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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “plugin analytics”

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 “plugin analytics”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 6 plugins are 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

WooCommerce Analytics shows at wp.org #10 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 20K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 7520 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #1 2 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #2 3 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3156) wp.org #3 4 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #4 5 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 Koko Analytics – Privacy-Friendly WordPress Analytics 70K+ · 5.0★ (245) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 GA Google Analytics – Connect Google Analytics to WordPress 400K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too high 8 WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (759) wp.org #8 ↑1 9 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520) wp.org #21 ↓7 12 too low 10 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #17 ↑1 7 too low 11 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too low 12 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #19 7 too low 13 Plausible Analytics 10K+ · 5.0★ (29) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too low 14 Lara's Google Analytics (GA4) 8K+ · 4.7★ (122) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 Beehive Analytics – Google Analytics Dashboard 20K+ · 4.5★ (13) wp.org #9 ↓2 6 too high 16 Analytics Insights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (34) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too high 17 ExactMetrics – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Plugin) 200K+ · 2.5★ (1546) wp.org #11 ↓1 6 too high 18 Clicky Analytics 10K+ · 4.5★ (25) wp.org #15 ↑1 3 too high 19 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #22 ↓1 3 too low 20 Flying Analytics: Self-Host Google Analytics v4 with Speed Optimization 4K+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #23 ↓1 3 too low 21 Search Analytics for WP – Site Search Tracking 3K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #24 ↓1 3 too low 22 Google Analytics for WooCommerce 100K+ · 2.8★ (119) wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too high 23 HT Easy GA4 – Google Analytics WordPress Plugin 6K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too high 24 WooCommerce Analytics 20K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #10 ↓2 14 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.