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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “extra fees”

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 “extra fees”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 8 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

Product Fees for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #6 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 60+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam places #8 on merit, 5.0★ from 1471 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #4 3 too low 2 Extra Fees for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.3★ (42) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 PI Conditional cart fee / Extra charge rule for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.9★ (38) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Payment Gateway Based Fees and Discounts for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.7★ (58) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Smart COD for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.6★ (52) wp.org #5 ↑1 6 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 Pay for Payment for WooCommerce – Payment Gateway Fees & Discounts 10K+ · 4.7★ (71) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam 400K+ · 5.0★ (1471) wp.org #18 ↓2 10 too low 9 Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270) wp.org #19 10 too low 10 PiWeb Disable payment method / Partial payment for WooCommerce 4K+ · 5.0★ (38) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 Flat Rate Shipping Method for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.2★ (76) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 YayPricing – WooCommerce Dynamic Pricing & Discounts 3K+ · 5.0★ (72) wp.org #20 ↑2 8 too low 13 Back In Stock Notifier for WooCommerce | WooCommerce Waitlist Pro 20K+ · 4.7★ (122) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too low 14 YayExtra – WooCommerce Extra Product Options 1K+ · 4.8★ (24) wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too high 15 Extra Product Options Builder for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.8★ (94) wp.org #15 ↓1 16 VikBooking Hotel Booking Engine & PMS 8K+ · 4.8★ (61) wp.org #16 ↑1 17 Extra Product Options for WooCommerce 600+ · 4.1★ (9) wp.org #7 10 too high 18 Whols – Wholesale Prices and B2B Store Solution for WooCommerce 3K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #22 ↓2 4 too low 19 Digital Goods for WooCommerce Checkout 3K+ · 4.5★ (42) wp.org #23 4 too low 20 Additional Fees For WooCommerce Checkout 200+ · 3.1★ (35) wp.org #12 ↓1 8 too high 21 Shipping Method Display Style for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.6★ (21) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 Product Fees for WooCommerce 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 ↓1 16 too high 23 Conditional Fees for WooCommerce Lite 400+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #17 ↓2 6 too high 24 PCOD – Partial COD, Payment Gateway Restrictions & Fees | for WooCommerce 100+ · 2.3★ (4) wp.org #21 ↓3 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.