Booking appointments is the bloodline of many businesses. Streamlining the booking process helps a business grow. When a business provides a smooth way for prospective clients to book appointments it generates more leads. Having a good appointment booking system also increases revenue and encourages customer loyalty.
There are many WordPress booking plugins that optimize the booking process. Having a booking calendar software not only delights customers but also lightens the load of employees. Those who need booking software often look to the Booked WordPress plugin. However, there are many alternatives that are worth consideration.
It is important to investigate the different WordPress booking plugins available to find the one that suits you best. This article discusses booking plugins that were voted the best alternatives to the Booked WordPress plugin.
What to Look for in a WordPress Booking Plugin
A WordPress booking plugin should make scheduling appointments more efficient. To accomplish that a booking plugin needs certain elements. Here are some things to look for in such a plugin:
Customizable
An appointment calendar should be customizable to suit the needs of any business. Whether a business has multiple employees, locations, or services a booking plugin should manage it all.
A booking form that shows available times
One advantage to online booking software is that prospective clients can see the times a service is available. Then they can choose what time fits their schedule best. A booking form should accept the time the client requests.
Responsive
Another aspect that an appointment calendar should have is a mobile responsive design. More and more people use mobile phones or tablets instead of computers. So to appeal to more clients, an appointment booking plugin should be optimized for mobile devices.
Google Calendar or the like
An important aspect of an appointment booking plugin is that it saves appointments in a database. It can save the appointment in the WordPress database but it is even better if it saves it to a calendar application. If a booking plugin syncs to Google Calendar or something similar, employees and clients will have appointment information at their fingertips. This allows both the employee and the client to manage their schedules with ease. It also helps them not to forget about the appointment.
Notifications
A WordPress booking plugin should also send notifications. Notifications either by SMS or email help reduce no-shows and latecomers.
Those are the most important aspects to look for in a WordPress booking plugin. With that in mind, look at the following plugins that are good alternatives to the Booked WordPress plugin.
Why you would look for an alternative to the Booked plugin
Basically, because of reviews like these:
And there are lots of others on their CodeCanyon reviews page.
Alternative Booking Plugins You Could Use
Amelia
Amelia is the best 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.
You can even have email notifications and SMS notifications so that nobody forgets about their appointment bookings.
In order to schedule appointments, the complete user interaction takes a few clicks with this WordPress plugin. Moreover, with it you can accept payments via PayPal and Stripe, perfect for those who want to pay in advance to book appointments.
As a business owner, you can monitor KPIs in the WordPress dashboard and analyze other important data to keep a pulse on your business. 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.
Amelia also has an Events Calendar module integrated within its features.
You can now automate your event bookings as well. To be more precise, it means that you will be able to schedule a single day, a multi-day, and also recurring events with Amelia.
Did we mention that you can manage multiple locations and that you have Google Calendar integration?
All of these and much more are under only one license, no add-ons are needed.
To test things for yourself, I’d suggest checking out the demos and seeing how things look on the front end as well as in the back end.
Medical/Health online booking page demo
A website of a demo private clinic, where a visitor can read about provided medical procedures and services, and schedule an appointment.
Barbershop booking page demo
A dummy WordPress website for Barbershops with online booking – a nice and easy implementation with the Bridge theme and the Amelia WordPress booking plugin.
Fitness Gym / Yoga booking page demo
A pseudo Yoga/Gym online booking page where you can browse through possible Yoga classes, schedule individual or group training, and book a package of appointments.
Spa/salon booking page demo
A dummy cosmetology website – look through different cosmetic procedures and treatments, pick an employee and schedule appointments.
Consultant booking page demo
A pseudo Business Consultant / Coach / Lawyer website, where a customer can browse through provided consultancy and lawyer services and book an appointment.
Hands down, this is the one you should pick from this list. Yet, you can check out the other options as well to see for yourselves why Amelia is #1.
Easy Appointments
Easy Appointments is a WordPress booking plugin that manages appointments with ease. This WordPress plugin supports businesses such as:
- lawyers
- cleaning services
- beauty salons
- doctors
- personal trainers and more.
Easy Appointments has a flexible timetable with advanced options. It supports the option to send notification emails to confirm appointments. It also includes options to personalize the emails to convey various booking statuses.
Other useful features that this WordPress plugin includes are:
- labels
- pricing options
- custom forms
- custom fields
- custom builder
- local dates
WordPress Appointment Booking by MotoPress
The next alternative to the Booked WordPress plugin is this one by MotoPress. It comes with several useful and beneficial features, one of which is it enables users to add custom time slots. It also has the option of buffer times before and after appointments to allow for travel or a break. It allows users to build employee profiles. These profiles display the employee’s available times, break times, days off, and more.
