Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “visit stats”

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 “visit stats”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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 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

Web-Stat – Live Visitor Analytics shows at wp.org #10 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.4★ average from 20 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Post Views Counter places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 1237 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #3 ↑2 1 too low 3 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 Page Visits Counter – Lite 5K+ · 4.0★ (7) wp.org #1 ↑1 3 too high 5 SlimStat Analytics – Real-Time Stats, Heatmaps & Ecommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (816) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 StatCounter – Real Time Visitor Stats, Session Replay & Heatmaps 70K+ · 4.2★ (56) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 WP Visitor Statistics (Real Time Traffic) 20K+ · 4.5★ (156) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too low 8 Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #9 ↑2 1 too low 9 Simple Blog Stats 4K+ · 4.9★ (38) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #11 ↑2 1 too low 11 Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1237) wp.org #17 6 too low 12 WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758) wp.org #13 ↑3 1 too low 13 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #24 ↓1 11 too low 14 301 Redirects – Redirect Manager 300K+ · 4.7★ (578) wp.org #21 ↓4 7 too low 15 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #22 ↓4 7 too low 16 Koko Analytics – Privacy-Friendly WordPress Analytics 70K+ · 5.0★ (245) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 Simple Statistics for Feeds 800+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #15 ↓3 2 too high 18 Web-Stat – Live Visitor Analytics 5K+ · 4.4★ (20) wp.org #10 ↓1 8 too high 19 ExactMetrics – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Plugin) 200K+ · 2.5★ (1546) wp.org #12 ↓4 7 too high 20 Trace My IP – Visitor IP Tracker, Stats Analytics & Page Views Counter with Email Alerts 1K+ · 4.5★ (21) wp.org #20 ↓5 21 Post views Stats 900+ · 3.5★ (15) wp.org #18 ↓4 3 too high 22 atec Stats 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 ↓4 8 too high 23 Jetpack Stats 900+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 7 too high 24 User Registration Stats 50+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.