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

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 visitor”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Visitor Count by MrStar shows at wp.org #6 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

SlimStat Analytics – Real-Time Stats, Heatmaps & Ecommerce places #5 on merit, 4.8★ from 816 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Pixel Manager for WooCommerce – Conversion Tracking, Google Ads, GA4, TikTok, Dynamic Remarketing 40K+ · 4.9★ (399) wp.org #1 2

Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #2 3

PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #4 1 too low 4

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #12 8 too low 5

SlimStat Analytics – Real-Time Stats, Heatmaps & Ecommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (816) wp.org #14 9 too low 6

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #9 3 too low 7

Visitor Traffic Real Time Statistics 30K+ · 4.1★ (233) wp.org #10 3 too low 8

Trace My IP – Visitor IP Tracker, Stats Analytics & Page Views Counter with Email Alerts 1K+ · 4.5★ (21) thin reviews wp.org #5 3 too high 9

StatCounter – Real Time Visitor Stats, Session Replay & Heatmaps 70K+ · 4.2★ (58) wp.org #8 1 too high 10

Counter live visitors for WooCommerce 4K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #3 7 too high 11

Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #15 4 too low 12

Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #13 1 too low 13

Analytify – Google Analytics 4 Tracking and Reporting in WordPress 20K+ · 4.7★ (488) wp.org #20 7 too low 14

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5210) wp.org #23 9 too low 15

WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758) wp.org #17 2 too low 16

MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) wp.org #21 5 too low 17

TWIPLA – Website Intelligence 800+ · 4.6★ (18) thin reviews wp.org #11 6 too high 18

Web-Stat – Live Visitor Analytics 5K+ · 4.4★ (20) thin reviews wp.org #16 2 too high 19

WPS Visitor Counter 10K+ · 3.9★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #7 12 too high 20

Visitor Count by MrStar 400+ · 4.5★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #6 14 too high 21

User Activity Tracking and Log 2K+ · 3.5★ (34) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 E Easy UTM tracking with contact form 7 2K+ · 4.5★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #18 4 too high 23

Stape Conversion Tracking 10K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #24 1 too low 24

Outfunnel: Web Visitor Tracking & CRM Integration 600+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #19 5 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.