Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “payouts”

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 “payouts”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 11 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

Instant Approval Payment Gateway with Instant Payouts shows at wp.org #5 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Download Manager places #8 on merit, 4.1★ from 1006 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Affiliate Program Suite — SliceWP Affiliates 10K+ · 4.9★ (111) wp.org #8 7 too low 2 RiskPay Gateway: USDC Payouts for WooCommerce 600+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 WooPayments: Integrated WooCommerce Payments 800K+ · 3.4★ (177) wp.org #3 ↑2 4 Coupon Affiliates – Affiliate Plugin for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (77) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too high 6 WCFM Marketplace – Multivendor Marketplace for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.6★ (449) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 Affiliates Manager 8K+ · 4.1★ (61) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Download Manager 100K+ · 4.1★ (1006) wp.org #22 ↓4 14 too low 9 Affiliates for WooCommerce – Affiliate Program, Referral Tracking & Commission Payouts 300+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 weDocs: AI Powered Knowledge Base, Docs, Documentation, Wiki & AI Chatbot 5K+ · 4.6★ (69) wp.org #21 11 too low 11 Crypto Payment Gateway with Instant Payouts 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #2 9 too high 12 Yoco Payments 10K+ · 4.4★ (43) wp.org #15 3 too low 13 Paystack WooCommerce Payment Gateway 20K+ · 4.5★ (25) wp.org #14 1 too low 14 FluentAffiliate – Affiliate Program Management Suite, Affiliates Manager 2K+ · 4.6★ (7) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 BTCPay Server – Accept Bitcoin payments in WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #19 ↑1 4 too low 16 Instant Approval Payment Gateway with Instant Payouts 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 ↓1 11 too high 17 NOWPayments for WooCommerce – Crypto Payment Gateway 3K+ · 4.1★ (16) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 BjornTech Fortnox Hub for WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #13 5 too high 19 YITH WooCommerce Affiliates 6K+ · 4.2★ (19) wp.org #16 ↑1 3 too high 20 Nomod for WooCommerce 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 ↓2 4 too low 21 Paytrail for WooCommerce 3K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too high 22 AffiliateWP – Affiliate Area Tabs 3K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↑2 5 too high 23 Card2Crypto Global Payment Gateway 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 24 KOMOJU Payments 1K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↓2 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.