The calendar displays all necessary information about the appointments. It displays the service, employee, time, and more. The design of this booking system is easy to use and allows owners to edit it with ease in the backend. It also has a simple front-end display that allows visitors to understand it.
BookIt
BookIt is another handy and modern booking plugin. It is user-friendly and makes booking appointments quick and easy for clients. It has a clean, sleek, and advanced interface. Clients can navigate its features quickly. It has a convenient and easy-to-understand booking calendar. Employees can blackout times and dates that they are not available. Then clients can choose a suitable time.
One very useful feature is that customers can book and pay for the appointment from the booking form. They can pay through PayPal, Stripe, credit cards, or wire transfer. It can also integrate with WooCommerce.
Appointment Hour Booking
The great advantage of the Appointment Hour Booking plugin is that it is free. It is a versatile plugin that suits all kinds of businesses. It allows users to create appointment booking forms with set start times and duration times.
It integrates with both Apple and Google Calendar. This allows both employees and clients to manage their schedules at their fingertips. Another benefit to this scheduling plugin is that it integrates with several email marketing automation tools. This allows users to send updated emails. They can reveal new developments and keep clients engaged.
BookingWP
BookingWP is optimized to work with every WordPress theme. So users do not have to deal with any compatibility issues. The many flexible options of this plugin give clients and owners full control over the booking process. Some flexible options include:
- create custom fields
- has different calendars for different staff members
- offers scheduling availability options such as time off, vacation days, and more
- online payment options
- email confirmation notifications
- email reminder notifications
- appointment canceling options
- multiple day appointments
- supports shortcodes
and more.
Gravity Forms
Gravity Forms is a powerful WordPress booking plugin. Some important features that it offers include built-in notifications. Users can send confirmation and reminder notifications. Gravity Forms integrates and also has many add-ons for payment platforms. Clients can book and pay for an appointment through Stripe or PayPal. The best part is that it has a drag and drop interface. This allows users to easily and completely customize the booking form.
HubSpot WordPress Plugin
The HubSpot WordPress plugin is a very practical plugin. It provides the best booking tools to grow a business. Like other plugins, this one offers reminder, confirmation, and follow-up notifications. It sends out automated emails every time someone fills out the booking form or sends a message.
What makes this plugin stand out is that it includes live chat and chatbots. The chatbot called HubBot collects information from visitors to facilitate the booking process. The chatbot works 24/7 so that the company never loses out on an appointment. There are several tools like Deskmoz which uses a blend of AI and chat agents from where businesses outsource live chat services.
More features that this plugin includes are a drag and drop form builder interface. This allows users to create customized booking forms. It also integrates with CRMs and offers built-in automation marketing tools.
Bookly
The Bookly WordPress plugin is one of the most popular WordPress booking plugins out there. It is a customizable plugin that makes scheduling appointments hassle-free. It has a free and premium version.
Bookly is easy to download and install. It does not require much technical knowledge to install it. It sends out reminder notifications to both clients and employees. This is so neither one forgets about an appointment. Customers can book and pay for the appointment in seconds because it includes online payments.
Hotel Booking Lite
Hotel Booking Lite is an appointment plugin made specifically for hotels and vacation rentals. It includes searchable forms and booking calendars. This allows guests to find the accommodations they need in a few clicks.
This free plugin presents:
- Unlimited number of accommodations
- Unlimited number of services
- Detailed property listing with amenities and photos
- Accepts online reservations
- Synchronizes bookings across online travel platforms like Airbnb and TripAdvisor
- Offers customized and searchable booking forms, including locations, types, price ranges, and number of guests
Salon Booking System
The Salon Booking System was designed with beauty and wellness salons in mind. However, it is a flexible booking system so other businesses, like repair shops and sporting facilities, can use it as well. This plugin has many key features that make it a viable solution to appointment booking needs. To start, it has a front-end appointment calendar. It also includes two-way synchronization with Google Calendar. This makes it so that an updated schedule is always available on any platform.
This plugin also includes follow-up notifications via Whatsapp, email, or text messaging. It integrates with online payment platforms like PayPal and Stripe. It also provides the option for customer feedback so your business can improve.
