wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “web tracking”

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 “web tracking”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Web Worker Offloading shows at wp.org #11 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 2 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 #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 5209 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Advanced Shipment Tracking for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.5★ (355) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #1 2

CWILL (Formerly ParcelPanel) – Shipment Tracking, Tracking & Order Tracking for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.9★ (538) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3

Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too low 4

Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #4 ↑1 5

Web-Stat – Live Visitor Analytics 5K+ · 4.4★ (20) thin reviews wp.org #2 3 too high 6

Super Progressive Web Apps 40K+ · 4.6★ (225) wp.org #6 ↓1 7

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #8 ↑6 1 too low 8

Order Tracking – WordPress Status Tracking Plugin 3K+ · 4.6★ (73) wp.org #7 1 too high 9

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #13 ↓4 4 too low 10

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 #19 9 too low 11

OneSignal – Web Push Notifications 60K+ · 4.3★ (360) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #9 ↓2 2 too high 12

Super Web Share – Native Social Sharing Button 2K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #10 ↑2 2 too high 13

Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #22 9 too low 14

Brevo – Email, SMS, Web Push, Chat, and more. 100K+ · 4.1★ (284) wp.org #23 9 too low 15

Quttera ThreatSign – Web Malware Scanner for WordPress 10K+ · 3.9★ (47) not PHP-current wp.org #12 ↓2 3 too high 16

Web Accessibility (formally known as Ally) – WCAG Scanning, Guided Fixes, Usability Widget 500K+ · 2.9★ (162) wp.org #24 ↓2 8 too low 17

Stape Conversion Tracking 10K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #16 1 too high 18

CallRail Phone Call Tracking 10K+ · 3.7★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↓3 1 too high 19

Web Stories Widgets For Elementor 900+ · 5.0★ (6) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #20 ↓2 1 too low 20

PushAlert – Web Push Notifications for WordPress and WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.6★ (8) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too low 21

Simple Matomo Tracking Code 800+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↓2 6 too high 22

Web Worker Offloading 10K+ · 3.5★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #11 ↓3 11 too high 23

Integrate PostHog Web Analytics 300+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #18 5 too high 24

Outfunnel: Web Visitor Tracking & CRM Integration 600+ · 5.0★ (1) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #14 ↓3 10 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.