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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “payment button”

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 “payment button”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 7 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

Razorpay Payment Button Plugin shows at wp.org #8 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction places #11 on merit, 4.7★ from 270 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303) wp.org #1 2 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too low 3 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #7 ↓2 4 too low 4 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) wp.org #2 ↑6 2 too high 5 Payment Button for PayPal 4K+ · 4.5★ (40) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Payment Plugins for PayPal WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (127) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too high 8 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #3 ↓1 5 too high 9 Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591) wp.org #16 7 too low 10 Payment Plugins Braintree For WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.8★ (149) wp.org #14 ↓1 4 too low 11 Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270) wp.org #21 ↓1 10 too low 12 Social Chat – Click To Chat App Button 200K+ · 4.9★ (696) wp.org #19 ↑3 7 too low 13 Payment Gateway for PayPal on WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (73) wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too high 14 FunnelKit Payment Gateway for Stripe WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.9★ (53) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 UPI QR Code Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (256) wp.org #18 ↑5 3 too low 16 Accept Stripe Payments 20K+ · 4.1★ (114) wp.org #23 ↓6 7 too low 17 WooPayments: Integrated WooCommerce Payments 800K+ · 3.4★ (177) wp.org #10 ↑1 7 too high 18 Quick PayPal Payments: Payment Button & Form 1K+ · 4.4★ (32) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too high 19 Custom Payment Gateways for WooCommerce 8K+ · 3.8★ (21) wp.org #24 ↓3 5 too low 20 Razorpay Payment Button Plugin 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 ↓2 12 too high 21 PayPal Payment Buttons 500+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #12 9 too high 22 WebToffee EU Order Withdrawal Button for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #22 ↓4 23 Payment Gateway for Authorize.net for WooCommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 ↑6 10 too high 24 Ko-fi Button 5K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓2 7 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.