20 Best Bookly Alternatives in 2024 You Should Try

Are you thinking about or already using Bookly to manage bookings on your WordPress website? If you’ve been navigating the ins and outs of appointments with Bookly, you might be wondering if there’s a simpler or better fit for your needs.

In 2024, the world of WordPress plugins has expanded, offering alternatives that promise straightforward solutions to your booking requirements. Join us as we explore the best Bookly alternatives in 2024 – uncomplicated yet effective plugins that could redefine your booking experience.

Whether you’re looking for more simplicity, seamless integration, or just a hassle-free way to handle appointments, this guide is here to steer you through the options beyond Bookly and help you find the best Bookly alternative for your specific needs.

Let’s start!

What Is Bookly?

Bookly is a versatile and widely used WordPress plugin designed for managing appointments, bookings, and reservations. It provides website owners and businesses with a user-friendly system to handle scheduling for various services, such as consultations, appointments, classes, or any other time-based events. With Bookly, users can set up a customizable booking interface on their WordPress websites, allowing clients or customers to easily book appointments online.

Key features of Bookly typically include calendar integration, automated notifications, payment processing, and the ability to customize booking forms. It’s a valuable tool for businesses and professionals in various industries, enabling them to streamline their scheduling processes and enhance the overall customer experience.

Bookly’s disadvantages

While Bookly is a popular and feature-rich WordPress booking plugin, it’s important to be aware of potential disadvantages you may encounter.

• Cost: Some advanced features may require purchasing additional extensions, which can impact the overall cost of using the plugin.
• Customization Limitations: While Bookly is customizable to a certain extent, users may be faced with some limitations. Businesses with highly specific or unique booking requirements might encounter challenges in adapting the plugin to meet their exact needs.
• Learning Curve: Users may find a learning curve associated with configuring and optimizing Bookly. Although it aims to be user-friendly, the complexity of certain features may require some time to master.
• Ongoing Maintenance: Regular updates to WordPress, themes, or other plugins may occasionally cause compatibility issues with Bookly. Users may need to ensure that the plugin is regularly updated to avoid potential conflicts.
• Limited Free Version: While there is a free version of Bookly available, it often comes with limited features. To access advanced functionalities, users may need to purchase premium add-ons or opt for the pro version.
• Integration Challenges: Although Bookly integrates with various payment gateways and calendar systems, users might face challenges if they require specific integrations that are not readily available.
• Server Resources: Depending on the volume of bookings and the complexity of the setup, Bookly may consume server resources, potentially affecting website performance. This is particularly relevant for users on shared hosting plans.

It’s because of these downsides that users are on the hunt for a perfect Bookly alternative: the solution that not only tackles the existing limitations but also brings even more benefits.

And that’s why we’ve put together a list of 20 straightforward WordPress booking plugins that might suit you better than Bookly. Check them out for a hassle-free booking experience!

20 Best Bookly Alternatives in 2024

Amelia: The best Bookly alternative for your booking needs

Amelia is a powerful WordPress booking plugin that works flawlessly with WordPress sites of all kinds. It has a minimal, yet powerful appointment booking interface designed to ease your workflow, automate repetitive tasks, avoid double booking, and make appointment booking a breeze for your customers.

In order to book an appointment, the complete user interaction takes a few clicks with this WordPress plugin.

Amelia is a straightforward, no-nonsense booking calendar plugin and an amazing option for those who want an around-the-clock solution for their WordPress site.

Why is Amelia the best Bookly alternative?

Amelia stands out as a compelling alternative to Bookly for several reasons, particularly in its robust handling of various aspects crucial to businesses.

1. User-Friendly Interface: Amelia is known for its intuitive and user-friendly interface, making it easy for businesses and website owners to set up and manage appointments without a steep learning curve.
2. Customization: Various customization options allow users to match the booking system with the overall aesthetics of their website.
3. Automated Notifications: Amelia includes automated email and SMS notifications, helping businesses and clients stay informed about upcoming appointments. This feature can reduce no-shows and improve overall communication.
4. Packages of Services: Amelia excels in providing businesses with the flexibility to offer diverse packages of services. Whether you’re bundling services together or customizing offerings for different client needs, Amelia’s approach to service packaging is impressive.
5. Resource Scheduling: Amelia’s resource scheduling capabilities make it a valuable tool for businesses managing multiple resources, such as staff members, equipment, or rooms. The intuitive resource management system ensures efficient allocation, preventing conflicts, and optimizing your operational efficiency.
6. Integration with Popular Payment Gateways: Amelia understands the importance of seamless financial transactions. With support for integration with popular payment gateways, the plugin ensures a smooth and secure payment process for both businesses and clients.
7. Event Booking and Management: Amelia goes beyond basic appointments by offering comprehensive event booking and management features. Whether you’re hosting workshops, classes, or any type of event, you can efficiently handle event bookings, registrations, and attendee management.
8. Recurring Appointments: The ability to set up recurring appointments is a standout feature of Amelia. For businesses with clients requiring regular or ongoing services, recurring appointments save time and provide a more convenient experience for both parties.
9. Responsive Customer Support: Positive reviews often highlight responsive customer support from Amelia, providing assistance and troubleshooting when needed.

