Alt text breaks quietly on most WordPress sites. Not because anyone ignores accessibility, just because it doesn't scale well. Images get uploaded faster than descriptions get written. Your Media Library grows, deadlines hit, and eventually you've got hundreds of unlabeled files.
Nobody has time to go back and fix 800 images manually. That's where AI automation actually helps. I tested several plugins to see which ones deliver results without creating new problems.
Why It Matters
Two concrete reasons this can't be ignored:
Screen readers need ALT text to communicate images. Without it, those images simply don't exist for blind users navigating your site. There's no fallback.
Search engines can't interpret images without text descriptions. A photo of a ceramic mug is just pixels until ALT text explains what it shows. Proper descriptions affect both rankings and image search visibility. I've seen organic traffic increase 20-30% after fixing ALT text across client sites.
How AI ALT text plugins actually differ
On the surface, many plugins offer similar promises. In practice, their approaches vary significantly.
Some tools rely heavily on filenames. Others use basic object detection. More advanced solutions combine visual recognition with contextual data from posts, pages, or product information.
During testing, the tools that produced the most usable results generally offered:
- Actual image analysis, not filename rewriting
- Some level of context awareness, when content data is available
- Bulk processing for existing Media Libraries
- Automatic handling of new uploads
- Pricing that remains predictable at scale
These criteria guided the comparison below.
AI ALT text generators for WordPress (comparison)
AltText.ai
Focused approach: ALT text only
AltText.ai keeps its scope narrow by generating only ALT attributes. It doesn't modify titles, captions, or descriptions, which makes it easy to integrate into existing setups.
The plugin analyzes images visually and can use keyword context from common SEO plugins. For WooCommerce sites, product names can be included in the generated ALT text.
Notable characteristics:
- Computer vision image analysis
- Bulk generation for existing images
- SEO plugin integration
- 130+ languages
- Custom prompt support
Pricing:
$40 per 1,000 ALT texts
ShortPixel Image Optimizer
Best option for context-aware image metadata
ShortPixel approaches ALT text generation as part of a broader image management workflow. It can analyze images visually and optionally factor in where they are used, such as within posts, pages, or product listings.
This allows similar images to receive different descriptions depending on context. In addition to ALT text, the plugin can generate titles, captions, and descriptions, either automatically on upload or in bulk.
Notable characteristics:
- Image compression and CDN delivery
- Full metadata generation (ALT, titles, captions, descriptions)
- Bulk Media Library processing
- Auto-generation on upload
- Customizable prompts, languages, character limits
- WooCommerce integration
- AI vision with page/site context
- 130+ languages
- WCAG accessibility compliance
Pricing:
$13.33 per month for unlimited image optimization and unlimited AI Image SEO (unlimited ALT texts, titles, captions, descriptions)
ImageSEO
Designed for multilingual SEO workflows
ImageSEO focuses on SEO-related image metadata and supports multiple languages. In addition to ALT text, it can generate image titles, rename files, and produce social metadata for platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
Its context usage is more general, but it performs consistently across multilingual environments.
Notable characteristics:
- Alt text and title generation
- Bulk image processing
- Automatic filename optimization
- Multilingual support
- Social media metadata (Open Graph, Twitter Cards)
Pricing:
$29.57 per 1,000 ALT texts
Alt Magic
Tailored for WooCommerce product images
Alt Magic is built around ecommerce workflows and integrates directly with WooCommerce.
Along with ALT text, it can generate image titles, captions, descriptions, and SEO-friendly filenames. It supports a large number of languages and integrates with several SEO tools.
Notable characteristics:
- AI ALT text generation
- Full metadata (titles, captions, descriptions)
- SEO plugin compatibility
- 150+ languages
- AI-powered filename optimization
- Bulk processing
Pricing:
$19 per 1,200 ALT texts
AI for SEO
Works best alongside existing SEO plugins
AI for SEO is designed to complement tools like Rank Math and Yoast rather than replace them.
It generates ALT text and other image metadata and includes an autopilot mode that fills in missing fields without overwriting existing values. This can be useful for maintaining established SEO workflows.
Notable characteristics:
- Full metadata generation (ALT, titles, captions, descriptions)
- Rank Math and Yoast integration
- Autopilot mode (no overwriting)
- Media-focused SEO tools
Pricing:
$19 per 1,500 ALT texts
Final thoughts
Testing these plugins with your actual images reveals their true capabilities quickly. Context awareness, processing speed, available features, and pricing models all matter when choosing the right solution.
Most plugins offer free trials or starter credits. Use them to process 10-15 images from your Media Library, the output quality will make your decision clear.
Top comments (0)