Appointly vs Event Genius – Event Management, Events Calendar, Registration, and RSVP

For service businesses that can’t sell flat-rate. Where every appointment needs a custom quote before it becomes a booking. Appointly is a quote-based booking system for WordPress that puts you back in the loop. Instead of automatic scheduling and fixed prices, customers submit booking inquiries, you review each one, send a personalized quote (with or without pricing), and the customer accepts or declines. Every booking is deliberate, every price is yours to set, every customer gets a personal touch. Perfect for lawyers, consultants, tradespeople, event planners, hair & beauty salons, tattoo artists, photographers, yoga and fitness studios, tutors, and any service business that quotes before it confirms. Why Appointly? Most booking plugins force automatic scheduling with fixed prices. Appointly is different: Customer picks a date or time slot and submits an inquiry You review the request in the admin dashboard You send a personalized quote with a price and personal note Customer accepts or declines via a link in the email Booking confirmed, everyone gets notified This quote workflow gives you the flexibility to adjust pricing per request, check availability manually, and add a personal touch before confirming any booking. Exactly what service businesses with variable pricing need. Features: Booking Calendar: Beautiful, responsive appointment calendar with real-time availability. Day-mode (whole-day) and timeslot mode (customer picks a time slot of configurable length within a daily window) Unlimited Services: Create as many services as you need, with title, description, image, and base price Personal Offer Workflow: Review every inquiry and send customised offers with automatic email delivery and one-click Accept / Decline links SMTP Email Delivery: Reliable email delivery with presets for Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, iCloud, IONOS, Strato, World4You, Host Europe, ALL-INKL, Hetzner, and more Default Email Templates: Five polished HTML email templates (inquiry, admin notification, offer, confirmation, cancellation) with light and dark modes, fully translatable Dark Mode: Calendar automatically adapts to the visitor’s colour scheme Accessibility: WCAG AA compliant with keyboard navigation Gutenberg Block & Shortcodes: Add the calendar via block editor or shortcode Setup Wizard: Guided onboarding in four steps GDPR Ready: Consent checkbox on the booking form, personal data exporter and eraser integration, encrypted SMTP credentials Multilingual: Full i18n support. German translation included (de_DE, de_DE_formal, de_AT, de_CH, de_CH_informal) Appointly Pro: Appointly Pro is a separate companion plugin that extends Appointly with professional booking features. It is sold on https://appointly.tscholene.com for €2.99 per month and is NOT distributed through the WordPress.org Plugin Directory. The free plugin remains fully functional without Pro. Pro is an opt-in upgrade, not a lock on existing features. Currently shipped in Appointly Pro: Custom Branding: Primary colour, accent colour, and logo applied across the frontend booking form and all customer emails. Custom Email Template Editor: Live preview editor for all 10 customer-facing and admin notification templates with placeholder picker. Custom Service Fields: Build your own booking form per service with text, textarea, number, select, and checkbox fields. Validation rules, drag-and-drop reordering, conditional rendering. Service Addons & Upsells: Offer extras with configurable pricing, quantity, and per-service availability. Per-line pricing in offer and confirmation emails. Recurring Bookings: Automatic re-booking for weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly sessions. Ideal for yoga teachers, therapists, coaches, and anyone running regular appointments. Direct Booking (Auto-Confirm): Per-service auto-confirm for fixed-price services. Customers book instantly without admin approval. Configurable lead-time and cancellation window. Blocked Dates: Block individual dates globally or per service, plus date-range blocks (“block December 20 to January 3”). Customer Self-Cancel: Secure email-link cancellation for direct-booking services. No admin contact needed. Planned for upcoming Pro releases (no timeline commitment): Booking Reminders: Automatic reminder emails sent before each appointment, plus an optional daily admin digest. Multi-day Bookings: Date-range bookings for multi-day events, workshops, retreats, and courses. Group Bookings: Multiple seats per time slot for classes and small-group events. Customer Self-Service Reschedule: Token-authenticated reschedule on top of the existing self-cancel flow. Cancellation Policies: Rule-based cutoff times and fees per service. Per-weekday Slot Schedules: Different availability windows per weekday (e.g. Mon/Wed/Fri morning + afternoon, Tue/Thu only afternoons) on top of the basic timeslot mode shipped in Appointly 2.1.0. iCal Feed: Subscribe to bookings in Google Calendar / Apple Calendar / Outlook. Deposit Collection via Stripe (using your own Stripe keys, no middleman). Learn more at https://appointly.tscholene.com Shortcodes & Block: Gutenberg Block: Search “Booking Calendar” in the block editor [appointly_calendar]: Display the booking calendar [appointly_calendar service="2"]: Calendar for a specific service [appointly_form service="2"]: Standalone booking form External services Appointly loads Google Fonts on the WordPress admin pages so the admin UI can render with the Appointly brand typography (Instrument Serif for hero headings, Plus Jakarta Sans for body text, DM Mono