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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “traffic 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 “traffic statistics”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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 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 #7 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 11 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 #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 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 #3 ↑1 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 #4 ↓1 5 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #5 ↑1 6 WP Visitor Statistics (Real Time Traffic) 20K+ · 4.5★ (156) wp.org #6 ↓1 7 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #8 ↑2 1 too low 8 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #11 ↓2 3 too low 9 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #12 ↑12 3 too low 10 Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #10 ↑1 11 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #15 ↑1 4 too low 12 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 Koko Analytics – Privacy-Friendly WordPress Analytics 70K+ · 5.0★ (245) wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too low 14 Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601) wp.org #21 7 too low 15 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708) wp.org #23 ↓1 8 too low 16 Simple Statistics for Feeds 800+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #16 ↓3 17 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) wp.org #22 ↓7 5 too low 18 Real-Time Post Statistics for WordPress 1K+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #7 11 too high 19 Bot Traffic Shield – Block Bad Bots and Stop AI Bots Crawlers 900+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #9 ↓1 10 too high 20 DevDome Analytics: Bot Traffic vs Human Traffic Website Statistics 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 6 too high 21 Markdown for Agents and Statistics 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 8 too high 22 WPS Visitor Counter 10K+ · 3.9★ (8) wp.org #24 ↓3 2 too low 23 Live Traffic Analytics – Real-Time Visitor & Bot Tracking – Google Analytics Alternative 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↑1 6 too high 24 Light Views Counter – Fast, Scalable View Counter for High-Traffic Sites 3K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↓5 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.