wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “making charges”

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 “making charges”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 20. 5 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

Satispay for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #16 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 7K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Directorist: AI-Powered Business Directory, Listings & Classified Ads places #9 on merit, 4.6★ from 698 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #2 1 too low 2

PI Conditional cart fee / Extra charge rule for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.9★ (38) wp.org #1 1 too high 3

PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce 300K+ · 5.0★ (1865) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #3 4

Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution 100K+ · 4.4★ (590) heavy footprint wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5

HivePress – Business Directory, Listings & Classified Ads Plugin 10K+ · 4.9★ (221) wp.org #6 1 too low 6

LocoAI – Auto Translate for Loco Translate 70K+ · 4.9★ (642) wp.org #8 ↑3 2 too low 7

Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270) wp.org #10 3 too low 8

Gold Price Based on Weight 300+ · 5.0★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #4 ↑1 4 too high 9

Directorist: AI-Powered Business Directory, Listings & Classified Ads 20K+ · 4.6★ (698) not PHP-current wp.org #13 ↑3 4 too low 10

Subscriptions for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.5★ (180) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #9 ↓2 1 too high 11

Payment Gateway Based Fees and Discounts for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.7★ (58) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #7 ↑1 4 too high 12

MultiVendorX – WooCommerce Multivendor Marketplace AI Powered Solutions 2K+ · 4.8★ (432) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #14 ↑4 2 too low 13

PiWeb Disable payment method / Partial payment for WooCommerce 4K+ · 5.0★ (38) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #11 ↓2 2 too high 14

FluentCart A New Era of eCommerce – Faster, Lighter, and Simpler 9K+ · 4.5★ (46) wp.org #15 ↑7 1 too low 15

Extra Fees for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.3★ (42) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #12 3 too high 16

Wallet System for WooCommerce – Digital Wallet, Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL), Instant Cashback, Referral program, Partial & Subscription Payments 1K+ · 4.9★ (65) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #18 ↓1 2 too low 17

EventPrime – Events Calendar, Bookings, Tickets & AI 7K+ · 4.4★ (85) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #17 ↓4 18

Sucuri Security – Auditing, Malware Scanner and Security Hardening 600K+ · 4.2★ (386) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #19 1 too low 19

Superb Addons: Blocks, Patterns, Pre-built Pages, Sliders, Popups, Free Forms, Animations & More 80K+ · 4.9★ (23) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too low 20

Subscriptions for WooCommerce with Stripe Recurring Payments 1K+ · 4.9★ (25) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #20 ↓6 21

ITS Jewellery Price Plugin 20+ · 4.5★ (16) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↑2 1 too low 22

EU/UK VAT Validation Manager for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.8★ (39) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #23 ↓2 1 too low 23

Satispay for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.0★ (8) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #16 ↓1 7 too high 24 C CardCom Payment Gateway 3K+ · 1.0★ (1) 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.