Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI

How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.

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

How often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.

Share of active installs on each version of this plugin. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.

Refined from the date this plugin crossed into its current band.

A large install base, a clear pro tier and a steady trend. As reliable as an outside estimate gets. The range spans more than 10x because wp.org publishes install counts as broad bands, and conversion and price compound on top. Read the midpoint as an order of magnitude, not a valuation.

The newest reviews report real breakage, a Premium/Social tab conflict, a WP 6.9 shortcode issue, and Gutenberg items vanishing after an update, a sharp turn from the steady praise in the older reviews.

1. ★★★★★ delwinv

   1mo ago

   Though the premium plugin has worked on a number of websites I manage, on one the Premium plugin actually causes the Social tab of Yoast SEO to become non-functional (needing to disable the Premium plugin to be able to use it). This means the Yoast Premium plugin is not coded in a way to make it immune to JavaScript changes within WordPress, plugins or themes. In addition, on discovery of this very infrequently used part of Yoast SEO (non-premium) being affected by Yoast SEO Premium, support’s response is: it’s a problem with your theme and they will not investigate. Even more unacceptable is that when telling them we therefore want a refund, they say we’re past the refund period, despite not being able to catch this (for us) very infrequently used feature until very recently. Support for Premium is not at a level where they can solve anything, and Customer support is unwilling to acknowledge that the only plugin having any issue is their Premium plugin, and that the theme causes no problems for anything else within the WordPress ecosystem, and not even with their non-premium plugin. BE VERY AWARE that Yoast SEO Premium support is basically incompetent, and will not try to help you.

   Read on wp.org ↗
2. ★★★★★ zuzo

   2mo ago

   best plugin seo

   Read on wp.org ↗
3. ★★★★★ didier59450

   2mo ago

   Very complicated, and with last version many items disappeared in Gutemberg! I am looking for some new and efficient SEO tool!

   Read on wp.org ↗
4. ★★★★★ Jonathan Santo

   2mo ago

   I enabled the Schema aggregation endpoint on Kvishim, a high-traffic publishing site with a large and frequently updated article archive. It provided a centralized endpoint for accessing the site’s structured data, making it easier to review schema coverage and consistency without checking URLs individually. It has been a practical and valuable addition to my technical SEO workflow on a content-heavy WordPress site.

   Read on wp.org ↗
5. ★★★★★ Thomas Fodor

   3mo ago

   WordPress 6.9 introduced some changes in how shortcodes and do_shortcode() handle attributes, especially URLs with query strings.

   Read on wp.org ↗
6. ★★★★★ leroy56

   3mo ago

   My blog posts started showing up on google way quicker after installing this. the readability checker alone is super helpful ngl. setup took like 5 mins, no confusion at all. def keeping it

   Read on wp.org ↗
7. ★★★★★ jairo7

   3mo ago

   Literally obsessed w chasing those green dots lol. Been using it 2 months n my organic traffic actually went up. Readability tips r a nice bonus 2. Must have fr.

   Read on wp.org ↗
8. ★★★★★ mikala65

   3mo ago

   ngl this plugin changed things for me. tells u exactly wt to fix & my traffic actually went up. Premium feels like a paywall bt free version does the job tbh

   Read on wp.org ↗

Recent releases and news for this plugin

1. 2026-08-18 28.3 = 28.3 = Release date: 2026-08-18 Yoast SEO 28.3 brings more enhancements and bugfixes. Find more information about our software releases and updates here . Enhancements Adds a schemamap.xml file at t 28.3
2. 2026-08-04 28.2 = 28.2 = Release date: 2026-08-04 Yoast SEO 28.2 brings more enhancements and bugfixes. Find more information about our software releases and updates here . Bugfixes Fixes a bug where the overall SEO 28.2
3. 2026-07-21 28.1 = 28.1 = Release date: 2026-07-21 Yoast SEO 28.1 redesigns the Bulk editor into a focused workspace with new search and status filters, so you can find and fix titles and meta descriptions across post 28.1
4. 2026-07-06 28.0 = 28.0 = Release date: 2026-07-06 Yoast SEO now works smoothly with Elementor's version 4 release. Read the full release post here . Enhancements Improves the compatibility with the atomic editor in E 28.0
5. 2026-06-22 27.9 = 27.9 = Release date: 2026-06-22 Yoast SEO 27.9 brings more enhancements and bugfixes. Find more information about our software releases and updates here . Enhancements Improves the performance of th 27.9

20 disclosed vulnerabilities on record for this plugin, all fixed in the current version. Sites on older versions stay exposed until they update.

