wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “payments”
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 “payments”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 9 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
WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway shows at wp.org #4 but places #11 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 700K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.1★ average from 237 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 3220 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143)
wp.org #3 2 too low 2 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #5 3 too low 3 
WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) throws errorsnot PHP-current low rating, top placement
wp.org #1 2 too high 4 
Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591)
wp.org #7 ↑3 3 too low 5 
WooPayments: Integrated WooCommerce Payments 800K+ · 3.4★ (177) throws errorsnot PHP-current low rating, top placement
wp.org #2 3 too high 6 
Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270)
wp.org #8 ↑3 2 too low 7 
Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220)
wp.org #17 ↓2 9 too low 9 
WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #9 10 
Accept Stripe Payments 20K+ · 4.1★ (114)
wp.org #10 ↓3 11 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) throws errorsnot PHP-current low rating, top placement
wp.org #4 7 too high 12 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #21 ↓3 9 too low 13 
Payment Plugins for PayPal WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (127) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #12 ↑10 1 too high 14 
Mercado Pago payments for WooCommerce 100K+ · 3.9★ (693) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too high 15 
Deposits & Partial Payments for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (111) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #14 1 too high 16 
Conditional Payments for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.6★ (28)
wp.org #15 ↓2 1 too high 17 
Mollie Payments for WooCommerce 100K+ · 3.6★ (69) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #11 ↓3 6 too high 18 
Bitcoin Payments – Blockonomics 2K+ · 4.5★ (35) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #19 ↑1 1 too low 19 
Payment Gateway for PayPal on WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (73) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #23 ↑1 4 too low 20 
Yoco Payments 10K+ · 4.4★ (43) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #24 4 too low 21 
Direct Payments for WooCommerce – Bank Transfer, Mobile Money, Crypto and Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Payments 800+ · 5.0★ (10) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #22 1 too low 22 
GoDaddy Payments for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.3★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #20 2 too high 23 
GetPaid Stripe Payments 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #16 7 too high 24 
Monri Payments 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #18 ↓1 6 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.