WordPress core is free, and it includes fundamental SEO features like customizable permalinks, meta tags, and XML sitemaps. You can absolutely do SEO on WordPress without spending money if you use free plugins like Yoast SEO or Rank Math, stick with a lightweight free theme, and handle technical optimization yourself. For small blogs or local businesses with minimal competition, this can work fine. The reality is that serious e-commerce or competitive SEO on WordPress usually involves costs. Premium SEO plugins unlock schema markup controls, internal linking suggestions, redirect management, and multi-keyword optimization that free versions don't offer. Most quality e-commerce themes for WooCommerce cost $60-150 CAD, and they matter because poorly coded themes create speed and crawl issues that tank rankings. Managed WordPress hosting from providers like Kinsta or WP Engine runs $30-80/month but dramatically improves Core Web Vitals scores compared to $5/month shared hosting. Development time is the hidden cost. Optimizing page speed, fixing duplicate content issues, implementing proper product schema, or setting up faceted navigation without SEO penalties often requires developer hours. At Ottawa SEO, we've seen clients spend $2,000-8,000 CAD on initial WordPress SEO setup and ongoing optimization, even when the CMS itself was free. There's also the opportunity cost of doing it yourself. If you're spending 15 hours per month learning WordPress SEO instead of running your business, that has real value. Free tools exist, but they shift the cost from dollars to time and learning curve. The bottom line: WordPress SEO can be free in the same way cooking at home is free—the ingredients might not cost much, but the equipment, skills, and time investment add up. For hobby sites, go free. For revenue-generating e-commerce, budget $1,500-5,000 CAD in the first year for plugins, hosting, theme, and either your time or professional help to do it right.