Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “visitor 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 “visitor statistics”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 3 plugins are 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

WPS Visitor Counter shows at wp.org #6 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.9★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 5209 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 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★ (759) wp.org #2 3 WP Visitor Statistics (Real Time Traffic) 20K+ · 4.5★ (156) wp.org #3 4 Visitor Traffic Real Time Statistics 30K+ · 4.1★ (233) wp.org #4 5 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #7 ↑12 2 too low 6 Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #10 4 too low 7 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1668) wp.org #14 ↑3 7 too low 8 SlimStat Analytics – Real-Time Stats, Heatmaps & Ecommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (816) wp.org #11 3 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 #22 ↓4 13 too low 10 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #21 ↓1 11 too low 11 Statify 100K+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #13 ↓2 2 too low 12 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #23 ↓1 11 too low 13 Contact Form by Supsystic – Drag & Drop Form Builder with Templates & Form Statistics 6K+ · 4.7★ (92) wp.org #15 ↓3 2 too low 14 Koko Analytics – Privacy-Friendly WordPress Analytics 70K+ · 5.0★ (245) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #20 ↓6 5 too low 16 Counter live visitors for WooCommerce 4K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #5 ↑1 11 too high 17 Trace My IP – Visitor IP Tracker, Stats Analytics & Page Views Counter with Email Alerts 1K+ · 4.5★ (21) wp.org #12 ↓3 5 too high 18 Web-Stat – Live Visitor Analytics 5K+ · 4.4★ (20) wp.org #16 ↓3 2 too high 19 TWIPLA – Website Intelligence 800+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #18 ↓2 1 too high 20 Real-Time Post Statistics for WordPress 1K+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #9 ↓1 11 too high 21 WPS Visitor Counter 10K+ · 3.9★ (8) wp.org #6 ↓1 15 too high 22 ConvertNow Analytics: Website Stats, Visitor Statistics, AI Traffic and Bot Filtering 70+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #17 5 too high 23 Visitor Count by MrStar 400+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #8 ↓1 15 too high 24 Markdown for Agents and Statistics 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓4 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.