Plugin Pulse
← Rankings

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

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 “tax”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20. 7 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

Stripe Tax – Sales tax automation for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #2 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 21 places. Its 30K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 1056 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4823) wp.org #1 2 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4340) wp.org #7 ↑2 5 too low 3 Germanized for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (495) wp.org #10 7 too low 4 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2131) wp.org #13 9 too low 5 Tax Switch for WooCommerce 900+ · 5.0★ (27) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1717) wp.org #18 ↓2 12 too low 7 Sales Tax Reports For WooCommerce 900+ · 4.8★ (10) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (268) wp.org #20 ↑1 12 too low 9 Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 400K+ · 4.9★ (1056) wp.org #24 ↓1 15 too low 10 WebToffee WooCommerce PDF Invoices, Packing Slips, Delivery Notes & Shipping Labels 50K+ · 4.9★ (284) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 R Really Simple CSV Importer 40K+ · 4.9★ (107) wp.org #19 ↓1 8 too low 12 Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (613) wp.org #16 ↑1 4 too low 13 List Custom Taxonomy Widget 9K+ · 4.7★ (21) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 WooCommerce Tax (formerly WooCommerce Shipping & Tax) 500K+ · 2.0★ (105) wp.org #3 ↓1 11 too high 15 PW WooCommerce Bulk Edit 20K+ · 4.9★ (238) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 Quaderno: Global Tax & Invoicing Automation for WooCommerce 500+ · 4.7★ (18) wp.org #11 5 too high 17 EU/UK VAT Validation Manager for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.8★ (38) wp.org #15 ↑4 2 too high 18 TaxCloud for WooCommerce 500+ · 4.0★ (11) wp.org #9 ↓1 9 too high 19 Tax Exemption for WooCommerce 700+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #5 14 too high 20 TaxJar – Sales Tax Automation for WooCommerce 5K+ · 2.6★ (28) wp.org #8 ↓1 12 too high 21 Term Taxonomy Converter 500+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #23 ↑1 2 too low 22 One Stop Shop for WooCommerce 10K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #17 ↓2 5 too high 23 Stripe Tax – Sales tax automation for WooCommerce 30K+ · 2.0★ (4) wp.org #2 ↑1 21 too high 24 Tax‑Proof Coupons for WooCommerce 50+ · 5.0★ (2) 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.