Calendarista
Continuing the list of alternatives to the Booked WordPress plugin is Calendarista. This is another of the many comprehensive booking plugins that facilitate the booking process. It can be used for various businesses including hotels, salons, consulting practices, and more. Some of its key features are:
- WooCommerce integration
- Three online payment gateways
- A form builder
- Backend calendar view
- Google Maps
- Export to CSV
Booknetic
Using Booknetic starts with building customized forms. The form builder provides several options to create a booking form. Users can customize the overall design, color scheme, booking steps, and fields. Fields include services, staff members, locations, availability, extras, and more. This allows users to create a booking form that tailors perfectly to their business and website.
Booknetic integrates with online payment platforms so clients can pay or make deposits before the appointment. It also integrates with WooCommerce to add more payment options to the booking calendar.
Online Booking & Scheduling Calendar for WordPress
This plugin is free and works well with any size business to provide a 24/7 booking system. On the front end, clients can book one-on-one, group, or class appointments. They can schedule either in-person or online appointments via Zoom. They can also make online payments through PayPal, Stripe, or Square.
On the backend, users can create customized booking forms. They can also assign different staff members different permissions. They can configure email and text notifications. They can also manage their schedules, clients, and team members from one dashboard.
The features that set this booking system apart are the built-in messaging and callback function. It also syncs with the vCita Mobile App which notifies users about new booking requests in an instant. Users can also send reminder notifications from the mobile app. It also allows users to send files and messages to clients before meeting them.
Pinpoint Booking System Pro
This plugin displays a booking calendar so clients can see the appointment availability and pinpoint a time that works best for them. It includes many beneficial features that other booking plugins do not have. They are:
- Users can create an unlimited number of booking calendars
- Users can create a number of promo items available each day
- Users can set different prices
- Users can set a different status for each item
- Supports multiple languages
- Integrates with WooCommerce
- Supports multiple currencies
- Supports adding taxes and fees
Team Booking
As the name describes, this plugin was made for multiple team members. Other plugins also support this feature but this plugin was specially made to make booking easier with companies that have more than one employee. It emphasizes collaborative booking so that staff can plan their availability. It uses Google Calendar to sync and update the available and booked appointments. Clients can see on the booking calendar what time slots are and are not available. When a client books an appointment, Google Calendar automatically marks that time slot as unavailable.
Easy!Appointments
This booking calendar plugin is a powerful yet easy tool for scheduling appointments. It uses shortcodes to embed a booking calendar and form into a WordPress site, post, or page. It is available in more than 21 languages, is mobile optimized, and syncs to Google Calendar. Users can set available days and hours and send out notifications for when changes are made.
Booking Calendar Contact Form
Booking Calendar Contact Form is available as a premium plugin or a free plugin. But the free version has limited features. This appointment booking system allows users to create traditional contact and booking forms. The booking form can include a reservation calendar and an online PayPal payment button. Visitors can select start and end dates for things like reservations.
Other features that this booking system include are:
- Anti-spam CAPTCHA built in to the booking form
- Customizable notifications either by email or SMS text message
- Supports partial-day, full-day, or week-long appointments
- Has season management options
- Fully responsive and mobile device optimized
- Customizable validation messages
WP Simple Booking Calendar
This next alternative to the Booked WordPress plugin is a very simple and straightforward booking system. It only allows clients to book full-day events and does not provide hourly time slots. It is suitable for basic reservations for rooms or other full-day events. It is also simple because users can create a calendar and then use shortcodes to insert it into posts and pages.
CM Booking Calendar
Last but not least, the CM Booking Calendar is also on the list of alternatives for the Booked WordPress plugin. It allows clients to book with ease on a business’s website. The many features allow it to work for various types of businesses. Clients can view the booking calendar and book an appointment for an available time slot. Or they have the option to request an appointment at the leisure of the company. Clients can also book individual appointments or group appointments. Users can customize the fields of the booking form to tailor it to their needs. This plugin is perfect for busy businesses with schedules that are constantly changing.
Ending thoughts on alternatives to the booked WordPress plugin
There is no shortage of appointment plugins. There are so many that the choice can be overwhelming. Hopefully, this guide on alternative appointment booking systems to the Booked WordPress plugin will help you decide which one to use.
Remember that the best appointment booking plugins are the ones that:
- show available time slots
- use Google Calendar or similar to synchronize schedules
- are responsive
- send out notifications
The above booking plugins are customizable so they can be tailored to suit your needs. Look them over and decide which one has the features that will appeal to your clients the most and help your business grow.
If you enjoyed reading this article with alternatives to the Booked WordPress plugin, you should check out this one about appointment booking apps.
We also wrote about a few related subjects like alternatives to the Team Booking plugin, photography booking apps, best appointment scheduling software, best group scheduling apps, top appointment reminder apps, and how to avoid double booking appointments.