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The 5 Best Post View Counter Plugins for WordPress

Want to add a view counter to your posts and pages?

It’s easy with the right plugin.

In this collection, you’ll find five view counter plugins, each capable of adding a visual counter displaying how many times each page has been viewed.

These plugins all have unique strengths and weaknesses. Some include robust analytics, others include numerous customization options, and there are developer-friendly options as well.

I hope you’re excited to check out the list. Let’s dive in with the first recommendation now.

1. Independent Analytics

Independent Analytics plugin page

Independent Analytics is, first and foremost, a statistics plugin. It’s an alternative to Google Analytics that makes it way easier to record how many visitors your site gets.

The tracking script is added automatically, and you’ll find a new analytics menu in your dashboard where you can view your site’s performance.

Independent Analytics dashboard in WordPress admin

Independent Analytics has an advantage when it comes to view counters because it has more robust and accurate data than other plugins.

To display the view counter, you can visit the Settings menu and check this box to enable it.

Enable the view counter checkbox

The view counter will automatically appear on all your posts, and it looks like this:

View counter example

You can use the built-in settings to control where the view counter shows up in the page content and what the text next to the icon says.

There’s also a shortcode, enabling you to place the view counter in a sidebar or any widget area on your site.

Since a view counter plugin has to track page views, it makes more sense to use Independent Analytics to do both than to install one plugin for analytics and a separate one for the public counter.

Get started with Independent Analytics

Learn more Click to download

2. Post Views Counter

Post Views Counter plugin page

The Post Views Counter plugin is more straightforward as a solution for displaying a view counter on your site.

Like Independent Analytics, this plugin allows you to choose the post types where you want the counter to display and includes basic style customization options, such as showing/hiding the icon and label.

Another neat option in this plugin is that you can choose to count the post views via the PHP, JS, or REST-API methods. If you’re tech-savvy, this might allow you to make a more practical choice for your site.

There’s also a small dashboard widget where you can see your total post views each day over the last 30 days.

Learn more

3. Page View Count

Page view count

Page View Count is another decent option for adding a view counter to your WordPress posts. It has a few unique features that set it apart.

For starters, Page View Count includes more customization options than some other plugins listed here. There are two icons to choose from, and you can change the color and size of the icon. The label text is also entirely custom.

Another neat feature is the ability to show both the total views and today’s views.

One last reason this may be the best view counter plugin is that it includes tons of ways to output the counter. There is automatic output, a PHP function, a shortcode, a widget, and a Gutenberg block. In other words, you’ll be able to output the counter exactly where you want without issue.

Learn more

4. Advanced Page Visit Counter

Advanced page visit counter

Advanced Page Visit Counter lives up to its name; it’s way more than just a view counter.

This plugin has expanded into a full-fledged analytics platform, including graphs and stats on your site’s total visits, first-time visitors, and pages per visitor. It even lets you see your top ten posts, pages, and visitor countries.

When it comes to the counter, this plugin can output both the total number of views as well as today’s views. It also includes a massive variety of customization options that go above and beyond the other plugins included here.

If you’d like a highly customizable view counter and some added statistics in your dashboard, this could be a good addition to your site.

Learn more

5. WP Post Views

Wp post views

The last option, WP Post Views, is an ultra-lightweight plugin for outputting a view counter.

This plugin is as barebones as it gets. There aren’t any settings pages or configurations to mess with. Instead, it counts the views behind the scenes and provides you with a shortcode that outputs the number of views the current page has had. You’ll have to add a label and icon yourself if you want those visual elements.

The shortcode allows you to place the counter anywhere you want. However, since there isn’t an option for automatically adding the counter to posts and pages, it means you would have to manually add it to every post/page. For this reason, WP Post Views is only a good choice if you want to add the shortcode to a widget in your site’s header, sidebar, or footer. That would allow you to add it in one place and display it on every page.

Learn more

Which counter plugin is best for you?

What did you think of these WordPress view counter plugins?

They each have unique features and benefits, but here’s a final summary to help you make your choice.

Independent Analytics has a highly customized view counter with automatic output and a shortcode. If you’re interested in a new analytics solution as well, it will be an excellent choice. With that said, if you already have an analytics plugin you prefer, we understand why this might seem like a redundant choice for your site.

Get started with Independent Analytics

Learn more Click to download

The Post Views Counter plugin has a concise set of display options and works great for thousands of sites around the web. It’s a good choice if you want a view counter without an added statistics dashboard.

Any of the plugins here could work well, but those are the two that we think stand out from the rest.

Thanks for browsing this collection, and feel free to post a comment below if you have any questions.

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