Up until now, online appointment scheduling was primarily available through hosted SaaS solutions, like MindBody, Appointlet, Setmore, Acuity and Appointy (probably many others as well). These solutions work great and if you don’t mind giving away control over your customer data, emails and paying a recurring monthly fee (which might go up over time), we recommend you to go for it. However, if you want to have Appointments fully integrated into your WordPress website, you should use a proper native WordPress plugin that works on your server. You will have more control over your customer data, will be able to adapt booking form styling with your site’s design and integrate any external payment systems or service.
Here is a list of 5 best WordPress appointment booking plugins:
1. WooCommerce Appointments
Probably a bit biased, since we developed it, but we strongly feel it is the best WordPress appointment booking plugin you can currently buy. It has 2-way Google Calendar synchronization, amazing availability filters and dedicated staff management.
2. WooCommerce Bookings
Plugin allows you to offer bookings for vast variety of services, including rentals. It is not focused on appointments only and is thus very flexible and offers a lot of availability rules, cost management and display options.
3. Bookly
Plugin is fast, touch optimized and has a clear booking process. Though not a native WooCommerce extension, it still integrates with it as well as with Google Calendar. Design is simple and easy to use.
4. BirchPress
BirchPress Scheduler plugin was designed for small businesses that want to accept bookings on their site. It is integrated with WooCommerce and Google Calendar, but doesn’t offer native WooCommerce support.
5. Appointments+
This plugin has been on the market for some time now and is thus highly ranked in WordPress directory. It is a powerful, flexible and feature-rich plugin that allows you to accept, set and manage your bookings on your site.
Comparison table
| Features | WooCommerce Appointments | WooCommerce Bookings | Bookly | BirchPress | Appointments+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Native WooCommerce | Enabled | Enabled | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Appointments Focused | Enabled | Not available | Enabled | Enabled | Not available |
| Quick Setup | Enabled | Not available | Not available | Not available | Enabled |
| Included Add-ons | Enabled | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| 2-way Google Calendar sync | Enabled | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Staff Management | Enabled | Not available | Enabled | Enabled | Enabled |
| Flexible availability rules | Enabled | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Flexible global availability | Enabled | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Charge for Service Delivery | Enabled | Enabled | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Scheduling window, Lead time | Enabled | Enabled | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Padding time | Enabled | Not available | Enabled | Enabled | Not available |
| Confirmation / Cancellation | Enabled | Enabled | Not available | Not available | Enabled |
| Multilingual Compatibility | Enabled | Enabled | Enabled | Enabled | Enabled |
| Developer Friendly | Enabled | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| White Label | Enabled | Not available | Not available | Enabled | Not available |
| WC Memberships integration | Enabled | Enabled | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| WC Follow Up Emails integration | Enabled | Enabled | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| WC Gravity Forms integration | Enabled | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| WC Deposits integration | Enabled | Enabled | Not available | Not available | Not available |
Conclusion
WordPress appointment booking is clearly on a rise and if you want to offer appointment booking on your site, it should be a no-brainer to choose a native WordPress plugin for the job. We offered a curated list of best appointment booking plugin, so you can decide for yourself, which one will work best for you.
Daryle Rico says
I’ve checked out most of these, and for my money, WooCommerce Appointments reigns supreme. The set up is super easy, the tech support is extremely responsive, and I just love the way the theme functions on my site. If you have a client or a website that requires a Booking function, I highly recommend WooCommerce Appointments.
Zeljan Topic says
Thanks for the kind words. We’ll make sure to not disappoint you, Daryle.