Do you need a booking system? Integrating one into your website gives you more control and keeps your business organized.
A WordPress booking plugin helps you to create and manage bookings for your business. It allows visitors to select a date and time, enter their information, and make a reservation on your website.
Here are some benefits of using a booking plugin:
- It eliminates manual bookings and appointments.
- It automates confirmation notifications and email reminders.
- It can sort online payments from your website.
Here is a list of some of the best WordPress booking plugins for your business. The ideal solution is based on your requirements and budget. This guide will help you select the appropriate plugin.
Key features to consider when selecting a booking plugin
When choosing a booking plugin, there are essential features to consider. Here are some key features of WordPress booking plugins:
- Editable calendar It allows you to adjust it to your needs.
- A responsive layout is a must. Every user can use your booking, regardless of their device.
- Notifications and emails They work automatically to send out booking confirmations and reminders.
- Online payments Users can pay for their bookings on the spot.
- A user-friendly interface It is a simple section from which guests can configure their bookings.
- Quality support in combination with documentation.
- Customizable booking forms.
- It should enable or disable scheduling based on availability.
- It should support payment integration.
- It should be compatible with Google Calendar, iCal, and other calendar systems.
- It should manage the resources needed for bookings (people, properties, and items).
When choosing a plugin, focus on these key features: it should have a user-friendly interface, let you create custom booking forms, and offer payment integration options. Automated booking confirmations are also important, as is helpful documentation. The plugin should work with email providers and be compatible with the latest WordPress version. Lastly, check for high ratings and positive reviews.
Top 10 WordPress Booking Plugins
Here are 10 WordPress booking plugins for businesses, with an overview, key features, pros, and cons of each:
1. Bookly
Bookly is a good solution for adding a booking system to a website and automating business bookings. The process starts when customers select services from the booking form, which can be organized into categories. Customers can choose a specific employee and then select an available date and time.
- Key features: Bookly offers unlimited bookings, multiple calendar views, SMS and email notifications, WooCommerce compatibility, and customer list import/export.
- Advantages: It provides effortless online scheduling and booking. It is carefully optimized for mobile devices. Customer and appointment management are simple from the WordPress admin area.
- Disadvantages: Bookly might seem difficult to configure initially due to its many functions.
- Pricing: Bookly has a free version with a customizable design and unlimited booking forms. The Pro version costs $89 and includes unlimited staff members and services, Google Calendar integration, and built-in analytics.
2. BookingPress
BookingPress is a flexible WordPress booking plugin that helps service-based businesses manage client appointments easily.
- Key Features: It has 33+ premium add-ons completely free, 15+ online payment gateways (like PayPal, and Stripe), and calendar integrations (Google, Outlook). It also has multiple booking facilities, email, WhatsApp, SMS notifications, advanced service options, staff dashboards, invoice features, and custom booking fields.
- Advantages: BookingPress has an award-winning responsive design for both the front end and back end. Booking forms and the customer panel are fully customizable.
- Disadvantages: The free version only allows the PayPal payment gateway. You need to purchase the Pro version to use 15+ payment gateways for free.
- Pricing: A free version is available. Standard is $69/year for 1 website, Professional is $119/year for 3 websites, and Enterprise is $249/year for 20 websites.
3. WooCommerce Bookings and Appointments
WooCommerce Bookings and Appointments help build an online booking business and transform products into bookable services. Customers can book appointments, reservations, or rentals on their own. Products can be sold alongside booking services on the same website.
- Key Features: It offers calendar booking with fixed, flexible, recurring, and non-adjacent selection options. It creates a dynamic booking system to monitor time, date, and the number of people who can book. It also has 2-way Google Calendar sync.
- Advantages: The plugin saves money over large numbers of sites. It is extremely flexible and functional with a user-friendly interface. It also has many pricing choices.
- Disadvantages: Beginners need time to set up and understand the plugin’s operation. The plugin license is available for 25 sites, and there is no option to get an unlimited license.
- Pricing: Single site = $99.00, 5 sites = $149.00, and 25 sites = $259.00.
4. Appointment Hour Booking
Appointment Hour Booking sets up a start time and specific duration. Its visual configuration allows edits without coding.
- Key features: The plugin has start and end times, custom prices and durations, automatic price calculations, and a multi-page calendar. It is available in 50+ languages.
- Advantages: It has a great visual configuration to set it exclusively to specific business recommendations. Multiple add-ons connect with 3rd-party services.
- Disadvantages: No pro plan offers unlimited website use.
- Pricing: Free includes a built-in captcha, availability verification, and auto price calculation. Professional is 5.99€/month for 1 site, Developer is 11.99€/month for 5 sites, and Platinum is 17.99€/month for 25 sites.
5. Easy Appointments
Easy Appointments is an easy-to-use WordPress plugin for bookings and appointments. It swiftly handles business needs and regulations.
- Key features: The plugin has email and SMS notifications, custom form fields, translation-ready capabilities, iCalendar integration, and WooCommerce support.
- Advantages: The free version is very flexible and extensible. It has a simple and user-friendly interface for a quick booking solution for any business.
- Disadvantages: It might be too simple/basic for some users.
