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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “website counter”

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 “website counter”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 of the top 20. 6 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

Light Views Counter – Fast, Scalable View Counter for High-Traffic Sites shows at wp.org #4 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 3K+ 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

Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 1680 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 wp.org
1 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #1 2 Website LLMs.txt 50K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Beaver Builder Page Builder – Drag and Drop Website Builder 100K+ · 4.7★ (394) wp.org #10 ↑1 7 too low 4 Wp Social Login and Register Social Counter 70K+ · 4.6★ (67) wp.org #7 ↑5 3 too low 5 Page Visits Counter – Lite 5K+ · 4.0★ (7) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #13 7 too low 7 Post Pay Counter 1K+ · 4.8★ (46) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too high 8 Spectra Blocks – AI Website Builder for the Block Editor 60K+ · 4.6★ (53) wp.org #8 ↓2 9 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #19 10 too low 10 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #21 11 too low 11 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #24 13 too low 12 Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872) wp.org #20 ↓2 8 too low 13 Nexter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder & AI Website Builder 9K+ · 4.8★ (90) wp.org #22 9 too low 14 Page Builder: Pagelayer – Drag and Drop website builder 400K+ · 3.9★ (104) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too low 15 Counter Box – Add Countdowns, Timers & Dynamic Counters to WordPress 1K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #9 ↓1 6 too high 16 WPS Visitor Counter 10K+ · 3.9★ (8) wp.org #5 11 too high 17 Counters Block – Animated Number Counters, Stats & Dynamic KPIs 3K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #14 3 too high 18 Social Counter & Sharer 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #12 ↑2 6 too high 19 Ibtana – WordPress Website Builder 10K+ · 4.3★ (30) wp.org #23 ↓1 4 too low 20 View Post Counter – Website Analytics 100+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #15 5 too high 21 Light Views Counter – Fast, Scalable View Counter for High-Traffic Sites 3K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 17 too high 22 WP Counter Up – Animated Number Counter & Milestone Showcase 1K+ · 4.0★ (5) wp.org #11 ↓1 11 too high 23 Animated Number Counters 2K+ · 3.4★ (5) wp.org #18 ↑2 5 too high 24 Click Counter and Heat Maps (Free) 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↑1 8 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.