Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “tracking”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

YITH WooCommerce Order & Shipment Tracking shows at wp.org #11 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 7K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 15 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 5209 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Advanced Shipment Tracking for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.5★ (355) wp.org #1 2 Pixel Manager for WooCommerce – Conversion Tracking, Google Ads, GA4, TikTok, Dynamic Remarketing 40K+ · 4.9★ (399) wp.org #2 ↑3 3 CWILL (Formerly ParcelPanel) – Shipment Tracking, Tracking & Order Tracking for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.9★ (538) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #6 ↓2 1 too low 6 Tracking Code Manager 90K+ · 4.1★ (58) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too high 7 AfterShip Tracking – All-In-One WooCommerce Order Tracking (Free plan available) 7K+ · 4.8★ (633) wp.org #10 ↑1 3 too low 8 Order Tracking – WordPress Status Tracking Plugin 3K+ · 4.6★ (73) wp.org #8 9 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 #18 9 too low 10 Analytify – Google Analytics 4 Tracking and Reporting in WordPress 20K+ · 4.7★ (488) wp.org #17 ↓8 7 too low 11 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #14 ↑7 3 too low 12 Trakoo – Orders Tracking for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.5★ (58) wp.org #7 5 too high 13 ThirstyAffiliates – Affiliate Links, Link Branding, Link Tracking & Marketing Plugin 30K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #21 ↓1 8 too low 14 ATUM WooCommerce Inventory Management and Stock Tracking 10K+ · 4.7★ (128) wp.org #15 ↑3 1 too low 15 Conversion Tracking for WooCommerce 20K+ · 3.0★ (24) wp.org #9 ↑15 6 too high 16 User Activity Tracking and Log 2K+ · 3.5★ (34) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 Tracking Script Manager 2K+ · 4.1★ (7) wp.org #12 ↑2 5 too high 18 YITH WooCommerce Order & Shipment Tracking 7K+ · 3.7★ (15) wp.org #11 ↑1 7 too high 19 Wp Tracking Codes 800+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #13 6 too high 20 Stape Conversion Tracking 10K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too high 21 CallRail Phone Call Tracking 10K+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #19 ↓3 2 too high 22 Portugal CTT Tracking for WooCommerce 500+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Simple Matomo Tracking Code 800+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too high 24 Global Site Tag Tracking 1K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #22 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.