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

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 provider”, 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

Payment Gateway for PhonePe and for Woocommerce shows at wp.org #10 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 800+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 973 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #1 2 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #2 3 Payment Plugins Braintree For WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.8★ (149) wp.org #3 4 Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 FunnelKit Payment Gateway for Stripe WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.9★ (53) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Booking for Appointments and Events Calendar – Amelia 90K+ · 4.6★ (793) wp.org #16 ↑6 10 too low 7 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #14 ↓2 7 too low 8 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #18 ↓1 10 too low 9 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #13 ↑1 4 too low 10 Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (973) wp.org #24 14 too low 11 Custom Payment Gateways for WooCommerce 8K+ · 3.8★ (21) wp.org #6 5 too high 12 Payment Gateway of Stripe for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.4★ (66) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 Autocomplete WooCommerce Orders 30K+ · 4.6★ (137) wp.org #22 ↓2 9 too low 14 Better Payment – Instant Payments, Donations, Fundraising with Subscriptions & More 5K+ · 4.6★ (14) wp.org #8 6 too high 15 افزونه پرداخت امن زرین‌پال برای ووکامرس (ZarinPal for WooCommerce) 60K+ · 3.5★ (13) wp.org #12 ↑1 3 too high 16 zahls.ch Credit Cards, PostFinance and TWINT for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #20 ↓2 4 too low 17 Instant Approval Payment Gateway with Instant Payouts 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #7 10 too high 18 Paysera Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 7K+ · 2.9★ (16) wp.org #17 ↑2 1 too high 19 Payrexx Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 2K+ · 3.5★ (11) wp.org #15 4 too high 20 SUMIT Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 ↑2 1 too low 21 Pay. Payment Methods for WooCommerce 3K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #11 10 too high 22 Payment Gateway for PhonePe and for Woocommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 12 too high 23 Multi CryptoCurrency Payments 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 24 E ESTO payment methods 600+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↑2 5 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.