wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “failed payments”

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 “failed payments”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Monri Payments shows at wp.org #12 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 1K+ 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

Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App places #12 on merit, 4.7★ from 528 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 signals wp.org

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #3 2 too low 2

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #5 ↓1 3 too low 3

WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) throws errorsnot PHP-current low rating, top placement wp.org #1 2 too high 4

Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #4 ↑1 5

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #10 ↑1 5 too low 6

WooPayments: Integrated WooCommerce Payments 800K+ · 3.4★ (177) throws errorsnot PHP-current low rating, top placement wp.org #2 4 too high 7

Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591) wp.org #9 ↓2 2 too low 8

Accept Stripe Payments 20K+ · 4.1★ (114) wp.org #6 2 too high 9

Payment Plugins for PayPal WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (127) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too high 10

SureCart – Ecommerce Made Easy For Selling Physical Products, Digital Downloads, Subscriptions, Donations, & Payments 80K+ · 4.8★ (288) heavy footprint wp.org #13 ↑1 3 too low 11

FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #16 5 too low 12

Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #22 ↓5 10 too low 13

SureForms – Contact Form Builder, AI Forms, Payment Form, Survey & Quiz 500K+ · 4.8★ (102) wp.org #17 ↓7 4 too low 14

Mollie Payments for WooCommerce 100K+ · 3.6★ (69) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #8 ↑1 6 too high 15

FunnelKit Payment Gateway for Stripe WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.9★ (53) wp.org #24 9 too low 16

Payment Gateway for PayPal on WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (73) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #15 ↑3 1 too high 17

Bitcoin Payments – Blockonomics 2K+ · 4.5★ (35) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too high 18

Subscriptions for WooCommerce with Stripe Recurring Payments 1K+ · 4.9★ (25) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #18 ↑1 19

افزونه پرداخت امن زرین‌پال برای ووکامرس (ZarinPal for WooCommerce) 60K+ · 3.5★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too low 20

GetPaid Stripe Payments 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #11 ↑1 9 too high 21

Peach Payments Gateway 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↑1 2 too low 22

Monri Payments 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↑1 10 too high 23

Spark GF Failed Submissions 70+ · 4.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↑2 2 too high 24

KOMOJU Payments 1K+ · 3.0★ (2) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #19 ↑1 5 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.