wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “donation wp”
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 “donation wp”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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 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
FundEngine – Donation and Crowdfunding Platform shows at wp.org #9 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 22 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 #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #1 2 
Donation Platform for WooCommerce: Fundraising & Donation Management 7K+ · 4.9★ (99)
wp.org #2 3 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 
Contact Form 7 10M+ · 4.0★ (2186)
wp.org #7 ↑2 3 too low 5 
Charitable – Donation & Fundraising Platform (Donation Forms, Recurring Donations & Fundraising Campaigns) 10K+ · 4.9★ (219) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #6 ↑5 1 too low 6 
WP-PageNavi 400K+ · 4.7★ (149)
wp.org #8 ↓5 2 too low 7 
Donation Thermometer 2K+ · 4.4★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #3 ↑3 4 too high 8 
WP Rollback – Rollback Plugins and Themes 200K+ · 4.9★ (215)
wp.org #12 ↓4 4 too low 9 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #18 ↑3 9 too low 10 
WP-Sweep 100K+ · 4.7★ (138)
wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too low 11 
Accept Donations with PayPal & Stripe 10K+ · 3.8★ (23) thin reviews
wp.org #5 ↓1 6 too high 12 
Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection 700K+ · 4.6★ (3992)
wp.org #21 ↓4 9 too low 13 
WP-PostRatings 20K+ · 4.4★ (178)
wp.org #14 1 too low 14 
WP-Polls 40K+ · 4.2★ (136)
wp.org #13 1 too high 15 
WP Event Manager – Events Calendar, Registrations, Sell Tickets with WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.0★ (249)
wp.org #15 ↑3 16 
Donorbox – Free Recurring Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 8K+ · 4.8★ (34)
wp.org #10 ↑2 6 too high 17 
WP Popular Posts 100K+ · 4.5★ (249)
wp.org #23 6 too low 18 FundEngine – Donation and Crowdfunding Platform 1K+ · 4.2★ (22) thin reviews
wp.org #9 ↓2 9 too high 19 
WP-PostViews 90K+ · 4.4★ (65)
wp.org #17 ↓1 2 too high 20 
WP-DBManager 50K+ · 4.4★ (95)
wp.org #20 21 
Wp Social Login and Register Social Counter 70K+ · 4.6★ (67)
wp.org #19 2 too high 22 
AidWP – Donation & Payment Forms (Stripe Powered) 800+ · 4.8★ (28)
wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too high 23 
WP-UserOnline 10K+ · 4.6★ (38)
wp.org #22 1 too high 24 
Disable WP REST API 30K+ · 4.8★ (36)
wp.org #24 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.