Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “skrill”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Direct Payments WP – Receive Payments with Forms shows at wp.org #12 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 50+ 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

Contact Form Email places #8 on merit, 4.3★ from 102 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Appointment Hour Booking – Booking Calendar 10K+ · 4.9★ (524) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (973) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Skrill – WooCommerce 300+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 WP Time Slots Booking Form 1K+ · 5.0★ (41) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 CP Blocks 1K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 WCFM Marketplace – Multivendor Marketplace for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.6★ (449) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 CP Contact Form with PayPal 800+ · 3.8★ (65) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 Contact Form Email 8K+ · 4.3★ (102) wp.org #14 6 too low 9 Direct Payments for WooCommerce – Bank Transfer, Mobile Money, Crypto and Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Payments 800+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 Paid Videochat Turnkey Site – HTML5 PPV Live Webcams 10+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #17 ↓1 7 too low 11 Payssion Plugin for Woocommerce 400+ · 3.3★ (12) wp.org #11 12 Direct Invoices – Invoicing & Payment Requests for WordPress 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 Accepted Payment Methods 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 6 too high 14 MicroPayments – Fans Paysite: Paid Creator Subscriptions, Digital Assets, Wallet 10+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too low 15 wallee 400+ · 2.7★ (9) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 Meritocracy – Near-Powered Gamification Plugin for WordPress 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too low 17 AfriDirect Payment — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 Rampex.io Payment Gateway 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too low 19 ZEN.COM Payments for WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 3 too low 20 Direct Payments WP – Receive Payments with Forms 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 8 too high 21 Redemption For myCred — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓2 2 too low 22 Paysafe Checkout 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too high 23 Offerlume Offerwall Rewards — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓2 1 too low 24 WeArePlanet 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓1 3 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.