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

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 “charge”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 4 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

HivePress Claim Listings shows at wp.org #6 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 3K+ 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.

Buried gem

HivePress – Business Directory, Listings & Classified Ads Plugin places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 221 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 PI Conditional cart fee / Extra charge rule for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.9★ (38) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce 300K+ · 5.0★ (1865) wp.org #3 4 XML Sitemap Generator for Google 1M+ · 4.8★ (2233) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #8 ↑1 3 too low 6 Antispam Bee 700K+ · 4.8★ (226) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591) wp.org #17 ↑2 10 too low 8 Pay for Payment for WooCommerce – Payment Gateway Fees & Discounts 10K+ · 4.7★ (71) wp.org #14 ↓1 6 too low 9 UPI QR Code Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (256) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too low 10 Classified Listing – AI-Powered Classified ads & Business Directory 9K+ · 4.8★ (138) wp.org #15 ↑2 5 too low 11 HivePress – Business Directory, Listings & Classified Ads Plugin 10K+ · 4.9★ (221) wp.org #22 ↑2 11 too low 12 Enable Media Replace 600K+ · 4.4★ (302) wp.org #18 6 too low 13 Payment Gateway Based Fees and Discounts for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.7★ (58) wp.org #10 ↑4 3 too high 14 FluentCart A New Era of eCommerce – Faster, Lighter, and Simpler 9K+ · 4.5★ (46) wp.org #16 2 too low 15 Table Rate Shipping for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.5★ (74) wp.org #23 ↓1 8 too low 16 Say What? 40K+ · 4.3★ (92) wp.org #24 ↓1 8 too low 17 N Ni WooCommerce Payment Gateway Charges 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #4 13 too high 18 Extra Fees for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.3★ (42) wp.org #12 ↓2 6 too high 19 Flexible PDF Invoices for WooCommerce & WordPress 6K+ · 4.4★ (37) wp.org #19 ↓3 20 PiWeb Disable payment method / Partial payment for WooCommerce 4K+ · 5.0★ (38) wp.org #20 ↓5 21 HivePress Paid Listings 4K+ · 3.3★ (3) wp.org #9 ↓1 12 too high 22 HivePress Claim Listings 3K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 16 too high 23 Packing Charge 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 12 too high 24 EU VAT Guard for WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 ↓1 3 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.