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

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 “merchant”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

Merchant Center Reviews for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #4 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 800+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Return Refund and Exchange For WooCommerce places #12 on merit, 4.7★ from 124 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #1 2 Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce by AdTribes – Product Feeds for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.7★ (1071) wp.org #8 6 too low 3 Product Labels, Quick View, Buy Now, Pre-Orders, Frequently Bought Together & More for WooCommerce – Merchant 9K+ · 4.2★ (11) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 WPMR Google Feed Manager for WooCommerce – Sell on Google Merchant Center & Shopping 10K+ · 4.5★ (127) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 XML for Google Merchant Center 3K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Product Feed for Google Shopping, Microsoft Advertising and 40+ Channels for WooCommerce Merchant 2K+ · 4.8★ (87) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Payment Plugins for PayPal WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (127) wp.org #10 ↑4 3 too low 8 Product Feed Manager for WooCommerce – CTX Feed – Support 220+ Shopping, AI & Social Channels 90K+ · 4.6★ (838) wp.org #14 ↓2 6 too low 9 Product Feed Manager for WooCommerce – RexFeed – Sell on 200+ Shopping Channels 10K+ · 4.8★ (256) wp.org #17 ↑1 8 too low 10 UPI QR Code Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (256) wp.org #20 ↑1 10 too low 11 Google for WooCommerce 800K+ · 2.7★ (268) wp.org #6 ↓2 5 too high 12 Return Refund and Exchange For WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.7★ (124) wp.org #23 ↓3 11 too low 13 Payment Gateway for PayPal on WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (73) wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too low 14 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too high 15 Merchant Center Reviews for WooCommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #4 ↑1 11 too high 16 WPSSO Schema Merchant Return Policy Manager 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #7 9 too high 17 WPSSO Google Merchant Feed XML 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 ↓1 6 too high 18 Pay with Vipps and MobilePay for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.8★ (13) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 Pinterest for WooCommerce 200K+ · 2.3★ (68) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too high 20 I Inspire Commerce Gateway for WooCommerce 10K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Mastercard Merchant Cloud 2K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 8 too high 22 WooCommerce Analytics 20K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #19 3 too high 23 Donor Merchant – Donation Form with Recurring Donations, Stripe and PayPal 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 8 too high 24 WooCommerce Shipping 70K+ · 2.0★ (18) wp.org #22 ↓6 2 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.