Who should use Amelia?

Amelia is a versatile WordPress booking plugin designed to cater to a wide range of businesses and service providers looking to streamline their appointment and booking processes. It’s perfect for:

• Salon Businesses: Amelia is well-suited for salon businesses, including beauty salons, spas, massage therapists, and wellness centers.
• Healthcare Providers: Medical practices, dental offices, chiropractors, and other healthcare professionals can use Amelia to manage patient appointments efficiently. The plugin’s features, such as resource scheduling and recurring appointments, can be particularly useful in healthcare settings.
• Consultants and Coaches: Independent consultants, life coaches, business coaches, and other professionals offering one-on-one consultations can benefit from Amelia’s features. The plugin enables easy appointment scheduling and payment processing for consulting services.
• Event Organizers: Businesses or individuals organizing events, workshops, or conferences can use Amelia for event booking and attendee management. The plugin allows for a streamlined process of handling registrations and ensuring smooth event logistics.
• Fitness and Wellness Centers: Gyms, fitness studios, yoga centers, and wellness facilities can utilize Amelia to manage class schedules, personal training sessions, and other fitness-related appointments. It helps in optimizing resource scheduling for trainers and instructors.
• Photographers and Studios: Photographers and photography studios can use Amelia to schedule photo sessions, studio rentals, and other photography services. The plugin’s customization options allow for tailoring the booking process to specific photography packages.
• Web Developers and Agencies: Amelia is an excellent choice for web developers and agencies looking to provide effective and customizable booking solutions for their clients.

Visit Amelia’s demo page to take this booking plugin for a test ride and see for yourself why Amelia is the best Bookly alternative!

WooCommerce Bookings

Main features of this plugin:

• Email notifications and reminders
• Syncs with Google Calendar

• Can add WooCommerce integrations
• Add payments
• Customize pricing

• Offer special promotions or weekend rates
• Customize booking time

Who should use this Bookly alternative?

This plugin for WordPress sites provides a convenient way for clients and owners to manage schedules. It is great for those who want to show available and unavailable times.

It also allows WordPress users to put buffer times between appointments. Users can let customers make payments and customize the pricing options.

What makes this plugin great?

This plugin is developed by WooCommerce. So it integrates well with other WooCommerce plugins.

It also allows users to include different payment options.

Webba Booking

Main features:

• Fully customizable booking form
• 79 presets to help users set it up
• Users can add custom fields on the booking form

• Integrates with Google Calendar
• Sends notifications

• Supports online payments
• Supports CSV exports

Who should use this online booking system?

This is a great plugin for those who want to send reminder notifications. It is also a good option for those who want their clients to pay online through PayPal.

The CSV export allows users to print out appointments.

What makes this Bookly alternative great?

This Bookly alternative is great because it includes 79 presets to allow for an easy and smooth setup.

Booking Calendar

Main features:

• Quick set up
• Flexible time slots
• Different date formats
• Customizable calendar legend

• Customizable cost
• Advanced hourly booking
• Integrates with Google Calendar

Who should use this plugin?

Booking Calendar is full of features that facilitate booking appointments.

It is best for those who want the setup to be very simple. It is also good for those who want every aspect to be customizable.

What makes this WordPress plugin great?

This plugin is great because it offers a great customer experience and is extremely flexible. It is feature-rich, comes with a handy tool kit, and has quick access to many settings.

Hotel Booking

Main features:

• Seasonal management
• Customizable pricing

• Supports payment processors
• Syncs reservations through the site with popular travel channels via iCal

Who should use this plugin?

This booking plugin is ideal for hotels, vacation rentals, villas, hostels, apartments, guest houses, and bed and breakfasts.

What makes this plugin great?

Hotel Booking is a fully functional plugin. It offers many tools to help businesses that make reservations.

