Honest comparison
Linkilo and Rank Math: a companion, not a replacement.
Rank Math is an SEO plugin and Linkilo is not one. Keep Rank Math. This page is about where its link features stop, what the Pro tier and the separate Rank Math AI subscription add, and how the two plugins share a site without stepping on each other.
If you only read one paragraph
Rank Math handles titles, schema, sitemaps and Search Console data, and it does them very well. Its free link features are a suggestion box based on post titles or focus keywords, a per-post link counter, a redirect manager and a 404 hit log. In March 2026 the Pro tier added AI Link Genius: a link audit, an orphan filter, keyword maps and an editor button that generates link suggestions against a monthly allowance from a separate AI subscription. That is a real step up. Linkilo is the layer that goes further: suggestions scored on meaning, intent, entities and cluster position with the score shown; broken links repaired in bulk; redirect chains flattened; a crawl log of which bots fetched which pages; click analytics; related posts and link previews on the front end. The two coexist cleanly as long as one of them owns redirects and one of them owns auto-linking.
What each one is
Four things that frame the rest of the page.
What it is for
- Linkilo
- The link layer: suggestions, repair, redirects, crawl logs, clusters, clicks
- Rank Math
- The SEO layer: titles, schema, sitemaps, Search Console, content scoring
Linkilo does not write a title tag or a sitemap. Rank Math does not read a crawl log. You run both.
What a link suggestion is based on
- Linkilo
- Embeddings, search intent, entities, cluster position and keyword overlap, each visible in the score
- Rank Math
- Free: the post title or focus keyword. Pro with Rank Math AI: an AI-generated list, method not documented
Rank Math’s own knowledge base describes the free suggestions as title- or keyword-based and limited to the block editor after a draft save.
Who pays for the AI
- Linkilo
- You, directly to OpenAI, on your own key, with no monthly cap
- Rank Math
- A separate Rank Math AI subscription with monthly allowances: 50, 200 or 1,000 AI link opportunities a month by tier
Rank Math moved from credits to monthly feature limits in April 2026. Unused allowance does not roll over.
How established
- Linkilo
- Newer, and smaller
- Rank Math
- More than four million active installs, 4.8 from over 7,500 ratings
There is no contest here and the page does not pretend there is. Rank Math is the SEO plugin; this page is about the link work it leaves undone.
The suggestion queue, exactly as it ships.
Rank Math’s free suggestions appear in a metabox after you save a draft, matched on the title or focus keyword, without an anchor. These are site-wide, inbound as well as outbound, with the anchor lifted from the source post and the score open to inspection. Approve one and it is written.
AI Link Suggestions
Build a review queue of internal-link opportunities, apply the best ones, and let Autopilot keep looking when you are ready.
AI Rules Impact
5/6 rules active — 19 filtered outThe sentence is about seasoning, the target post is the seasoning guide, and the anchor already exists in your copy.
Sentence-level match on humidor quality; the target is the roundup that owns this phrase.
Related, but the anchor is generic and appears on 9 other pages, so the Anchor Report rule pulled the score down.
No Link Suggestions Ready
There is no queue to review yet. Start a capped scan now, then approve only the links worth adding.
Best next move: start with 3-5 posts, review the queue, then turn on Autopilot once the suggestions look right.
Recreated from the plugin’s own templates and stylesheet. Same columns, same labels, same scores.
Linkilo vs Rank Math, feature by feature
Link-layer capabilities only, as of October 2026, from Rank Math’s knowledge base, product pages and changelogs. Where a feature needs Pro, or the separate Rank Math AI subscription, the cell says so.
| Capability | Linkilo | Rank Math |
|---|---|---|
| Internal link suggestions in the editor | Inbound and outbound, with anchor and score | Free: title or focus keyword match, block editor only. Pro + AI: generated list against a monthly allowance |
| Reason shown for each suggestion | Score, broken into its parts | No |
| Anchor guaranteed to exist in your post | Enforced in code | Free suggestions carry no anchor |
| AI on your own key, at provider cost | Yes | No; Rank Math AI subscription |
| Keyword-to-URL auto-linking | Rules with a dry run | Pro: Keyword Maps with preview and rollback |
| Orphan page report | With suggested source posts | Pro: filter for posts with no inbound links |
| Site-wide broken link check | Internal and external, repaired in bulk | Pro: audit with fix, remove or replace per link |
| Wayback lookup for dead external links | Yes | No |
| Redirect manager | 301/302/307/410, regex, autopilot | 301/302/307/410/451, regex, auto redirect on slug change |
| 404 log | Yes | Hit log, 100 rows by default |
| Redirect chains found and flattened | Yes | No; its knowledge base points to an external checker |
| Internal links rewritten after a redirect | Yes | Pro: Bulk Update by hand |
| Bulk URL replacement across the site | Yes | Pro |
| Anchor text health report | Eight problem types, ranked | Pro: anchor filter in the links table |
| Topic clusters with pillar detection | Yes | Pillar flag on a post |
| Crawl log: which bots fetched which pages | Yes | No |
| Internal link click analytics | Yes | No |
| Related posts on the front end | Yes | Pro + AI |
| Link preview on hover | Yes | No |
| Claude / ChatGPT connection (MCP) | Yes | Yes, for link reports, 404s and redirects |
| Titles, schema, sitemaps, Search Console | No | Yes |
Compiled from each product’s own public documentation. If something here is out of date about Rank Math, tell us and we will correct it.
