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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “ach”

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 “ach”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 10 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

GF ACH Field Type shows at wp.org #3 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Sprout Invoices – Client Invoicing & Estimates places #8 on merit, 4.4★ from 191 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303) wp.org #1 2 GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 FunnelKit Payment Gateway for Stripe WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.9★ (53) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 Stripe Payment Forms by WP Simple Pay – Accept Credit Card Payments + Subscriptions with Stripe 8K+ · 4.4★ (117) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Secure Gateway for Authorize.net and WooCommerce by Pledged Plugins 10K+ · 4.9★ (34) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1387) wp.org #16 9 too low 8 Sprout Invoices – Client Invoicing & Estimates 1K+ · 4.4★ (191) wp.org #23 ↑1 15 too low 9 WC Shop Sync – Square Payment Gateway and Product Synchronization for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.5★ (42) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too low 10 Payment Page – Stripe Payment Forms for Donations, Subscriptions & Recurring Payments 200+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #19 ↑1 9 too low 11 WP Stripe Checkout 1K+ · 4.4★ (23) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 PeachPay — Payments & Express Checkout for WooCommerce (supports Stripe, PayPal, Square, Authorize.net, NMI) 300+ · 4.2★ (33) wp.org #24 ↓3 12 too low 13 GF ACH Field Type 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #3 10 too high 14 PayPal Enterprise Payments (formerly Braintree) for WooCommerce 10K+ · 2.6★ (50) wp.org #11 ↑2 3 too high 15 Pledged Plugins PCI Gateway for NMI and WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #9 ↓1 6 too high 16 Payment Gateway for Authorize.net for WooCommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 ↑2 8 too high 17 RiskPay Gateway: USDC Payouts for WooCommerce 600+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #15 ↓1 2 too high 18 Payment gateway: accept.blue for WooCommerce 200+ · 3.6★ (8) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 FunnelKit Payment Gateway for Square WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 ↑1 2 too low 20 Seamless ACH 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 7 too high 21 Novalnet Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #20 ↑3 1 too high 22 Visa Acceptance Solutions 10K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 10 too high 23 NMI for WooCommerce 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 Sandbox Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↓3 2 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.