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

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 “cart”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 8 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

ThemeHunk – Side Cart, Ajax Cart & Menu Cart for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #15 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (625) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #1 ↑3 2

Side Cart Woocommerce | Woocommerce Cart 70K+ · 4.9★ (453) wp.org #3 1 too low 3

WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too high 4

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too low 5

Simple Shopping Cart 10K+ · 4.6★ (215) wp.org #8 ↑2 3 too low 6

Sliding Cart for WooCommerce by FunnelKit – Skip Cart & Reach WooCommerce Checkout Faster 30K+ · 5.0★ (111) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #5 ↑3 1 too high 7

Menu Cart for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.6★ (99) wp.org #9 ↓4 2 too low 8

BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too high 9

Modern Cart – WooCommerce Side Cart & Popup Cart 60K+ · 4.9★ (16) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #4 ↓2 5 too high 10

Ajax add to cart for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (78) wp.org #12 2 too low 11

Ecwid by Lightspeed Ecommerce Shopping Cart 20K+ · 4.5★ (228) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #11 12

WPC Fly Cart for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (61) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #10 ↑5 2 too high 13

XT Floating Cart for WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.6★ (149) wp.org #20 ↓2 7 too low 14

WP Menu Cart 8K+ · 4.8★ (23) thin reviews wp.org #13 1 too high 15

Abandoned Cart Lite for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.1★ (85) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #14 ↓5 1 too high 16

FluentCart A New Era of eCommerce – Faster, Lighter, and Simpler 9K+ · 4.5★ (46) wp.org #19 3 too low 17

Ajax Cart for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.4★ (39) wp.org #18 1 too low 18

Cart PDF for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (26) wp.org #21 ↓2 3 too low 19

Cart Popup for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.4★ (70) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #17 2 too high 20

Cart Notices for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (41) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #22 ↓2 2 too low 21

CartSuite – Cart All In One For WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.5★ (51) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #24 ↓3 3 too low 22

Cart Weight for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #23 1 too low 23

Minimum Purchase Amount For Woo Cart – For WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.7★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #16 7 too high 24

ThemeHunk – Side Cart, Ajax Cart & Menu Cart for WooCommerce 5K+ · 5.0★ (1) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #15 ↓1 9 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.