WooCommerce Payfast Gateway
by WooCommerce · eCommerce
Also makes 27 other plugins · 4.4M+ installs across the portfolio →
Give customers more flexibility and increase your bottom line with Payfast — one of South Africa’s most popular payment gateways.
Try it live opens a temporary test site in your browser, which can take about 20 seconds to load. Plugins that rely on outside services or a full server may not work completely there.
Health
B 80/100
Few reviews
Active installs
30K+
≈35K estimated
Momentum
-0%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “credit card”, “payment request” and “automattic” for “gateway”, “gateway for woocommerce” and “deposit”. “credit card” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “gateway” sits at #6 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “payment request” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “gateway for woocommerce” sits at #6 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “automattic” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #12. “deposit” sits at #7 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
80 health vs 71 average across 9,787 eCommerce plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →3.1%
of downloads still active
At least 30K of 958.4K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median eCommerce plugin keeps 1.4%, across 5,167 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other eCommerce plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
This plugin shipped 6 releases in the last 12 months, and every existing install that updated counted as another download. wp.org publishes no split between first installs and updates, so we show the raw rate rather than guess at one.
Details
Directory ranking optimization
How it's scored →How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.
Excellent listing optimization
Most to gain: Rating quality
Updated 26 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.1.4, the current branch or newer
3.0★ over 7 reviews, weighted for review count to 4.0★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
1 of 1 support threads resolved in the last 2 months
To rank higher: Too few reviews to rank on quality — nudge happy users to leave one.
Get the full rank-higher report →Search visibility
How it's tracked →Directory searches this plugin turns up in, and which way each one is moving. WordPress.org publishes no history of search positions, so this starts the day we first tracked a keyword and never backfills.
47
Momentum
Holding steady
+0.3
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
39%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
+0.3
Acceleration
recent half vs earlier
wp.org is where the directory puts the plugin for that search. On merit is where it would sit if results were ranked on rating, support and updates, without the install boost. The last column is how far the wp.org position moved, from our first reading in the last 90 days to the latest.
| Keyword | wp.org | On merit | wp.org move, 90 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| payfast your tag | #1 | #7 | 0 |
| south african payment gateway | #1 | #6 | up 1 |
| pci dss | #3 | #11 | 0 |
| gateway | #6 | #17 | 0 |
| woocommerce advance payment | #2 | #14 | 0 |
| woocommerce gateway | #4 | #20 | 0 |
| continue shopping | #5 | #15 | up 1 |
| gateway for woocommerce | #6 | #21 | down 1 |
| automattic your tag | #12 | #22 | up 3 |
| deposits | #7 | #20 | down 1 |
| deposit | #7 | #22 | down 1 |
| pci | #8 | #17 | down 1 |
| trust payment gateway | #5 | #16 | 0 |
| woocommerce payment gateway | #11 | #22 | up 2 |
| woocommerce redirect | #13 | #23 | down 3 |
| woocommerce extension | #14 | #23 | up 2 |
| gateways | #20 | #23 | down 1 |
| woocommerce your tag | #24 | #22 | — |
| line | #21 | #24 | up 3 |
| woocommerce notifications | #15 | #24 | up 1 |
| credit card your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| payment request your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
96 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 20 listed. 56 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 2 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Swap “credit card”, “payment request” and “automattic” for “gateway”, “gateway for woocommerce” and “deposit”. “credit card” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “gateway” sits at #6 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “payment request” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “gateway for woocommerce” sits at #6 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “automattic” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #12. “deposit” sits at #7 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
- One page off on “automattic”. #12 puts you just past the first ten results, where almost all the clicks stop. The gap to close is small.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,490 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 40.2K · peaks are release surges
Directory rank vs rivals
wp.org popularity rank over time · higher is better · when a rival's line climbs above yours, they've overtaken you
Rating trend
Star average over time · dips mark rough releases
Health trend
Composite health score, snapshotted daily
Update activity
How busy the existing users are, measured as downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites. A spike means a new release everyone's pulling; a long, slow decline means an aging user base that updates less.
