Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “donor”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Donor Merchant – Donation Form with Recurring Donations, Stripe and PayPal shows at wp.org #4 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 10+ 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

MailOptin – Popup, Optin Forms & Email Newsletters for Mailchimp, HubSpot, AWeber Etc. places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 438 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 GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) wp.org #1 2 Charitable – Donation & Fundraising Platform (Donation Forms, Recurring Donations & Fundraising Campaigns) 10K+ · 4.9★ (219) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #7 ↓1 4 too low 4 Donation Platform for WooCommerce: Fundraising & Donation Management 7K+ · 4.9★ (99) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #8 ↑2 3 too low 6 Donorbox – Free Recurring Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 8K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #5 ↓2 1 too high 7 Redirection for Contact Form 7 200K+ · 4.7★ (275) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too low 8 MailOptin – Popup, Optin Forms & Email Newsletters for Mailchimp, HubSpot, AWeber Etc. 10K+ · 4.8★ (438) wp.org #22 ↑2 14 too low 9 Paymattic – Secure, Simple Payment & Donation with Subscription Payments, Recurring Donations, Customer Management 3K+ · 4.8★ (44) wp.org #11 ↓3 2 too low 10 Doneren met Mollie 4K+ · 4.5★ (23) wp.org #9 ↓2 1 too high 11 WhyDonate – FREE Donate button – Crowdfunding – Fundraising 800+ · 4.8★ (43) wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too low 12 AidWP – Donation & Payment Forms (Stripe Powered) 800+ · 4.8★ (28) wp.org #17 5 too low 13 Stripe Payment Forms by WP Full Pay – Accept Credit Card Payments, Donations & Subscriptions 8K+ · 4.2★ (26) wp.org #16 3 too low 14 SureDonation – Donation Forms, Fundraising Campaigns & Donor Management 4K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 12 too high 15 IDonate – Blood Donation, Request And Donor Management System 100+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too high 16 Kudos Donations: Easy Donations with Mollie | One-off & Recurring | PDF Receipts | Buttons & Forms 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #20 ↓1 4 too low 17 Donor Merchant – Donation Form with Recurring Donations, Stripe and PayPal 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 ↑11 13 too high 18 Zeffy Donate Button 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too high 19 Payment Forms for Paystack 2K+ · 3.8★ (9) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 Mission – Donation Plugin for WordPress – Fundraising & Recurring Donations 70+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21 Givebutter Widget 7K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓1 7 too high 22 Very Simple PayPal Donation Form 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 SKT Donation – Charity and Fundraising Plugin 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 2 too high 24 GoFundMe Pro | Nonprofit Donation Forms 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓1 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.