wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “visits”
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 “visits”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 5 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
Page Visits Counter – Lite shows at wp.org #1 but places #8 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 1281 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.
Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) heavy footprint
wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 
TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #5 ↓1 3 too low 3 
TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625)
wp.org #6 ↑1 3 too low 4 
WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too high 5 
Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too high 6 
WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617)
wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 
Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1236)
wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Page Visits Counter – Lite 5K+ · 4.0★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #1 7 too high 9 
Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296)
wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too high 10 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #14 ↓4 4 too low 11 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #10 ↑11 1 too high 12 
Loco Translate 1M+ · 4.8★ (453)
wp.org #11 ↑2 1 too high 13 
My Calendar – Accessible Event Manager 20K+ · 4.7★ (159)
wp.org #12 ↓4 1 too high 14 
Migrate Guru – Site Migration & Cloning 200K+ · 4.9★ (1645)
wp.org #20 ↓6 6 too low 15 
BuddyPress 90K+ · 4.1★ (375)
wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too high 16 
Easy Updates Manager 300K+ · 4.8★ (726)
wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too low 17 
User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738)
wp.org #21 4 too low 18 
GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155)
wp.org #15 3 too high 19 
Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) not PHP-current
wp.org #17 ↓1 2 too high 20 
MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #16 ↓5 4 too high 21 W WP Photo Album Plus 10K+ · 4.7★ (199) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #18 3 too high 22 
Scratch & Win – Giveaways and Contests. Boost subscribers, traffic, repeat visits, referrals, sales and more 100+ · 4.7★ (30)
wp.org #24 ↓7 2 too low 23 
WEBKINDER Integration for Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager 10K+ · 4.8★ (20) thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↓4 24 
Link Visit Counter 30+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #22 2 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.