wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “woocommerce gateway”

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 “woocommerce gateway”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

WooCommerce Payfast Gateway shows at wp.org #4 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 30K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 303 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #1 2

Germanized for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (496) wp.org #8 ↓2 6 too low 3

WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) throws errorsnot PHP-current low rating, top placement wp.org #2 1 too high 4

WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) throws errorsnot PHP-current low rating, top placement wp.org #3 1 too high 5

Payment Gateway for PayPal on WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (73) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #5 6

FunnelKit Payment Gateway for Stripe WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.9★ (53) wp.org #9 ↓2 3 too low 7

Payment Plugins for PayPal WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (127) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #10 3 too low 8

Afterpay Gateway for WooCommerce 10K+ · 3.6★ (45) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #7 1 too high 9

Payment Gateway of Stripe for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.4★ (66) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #11 ↓3 2 too low 10

UPI QR Code Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (256) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #21 11 too low 11

Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #23 ↓5 12 too low 12

Payment Gateway for Redsys & WooCommerce Lite 20K+ · 4.9★ (87) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #19 ↑1 7 too low 13

Payment Gateway Based Fees and Discounts for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.7★ (58) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #15 ↑9 2 too low 14

Payment Gateway of PayPal for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.2★ (79) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #16 ↓3 2 too low 15

Subscriptions for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.5★ (180) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #24 ↓13 9 too low 16

Custom Payment Gateways for WooCommerce 8K+ · 3.8★ (21) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↓2 2 too low 17

Invoice Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↑1 3 too low 18

Invoice Gateway for WooCommerce – Invoice Payment Gateway 2K+ · 4.4★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too high 19 I Inspire Commerce Gateway for WooCommerce 10K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #6 ↑3 13 too high 20

WooCommerce Payfast Gateway 30K+ · 3.0★ (7) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviewslow rating, top placement wp.org #4 16 too high 21

Custom Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.3★ (16) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #17 4 too high 22

WooCommerce Square 80K+ · 2.1★ (121) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #12 ↓2 10 too high 23

Payment Gateway for Authorize.net for WooCommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (3) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #14 9 too high 24

Gateway Zibal for WooCommerce 8K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #22 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.