wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “amazon payment services”
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 “amazon payment services”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20.
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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.
Ranked above its merit
Pay. Payment Methods for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #9 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
ThirstyAffiliates – Affiliate Links, Link Branding, Link Tracking & Marketing Plugin places #10 on merit, 4.6★ from 251 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144)
wp.org #1 2 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #2 3 
Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (592)
wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too low 4 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #7 3 too low 5 
WooPayments: Integrated WooCommerce Payments 800K+ · 3.4★ (177) low rating, top placement
wp.org #3 2 too high 6 
Dokan: AI Powered WooCommerce Multivendor Marketplace Solution – Build Your Own Amazon, eBay, Etsy 30K+ · 4.6★ (769)
wp.org #8 2 too low 7 
FunnelKit Payment Gateway for Stripe WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.9★ (53)
wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too high 8 
Everest Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form, Quiz, Survey & Custom Form Builder with AI 90K+ · 4.9★ (375)
wp.org #12 ↑2 4 too low 9 
MultiVendorX – WooCommerce Multivendor Marketplace AI Powered Solutions 2K+ · 4.8★ (432)
wp.org #13 ↑3 4 too low 10 ThirstyAffiliates – Affiliate Links, Link Branding, Link Tracking & Marketing Plugin 30K+ · 4.6★ (251)
wp.org #15 5 too low 11 
Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #16 ↑1 5 too low 12 
Subscriptions for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.5★ (180)
wp.org #14 ↓1 2 too low 13 
Germanized for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (496)
wp.org #24 ↓1 11 too low 14 
Fluid Checkout for WooCommerce – Lite 20K+ · 4.9★ (159)
wp.org #22 8 too low 15 
Amazon Pay for WooCommerce 10K+ · 2.5★ (27) low rating, top placement
wp.org #4 11 too high 16 
Stripe Payment Forms by WP Full Pay – Accept Credit Card Payments, Donations & Subscriptions 8K+ · 4.2★ (26)
wp.org #11 5 too high 17 
Inline Image Upload for BBPress 3K+ · 4.6★ (65)
wp.org #20 3 too low 18 
FluentCart A New Era of eCommerce – Faster, Lighter, and Simpler 9K+ · 4.5★ (46)
wp.org #19 1 too low 19 
FAZ Cookie Manager 3K+ · 5.0★ (30)
wp.org #23 ↓2 4 too low 20 
Create 6K+ · 4.3★ (25)
wp.org #17 3 too high 21 
Payment Plugins for Stripe Elementor – by Pay Addons 100+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #18 3 too high 22 
Accepted Payment Methods 100+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #10 ↑2 12 too high 23 
SUBRE – Product Subscription for WooCommerce – Recurring Payments 200+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #21 ↑3 2 too high 24 Pay. Payment Methods for WooCommerce 3K+ · 3.7★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #9 15 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.