The plugin helps manage all properties and creates beautiful listings for them. It syncs reservations with travel channels.

Booqable

Main features:

• Request quotes
• Embed products
• Mobile friendly
• Controls rental properties
• Real-time availability
• Advanced pricing

• Built-in payments
• Customizable design
• Works with every WordPress theme

Who should use this booking plugin?

This Bookly alternative helps users manage rental properties. It provides everything a person needs to manage and make reservations for their properties.

What makes this plugin great?

Booqable is free when users sign up for Booqable’s rental software. It has many features to help with rentals.

It is easy to install and works right away after installation.

Vik Appointments

Main features:

• Supports multiple employees
• Add time slots
• Displays pricing options

• Option for event capacity
• Service and employee availability

Who should use this booking plugin?

Anyone can use this Bookly Pro alternative plugin. It is best for those who need to create, schedule, and manage appointments.

It tailors to various businesses.

What makes this plugin great?

Vik Appointments provides a powerful solution to all scheduling needs. It allows clients to book appointments with ease for any business.

Booki

Main features:

• Create unlimited booking projects
• View project stats
• View booking summaries
• Offers single day-booking, multiple-day, or time-slot bookings

• Supports PayPal Express

Who should use this plugin?

Small businesses like salons, fitness coaches, etc., can use this plugin. It helps small businesses that provide services to manage and schedule appointments.

What makes this alternative to Bookly great?

Apart from the features mentioned above, this plugin allows users to send invoices. Clients receive these invoices via email to make offline payments.

Appointment Booking Calendar

Main features:

• Different time slots
• Email notifications to confirm appointments
• Google Drive exports
• Ability to print booking lists
• Captchas

Who should use this plugin?

This plugin is great for various fields. This includes, but is not limited to, medical consultations, education, events, and transportation.

What makes this plugin great?

This plugin has a free version and a premium version. The free version has many useful features.

If users want to offer online payment options to their clients, they need to go with the premium version.

Booking Calendar by WpDevArt

Main features:

• Manages both appointments and reservations
• Stores information in the WordPress database

• Tailors to many businesses

Who should use this Bookly alternative?

A wide range of businesses can use this plugin. It is easy to install and use and it comes with a lot of features.

It is a very popular booking plugin with over 40,000 installs.

What makes this plugin great?

This is a multipurpose plugin. The premium version has everything needed to manage online bookings and reservations.

It stores booking information in the WordPress database. This means that users do not need a third-party account.

Bookme

Main features:

• Multipurpose
• Different prices
• Customizable fields

• Many booking types like group bookings, add to cart, consultant, free, default, and WooCommerce booking
• Sends SMS notifications via Twilio API

• Multiple payment processors such as PayPal and Stripe

Who should use this booking system?

This booking system is flexible and is for use by various business types. This includes beauty salons, fitness centers, medical centers, and educational institutions.

What makes this plugin great?

The customizable fields and features make it a great alternative to Bookly.

Ozapp (formerly known as Book an Appointment Online Pro)

Main features:

• Google Maps integration
• Sign up forms

• Automated email notifications to confirm appointments
• 10 different booking modules

• Displays available time slots
• Integrates with WooCommerce payment gateways

Who should use this booking form?

This booking form is great for anyone who needs to have all their appointments in one place. It is also a good option for those who need to prevent overbooking and double bookings.

What makes this plugin great?

It integrates with WooCommerce to give users several payment gateways. These gateways include PayPal, Stripe, 2checkout, and more.

It also displays services in ten different ways. This provides customers with different booking options.

WP Simple Booking Calendar

Main features:

• Simple
• Flexible

• Shows availability of rental items
• Free

Who should use this WordPress booking plugin?

This WordPress booking plugin shows the availability of homes, apartments, offices, bed and breakfasts, or equipment for rent.

What makes this plugin great?

This is a simple but flexible plugin, which makes it a great choice for those looking for a straightforward alternative to Bookly.

It allows users to create booking calendars. These calendars show the availability and booking details.

Users can use shortcodes or widgets to embed the calendar on a webpage or post.

BirchPress

Main features:

• Built-in form editor
• Shortcodes
• Integrates with Google Calendar

• Integrates with iCal
• Customized emails

Who should use this plugin?

BirchPress is a plugin that suits the needs of various businesses. It allows them to schedule appointments and accept online payments.

It also sends notification emails. The emails can be customized for reminders, notifications, cancellations, or changes.

This feature facilitates the booking process. It also prevents users from having to use a different email marketing service.

What makes this plugin great?

