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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “counters”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “counters”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Light Views Counter – Fast, Scalable View Counter for High-Traffic Sites shows at wp.org #9 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 1680 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1238) wp.org #2 ↑2 1 too low 2 Counters Block – Animated Number Counters, Stats & Dynamic KPIs 3K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Wp Social Login and Register Social Counter 70K+ · 4.6★ (67) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872) wp.org #11 ↑3 7 too low 5 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #13 ↑3 8 too low 6 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #14 ↓4 8 too low 7 Simple Download Counter 2K+ · 4.9★ (19) wp.org #7 ↑2 8 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #20 ↑4 12 too low 9 Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #18 9 too low 10 Page Visits Counter – Lite 5K+ · 4.0★ (7) wp.org #3 ↓1 7 too high 11 Post Pay Counter 1K+ · 4.8★ (46) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too low 12 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #24 12 too low 13 Counter Box – Add Countdowns, Timers & Dynamic Counters to WordPress 1K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #6 ↑1 7 too high 14 Cresta Social Share Counter 2K+ · 4.8★ (55) wp.org #19 ↓1 5 too low 15 Easy Table of Contents 600K+ · 4.4★ (221) wp.org #23 ↓2 8 too low 16 Animated Number Counters 2K+ · 3.4★ (5) wp.org #4 ↓1 12 too high 17 SRS Simple Hits Counter 8K+ · 4.2★ (6) wp.org #8 9 too high 18 Counter live visitors for WooCommerce 4K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #10 ↑2 8 too high 19 WPS Visitor Counter 10K+ · 3.9★ (8) wp.org #15 ↓2 4 too high 20 WP Views Counter 2K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too low 21 WP Counter Up – Animated Number Counter & Milestone Showcase 1K+ · 4.0★ (5) wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too high 22 Social Counter & Sharer 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #22 ↓2 23 Light Views Counter – Fast, Scalable View Counter for High-Traffic Sites 3K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↓3 14 too high 24 Counter-Hits 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 7 too high

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.