1. Medium · 6.4 Yoast SEO <= 28.0 - Authenticated (Author+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Post Slug (post_name) ↗
   2026-07-24 CVE-2026-15425 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') Affects <= 28.0 Patched in 28.1
2. Medium · 4.3 Yoast SEO <= 26.5 - Insecure Direct Object Reference to Authenticated (Contributor+) Sensitive Information Exposure via 'post_id' Parameter ↗
   2026-05-26 CVE-2025-14481 Missing Authorization Affects <= 26.5 Patched in 26.6
3. Medium · 6.4 Yoast SEO <= 27.1.1 - Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting via 'jsonText' Block Attribute ↗
   2026-03-21 CVE-2026-3427 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') Affects <= 27.1.1 Patched in 27.2
4. Medium · 6.4 Yoast SEO <= 26.8 - Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting via 'yoast-schema' Block Attribute ↗
   2026-02-05 CVE-2026-1293 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') Affects <= 26.8 Patched in 26.9
5. Medium · 6.4 Yoast SEO <= 22.6 - Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting ↗
   2024-05-14 CVE-2024-4984 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') Affects <= 22.6 Patched in 22.7
6. Medium · 6.1 Yoast SEO <= 22.5 - Reflected Cross-Site Scripting ↗
   2024-05-06 CVE-2024-4041 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') Affects <= 22.5 Patched in 22.6
7. Medium · 5.5 Yoast SEO <= 21.0 - Authenticated (Seo Manager+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting ↗
   2023-11-24 CVE-2023-40680 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') Affects <= 21.0 Patched in 21.1
8. Medium · 6.4 Yoast SEO <= 20.2 - Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting ↗
   2023-03-02 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') Affects <= 20.2 Patched in 20.2.1
9. Medium · 5.3 Yoast SEO <= 17.2 - Full Path Disclosure ↗
   2021-10-05 CVE-2021-25118 Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor Affects < 17.3 Patched in 17.3
10. Medium · 6.4 Yoast SEO <= 11.5 - Authenticated Stored Cross Site Scripting ↗
    2019-07-09 CVE-2019-13478 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') Affects <= 11.5 Patched in 11.6-RC5
11. Medium · 6.6 Yoast SEO <= 9.1.0 - Race Condition to Remote Code Execution ↗
    2018-11-06 CVE-2018-19370 Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition') Affects <= 9.1.0 Patched in 9.2.0
12. Medium · 6.1 Yoast SEO <= 5.7.1 - Reflected Cross-Site Scripting ↗
    2017-11-22 CVE-2017-16842 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') Affects <= 5.7.1 Patched in 5.8.0
13. Medium · 5.4 Yoast SEO <= 3.4.0 - Authenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting ↗
    2016-08-02 CVE-2021-24153 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') Affects < 3.4.1 Patched in 3.4.1
14. Medium · 4.7 Yoast SEO <= 3.2.5 - Cross-Site Scripting ↗
    2016-06-14 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') Affects <= 3.2.5 Patched in 3.3.0
15. Medium · 5.3 Yoast SEO <= 3.2.4 - Sensitive Data Exposure ↗
    2016-05-06 Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor Affects <= 3.2.4 Patched in 3.2.5
16. Medium · 6.1 Yoast SEO <= 2.0.1 - Reflected Cross-Site Scripting ↗
    2015-04-20 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') Affects < 2.1 Patched in 2.1
17. High · 8.8 Yoast SEO <= 1.7.3.3 - Blind SQL Injection ↗
    2015-03-11 CVE-2015-2292 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') Affects <= 1.5.6 Patched in 1.5.7
18. High · 7.5 Yoast SEO <= 1.7.3.3 - Cross-Site Request Forgery ↗
    2015-03-10 CVE-2015-2293 Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) Affects <= 1.5.6 Patched in 1.5.7
19. Medium · 6.5 Yoast SEO <= 1.4.6 - Missing Authorization ↗
    2014-08-01 Missing Authorization Affects <= 1.4.6 Patched in 1.4.7
20. Medium · 6.1 Yoast SEO <= 2.1.1 - Cross Site Scripting via post_title parameter ↗
    2012-10-31 CVE-2012-6692 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') Affects <= 2.1.1 Patched in 2.2

Automated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 7.0

Translated into 92 languages, 33 at 90% or more

Plus 68 more locales with partial translations.

Growth timeline

Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow

1. 2024-05-23 5M+ → 10M+ 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).

• Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ installs · 4.8★ · 3 shared tags A
• All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ installs · 4.7★ · 3 shared tags A
• SiteSEO – SEO Simplified 500K+ installs · 3.9★ · 3 shared tags B
• SureRank SEO – Meta Tags, Social Preview, XML Sitemap, Schema & Open Graph 400K+ installs · 4.6★ · 3 shared tags A
• SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ installs · 4.8★ · 3 shared tags A
• Slim SEO – AI SEO Plugin, Lightweight, Fast & Automated 70K+ installs · 4.6★ · 3 shared tags A

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Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI: 10M+ active installs, 4.8★ (27,818 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-08-25. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/wordpress-seo