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

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 status”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

WP-Cron Status Checker shows at wp.org #8 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 27820 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.

merit plugin signals wp.org

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 #3 1 too low 3

Order Tracking – WordPress Status Tracking Plugin 3K+ · 4.6★ (73) wp.org #2 1 too high 4

CWILL (Formerly ParcelPanel) – Shipment Tracking, Tracking & Order Tracking for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.9★ (538) wp.org #4 5

PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #6 1 too low 6

Trakoo – Orders Tracking for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.5★ (58) wp.org #5 1 too high 7

AfterShip Tracking – All-In-One WooCommerce Order Tracking (Free plan available) 7K+ · 4.8★ (633) wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too low 8

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #10 ↓2 2 too low 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 #11 2 too low 10

Analytify – Google Analytics 4 Tracking and Reporting in WordPress 20K+ · 4.7★ (488) wp.org #16 6 too low 11

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27820) wp.org #22 11 too low 12

ThirstyAffiliates – Affiliate Links, Link Branding, Link Tracking & Marketing Plugin 30K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #20 ↑1 8 too low 13

ATUM WooCommerce Inventory Management and Stock Tracking 10K+ · 4.7★ (128) wp.org #17 ↓2 4 too low 14

Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869) wp.org #21 ↓3 7 too low 15

GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too low 16

Conversios – GA4, Google Ads & Meta Conversion Tracking with Product Feed for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.3★ (206) wp.org #23 7 too low 17

BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #19 ↑1 2 too low 18

Tracking and Consent Manager – WP Full Picture 3K+ · 5.0★ (21) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↑4 3 too high 19

YITH WooCommerce Order & Shipment Tracking 7K+ · 3.7★ (15) thin reviews wp.org #7 12 too high 20

Custom Order Status for WooCommerce 10K+ · 3.3★ (32) wp.org #12 8 too high 21

WP-Cron Status Checker 5K+ · 3.5★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #8 ↑1 13 too high 22

Portugal CTT Tracking for WooCommerce 500+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #13 9 too high 23

Stape Conversion Tracking 10K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #14 9 too high 24

Awin – Advertiser Tracking for WooCommerce 1K+ · 3.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #24

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.