wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “plugin 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 “plugin stats”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 5 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

WP-Stats shows at wp.org #12 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.6★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 14387 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 signals wp.org

MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #1 2

Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #2 3

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #3 4

Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #4 5

FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #5 ↑1 6

Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #8 ↑3 2 too low 7

WP Server Health Stats 9K+ · 4.8★ (110) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too high 8

Simple Blog Stats 4K+ · 4.9★ (38) wp.org #7 1 too high 9

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #16 ↑1 7 too low 10

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #19 9 too low 11

Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358) wp.org #18 ↓4 7 too low 12

GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too high 13

StatCounter – Real Time Visitor Stats, Session Replay & Heatmaps 70K+ · 4.2★ (56) wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too high 14

SlimStat Analytics – Real-Time Stats, Heatmaps & Ecommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (816) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #14 15

WP Visitor Statistics (Real Time Traffic) 20K+ · 4.5★ (156) wp.org #15 ↑1 16

Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) not PHP-current wp.org #13 ↓3 3 too high 17

Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #24 7 too low 18

WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (759) wp.org #23 5 too low 19

CartFlows – Funnel Builder & Checkout Plugin for WooCommerce 200K+ · 4.8★ (517) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too low 20

ExactMetrics – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Plugin) 200K+ · 2.5★ (1546) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #11 ↑1 9 too high 21

Coupon Affiliates – Affiliate Plugin for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (77) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #20 ↓2 1 too high 22

Seriously Simple Stats 5K+ · 3.6★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↓2 5 too high 23

WP-Stats 2K+ · 2.6★ (7) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #12 ↑1 11 too high 24

Plugin Stats View 10+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓1 2 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.