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

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 “paypal”, 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

PayPal Payment Buttons shows at wp.org #14 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 500+ 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

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder places #10 on merit, 4.5★ from 7323 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Payment Plugins for PayPal WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (127) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #8 ↑1 4 too low 5 Payment Gateway for PayPal on WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (73) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Payment Button for PayPal 4K+ · 4.5★ (40) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 Donations via PayPal 20K+ · 4.7★ (27) wp.org #5 ↑3 2 too high 8 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #15 6 too low 10 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #21 11 too low 11 Payment Gateway of PayPal for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.2★ (79) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too high 12 Easy PayPal & Stripe Buy Now Button 10K+ · 4.5★ (24) wp.org #11 ↑1 1 too high 13 Contact Form 7 – PayPal & Stripe Add-on 7K+ · 4.2★ (125) wp.org #12 ↑1 1 too high 14 Easy Accept Payments via PayPal 6K+ · 4.5★ (34) wp.org #16 ↓2 2 too low 15 Accept Donations with PayPal & Stripe 10K+ · 3.8★ (23) wp.org #13 ↓8 2 too high 16 CP Contact Form with PayPal 800+ · 3.8★ (65) wp.org #20 ↓1 4 too low 17 Accept PayPal & Stripe with Subscriptions for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.8★ (9) wp.org #9 ↑1 8 too high 18 Easy PayPal Events & Tickets 1K+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #18 ↓1 19 Quick PayPal Payments: Payment Button & Form 1K+ · 4.4★ (32) wp.org #24 ↓8 5 too low 20 PayPal Enterprise Payments (formerly Braintree) for WooCommerce 10K+ · 2.6★ (50) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 Payment Gateway for PayPal Pro, PayPal Checkout & Subscriptions for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.1★ (9) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too low 22 PayPal POS for WooCommerce 4K+ · 3.5★ (21) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too high 23 PayPal Payment Buttons 500+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 ↑1 9 too high 24 Checkout for PayPal 500+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #23 ↓3 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.