Release cadence
Actively maintainedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
6
releases in the last 12 months
26d ago
latest release · v1.7.9 · 7 Oct 2026
48
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 76% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.
Estimated active installs
The public count shows “30K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 3.9 years ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.
Install history since 1 Jan 2022
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
- 2026-10-07 Version 1.7.9 Fix – Only users who can manage options can view or change the Payfast credentials and sandbox mode. Fix – Only accept Payfast payments and renewals for orders in South African Rand (ZAR). Fix – Accept ITN requests from 1.7.9
- 2026-08-26 Version 1.7.8 Fix – Rebuild an absolute checkout thank-you URL when a third-party plugin makes the Payfast return URL relative. Dev – Update the E2E test setup to seed subscription products using the WooCommerce Subscriptions 9.0 purc 1.7.8
- 2026-06-29 Version 1.7.7 Add – Support for purchasing multiple subscriptions in a single order. Dev – Upgrade Node.js from v20 to v24 and npm from v10 to v11. Dev – Upgrade npm and Composer dependencies. Dev – Add a spell-check GitHub Actions wo 1.7.7
- 2026-04-06 Version 1.7.6 Dev – Bump the plugin-check-action GitHub Action version to v1.1.5 to fix the runner path failure. Dev – Bump WooCommerce “tested up to” version 10.6. Dev – Bump WooCommerce minimum supported version to 10.4. Dev – Bump 1.7.6
- 2026-02-24 Version 1.7.5 Fix – Prevent notice being thrown due to the early loading of translations. Dev – Bump WordPress “tested up to” version 6.9. Dev – Bump WooCommerce “tested up to” version 10.5. Dev – Bump WooCommerce minimum supported ve 1.7.5
- 2025-11-03 Version 1.7.4 Dev – Bump WooCommerce “tested up to” version 10.3. Dev – Bump WooCommerce minimum supported version to 10.1. Dev – Run PHP Compatibility sniffs against production build in GitHub action. Dev – Updates to our QIT GitHub 1.7.4
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 2 languages, 0 at 90% or more
AI assistants
How it's measured →Whether ChatGPT and Claude name this plugin when asked the category question, and whether the readme gives them something to quote.
Share of voice
How often each assistant names WooCommerce Payfast Gateway when asked about this topic, where it comes in the answer, and how that compares with its wp.org search position. Latest run 1 Nov 2026.
- Assistants
- ChatGPT, Claude
- Topics tracked
- WooCommerce extensions
Readme readiness
5 of 8 pass · checked 28 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ! Says what it does Short description names no action; say what the plugin does for the site.
- ✓ Has a FAQ 7 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 7 of 7 read like questions a user would type.
- ! Names who it is for Never says who the plugin is for or what they use it for.
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions WooCommerce.
- ✓ Headings and lists 5 headings and 1 list.
- ✓ Enough to quote 1,168 characters of description.
- ! Tags match the text Only 2 of 5 tags appear in the text ("automattic", "credit card", "payment request" missing).
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2022-12-08 40K+ → 30K+ down after 282 days in tier
- 2022-03-01 30K+ → 40K+ up
Competes with
The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).
-
Eway Payments for Woo 3K+ installs · 3.7★ · 2 shared tags B -
Peach Payments Gateway 1K+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags A -
Paymennt 300+ installs · 3.6★ · 2 shared tags -
YouCan Pay 200+ installs · 3.7★ · 2 shared tags D -
Simple PAY.JP Payment 100+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags C -
UnivaPay for WooCommerce 100+ installs · 3.6★ · 2 shared tags
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for WooCommerce Payfast Gateway into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/woocommerce-payfast-gateway" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="WooCommerce Payfast Gateway — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> WooCommerce Payfast Gateway: 30K+ active installs, 3.0★ (7 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-02. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/woocommerce-payfast-gateway
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