for data labels). This is the only external service that the free plugin connects to. Service: Google Fonts (https://fonts.google.com) Purpose: Loading three web font families so the admin SPA renders with the Appointly brand typography Data sent: Your browser’s IP address and User-Agent are sent to fonts.googleapis.com and fonts.gstatic.com when an admin user opens any Appointly admin page. No booking, customer, or plugin-specific data is transmitted. When: Only when an authenticated WordPress administrator opens an Appointly admin page. Fonts are never loaded on customer-facing booking pages, iCal feed requests, or REST API calls. Terms of use: https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq#what_does_using_the_google_fonts_api_mean_for_the_privacy_of_my_users Privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy If you prefer to block Google Fonts entirely (for example in a privacy-hardened admin environment), the admin UI degrades gracefully to a system font stack (system-ui / BlinkMacSystemFont / Segoe UI / ui-serif / Menlo) and remains fully functional. No other external services are contacted by the free plugin. Appointly does not call any payment providers (Stripe, PayPal), analytics services, license servers, or telemetry endpoints. Appointly Pro, the separate companion plugin sold on https://appointly.tscholene.com, will, when installed, connect to appointly.tscholene.com for license validation (once per day) and plugin update checks. That connection is a feature of the Pro plugin and does not affect this free plugin. Appointly Pro ships with its own readme, privacy disclosures, and external-services documentation. The free plugin on this page does not make any requests to appointly.tscholene.com at runtime. Build Instructions The admin dashboard and the Gutenberg block are pre-built with @wordpress/scripts (webpack) and ship as the compiled admin/build/ and blocks/build/ artefacts. To inspect or rebuild from source, clone the repository at https://github.com/jolenelederer/appointly (uncompiled admin/src/ + blocks/src/ are not shipped in the WP.org distribution since 2.1.0. They are dev-only). Source rebuild: cd admin && npm install && npm run build cd blocks && npm install && npm run build The public frontend calendar (public/js/appointly-calendar.js) and stylesheet (public/css/appointly-calendar.css) are not compiled: they are vanilla JavaScript and CSS, human-readable as-is.

Complete WordPress Event Management & Registration Solution Event Genius is a powerful yet easy-to-use free event registration plugin designed for schools, sports organizations, pickleball clubs, membership sites, fitness classes, conferences, and any business needing comprehensive event registration capabilities. Whether you need a simple RSVP form, virtual event registration, hybrid event management, or a full-featured event registration system, Event Genius makes event planning effortless. Event Genius is a modern WordPress event management plugin built by an experienced team with a deep understanding of what event organizers need. It offers a streamlined alternative to plugins like The Events Calendar and Events Manager, with a focus on flexibility, performance, and ease of use. Our goal is to provide a robust and intuitive event management experience that works out of the box while still offering the flexibility to grow with your needs. If you need help, our team is here to support you. Migrate from The Events Calendar in minutes Automatically import events, recurring events, registrations, venues, organizers, categories, tags, and more from supported versions of The Events Calendar ecosystem. Your existing calendar remains active while you review imported events before switching. Event Management Features Unlimited Events & Event Registrations No limits on how many events you can create or attendees you can manage through our event registration and ticketing system. Perfect for creating event lists or an interactive calendar where your visitors can register for events. Built-In Migration Wizard Import events, recurring events, registrations, venues, organizers, Event Tickets attendees, categories, tags, and settings from supported versions of The Events Calendar while keeping your existing calendar active. Event Details Control Set custom start and end dates, assign venues and organizers to an event, set a cost, set a registration capacity, add images and descriptions for each event. Virtual & Hybrid Events Create in-person, virtual, or hybrid events from the same event editor. Add Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Webex, or other meeting links, include virtual instructions, and automatically protect join links until attendees register. Confirmation emails and calendar downloads include virtual event details for registered attendees. Multiple Event Calendar Views Choose from list, month, and grid views for displaying your events in an organized event calendar format. Allow visitors to toggle between the views and filter based on venue, category, and search terms. Google Calendar & iCal Event Sync Allow users to add your events to their personal calendars with a few clicks, which will significantly increase your event attendance. Dedicated Venue and Organizer Pages Create individual pages for venues and organizers with detailed information and lists of related events. Show social proof that the venues and organizers of your events will create meaningful experiences. Event Registration Form Builder Create custom event registration form solutions with drag-and-drop ease, adding fields like text inputs, dropdowns, and checkboxes. Make fields required, add a terms and conditions