wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “card testing”
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 “card testing”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20. 7 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
Rede Itaú for WooCommerce — Payment PIX, Credit Card and Debit shows at wp.org #7 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 9 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 14387 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam 400K+ · 5.0★ (1471)
wp.org #4 ↓1 3 too low 2 
Checkout Shield for WooCommerce – Stop Fake Orders, Spam Bots & Card Testing 400+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #1 1 too high 3 
PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322)
wp.org #10 ↓2 7 too low 4 
WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) throws errorsnot PHP-current low rating, top placement
wp.org #2 2 too high 5 
Mercado Pago payments for WooCommerce 100K+ · 3.9★ (693) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #6 ↑3 1 too low 6 
WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) throws errorsnot PHP-current low rating, top placement
wp.org #3 ↑1 3 too high 7 
Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701)
wp.org #15 ↑1 8 too low 8 
Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539)
wp.org #17 ↓2 9 too low 9 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #22 ↓2 13 too low 10 
WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209)
wp.org #20 ↓2 10 too low 11 
oopspam Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for WordPress Forms & Comments (No CAPTCHA) 6K+ · 4.9★ (51)
wp.org #11 ↓1 12 
WPBruiser Security – No CAPTCHA Anti-Spam & Login Protection 10K+ · 4.6★ (213)
wp.org #18 6 too low 13 
Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373)
wp.org #19 6 too low 14 
zahls.ch Credit Cards, PostFinance and TWINT for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.9★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #5 9 too high 15 
Payment Plugins for PayPal WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (127) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #13 ↑4 2 too high 16 
Multibanco, MB WAY, Credit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Payshop, and PIX (ifthenpay) for WooCommerce 8K+ · 5.0★ (21) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #9 ↑4 7 too high 17 
Personizely — A/B Testing, Personalization, Popups & CRO 300+ · 4.8★ (25)
wp.org #14 ↓3 3 too high 18 
Opti-Behavior – Self-Hosted Heatmaps, Funnels, A/B Testing & Smart Insights 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #8 ↓1 10 too high 19 
WP Attachments – Smarter File Management & Download Lists 3K+ · 4.5★ (43)
wp.org #24 5 too low 20 Rede Itaú for WooCommerce — Payment PIX, Credit Card and Debit 1K+ · 4.3★ (9) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #7 ↓1 13 too high 21 
Payment Gateway for PayPal on WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (73) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #23 2 too low 22 
WebChange Detector: Visual Regression Testing & Visual Checks After Updates 300+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #12 10 too high 23 
Yoast Test Helper 50K+ · 4.9★ (12) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too high 24 
WC Moneris Payment Gateway 900+ · 4.2★ (5) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↓2 8 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.