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

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 “monsterinsights”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP shows at wp.org #8 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Analytify – Google Analytics 4 Tracking and Reporting in WordPress places #11 on merit, 4.7★ from 488 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) wp.org #1 2 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #2 3 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #5 6 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 UserFeedback – Create Interactive Feedback Form, User Surveys, and Polls in Seconds 200K+ · 4.8★ (309) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too low 9 Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699) wp.org #14 ↑5 5 too low 10 Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 Analytify – Google Analytics 4 Tracking and Reporting in WordPress 20K+ · 4.7★ (488) wp.org #19 ↑1 8 too low 12 WPConsent – Cookie Banner & Cookie Consent for Privacy Compliance (GDPR / CCPA / EU Compliance Cookie Notice) 200K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #13 ↑1 1 too low 13 CAOS | Host Google Analytics Locally 10K+ · 4.9★ (128) wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too high 14 Missed Scheduled Posts Publisher by WPBeginner 20K+ · 4.9★ (60) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 Happyforms – Form Builder for WordPress: Drag & Drop Contact Forms, Surveys, Payments & Multipurpose Forms 20K+ · 4.4★ (433) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 File Upload Types by WPForms 40K+ · 4.0★ (20) wp.org #9 ↑2 7 too high 17 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #8 ↓1 9 too high 18 WP Call Button – Easy Click to Call Button for WordPress 40K+ · 4.7★ (69) wp.org #22 4 too low 19 Contact Form 7 Google Analytics 6K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #17 ↓1 2 too high 20 Broken Link Checker by AIOSEO – Find & Fix Broken Internal, External & Video Links 200K+ · 3.8★ (87) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 Feeds for TikTok (TikTok feed, video, and gallery plugin) 70K+ · 4.3★ (11) wp.org #16 ↑1 5 too high 22 Compact Archives 2K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Opt-Out for Google Analytics (DSGVO / GDPR) 3K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 Import Shopify To WP 900+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 6 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.