wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “simple payment”
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 “simple payment”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20.
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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.
Ranked above its merit
WooPayments: Integrated WooCommerce Payments shows at wp.org #7 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 800K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.4★ average from 177 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Seriously Simple Podcasting places #8 on merit, 4.7★ from 330 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262)
wp.org #1 2 
Simple Membership 40K+ · 4.6★ (475)
wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144)
wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) low rating, top placement
wp.org #2 3 too high 6 
Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491)
wp.org #6 7 
Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591)
wp.org #10 ↑1 3 too low 8 Seriously Simple Podcasting 20K+ · 4.7★ (330)
wp.org #13 ↓5 5 too low 9 
Payment Gateway for PayPal on WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (73)
wp.org #8 ↑2 1 too high 10 
Simple Shopping Cart 10K+ · 4.6★ (215)
wp.org #12 ↑1 2 too low 11 
Payment Plugins Braintree For WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.8★ (149)
wp.org #11 ↑1 12 
Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270)
wp.org #14 ↑1 2 too low 13 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221)
wp.org #21 ↑1 8 too low 14 WooPayments: Integrated WooCommerce Payments 800K+ · 3.4★ (177)
wp.org #7 7 too high 15 
Paymattic – Secure, Simple Payment & Donation with Subscription Payments, Recurring Donations, Customer Management 3K+ · 4.8★ (44)
wp.org #9 6 too high 16 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #18 ↓4 2 too low 17 
UPI QR Code Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (256)
wp.org #20 ↓3 3 too low 18 
FunnelKit Payment Gateway for Stripe WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.9★ (53)
wp.org #15 ↑1 3 too high 19 
Simple Banner – Easily add multiple Banners/Bars/Notifications/Announcements to the top or bottom of your website 50K+ · 4.8★ (45)
wp.org #16 ↑2 3 too high 20 
Simple Link Directory – AI Powered 2K+ · 4.8★ (121)
wp.org #24 4 too low 21 
Stripe Payment Forms by WP Simple Pay – Accept Credit Card Payments + Subscriptions with Stripe 8K+ · 4.4★ (117)
wp.org #23 2 too low 22 
Better Payment – Instant Payments, Donations, Fundraising with Subscriptions & More 5K+ · 4.6★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↑2 3 too high 23 
Custom Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.3★ (16) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↑2 1 too high 24 
Simple Payment 40+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #17 ↑2 7 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.