adding “more advanced and AI-powered tools”. Outside the items it marks as Premium, its page lists:
- SEO analysis in 20+ languages, readability analysis and inclusive language analysis, with its red, orange and green scoring as you write.
- SERP previews, plus HowTo, FAQ and breadcrumbs blocks.
- Automated meta tags, canonical URLs, XML sitemaps, structured data, crawl settings and llms.txt management.
- A configuration wizard, SEO roles, and integrations with Site Kit, Semrush, Wincher and Elementor.
Its Premium list includes AI-generated titles and descriptions, the redirect manager, internal linking suggestions, social previews for Facebook and X, IndexNow and an AI bot blocker, and it says Local, Video and News SEO come with Premium at no extra cost. One item, the front-end SEO inspector, appears in both the main list and the Premium list, so check it after installing.
Rank Math
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings keeps its main feature list apart from its PRO list. The main list includes:
- A setup wizard, and a module system so you enable only what you need.
- An XML sitemap with custom post type support, breadcrumbs and 30+ one-click SEO tests.
- Keyword suggestions, automatic image alt text and title tags, a role manager and multisite support.
Its PRO list includes AI Link Genius, a rank tracker, an advanced schema builder, bulk SEO actions and extra WooCommerce schema. The page says Content AI works only with a connected Rank Math account and mentions a check on remaining usage credits.
Which should you pick
- A new blog where most of the work is writing: Yoast SEO. Readability and inclusive language analysis sit in its main list.
- A site with old URLs to redirect or broken links to catch: Rank Math. Its main list includes a redirection manager and a 404 monitor; Yoast lists its redirect manager under Premium.
- Posts that target several keyphrases: Rank Math, at 5 per post by default. Yoast’s page puts “up to 5 keyphrases” in Premium.
- Many old posts with missing meta descriptions: Yoast SEO, whose page says its bulk editor is free. Rank Math lists bulk actions and quick edit under PRO.
- You want AI writing help without paying for a plan: Rank Math, whose Content AI can be started for free with an account. Yoast’s AI tools come with Premium.
- Speed is your main worry: either. Their gap in our lab, +10.6 ms against +16.0 ms, is within noise.
- You already run one of them and it works: stay. A 2.4-point gap built on support threads and lab noise is no reason to migrate.
SEOPress (88.5) and AIOSEO (86.7) scored third and fourth this month; our Rank Math vs SEOPress vs AIOSEO comparison covers how their free versions differ.
Questions people ask
Is Yoast better than Rank Math?
On our data, narrowly. Yoast SEO scores 96.5 and Rank Math 94.1. Ratings (96% each), adoption and maintenance are level; most of the gap comes from support, where Yoast resolved 38 of 39 recent threads and Rank Math 40 of 45. Which is better for you depends on the free features you need.
Is Rank Math faster than Yoast?
No, and not measurably slower either. Rank Math added +16.0 ms of server time and Yoast +10.6 ms, a difference well inside the 15–40 ms our machine drifts between runs. On page weight Rank Math added +0.8 KB and Yoast +1.1 KB, with no extra CSS or JS files from either.
Can I switch from Yoast to Rank Math, or run both?
Rank Math lists 1-click import from Yoast, and its FAQ says the setup wizard has an import step for your SEO settings. Yoast’s page mentions built-in import and export tools without naming plugins. Do not run both: Rank Math’s FAQ recommends removing other SEO plugins to avoid conflicts.
Do I need an account to use either plugin?
Rank Math’s FAQ says no: a free Rank Math account is needed only for its API features, such as keyword suggestions and SEO site analysis, and Content AI needs a connected account. Yoast’s page does not mention an account for the free plugin.
