wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “test 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 “test payment”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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 #13 on merit, a gap of 6 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
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 3221 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303)
wp.org #1 2 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144)
wp.org #2 3 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #6 ↓1 3 too low 4 
Payment Plugins for PayPal WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (127)
wp.org #4 ↑2 5 
WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (584) low rating, top placement
wp.org #3 2 too high 6 
Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (592)
wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too low 7 
Payment Plugins Braintree For WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.8★ (149)
wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too low 8 
Mercado Pago payments for WooCommerce 100K+ · 3.9★ (693)
wp.org #11 ↑3 3 too low 9 
Payment Gateway for PayPal on WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (73)
wp.org #8 1 too high 10 
WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) low rating, top placement
wp.org #5 ↓1 5 too high 11 
WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833)
wp.org #14 ↓1 3 too low 12 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221)
wp.org #19 ↑1 7 too low 13 WooPayments: Integrated WooCommerce Payments 800K+ · 3.4★ (177)
wp.org #7 6 too high 14 
FunnelKit Payment Gateway for Stripe WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.9★ (53)
wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too high 15 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #16 ↑6 1 too low 16 
Yoco Payments 10K+ · 4.4★ (43)
wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too high 17 
SureForms – Contact Form Builder, AI Forms, Payment Form, Survey & Quiz 500K+ · 4.8★ (102)
wp.org #20 ↓4 3 too low 18 
Payment Gateway of Stripe for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.4★ (66)
wp.org #17 ↑1 1 too high 19 
Paymattic – Secure, Simple Payment & Donation with Subscription Payments, Recurring Donations, Customer Management 3K+ · 4.8★ (44)
wp.org #21 ↑2 2 too low 20 
Better Payment – Instant Payments, Donations, Fundraising with Subscriptions & More 5K+ · 4.6★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #15 5 too high 21 
Custom Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.3★ (16) thin reviews
wp.org #18 ↑1 3 too high 22 
Payment Gateway bKash for WC 1K+ · 5.0★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #23 1 too low 23 
PayHere Payment Gateway 2K+ · 4.5★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #24 1 too low 24 
PhonePe Payment Solutions 10K+ · 2.6★ (11) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↑2 2 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.