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

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 gateway”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

FunnelKit Payment Gateway with PayPal for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #10 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform places #8 on merit, 4.6★ from 708 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.

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 Payment Gateway for PayPal on WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (73) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Payment Gateway of PayPal for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.2★ (79) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Simple Shopping Cart 10K+ · 4.6★ (215) wp.org #13 ↑5 7 too low 7 Easy PayPal & Stripe Buy Now Button 10K+ · 4.5★ (24) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too high 8 GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) wp.org #17 ↓2 9 too low 9 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #14 5 too low 10 Contact Form 7 – PayPal & Stripe Add-on 7K+ · 4.2★ (125) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too low 11 CP Contact Form with PayPal 800+ · 3.8★ (65) wp.org #15 ↓2 4 too low 12 Payment Gateway for PayPal Pro, PayPal Checkout & Subscriptions for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.1★ (9) wp.org #8 4 too high 13 Event Tickets and Registration 90K+ · 3.5★ (236) wp.org #22 ↓2 9 too low 14 Accept PayPal & Stripe with Subscriptions for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.8★ (9) wp.org #7 ↓1 7 too high 15 Payment Gateway Based Fees and Discounts for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.7★ (58) wp.org #20 ↑4 5 too low 16 WP Express Checkout (Fast Payments via PayPal & Stripe) 1K+ · 4.9★ (32) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 PayPal Enterprise Payments (formerly Braintree) for WooCommerce 10K+ · 2.6★ (50) wp.org #11 ↑1 6 too high 18 PayPal Payment Buttons 500+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #9 9 too high 19 Easy PayPal Shopping Cart 1K+ · 3.9★ (15) wp.org #16 3 too high 20 PayPal Brasil para WooCommerce 1K+ · 3.8★ (12) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 YITH PayPal Express Checkout for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too high 22 P Payment Gateway for PayPal Pro on WooCommerce 90+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 too low 23 Payrexx Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 2K+ · 3.5★ (11) wp.org #21 2 too high 24 FunnelKit Payment Gateway with PayPal for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 14 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.