Compared in November 2026
Yoast SEO and Rank Math are the two most used SEO plugins for WordPress. Clearyvo SEO is new and smaller, built around a site-wide audit and real image alt text. All three set titles, meta descriptions, schema and an XML sitemap; here is where they differ.
The short answer
- Choose Yoast SEO for the most widely used plugin, readability analysis, and AI title and description help in Premium.
- Choose Rank Math for the most features in a free plugin: redirections, a 404 monitor, many schema types, local SEO and a Search Console integration.
- Choose Clearyvo SEO for a site-wide audit of the finished pages, alt text drafted from each page’s own text, and redirects with a 404 log, free and without an account.
At a Glance
| Clearyvo SEO | Yoast SEO | Rank Math SEO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| On WordPress.org | Coming soon (download from our site) | Yes (10+ million active installations) | Yes (4+ million active installations) |
| Requirements | WordPress 6.2, PHP 7.4 | WordPress 7.0, PHP 7.4 | WordPress 6.7, PHP 7.4 |
| Paid version | Clearyvo SEO Pro, from €39 a year (1 site); also included in Clearyvo Pro | Yoast SEO Premium, $118.80 a year (1 site, excl. VAT) | Rank Math PRO, renews at €107.88 a year (unlimited personal sites, excl. VAT; lower sale prices shown) |
| SEO title and meta description | Free, with templates and a live preview | Free (written by hand); AI help in Premium | Free |
| Focus keywords | One optional focus phrase | One free; up to five keyphrases in Premium | Five per post by default |
| Readability analysis | No (a paragraph length tip only) | Yes | |
| XML sitemap, breadcrumbs | Free | Free | Free |
| Schema | WebSite, Organization or Person, WebPage, Article, BreadcrumbList; LocalBusiness and Service in Pro | Schema.org integration | 16+ types free; advanced schema builder in PRO |
| Redirects | Free: 301, 302, 307, 410, 451, exact or regex | Premium | Free |
| 404 log | Free | Free (404 monitor) | |
| Image alt text | Audit of every page with drafts from the page’s text, approved by you; AI descriptions with your own key in Pro | Automatic alt and title attributes, free | |
| Internal links | Orphan pages in the audit; link ideas in Pro | Suggestions in Premium | Suggestions free; AI internal linking in PRO |
| Search Console | Keyword import in Pro | Integration free | |
| Import from other SEO plugins | Yoast SEO and Rank Math | Yoast SEO, one click |
Where They Differ
Analysis while you write or audit of the whole site
Yoast SEO and Rank Math are known for their analysis in the editor, post by post. Clearyvo SEO has live checks in the editor too, but its focus is the site audit: it loads every published page (up to 5,000) as a visitor gets it and lists missing alt text, heading problems, duplicate titles and descriptions, the same focus keyword on several pages and pages nobody links to, in one list with severities.
Image alt text
Rank Math’s free version adds alt and title attributes to images automatically. Clearyvo SEO drafts each missing alt text from what the page says about the image (its caption, the heading above it, the page title) and saves it only after you approve it, into the page and optionally the Media Library. Clearyvo SEO Pro (also included in Clearyvo Pro) adds AI descriptions written from the picture itself, with your own Claude or OpenAI key.
Breadth
Rank Math lists the most free features of the three, and Yoast SEO has the widest use and ecosystem. Clearyvo SEO is a young plugin with a deliberately smaller scope: one optional focus phrase, no keyword scores to chase, no AI writing in the free version.
When to Choose Yoast SEO
- You want the most widely used SEO plugin, with its documentation, courses and support.
- Readability analysis matters to your writers.
- You want AI help with titles and descriptions inside the plugin (Premium).
When to Choose Rank Math
- You want redirections, a 404 monitor, local SEO and a Search Console integration in a free plugin.
- You need many schema types or a schema builder.
- You run many personal sites on one paid plan.
When to Choose Clearyvo SEO
- You want a site-wide audit of the finished pages, page builders included, rather than a score per post.
- Many images lack alt text and you want real drafts to approve, not file names.
- You want redirects and a 404 log free, and no account or outside service.
- You already use Clearyvo checkers: Clearyvo SEO shares their Site Toolkit menu and Site health score, and imports your Yoast SEO or Rank Math data in one step.
Sources
- Yoast SEO on WordPress.org (version 28.8, features, active installations, requirements)
- Yoast SEO free vs Premium and Yoast SEO Premium price
- Rank Math SEO on WordPress.org (version 1.0.281, features, active installations, requirements)
- Rank Math free vs PRO and Rank Math pricing
- Clearyvo SEO (version 0.5.0) and Clearyvo SEO Pro (1.7.6), readmes
The other plugins’ names are trademarks of their owners and are used here only to identify their products; Clearyvo is not affiliated with them. We make Clearyvo SEO. Facts about the other plugins are taken from the pages listed under Sources on 6 November 2026; an empty cell means the page did not say. Prices and features change: check the vendors’ pages before you buy, and write to info@clearyvo.com if a fact here has changed.
Read the guide: How to Add Alt Text to Images in WordPress (and Write It Well for SEO) Compare: Clearyvo SEO vs Yoast SEO vs Rank Math