What the link layer costs on each side
Rank Math’s link features are spread across three things: the free plugin, Pro, and the separate Rank Math AI subscription. Linkilo is one licence. Rank Math shows prices in your local currency; the figures here are as its site rendered them.
| You want | Linkilo | Rank Math |
|---|---|---|
| Redirects and a 404 log | Includedfrom $59 a year, 1 site | Free |
| Title-based link suggestions | Not how Linkilo works | Freeblock editor only |
| Link audit, orphan filter, keyword maps | Included | Pro, 7.99 a month billed yearlyrenews at 107.88 a year plus tax; personal sites only |
| AI link suggestions | Includedon your own OpenAI key, typically about $0.20 per 100 posts | Pro plus Rank Math AI, from 5.99 a month50 link opportunities a month; 200 at 10.99; 1,000 at 16.99 |
| Client sites | 3 sites $149, 10 sites $279, unlimited $499 a year | Business, 24.99 a month billed yearly, 100 client sites |
| Crawl log, clicks, clusters, link previews | Included | Not offered |
| Money-back window | 30 days | See rankmath.com |
- Rank Math AI allowances reset monthly and unused usage does not carry over. Linkilo caches the AI result per post, so unchanged posts are not analysed twice.
- Most people on this page keep Rank Math free and add Linkilo. The Pro and AI rows are there so you can see what Rank Math alone would take to get close.
Rank Math prices and terms as published on its site on 16 October 2026. Linkilo prices are the current list prices. If either has moved, tell us.
Where Rank Math is the better choice
No tool wins at everything, and a comparison page that pretends otherwise is not worth reading.
Rank Math is the SEO plugin, and nothing on this page should read as a reason to replace it. Its redirect manager is solid, free, and handles 451s and regex; its 404 monitor is free; and its Auto Post Redirect catches slug changes the moment they happen. Pro’s AI Link Genius, launched in March 2026, brings a proper links table with inline editing, a thirty-second undo, keyword maps with preview and rollback, and an orphan filter, which is more than most SEO plugins offer. Its MCP tools expose link reports, 404 logs and redirects to an AI assistant. It has four million installs and a support volume to match. If your site is small, your linking needs are modest and you already pay for Pro and Rank Math AI, you may have enough. This page is for the point where you do not.
You need a redirect manager and nothing else
Rank Math’s is free and good. Use it and let Linkilo leave redirects alone, which is one toggle.
You already pay for Pro and Rank Math AI
The link audit, keyword maps and a monthly batch of AI suggestions are in there. Try them first; if the allowance and the title-based matching are enough, stop.
Your site has a few dozen posts
At that size you can read every suggestion by hand and the free metabox may be all you need.
You want one vendor for everything SEO
Rank Math’s pitch is one plugin for the whole job. Linkilo is a second plugin, and that is a legitimate reason to hesitate.
Where Rank Math stops and Linkilo starts
Suggestions with the reasoning attached
Not a title match. Meaning, intent, entities and cluster position, with the anchor lifted from your draft and the score open to inspection. Inbound suggestions too, so old posts get linked from new ones.
See howBroken links repaired, not just listed
Grouped by target with every affected post, fixed in bulk, with a Wayback lookup for the ones that are gone and a rollback snapshot first. The free plugin has a 404 hit log; Pro lists and fixes one at a time.
See howChains flattened, links updated
When a slug changes twice, Rank Math leaves a chain and its knowledge base sends you to an external checker. Linkilo finds the chain, flattens it, and rewrites the internal links to the final URL.
See howA crawl log, inside WordPress
Rank Math reads Search Console, which reports what Google chose to tell you, days later. Linkilo logs the fetch as it happens, Googlebot and the AI crawlers alike, verified, with alerts when a bot goes quiet.
See howClusters, clicks and the front end
Topic clusters with pillar detection, click analytics on every internal link, related posts and hover previews for readers. None of it is in Rank Math at any tier.
