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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “fire stats”

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 “fire stats”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 1 plugin is pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

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 it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Weblix Analytics – Real-Time Stats & Visitor Counter shows at wp.org #8 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 100+ 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

Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder places #3 on merit, 4.9★ from 4514 reviews, but shows at wp.org #9. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #3 ↑1 2 too low 2 Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection 700K+ · 4.6★ (3992) wp.org #5 ↑1 3 too low 3 Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514) wp.org #9 6 too low 4 Coupon Affiliates – Affiliate Plugin for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (77) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 Version Info – Server Health Monitor, PHP & MySQL Version Display, Environment Indicators 10K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 WP-Stats 2K+ · 2.6★ (7) wp.org #1 5 too high 7 TrueAna – True Analytics Dashboard 1K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 atec Stats 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #2 6 too high 9 WP-UserOnline 10K+ · 4.6★ (38) wp.org #15 6 too low 10 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #7 ↓2 3 too high 11 PushEngage – Web Push Notifications, WooCommerce Automation & Chat Widget 8K+ · 4.3★ (37) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 404 Solution 10K+ · 4.9★ (44) wp.org #22 ↓3 10 too low 13 Buttonizer – Floating Menus, Sticky Buttons, & Popup Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (151) wp.org #17 4 too low 14 FOMO & Social Proof Notifications by TrustPulse – Best WordPress FOMO Plugin 10K+ · 4.5★ (35) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 FluentAuth – Login Security, Two-Factor Authentication, Passkeys & Social Login 10K+ · 4.1★ (35) wp.org #18 ↑3 3 too low 16 User Activity Tracking and Log 2K+ · 3.5★ (34) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 Vireo Analytics – Cookieless WordPress Stats & Google Analytics Alternative 20+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #11 6 too high 18 Hafenstudios Ads – Ad Manager, AdSense & Banner Ads 100+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #24 ↓1 6 too low 19 Opt-Out for Google Analytics (DSGVO / GDPR) 3K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #23 4 too low 20 Text Typing – grab attention with animated typing headlines 3K+ · 3.8★ (6) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21 Easy Search Replace – Find & Replace Text/HTML/URLs, Remove Footer Credit 600+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 Weblix Analytics – Real-Time Stats & Visitor Counter 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 14 too high 23 Controlled Draft Publisher 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↑1 2 too high 24 PushAI – Self-Hosted Web Push Notifications 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 11 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.