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

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 gate”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Pays – WooCommerce Payment Gateway shows at wp.org #6 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Cookie Compliance for WordPress – Cookie Consent, GDPR & CCPA places #5 on merit, 4.8★ from 3026 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Mollie Payments for WooCommerce 100K+ · 3.6★ (69) wp.org #1 2 Download Monitor 80K+ · 4.5★ (525) wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too low 3 Payment Page – Stripe Payment Forms for Donations, Subscriptions & Recurring Payments 200+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too high 4 FOX – Currency Switcher Professional for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.4★ (250) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too high 5 Cookie Compliance for WordPress – Cookie Consent, GDPR & CCPA 800K+ · 4.8★ (3026) wp.org #12 7 too low 6 Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259) wp.org #13 7 too low 7 Milo Subscriptions – Subscriptions for WooCommerce and Recurring Payments 200+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 FAZ Cookie Manager 3K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #14 ↓4 6 too low 9 StoreEngine — Complete eCommerce Solution with Memberships, Licensing, Affiliates & More 700+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #10 ↑5 1 too low 10 POS Entegratör – Gurmehub Ödeme Eklentisi 1K+ · 4.7★ (48) wp.org #18 ↑1 8 too low 11 ActiveLayer Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for Forms & Comments 10K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #11 ↑3 12 User Frontend – Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission 20K+ · 4.1★ (537) wp.org #19 7 too low 13 Fluent Booking – The Ultimate Appointments Scheduling, Events Booking, Events Calendar Solution 20K+ · 4.7★ (46) wp.org #22 ↓4 9 too low 14 Subscriptions for WooCommerce Recurring Payments with Membership Content Restriction 500+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #7 ↑2 7 too high 15 Bus Ticket Booking with Seat Reservation 700+ · 4.9★ (41) wp.org #21 ↓1 6 too low 16 MemberSpace – Sell community access, content, online courses, memberships and paid subscriptions 200+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 The School Management – Education & Learning ERP 700+ · 4.5★ (15) wp.org #23 ↓2 6 too low 18 Currency Switcher for WooCommerce 700+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 ↑1 13 too high 19 Blacklist Manager – WooCommerce Anti-Fraud, Blacklist & Checkout Verification 2K+ · 3.6★ (14) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 Pays – WooCommerce Payment Gateway 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 ↑1 14 too high 21 Age Verification for your checkout page. Verify your customer’s identity 600+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24 ↓2 3 too low 22 SureMembers – Membership & Content Restriction Plugin 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 6 too high 23 iwocaPay Payment Gateway 80+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↑2 14 too high 24 GRO 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 9 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.