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

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 “custodial”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Pecunia Wallet Payment Gateway shows at wp.org #16 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its — 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 wp.org
1 ABC Crypto Checkout 1K+ · 4.9★ (30) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Zeno Crypto Checkout for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 BTCPay Server – Accept Bitcoin payments in WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #3 4 Bitcoin and Altcoin Wallets 50+ · 4.8★ (27) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 Blink For WooCommerce 50+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #5 6 Cryptocurrency Payment Gateway for WordPress & WooCommerce by CryptoPay 70+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 AURPAY Easy Digital Downloads (EDD) – Bitcoin Crypto Payment Gateway 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 AURPAY WooCommerce – Bitcoin/USDT Crypto Payment Gateway 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Paymento – Non-Custodial Crypto Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 90+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 5 too high 10 AURPAY Paid Memberships Pro (PMP) – Bitcoin Crypto Payment Gateway 20+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 Agentic Commerce for WooCommerce 70+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #24 13 too low 12 NoHoldPay – Non-custodial crypto payments — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 AvoPay Bitcoin for WooCommerce — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 2 too low 14 K KiraPay for WooCommerce — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 Kaspa Payments Gateway for WooCommerce — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 ePayVista Payments: High-Risk Crypto and Card Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 4 too high 17 VelozaPay — Crypto Payments for WooCommerce 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 4 too high 18 Rampex.io Payment Gateway 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 19 Coinsnap Bitcoin Donation 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 Crypto Wallet Payment for WooCommerce 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 BucksBus 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 Pecunia Wallet Payment Gateway — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 6 too high 23 Bitrequest for WooCommerce 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 2 too high 24 VERIFIED Crypto Checkout – Card to USDC WooCommerce Payment Gateway 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 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.