Remove Yoast SEO Comments
by Mitch · SEO
Also makes 11 other plugins · 10.6K+ installs across the portfolio →
Removes the Yoast SEO advertisement HTML comments from your front-end source code.
Try it live opens a temporary test site in your browser, which can take about 20 seconds to load. Plugins that rely on outside services or a full server may not work completely there.
Health
D 43/100
Stale · Likely abandoned
Active installs
10K+
≈15K estimated
Momentum
+24%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: “remove comments”, “remove html” and “seo” aren't earning a slot. You list them, but you're not in the first 24 results for those searches. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so free the slot for a search you can win.
43 health vs 65 average across 2,216 SEO plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →6.5%
of downloads still active
At least 10K of 153.7K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median SEO plugin keeps 1.2%, across 1,193 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other SEO plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
High removal-risk signals
63/100Maintenance and integrity signals that tend to precede a WordPress.org removal. Not an official status, a heads-up to act.
- Long abandoned. No update in 8+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 4.9.35, well behind 6.8.
Details
Directory ranking optimization
How it's scored →How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.
Under-optimized
Most to gain: Update recency
Updated 2958 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 4.9.35; the current branch is 6.8
3.8★ over 16 reviews, smoothed to 4.03★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 2958 days ago — ship an update; wp.org decays a listing's search weight after ~180 days.
Get the full rank-higher report →Search visibility
How it's tracked →Directory searches this plugin turns up in, and which way each one is moving. WordPress.org publishes no history of search positions, so this starts the day we first tracked a keyword and never backfills.
Not enough tracked days yet to call a direction. Momentum needs at least three keywords measured a week or more apart.
wp.org is where the directory puts the plugin for that search. On merit is where it would sit if results were ranked on rating, support and updates, without the install boost. The last column is how far the wp.org position moved, from our first reading in the last 90 days to the latest.
| Keyword | wp.org | On merit | wp.org move, 90 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| remove comments your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| remove html your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| seo your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| yoast your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| yoast seo your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
0 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days. 5 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- “remove comments”, “remove html” and “seo” aren't earning a slot. You list them, but you're not in the first 24 results for those searches. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so free the slot for a search you can win.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 590 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank vs rivals
wp.org popularity rank over time · higher is better · when a rival's line climbs above yours, they've overtaken you
Rating trend
Star average over time · dips mark rough releases
Health trend
Composite health score, snapshotted daily
Update activity
How busy the existing users are, measured as downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites. A spike means a new release everyone's pulling; a long, slow decline means an aging user base that updates less.
Release cadence
No release in a yearHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
0
releases in the last 12 months
8.5y ago
latest release · v3.1 · 21 May 2018
17
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 99% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.
Estimated active installs
The public count shows “10K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 2.4 years ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.
Install history since 11 Jan 2020
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
- — Version 3.1 All future Yoast SEO versions will be supported, even when Yoast SEO removes the functions we rely on. Minor bug fixes. 3.1
- — Version 3.0.4 Fixed issue with Yoast SEO head function not outputting. 3.0.4
- — Version 3.0.3 Fixed conflicts with Yoast SEO 5.7.1 3.0.3
- — Version 3.0.2 Limited the RYSC dashboard widget to admin only. 3.0.2
- — Version 3.0.1 Versioning added as a variable to the RYSC class. Fixed a display error where the RYSC version was showing instead of the Yoast SEO version. 3.0.1
- — Version 3.0 Cleaner, more lightweight and optimized coding. New dashboard widget added. Removed backup solutions. Removed XML buffering. 3.0
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.3
AI assistants
How it's measured →Whether ChatGPT and Claude name this plugin when asked the category question, and whether the readme gives them something to quote.
Not measured yet for this plugin’s topics. Its tracked searches are not among the measured topics. See the topics measured so far.
Readme readiness
5 of 8 pass · checked 26 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Removes the Yoast SEO advertisement HTML comments from your front-end source code."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 3 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 3 of 3 read like questions a user would type.
- ! Names who it is for One audience phrase ("if you have"); say who the plugin is for and what they use it for.
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions Yoast.
- ! Headings and lists 2 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 402 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text 3 of 5 tags appear in the text; "remove comments", "remove html" do not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2024-05-25 20K+ → 10K+ down after 18 days in tier
- 2024-05-07 10K+ → 20K+ up after 22 days in tier
- 2024-04-15 20K+ → 10K+ down after 1117 days in tier
- 2021-03-25 30K+ → 20K+ down after 840 days in tier
- 2018-12-06 20K+ → 30K+ up after 277 days in tier
- 2018-03-04 10K+ → 20K+ up after 145 days in tier
- 2017-10-10 3K+ → 10K+ up
Competes with
The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).
- T Turn Yoast SEO FAQ Block to Accordion 3K+ installs · 4.2★ · 3 shared tags C
-
Customization for WP SEO 2K+ installs · 4.1★ · 3 shared tags A -
ACF Content Analysis for Yoast SEO 100K+ installs · 4.0★ · 2 shared tags B -
Yoast Test Helper 50K+ installs · 4.4★ · 2 shared tags A -
Website LLMs.txt 50K+ installs · 4.3★ · 2 shared tags A -
WP All Import – Import SEO Settings for Yoast SEO 20K+ installs · 3.4★ · 2 shared tags B
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Remove Yoast SEO Comments into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/remove-yoast-seo-comments" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Remove Yoast SEO Comments — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Remove Yoast SEO Comments: 10K+ active installs, 3.8★ (16 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/remove-yoast-seo-comments
Spotted a number that looks wrong? Report a data issue and we'll check it against the source.