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

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 button”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 of the top 20. 6 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

Ko-fi Button shows at wp.org #14 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 5K+ 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

Simple Shopping Cart places #10 on merit, 4.6★ from 215 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. 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 1 too low 2 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 Payment Button for PayPal 4K+ · 4.5★ (40) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too high 5 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #13 ↓1 8 too low 6 Payment Gateway for PayPal on WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (73) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 Easy PayPal & Stripe Buy Now Button 10K+ · 4.5★ (24) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #18 ↓1 10 too low 9 Donations via PayPal 20K+ · 4.7★ (27) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too high 10 Simple Shopping Cart 10K+ · 4.6★ (215) wp.org #23 13 too low 11 Quick PayPal Payments: Payment Button & Form 1K+ · 4.4★ (32) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 Accept Donations with PayPal & Stripe 10K+ · 3.8★ (23) wp.org #11 ↓3 1 too high 13 Payment Gateway of PayPal for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.2★ (79) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too high 14 Contact Form 7 – PayPal & Stripe Add-on 7K+ · 4.2★ (125) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too low 15 Easy Accept Payments via PayPal 6K+ · 4.5★ (34) wp.org #17 ↓2 2 too low 16 PayPal Payment Buttons 500+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #7 ↑3 9 too high 17 Accept PayPal & Stripe with Subscriptions for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.8★ (9) wp.org #10 ↓1 7 too high 18 Payment Gateway for PayPal Pro, PayPal Checkout & Subscriptions for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.1★ (9) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 Easy PayPal Events & Tickets 1K+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too low 20 Subscriptions & Memberships for PayPal 900+ · 3.9★ (12) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21 Easy PayPal Shopping Cart 1K+ · 3.9★ (15) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too low 22 PayPal Enterprise Payments (formerly Braintree) for WooCommerce 10K+ · 2.6★ (50) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 Checkout for PayPal 500+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #24 ↓4 1 too low 24 Ko-fi Button 5K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓1 10 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.