wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “utm management”

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 “utm management”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

UTM Tracker for Gravity Forms shows at wp.org #5 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 90+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform places #12 on merit, 4.6★ from 708 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #1 2

Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #3 ↑3 1 too low 3

Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #6 ↑9 3 too low 4

Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701) wp.org #10 ↓1 6 too low 5

Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce by AdTribes – Product Feeds for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.7★ (1072) wp.org #12 7 too low 6

Blog2Social: Social Media Auto Post & Scheduler 40K+ · 4.5★ (2107) wp.org #15 ↑3 9 too low 7

Product Feed Manager for WooCommerce – CTX Feed – Support 220+ Shopping, AI & Social Channels 90K+ · 4.6★ (838) wp.org #14 ↓6 7 too low 8

Tracking Code Manager 90K+ · 4.1★ (58) wp.org #7 ↓2 1 too high 9

PixelYourSite – Your smart PIXEL (TAG) & API Manager 400K+ · 4.3★ (281) wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too low 10

URL Shortify – Simple and Easy URL Shortener 10K+ · 4.7★ (169) wp.org #16 ↑4 6 too low 11

GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) wp.org #24 12 too low 13

BetterLinks – Link Shortener, Link Cloaking, Redirects, Affiliate Link Manager & MCP 20K+ · 4.8★ (85) wp.org #17 ↑4 4 too low 14

BaseCloud UTM Tracker 90+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #2 12 too high 15

Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks – Easy Redirect Manager 100K+ · 3.8★ (162) wp.org #19 ↓2 4 too low 16

Advanced Form Integration — Connect Forms to 300+ Apps 9K+ · 4.8★ (91) wp.org #22 6 too low 17

LinkCentral – URL shortener, Affiliate Links & Custom Link Shortener with Link Tracking 400+ · 5.0★ (19) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↑4 1 too low 18

utm.codes 400+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #4 14 too high 19

Management App for WooCommerce – Order notifications, Order management, Lead management, Uptime Monitoring 800+ · 4.0★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #9 ↓2 10 too high 20

Sense Forms 200+ · 4.9★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓9 3 too low 21

UTM Tracker for Gravity Forms 90+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #5 ↓2 16 too high 22

WP Consent API 200K+ · 5.0★ (2) host-installed base thin reviews wp.org #8 ↑3 14 too high 23

WPZOOM Forms – Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder for WordPress 10K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too high 24

UTM Manager – UTM Tracking, Lead Attribution & Campaign Analytics 100+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #13 11 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.