wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “live tracking”

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 “live tracking”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Live Copy Paste for Elementor – Cross Domain Copy Paste & Page Duplicator shows at wp.org #15 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Ajax Search Lite – Live Search & Filter places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 266 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Chatway Live Chat – AI Chatbot, Customer Support, FAQ & Helpdesk Customer Service & Chat Buttons 30K+ · 5.0★ (775) wp.org #1 2

Advanced Shipment Tracking for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.5★ (355) wp.org #2 3

Tidio – Live Chat & AI Chatbots 70K+ · 4.8★ (395) wp.org #3 4

CWILL (Formerly ParcelPanel) – Shipment Tracking, Tracking & Order Tracking for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.9★ (538) wp.org #5 1 too low 5

PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #8 3 too low 6

Tracking Code Manager 90K+ · 4.1★ (58) wp.org #4 2 too high 7

Trakoo – Orders Tracking for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.5★ (58) wp.org #6 1 too high 8

Smartsupp – live chat, AI shopping assistant and chatbots 20K+ · 4.7★ (131) wp.org #9 1 too low 9

Order Tracking – WordPress Status Tracking Plugin 3K+ · 4.6★ (73) wp.org #7 2 too high 10

Live Chat by Formilla – Real-time Chat & Chatbots Plugin 2K+ · 4.8★ (116) wp.org #10 11

LiveChat – Live Chat Plugin for WP Websites 10K+ · 4.6★ (98) wp.org #12 1 too low 12

Ajax Search Lite – Live Search & Filter 70K+ · 4.8★ (266) wp.org #16 ↑6 4 too low 13

Analytify – Google Analytics 4 Tracking and Reporting in WordPress 20K+ · 4.7★ (488) wp.org #23 10 too low 14

Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #20 ↓1 6 too low 15

WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758) wp.org #22 7 too low 16

YITH WooCommerce Order & Shipment Tracking 7K+ · 3.7★ (15) thin reviews wp.org #11 5 too high 17

Live Rates for ShipStation 400+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #14 3 too high 18

HelpCrunch – Live Chat, Chatbot & Knowledge Base for Customer Service 2K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too high 19

ProScores – Live Scores 800+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #13 6 too high 20

Live Carts for WooCommerce: Track Active, Abandoned, and Converted Carts & Wishlists in Real Time! 900+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too low 21

CallRail Phone Call Tracking 10K+ · 3.7★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too high 22

FrontEdit – Live Frontend Block Editor 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too high 23

Live Copy Paste for Elementor – Cross Domain Copy Paste & Page Duplicator 6K+ · 4.3★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #15 8 too high 24

Live Traffic Analytics – Real-Time Visitor & Bot Tracking – Google Analytics Alternative 60+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #24

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.