acknowledgement, and prevent duplicate registrations. Create event registration forms exactly as you need them. Accept RSVP submissions and allow users to access tickets. Flexible Registration Display Registration forms automatically appear on event pages, or use blocks and shortcodes to place them anywhere on your website. Attendee List Management Display attendee lists on event pages or use dedicated blocks and shortcodes for flexible placement. Automated Event Emails Send confirmation emails to attendees and notifications to event organizers automatically. Customizable Email Templates Customize both attendee confirmation emails and organizer notification emails with your own branding and messaging. Event Registration Controls Set registration start/end times, event capacity limits, or disable registration entirely while keeping event information visible. Self-Cancellation System Attendees can cancel their registration or RSVP through secure email links for better event management. Event Management Admin Tools Add, edit, delete events, export event reports, and manage event attendees from your WordPress dashboard. CSV Export Functionality Export all event registrations to CSV format for easy data analysis and management. Free Recurring Events Support Create daily, weekly, or monthly repeating events for ongoing event management needs. Free recurring events support is included in Event Genius. Advanced SEO for Recurring Events Prevent duplicate content penalties with automatic canonical URLs, smart sitemap filtering, and 301 redirects for invalid instances. Each recurring event instance gets its own unique URL optimized for search engines. Learn more about recurring events SEO. Why Choose Our WordPress Event Management Plugin? Fast & Lightweight Event Calendar – Optimized for performance, even on high-traffic websites. Mobile-Friendly Event Registration – Fully responsive event forms and event calendar for seamless experience on all devices. Virtual Event Ready – Easily manage webinars, online classes, hybrid conferences, virtual meetings, and live training sessions with protected meeting links and built-in registration. Block Theme & Full Site Editing Support – Complete compatibility with WordPress block themes and full site editing (FSE). Design custom event pages, organizer pages, and venue pages using the Site Editor without any custom code. Perfect for block themes like Twenty Twenty-Four. SEO-Optimized Event Pages – Advanced SEO features for recurring events including unique canonical URLs, automatic redirects for invalid instances, and smart sitemap filtering. Compatible with Yoast SEO, Rank Math, and other popular SEO plugins. WordPress Caching Plugin Compatible – Built-in support for WP Super Cache, W3 Total Cache, WP Rocket, and LiteSpeed Cache. Automatically clears cache and refreshes dynamic content to ensure accurate registration information on cached pages. Flexible Registration Confirmation – Choose when registrations are confirmed and when the confirmation email is sent: automatically after registration or manual review only, with a one-click Send Confirmation Email from the registration in the admin. Regular Event Management Updates & Dedicated Support – We want to provide the best possible experience for our users. Please reach out if we can help. Perfect For Event Management Needs: Event Planners – Comprehensive event management tools for professional event planning Event Organizers – Streamlined event registration, RSVPs, and attendee management Event Websites – Complete event calendar and event management solution Event Businesses – Professional event registration, tickets, and event management capabilities Sports Clubs – Perfect for sports registration and pickleball registration needs Schools & Organizations – Ideal for managing event list displays and RSVP form requirements Upgrade to Event Genius Pro Unlock powerful advanced features to help you manage events more efficiently: Accept Payments & Sell Tickets – Accept payments through Stripe and PayPal, or track offline payments manually. Multiple Registration Forms – Create unique forms for different event types with customized confirmations and notifications. Multiple Registration Types – Define separate registration options on one event (for example General, VIP, or early bird), each with its own name, price, and optional capacity, so attendees pick the tier that fits them. Event Waiting Lists – Let visitors join a waiting list when events fill up, then automatically or manually promote attendees when spots become available. Check-in & Attendance Tracking – Streamline check-in and track attendance status with automated follow-up emails. Event Series Management – Group related events into series with flexible registration options for full series or individual dates. Scheduled Event Reminders – Automatically send reminder emails before events and follow-up messages after to improve engagement. Multiple Email Templates – Create different templates for various event types and maintain consistent branding. Register Multiple Guests – Allow attendees to register additional guests during the registration process. List Events Registered For – Help attendees see all their registered events in one place. Manually Email Registrants – Send targeted emails to specific registrants or groups. Advanced Form Fields – File uploads, date pickers, attendee number fields, and hidden admin fields. Multiple Event Registration – Allow attendees to register for multiple events at once. Offline Payment Tracking – Track and manage offline or manual payments with complete control. Upgrade to Event Genius Pro to unlock all these features and more!