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

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 “stat”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 3 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 #16 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 8 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

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 2143 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #1 2

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #2 ↑1 3

MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #3 ↓1 4

Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5

SlimStat Analytics – Real-Time Stats, Heatmaps & Ecommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (816) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #7 2 too low 6

WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (759) wp.org #8 2 too low 7

Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) not PHP-current wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too high 8

Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #10 ↑2 2 too low 9

Web-Stat – Live Visitor Analytics 5K+ · 4.4★ (20) thin reviews wp.org #4 5 too high 10

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #14 ↓1 4 too low 11

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #17 6 too low 12

WP Server Health Stats 9K+ · 4.8★ (110) wp.org #12 ↓2 13

FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #15 2 too low 14

StatCounter – Real Time Visitor Stats, Session Replay & Heatmaps 70K+ · 4.2★ (56) wp.org #9 ↓2 5 too high 15

301 Redirects – Redirect Manager 300K+ · 4.7★ (578) wp.org #18 3 too low 16

Simple Blog Stats 4K+ · 4.9★ (38) wp.org #11 ↓2 5 too high 17

Visitor Traffic Real Time Statistics 30K+ · 4.1★ (233) wp.org #22 5 too low 18

Statify 100K+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #21 3 too low 19

ExactMetrics – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Plugin) 200K+ · 2.5★ (1546) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #13 ↓2 6 too high 20

Trace My IP – Visitor IP Tracker, Stats Analytics & Page Views Counter with Email Alerts 1K+ · 4.5★ (21) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #23 3 too low 21

Seriously Simple Stats 5K+ · 3.6★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #20 1 too high 22

Counters Block – Animated Number Counters, Stats & Dynamic KPIs 3K+ · 5.0★ (8) not PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #24 ↓10 2 too low 23

Posts and Users Stats 600+ · 4.5★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #19 4 too high 24

WP-Stats 2K+ · 2.6★ (7) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #16 8 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.