This plugin has a built-in editor that allows users to customize WordPress booking forms with ease. It also uses shortcodes to embed the booking form and calendar into a webpage or a post.

It integrates with online calendars allowing users to view and manage their schedules.

Calendarize it! for WordPress

Main features:

• WPBakery Page Builder
• Event tickets with WooCommerce integration
• Eventbrite tickets
• External event sources
• Payment options

• RSVP events

Who should use this plugin?

This plugin is for those who need a WordPress booking system that is easy to edit, with lots of features to suit various needs.

What makes this plugin great?

This plugin comes with a Visual Composer editor. It includes many features and add-ons so that users can tailor it to their specific needs.

It is a popular plugin with over 11,000 installs.

WordPress Hotel Booking plugin by MotoPress

Main features:

• Integrates with any WordPress theme
• Suitable for hotels and vacation rentals

• Manages all booking information in one spot

Who should use this appointment plugin?

This Bookly alternative is perfect for hoteliers and vacation rental homes.

What makes this plugin great?

This appointment plugin is great because it manages every detail of rental properties or hotels. It includes the description, amenities, images, and more.

It keeps all the listing content, bookings, billing data, and client information in the same place.

Booknetic

Main features:

• Fully automates the booking process
• Customizable
• Add booking steps

• Add bookings to employee calendars
• Live form builder
• Add locations

• Customize the design
• Change the color scheme
• Responsive

Who should use Booknetic?

This plugin works well for any business. Especially those that want to completely automate and customize the booking process.

It is a premium plugin with a modern and responsive design.

What makes this a great plugin?

This is a good plugin because it has many options to tailor the booking forms to the needs of the business. It also has a live form builder so customizing the forms is easy.

However, if Booknetic is not the right choice for you, take a look at some of the best Booknetic alternatives out there.

Start Booking

Main features:

• Integrates with Google Calendar
• Starts by allowing visitors to view and book a service on a bookable calendar
• Prompts visitors to select a date and time

• The checkout flow collects the necessary information
• The information is stored within the booking system

Who should use this plugin?

This plugin works for any business that wants a seamless booking experience. It lets clients book 24/7.

What makes it a great plugin?

This plugin offers a bookable calendar, checkout flow, and integration with Google Calendar. These features provide a great booking experience for clients and owners alike.

Tips for Choosing the Best Bookly Alternative for Your Needs

There are numerous WordPress plugin alternatives to Bookly available that automate the appointment scheduling process. However, not all of these booking plugins have the same features.

To pick the best Bookly alternative for you, first, analyze the needs of the business. Then, look through the options below and pick out the one that fulfills your requirements.

When looking for a perfect booking plugin, look out for these features:

• Simple, straightforward, and easy to use
• Falls within the budget
• Offers great customer support
• Supports recurring appointments
• Integrates with payment gateways
• Integrates with online calendars
• Sends automated notifications to remind and confirm appointments
• Generates reading reports

Wrapping Up

Each option we’ve discussed brings something valuable to the table. They offer various features to suit different business needs, making them all solid alternatives to Bookly.

Among these options, one shines a bit brighter – Amelia. It’s user-friendly, has powerful tools, and covers a broad range of services like handling packages, resource scheduling, and more. If you’re looking for a straightforward and versatile solution, Amelia stands out as the the very best Bookly alternative on our list.

Remember, the “best” choice depends on what fits your business like a glove. Whether you go for simplicity, customization, or special features, make sure it aligns with what your business truly needs. Keep an eye on updates and user reviews to stay in the loop on the latest and greatest in the digital toolbox for your business.

FAQs About Bookly

How do I use Bookly in WordPress?

First, you install the plugin. Then, go to the Bookly menu from the WordPress dashboard and start customizing the booking experience for your users.

What is the difference between Bookly and Bookly Pro?

For starters, the price. Bookly is free, while Bookly Pro starts at $89 if you don’t consider any addons that you’d need for your website. Then, in the premium version, there’s a multitude of features that aren’t limited anymore, like they are in the free version.

What is included in Bookly Pro?

Not enough. If the Pro version were a solid plugin, it wouldn’t need so many add-ons that make you spend hundreds for various functionality. Amelia, for example, has everything for one fixed fee. No extra charges.

How much is Bookly Pro?

$89. And that’s just the standard fee from which you’re starting. If you want PayPal and Stripe payments, that’s $58 more. SMS reminders? Another $10 fee. And there are countless other addons that you need to pay for which are free within the Amelia plugin price.

Author Jovana Smoljanovic Tucakov

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