- Pricing: Free includes multiple locations, services, workers, a flexible timetable, and email notifications. Pro is $39+/year and includes Google Calendar 2-way sync, SMS integration, and iCalendar integration.
6. Hotel Booking Lite
Hotel Booking Lite simplifies the booking process for the accommodation business. It integrates seamlessly regardless of the theme used.
- Key features: The plugin has a real-time search function, a great property display structure, discount coupons, blocks, shortcodes, widgets, and auto email notifications. It also has an Android and iOS app.
- Advantages: It is an all-in-one property management system for any rental business. It allows fast creation of forms to accept online reservations directly on a website.
- Disadvantages: It may take some time to get used to because of so many features.
- Pricing: Free, Single Site ($99), and Unlimited Sites ($199).
7. Amelia
Amelia helps automate bookings and appointments to save time.
- Key features: The plugin has unlimited appointments and employees, customizable design, is available in 20+ languages, and supports multi-day events.
- Advantages: It has a modern design that blends with any website. It also has an endless collection of features and configuration settings.
- Disadvantages: The vast collection of features can cause a longer get-used-to-it phase for novice users.
- Pricing: Free includes a booking form, event scheduling, double-booking prevention, and calendar view. Basic is 75€/year for 1 domain, Pro is 113€/year for 3 domains, and Developer is 235€/year for unlimited domains.
8. Booking Calendar
Booking Calendar has a calendar and a booking option for online services, even offline. The plugin is flexible for businesses that work on a booking basis.
- Key Features: It syncs bookings, offers Google Calendar events, adjustable booking parameters, online payments, and advanced day sections.
- Advantages: The plugin has easy-to-use and flexible functionality to make it work specifically for any business. It allows quick integration via a shortcode or Gutenberg block into any post or page.
- Disadvantages: All pro plans offer only a single website license, which can get expensive if there are many sites.
- Pricing: Free includes double booking prevention, email notifications, pagination, and approve/decline bookings. Personal is $47.40, Small Business is $89.40, Medium Business is $149.40, Larger Business is $209.40, and MultiUser is $389.40.
9. WP Simple Booking Calendar
WP Simple Booking Calendar is a quick solution. It is more basic but covers the essentials.
- Key Features: It syncs the calendar with 3rd-party platforms, displays multiple months, and has a bulk editor, and a shortcode generator.
- Advantages: The plugin is very simple and quick to integrate and set for a business.
- Disadvantages: There is no option to book online, and the free version only allows one calendar.
- Pricing: Free includes 1 calendar, display availability, and a legend. Personal is $39/year for 1 site, Business is $69/year for 5 sites, and Developer is $139/year for unlimited sites.
10. Booking Activities
Booking Activities specializes primarily in activities. It has customization functions to tailor the online booking form.
- Key Features: It has drag-and-drop editing, WooCommerce integration, one-click bookings, WP Multisite support, and email, SMS, and push notifications.
- Advantages: It is a niche booking system for activities.
- Disadvantages: It can get pricey if multiple add-ons are needed.
- Pricing: Free, but comes with premium add-ons.
Conclusion
WordPress booking plugins help reservation- and appointment-based businesses. They integrate a booking system into a website. This gives more control and keeps a business organized.
Key Benefits of WordPress Booking Plugins
- Avoid coding an entire system from scratch.
- Run on autopilot, including sending notifications and email reminders.
- Sort online payments straight from a website.
- Perform customizations and unlock functionality with integrations.
Key Features to Consider
- Editable calendar to fit functional and aesthetic needs.
- Responsive layout for users on any device.
- Automated notifications/emails for confirmations and reminders.
- Online payments allow users to pay during booking.
- A user-friendly interface for guests to manage bookings.
- Quality support and documentation.
Many plugins offer both free and premium versions. Free versions often provide basic functionality. Premium versions unlock more advanced features. Pricing structures vary. Some have one-time fees, while others have monthly or annual subscriptions.
Choosing the best plugin depends on specific business needs and budget.
FAQs
How to add a booking system to WordPress?
To add a booking system to WordPress, use a plugin. This does not require coding. It allows configuring the booking process, calendar, and forms as desired.
Does WordPress have a booking system?
No, WordPress does not have a built-in booking system. However, a plugin can integrate one.
Does WooCommerce have a booking system?
WooCommerce does not include a booking system by default. It is recommended to use the WooCommerce Bookings plugin. It has all the needed functionality.
Where can I publish an appointment booking form?
Completed forms can be added anywhere on a site. This includes pages, posts, sidebars, and widget areas. To add a booking wizard, copy and paste a plugin’s shortcode to an existing post or page, or create a new one. A shortcode or Gutenberg block can integrate a booking calendar into any post or page.
How do I apply CSS styling to the form fields?
The sources do not contain information on how to apply CSS styles to form fields.
How do I align the form using different columns?
Easy Appointment has a mobile-responsive form format that offers a two-column layout.
Can the emails be customized?
Yes, the emails can be customized. Some booking plugins provide customizable email templates, which help maintain a unified brand image in customer communications.
How to edit or remove the form title/header?
The sources do not contain information on how to edit or remove the form title/header.
What kinds of websites can use booking plugins?
Booking plugins are useful for a variety of websites. They support reservations for:
- Services
- Rentals
- Events
- Dining
- Tours
- Accommodations
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