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

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.

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

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.

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.

3497 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 20 listed. 3236 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words).

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.

Crossed into this band 2.4 years ago; the previous band took 6.6 years to cross, which places it about 37% of the way through.

1. ★★★★★ delwinv

   4mo 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

   4mo ago

   best plugin seo

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

   4mo 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

   4mo 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

   5mo 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

   5mo 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

   5mo 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

   6mo 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. 2026-10-27 28.8 = 28.8 = Release date: 2026-10-27 New Yoast Abilities for AI agents, Schema Feeds support, and the groundwork for Yoast AI Generate for image alt text in Yoast WooCommerce SEO 17.0. Read the release p 28.8
2. 2026-10-13 28.7 = 28.7 = Release date: 2026-10-13 Yoast SEO 28.7 brings more enhancements and bugfixes. Find more information about our software releases and updates here . Enhancements Allows agents to update titles 28.7
3. 2026-09-29 28.6 = 28.6 = Release date: 2026-09-29 Enhancements Don't show a post type in the Bulk editor if Enable SEO controls and assessments is turned off for that post type. Introduces 2 new Yoast Abilities, to a 28.6
4. 2026-09-15 28.5 = 28.5 = Release date: 2026-09-15 Yoast SEO 28.5 brings more enhancements and bugfixes. Find more information about our software releases and updates here . Bugfixes Fixes a bug where the SEO data opt 28.5
5. 2026-09-01 28.4 = 28.4 = Release date: 2026-09-01 Yoast SEO 28.4 makes the Bulk editor easier to access by adding a Bulk edit option to the Posts and Pages sections of the WordPress dashboard. This allows you to quic 28.4
6. 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

All 20 disclosed vulnerabilities are patched in the current version (28.8). Sites still on an older version should update.

1. Patched 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 Affects <= 28.0 Patched in 28.1
2. Patched 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. Patched 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 Affects <= 27.1.1 Patched in 27.2
4. Patched 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 Affects <= 26.8 Patched in 26.9
5. Patched 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 Affects <= 22.6 Patched in 22.7
6. Patched 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 Affects <= 22.5 Patched in 22.6
7. Patched 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 Affects <= 21.0 Patched in 21.1
8. Patched Medium · 6.4 Yoast SEO <= 20.2 - Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting ↗
   2023-03-02 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 20.2 Patched in 20.2.1
9. Patched 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. Patched 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 Affects <= 11.5 Patched in 11.6-RC5
11. Patched 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 Affects <= 9.1.0 Patched in 9.2.0
12. Patched 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 Affects <= 5.7.1 Patched in 5.8.0
13. Patched 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 Affects < 3.4.1 Patched in 3.4.1
14. Patched Medium · 4.7 Yoast SEO <= 3.2.5 - Cross-Site Scripting ↗
    2016-06-14 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 3.2.5 Patched in 3.3.0
15. Patched 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. Patched Medium · 6.1 Yoast SEO <= 2.0.1 - Reflected Cross-Site Scripting ↗
    2015-04-20 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects < 2.1 Patched in 2.1
17. Patched 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 Affects <= 1.5.6 Patched in 1.5.7
18. Patched High · 7.5 Yoast SEO <= 1.7.3.3 - Cross-Site Request Forgery ↗
    2015-03-10 CVE-2015-2293 Cross-Site Request Forgery Affects <= 1.5.6 Patched in 1.5.7
19. Patched 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. Patched 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 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, 35 at 90% or more

Plus 68 more locales with partial translations.

Whether ChatGPT and Claude name this plugin when asked the category question, and whether the readme gives them something to quote.

Growth timeline

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

1. 2024-05-23 5M+ → 10M+ up after 2394 days in tier
2. 2017-11-02 3M+ → 5M+ up after 246 days in tier
3. 2017-03-01 1M+ → 3M+ 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).

Embed this report card

Drop a live Pulse card for Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI: 10M+ active installs, 4.8★ (27,821 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/wordpress-seo