wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “post statistics”

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 “post statistics”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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 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

Real-Time Post Statistics for WordPress shows at wp.org #4 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.8★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 2433 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #1 2

WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758) wp.org #2 3

Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #3 4

Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1237) wp.org #5 ↑2 1 too low 5

Visitor Traffic Real Time Statistics 30K+ · 4.1★ (233) wp.org #7 ↓2 2 too low 6

Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #10 ↑6 4 too low 7

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #8 ↑16 9

Metricool – Social media and site statistics 90K+ · 4.4★ (23) thin reviews wp.org #6 3 too high 10

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #13 ↓3 3 too low 11

Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #23 ↓1 12 too low 12

Contact Form by Supsystic – Drag & Drop Form Builder with Templates & Form Statistics 6K+ · 4.7★ (92) wp.org #12 ↓1 13

Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #20 7 too low 14

Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #17 ↑2 3 too low 15

W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #22 ↓2 7 too low 16

WebberZone Top 10 — Popular Posts 10K+ · 4.6★ (102) wp.org #15 1 too high 17

MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) heavy footprint wp.org #18 ↓6 1 too low 18

Real-Time Post Statistics for WordPress 1K+ · 4.8★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #4 14 too high 19

Simple Statistics for Feeds 800+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #16 ↓3 3 too high 20

Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #24 4 too low 21

Fast Page & Post Duplicator 50K+ · 4.7★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #19 ↓2 2 too high 22

Post Export Import with Media 1K+ · 4.5★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓3 1 too high 23

Missed Schedule Post Publisher 6K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #14 9 too high 24

Markdown for Agents and Statistics 200+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #11 ↓2 13 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.