See howAI without an allowance
Your own OpenAI key, billed by OpenAI, cached per post, no monthly cap and no credits to watch. When you would rather not use AI, the literal engine is free and always on.
See howHow the two share a site
Nothing to migrate, because you keep Rank Math. Four decisions, each a toggle, and the two plugins stay out of each other’s way.
Pick one redirect engine
Either Rank Math’s Redirections with Auto Post Redirect, or Linkilo’s. Both will happily create a 301 when a slug changes, and two rules for one URL is how loops start. Turn the other off.
Pick one auto-linker
If you use Rank Math Pro’s Keyword Maps with Auto-Link on Publish, leave Linkilo’s rules off, or the other way round. Otherwise the same keyword gets linked twice on the same page.
Know that Rank Math’s link settings apply to Linkilo’s links too
Nofollow external links and open-in-new-tab are output filters. They act on every link in the page, including ones Linkilo wrote. That is usually what you want; just do not be surprised.
Expect Rank Math’s link counts to lag
Its Link Counter rebuilds when a post is saved. Links Linkilo adds in bulk show in Rank Math’s columns after the next save of that post. Linkilo’s own index is live.
Sitemaps are not a problem
Rank Math replaces the core sitemap. Linkilo does not emit one, so there is nothing to clash. Keep Rank Math’s.
If you ever remove Linkilo
Every link it wrote is ordinary HTML and stays. If Linkilo owned your redirects, export them and import them into Rank Math’s Redirections, which takes a CSV.
Which one is right for you
Rank Math alone is enough if
You need redirects, a 404 log and the occasional link suggestion on a small site.
With Linkilo: the free plugin covers that and this page will not talk you out of it.
Add Linkilo if
The title-based suggestions are not finding the links you know should be there.
With Linkilo: suggestions are scored on meaning and intent and come with the anchor and the reason.
Add Linkilo if
Broken links and redirect chains are piling up and fixing them means editing posts one at a time.
With Linkilo: they are grouped, repaired in bulk, and the chains are flattened.
Add Linkilo if
You need to know whether Google and the AI crawlers actually fetched a page, not what Search Console reported last week.
With Linkilo: the crawl log is live, verified, and alerts you when a bot goes quiet.
Questions people ask before adding Linkilo to Rank Math
No, and you should not. Linkilo does not write title tags, schema or sitemaps. Keep Rank Math for the SEO layer and let Linkilo do the link work.
The free metabox matches on the post title or focus keyword, works only in the block editor after you save a draft, and suggests a page without an anchor. Linkilo scores every candidate on meaning, intent, entities and cluster position, lifts the anchor from your own draft, shows the score, and suggests inbound links as well as outbound.
It is a real improvement: a links table, an orphan filter, keyword maps with rollback and a Generate button in the editor. The AI parts draw on a monthly allowance from the separate Rank Math AI subscription, and Rank Math’s documentation does not say how targets are chosen. Linkilo has no allowance, shows the reasoning, and adds the crawl log, clusters, clicks and front-end modules that Pro does not have.
They can, if both auto-create redirects on a slug change. Choose one and switch the other off. Rank Math’s is a fine choice if you only need redirects; Linkilo’s adds chain flattening, an autopilot and rewriting the internal links to the final URL.
Yes. Those are output filters that act on every link in the page regardless of which plugin wrote it. If you want Linkilo’s internal links followed, make sure the nofollow rule is scoped to external links, which is Rank Math’s default.
Rank Math’s Link Counter is rebuilt when a post is saved, so links added in bulk outside the editor appear in its columns after the next save. Linkilo’s index updates when the link is written.
No. Linkilo works from the content itself, so it does not depend on a keyword field being filled in. If your focus keywords are good, the anchor validation and keyword stage will generally agree with them.
No. Each exposes its own tools to your assistant. Rank Math’s cover its link report, 404 log and redirects; Linkilo’s cover suggestions, orphans, anchors, clusters, broken links and the crawl log. Connect both and ask whichever has the answer.
No. There is no overlap on titles, schema, sitemaps or Search Console analytics, and there never will be. The overlap is redirects and suggestions, and the steps above tell you how to split those.
Link Whisper vs Linkilo
The closest alternative. Here is what each one does, side by side, without the marketing.
Interlinks Manager vs Linkilo
Interlinks Manager is being retired for Link Manager. Render-time rules versus links that stay in your posts.
Internal Link Juicer vs Linkilo
Automatic keyword linking versus reviewed, explainable suggestions.
Every Linkilo feature
The full list, grouped by the problem each part solves.
Keep Rank Math. Add the link layer.
Install Linkilo next to Rank Math, run one scan, and read the suggestion queue against posts you know. Nothing is written until you approve it, and there is a 30-day money-back guarantee.
30-day money-back guarantee. Every feature is included in every plan.