wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “digital payment”
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 “digital payment”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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
Invoice Payment Gateway for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #10 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 11 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery places #10 on merit, 4.3★ from 4342 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303)
wp.org #1 2 
Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591)
wp.org #2 3 
Payment Plugins for PayPal WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (127)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) low rating, top placement
wp.org #3 2 too high 6 
SureCart – Ecommerce Made Easy For Selling Physical Products, Digital Downloads, Subscriptions, Donations, & Payments 80K+ · 4.8★ (289)
wp.org #8 2 too low 7 
Payment Gateway for PayPal on WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (73)
wp.org #6 1 too high 8 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221)
wp.org #14 ↑1 6 too low 9 
FunnelKit Payment Gateway for Stripe WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.9★ (53)
wp.org #7 2 too high 10 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342)
wp.org #18 8 too low 11 
Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184)
wp.org #13 2 too low 12 
Payment Gateway of Stripe for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.4★ (66)
wp.org #9 3 too high 13 
Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1388)
wp.org #20 ↑1 7 too low 14 
Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (973)
wp.org #22 ↓2 8 too low 15 
Yoco Payments 10K+ · 4.4★ (43)
wp.org #11 4 too high 16 
Accept Stripe Payments 20K+ · 4.1★ (114)
wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too high 17 
Digital Goods for WooCommerce Checkout 3K+ · 4.5★ (42)
wp.org #12 5 too high 18 
SureForms – Contact Form Builder, AI Forms, Payment Form, Survey & Quiz 500K+ · 4.8★ (102)
wp.org #17 ↓3 1 too high 19 Invoice Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (11) thin reviews
wp.org #10 9 too high 20 
Mollie Payments for WooCommerce 100K+ · 3.6★ (69)
wp.org #21 1 too low 21 
ELEX WooCommerce Discount Per Payment Method 1K+ · 4.3★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↑1 5 too high 22 
Digital Signature Add-on for WooCommerce 900+ · 3.1★ (19) thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↓1 1 too low 23 
Online Payments with iK Pay Gateway 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #19 4 too high 24 
Payment Gateway for Idram 300+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #24 ↓1 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.