wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “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 “statistics”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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
Real-Time Post Statistics for WordPress shows at wp.org #6 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 16 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 #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 2433 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
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 
Visitor Traffic Real Time Statistics 30K+ · 4.1★ (233)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
WP Visitor Statistics (Real Time Traffic) 20K+ · 4.5★ (156)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #7 ↓4 2 too low 6 
Metricool – Social media and site statistics 90K+ · 4.4★ (23) thin reviews
wp.org #3 3 too high 7 
Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667)
wp.org #9 ↑8 2 too low 8 
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 #13 ↓6 5 too low 9 
Contact Form by Supsystic – Drag & Drop Form Builder with Templates & Form Statistics 6K+ · 4.7★ (92)
wp.org #8 1 too high 10 
Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1236)
wp.org #18 ↑6 8 too low 11 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #12 ↓2 1 too low 12 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433)
wp.org #22 10 too low 13 
Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167)
wp.org #15 ↓2 2 too low 14 
Simple Statistics for Feeds 800+ · 4.8★ (58)
wp.org #11 ↑1 3 too high 15 
W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420)
wp.org #20 5 too low 16 
MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) heavy footprint
wp.org #16 ↓4 17 
Koko Analytics – Privacy-Friendly WordPress Analytics 70K+ · 5.0★ (245)
wp.org #19 ↓4 2 too low 18 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #14 4 too high 19 
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 #17 ↓4 2 too high 20 
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #21 1 too low 21 
WP Accessibility 60K+ · 4.8★ (68)
wp.org #23 2 too low 22 Real-Time Post Statistics for WordPress 1K+ · 4.8★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #6 16 too high 23 
Connect Matomo – Analytics Dashboard for WordPress 60K+ · 4.5★ (95) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #24 ↓5 1 too low 24 
Markdown for Agents and Statistics 200+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews
wp.org #10 ↑3 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.