wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “payment fee”
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 fee”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20.
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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.
Ranked above its merit
Crypto Payment Gateway with Instant Payouts shows at wp.org #16 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 1K+ 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
Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy places #4 on merit, 4.7★ from 591 reviews, but shows at wp.org #8. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303)
wp.org #1 2 
Payment Plugins for PayPal WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (127)
wp.org #4 2 too low 3 
WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) low rating, top placement
wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591)
wp.org #8 4 too low 5 
Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270)
wp.org #7 2 too low 6 
Pay for Payment for WooCommerce – Payment Gateway Fees & Discounts 10K+ · 4.7★ (71)
wp.org #5 1 too high 7 
WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) low rating, top placement
wp.org #3 4 too high 8 
Payment Plugins Braintree For WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.8★ (149)
wp.org #11 ↓3 3 too low 9 
WooPayments: Integrated WooCommerce Payments 800K+ · 3.4★ (177)
wp.org #6 3 too high 10 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #14 ↓4 4 too low 11 
FunnelKit Payment Gateway for Stripe WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.9★ (53)
wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too high 12 
PiWeb Disable payment method / Partial payment for WooCommerce 4K+ · 5.0★ (38)
wp.org #9 3 too high 13 
Bangladeshi Payment Gateways – Make Payment Using QR Code 4K+ · 5.0★ (92)
wp.org #12 1 too high 14 
Payment Gateway Based Fees and Discounts for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.7★ (58)
wp.org #13 ↑4 1 too high 15 
Payment Gateway of Stripe for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.4★ (66)
wp.org #17 ↓3 2 too low 16 
Deposits & Partial Payments for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (111)
wp.org #24 ↓2 8 too low 17 
PI Conditional cart fee / Extra charge rule for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.9★ (38)
wp.org #18 ↓2 1 too low 18 
Paymattic – Secure, Simple Payment & Donation with Subscription Payments, Recurring Donations, Customer Management 3K+ · 4.8★ (44)
wp.org #19 1 too low 19 
Bitcoin Payments – Blockonomics 2K+ · 4.5★ (35)
wp.org #22 ↓1 3 too low 20 
Payment and Shipping Method Checkout Fee for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↓2 5 too high 21 
افزونه پرداخت امن زرینپال برای ووکامرس (ZarinPal for WooCommerce) 60K+ · 3.5★ (13) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↓2 1 too high 22 Crypto Payment Gateway with Instant Payouts 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too high 23 
Razorpay Payment Button Plugin 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too high 24 
Sezzle Woocommerce Payment 1K+ · 4.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #23 1 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.