Ahrefs vs Yoast SEO Comparison 2026
Both cover seo & discovery. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
Backlink and keyword data at full depth
Checks a WordPress post before you publish it
At a glance
- Yoast SEO starts cheaper, at $9.90.
- Both have a genuinely free tier.
Side by side
Ahrefs | Yoast SEO | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $129 | From $9.90 |
| Pricing model | Free plan, paid tiers | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Not stated |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Yes | Not stated |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | None | None |
| Runs on | Web | Web |
Shaded rows are where the two answers disagree and both listings have answered. A row where one side has not stated a fact is left plain, because silence is not a difference.
Ahrefs
Backlink and keyword data at full depth
Ahrefs runs its own crawler, which is why its backlink index is the one other tools get compared against, and why the keyword data goes deeper than the free alternatives. Site Explorer and Content Gap are what most people open it for. It is priced for businesses rather than for individuals, and the company states outright that it never discounts.
Our note
Between this and Semrush the split is old but holds: Ahrefs for backlinks and content research, Semrush for advertising data and rank tracking breadth. Pick on which half of the job is yours, because paying for both is rarely worth it.
Only on this side
- Covers research & trends
Yoast SEO
Checks a WordPress post before you publish it
Yoast SEO reads a draft in the WordPress editor and tells you what a search engine will struggle with: a missing meta description, a heading structure that does not nest, an internal link that should exist. The free plugin covers the basics and is what most sites run. Premium adds redirect management, which is the part that saves you when a URL changes, plus multiple keyphrases per post and internal linking suggestions. It is a subscription per site with the seat count stated separately.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.