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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “sms 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 “sms payment”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 4 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

TextMe SMS shows at wp.org #5 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 500+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 973 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 SMS Alert – SMS Notifications & OTP Login, COD Verification, Abandoned Cart Recovery 3K+ · 4.6★ (35) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 FunnelKit Payment Gateway for Stripe WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.9★ (53) wp.org #3 4 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #4 5 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1388) wp.org #13 7 too low 7 Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (973) wp.org #15 8 too low 8 Paymattic – Secure, Simple Payment & Donation with Subscription Payments, Recurring Donations, Customer Management 3K+ · 4.8★ (44) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Booking for Appointments and Events Calendar – Amelia 90K+ · 4.6★ (793) wp.org #17 8 too low 10 Sender – Newsletter, SMS and Email Marketing Automation for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.8★ (83) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #19 8 too low 12 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 miniOrange 2FA – Two Factor Authentication for WordPress (OTP, SMS, Email, Google Authenticator) 10K+ · 4.5★ (385) wp.org #21 8 too low 14 Advanced Shipment Tracking for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.5★ (355) wp.org #16 2 too low 15 WC – APG SMS Notifications 300+ · 4.8★ (23) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 BulkGate SMS Plugin for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.1★ (12) wp.org #6 10 too high 17 TextMe SMS 500+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #5 12 too high 18 Paysera Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 7K+ · 2.9★ (16) wp.org #9 9 too high 19 NETOPIA Payments Payment Gateway 10K+ · 3.0★ (9) wp.org #10 9 too high 20 Netcash WooCommerce Payment Gateway 300+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 Xendit Payment 3K+ · 4.7★ (9) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 ShopMagic – Twilio SMS 700+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 8 too high 23 Notify.lk SMS for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 FunnelKit Payment Gateway with PayPal for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 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.