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

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 “venmo”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Receive customer payments on Woocommerce shows at wp.org #9 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 1K+ 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

FunnelKit – Funnel Builder Plugin for WooCommerce Checkout places #8 on merit, 5.0★ from 1028 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Payment Plugins for PayPal WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (127) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591) wp.org #6 ↑1 3 too low 4 GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 Payment Plugins Braintree For WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.8★ (149) wp.org #8 ↓2 3 too low 6 Payment Gateway for PayPal on WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (73) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 Event Tickets and Registration 90K+ · 3.5★ (236) wp.org #7 ↑2 8 FunnelKit – Funnel Builder Plugin for WooCommerce Checkout 30K+ · 5.0★ (1028) wp.org #21 13 too low 9 Knit Pay – Cashfree, Instamojo, Razorpay, PayPal and more 2K+ · 4.9★ (100) wp.org #18 ↓2 9 too low 10 WP Express Checkout (Fast Payments via PayPal & Stripe) 1K+ · 4.9★ (32) wp.org #11 ↑1 1 too low 11 Donorbox – Free Recurring Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 8K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #20 ↓1 9 too low 12 ProfilePress – Paid Membership, Online Courses (LMS), Ecommerce, User Registration & Login Form, User Profile & Restrict Content 100K+ · 3.1★ (938) wp.org #24 ↓3 12 too low 13 Payment Gateway for PayPal Pro, PayPal Checkout & Subscriptions for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.1★ (9) wp.org #15 ↓4 2 too low 14 Direct Payments for WooCommerce – Bank Transfer, Mobile Money, Crypto and Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Payments 800+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #16 ↓2 2 too low 15 Wallet Up – Cash App, Venmo, PayPal, Zelle & QR Code Payments 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 ↑2 12 too high 16 PayPal Enterprise Payments (formerly Braintree) for WooCommerce 10K+ · 2.6★ (50) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 Accept PayPal & Stripe with Subscriptions for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.8★ (9) wp.org #17 ↓2 18 P Payment Gateway for PayPal Pro on WooCommerce 90+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #19 ↓2 1 too low 19 Direct Invoices – Invoicing & Payment Requests for WordPress 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #22 ↓2 3 too low 20 FunnelKit Payment Gateway with PayPal for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 ↑9 6 too high 21 Get Cash 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 11 too high 22 Receive customer payments on Woocommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↓1 13 too high 23 Visa Acceptance Solutions 10K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 11 too high 24 D613 Pay – Zelle, Venmo, PayPal & Cash App Payments for WooCommerce 20+ · 0.0★ (0) 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.