Simple Post View Counter – Clean and Fast Post View Analytics
Simple Post View Counter is a lightweight yet powerful plugin to track how many times your WordPress posts are viewed.
Solid choice
Simple Post View Counter is a solid plugin choice in 2026, with a few things worth checking first. It runs on 30+ sites and was last updated 3 weeks ago, and scores 67/100 on our health check.
- Actively developed — last update 3 weeks ago
- Tested with the latest WordPress (7.1)
- Small user base (30+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support
Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Simple Post View Counter stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| most viewed posts | #51 |
| popular posts | >100 |
| post counter | #68 |
| post views | >100 |
| View Counter | #28 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
About Simple Post View Counter
From the official readme · v1.0.1Description
Simple Post View Counter is a lightweight yet powerful plugin to track how many times your WordPress posts are viewed.
Key Features
- ✅ Automatic post view tracking (AJAX-based, works even in incognito mode)
- ✅ Prevents double-counting on refresh
- ✅ Built-in bot detection
- ✅ Display views before content, after content, beside meta, or manually
- ✅ “Most Viewed Posts” widget with customizable display
- ✅ Shortcodes for displaying most viewed posts and individual post views
- ✅ Admin settings page with statistics (total views, average views, top posts, etc.)
- ✅ Views column in admin post list (sortable by views)
- ✅ Exclude admin views from tracking
- ✅ Works with caching plugins
Shortcodes
[post_views]→ Display view count for current post
Options:post_id,format="%s views"[most_viewed_posts]→ Display a list of most viewed posts
Options:limit="5",show_count="yes",show_excerpt="no"
Example Usage
[most_viewed_posts]→ Show top 5 posts[most_viewed_posts limit="10" show_count="yes"]→ Show 10 posts with view counts[post_views]→ Show current post’s view count
Widgets
Go to Appearance → Widgets and add the Most Viewed Posts widget to your sidebar.
Video Tutorial
Theme Function
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Credits
Developed by Sadhan Pal
License
This plugin is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
Installation
Upload the plugin files to the /wp-content/plugins/simple-post-view-counter/ directory, or install the plugin via the WordPress plugins screen directly.
Activate the plugin through the Plugins screen in WordPress.
Go to Settings → Post Views to configure options.
Add the Most Viewed Posts widget, use shortcodes, or call the function in your theme.
Frequently asked questions
Does it work with caching plugins?
Yes, view counting is AJAX-based, so it works properly with caching.
Will it count admin views?
By default, admin views are excluded (you can enable/disable this in settings).
Can I show the view counter anywhere manually?
Yes, use the [post_views] shortcode or the spvc_get_post_views() function in your theme.
Does it prevent bots from inflating the count?
Yes, it includes basic bot detection and ignores common crawlers.
Changelog
First stable release – recommended update for all users.
1.0.0
Initial release
Automatic view tracking
Shortcodes [post_views] and [most_viewed_posts]
Widget for most viewed posts
Admin settings page with statistics
Prevents double counting on refresh
Works in incognito/private mode
Basic bot detection
Screenshots
For developers
Is this your plugin? Show off the numbers.
Add a live badge to your site, docs or GitHub README. It updates on its own — no account needed.
Best Simple Post View Counter alternatives
All most viewed posts plugins →
FAQ
Simple Post View Counter: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Sep 28, 2026
Is Simple Post View Counter free?
Yes. Simple Post View Counter is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Simple Post View Counter safe to use in 2026?
Simple Post View Counter is a solid plugin choice in 2026, with a few things worth checking first. It runs on 30+ sites and was last updated 3 weeks ago, and scores 67/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Simple Post View Counter?
Simple Post View Counter is active on 30+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 1,949 times since it launched in September 2025. It was downloaded 232 times in the last 30 days.
Does Simple Post View Counter work with WordPress 7.1?
Yes. The developer has tested Simple Post View Counter up to WordPress 7.1.2, the latest release. It requires WordPress 6.7 or newer.
When was Simple Post View Counter last updated?
The latest version, 1.0.1, was released on September 4, 2026 (3 weeks ago).
Who makes Simple Post View Counter?
Simple Post View Counter is developed and maintained by Sadhan Pal.
What are the best alternatives to Simple Post View Counter?
The most popular alternatives to Simple Post View Counter are WebberZone Top 10 (10K+ installs), WP Most Popular (2K+ installs) and Toplytics (90+ installs).
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