Online Scheduling and Appointment Booking System – Bookly vs Modern Hotel Booking

Bookly is a free scheduling plugin for WordPress that allows accepting online bookings on your website and automating your reservation system. Manage your booking calendar, services, client base, save time and money – all in one place. Join more than 70,000 businesses all around the world that have already automated their online booking system! Bookly is designed to grow your online sales and make easy appointments. This is a one-stop shop for any businesses from hair salons or photography to wealth management and transportation. You can start easily with the free version of Bookly and once your business scales you can operate ultimate scheduling software with the paid version available with the Bookly Pro add-on, and various add-ons. PLEASE NOTE that online payments, unlimited number of staff members and services, and ability to install add-ons are NOT AVAILABLE in the free version. If you would like to find out more about features available with the Bookly PRO add-on, please check our demo. Bookly Homepage | Pro Features (Bookly Pro add-on required) | Add-ons (Bookly Pro add-on required) | Bookly Help Center | Demo 1. Benefits for the customers Online Scheduling with Bookly couldn’t be any easier for your customers. The booking form is perfectly responsive on any device, and all that customers need to do is pick their desired service and time, provide you with a few personal details, and voilà – it’s done! Your customers will receive an email or SMS notification before the appointment, and it will be automatically added to your Appointment Booking Calendar. 1.1 When you install Bookly on your website, your customers will be able to: – quickly schedule and book appointment without having to directly contact you or your employee; – make a booking on any device, since Bookly design is fully responsive; – select the category, the service, and employee to perform the service; – define the dates and time that work best for them and the booking system will offer only available time slots; – fill in the minimum amount of contact details; – get an email and SMS notification confirming their online reservations; – get SMS reminder about an upcoming appointment. 1.2 Bookly Key Benefits Saves time – no action necessary after booking is confirmed Friendly booking interface – easy navigation Minimal data input required Responsive booking form – works on any device Never forget a booked appointment with SMS and email notifications 2. Benefits for the business owner No coding experience required to set up Bookly. We did our best to make it as easy and quick as possible to install and start using Bookly free scheduling software on your WordPress website. And with our Bookly Pro add-on and other add-ons, you will bring online scheduling experience for you and your customers to the next level. You will be able to navigate the Booking Admin Panel like a pro, approve and adjust your appointments, and automate your online scheduling to concentrate on the most important part of your business – serving your customers and grow sales. You can change the layout and modify the appearance of the booking form to match your business, website, and branding, manage your services and the customers’ list and send email and SMS notifications – all in one place. You can use a wide range of Bookly features to configure your Appointment Scheduler and manage your bookings effectively: – easily and effectively manage your Customer list and Appointment Calendar online from the Admin panel; – add an unlimited number of clients to your searchable and sortable Customer list; – add new customer directly from the calendar; – setup and customize SMS settings right from Bookly backend; – notify customers and a service provider about approved, pending and canceled appointments via SMS and Email notifications; – view calendar in monthly/weekly/daily format; – filter, search and sort booking list; – automatically approve or cancel appointments. Configure the booking form to suit your needs: – customize every step of your booking form, including editable headings, texts, and buttons; – translate all user interface and notifications into 40+ languages via WPML plugin; – add as many booking forms on your website as you want; – show or hide specific fields if you don’t want them to be visible to your customers; – use pre-defined default values for Category, Service and Employee fields in your booking form; – choose the way your customers will see your booking form on the front-end (e.g., show or hide the calendar, show each day in one column, display blocked time slots); – display available time slots in the client’s time zone; – set duration for each service separately; – choose an individual color for each service in order to color code appointments internally in your Appointment Booking Calendar; – organize services into categories (you can add up to five services with the free version of Bookly); 2.1 Key Features Fast online booking with intuitively manageable forms The fully customizable appearance of the booking form with no coding involved Unlimited number of booking forms on your site Comprehensive admin area with an intuitive interface Monthly/weekly/daily calendar view for the service provider Manageable list of your customers Filterable, sortable and searchable booking list of your customers Variable duration for each service (5 min – 7 days) Services grouped into categories Customizable SMS and email notifications settings right from the Bookly backend WPML integration for multi-language support Automated SMS Mailing Campaigns for various marketing purposes Blocks for Elementor and Gutenberg 3. Bookly Pro add-on features: Bookly Pro add-on allows you to use more features and settings, install other add-ons for Bookly, includes six months of customer support, and provides you with advanced capabilities for automating your online scheduling system. Some of them include: Unlimited number of staff members with an individual working schedule and ability to manage their profiles and online booking calendar Unlimited number of services with additional settings (padding time, visibility, limitations, etc.) Ability to receive secure and flexible online payments on your website Online payment processing with PayPal, Stripe, 2Checkout, Authorize.Net, Mollie, Payson, PayUbiz, PayU Latam Additional templates for Email notifications (e.g., reminders about upcoming appointments, follow-up messages, birthday greetings, next day agenda, etc.) Advanced features for customizing your online booking form (show address fields, birthday fields, Facebook login, timezone switcher) Google Calendar integration WooCommerce compatibility Importable and exportable customer list which includes info about appointments and payments Built-in analytics so you will be able to see a comprehensive report about the number of bookings, customers and payments received Integration with Zoom, Google Meet and Jitsi Mailchimp integration (via add-on) Ability to export appointments via ICalendar feed Ability to purchase and use dozens of paid add-ons for deeper customization of your booking system (group bookings, custom fields, service extra items, recurring appointments, deposits, coupons, personal staff cabinet and user account for your clients, automatic invoicing, waiting list, and much more!) 4. Who can benefit from using Bookly: Bookly for WordPress is designed to be used by local businesses or individual providers who offer different services to customers. Since the booking form can be fully customized and personalized, it is successfully used in many business segments such as Healthcare, Beauty, Education, Medicine, Consulting etc., as well as by individual professionals. Also, Bookly is an excellent solution for web studios and developers, who are looking for ways to improve the appointment process for their customers. Online scheduling for: Salon & Beauty (hair salons, nail salons, cosmetology centers, tanning studios, barbershops) Health and wellness (wellness, spa & massage, aromatherapy, baths) Medicine (clinics, doctors, dentists, medical centers) Education (education centers, tutors, language schools, private lessons) Fitness & Gyms (yoga classes, personal trainers, health clubs, fitness centers, dance instructors) Professional services (coaches, consultants, lawyers, photographers, consulting psychologist, cleaning services) or any other services which can be scheduled and reserved online using the booking system. FURTHER READING Bookly Online Scheduling plugin official page Help center Bookly demo Bookly Pro add-on demo Add-ons for Bookly Pro Youtube channel AFTER ACTIVATION Add at least one service (Bookly menu > Services). Add a staff member linked to your service (Bookly menu > Staff members). Customize the appearance of your online booking form (Bookly menu > Appearance). Publish the booking form on your website (WordPress sidebar menu > Pages/Posts).

Modern Hotel Booking is a professional hotel booking and vacation rental system for WordPress. It is designed specifically for guesthouses, B&Bs, and boutique hotels looking for a commission-free accommodation reservation engine. This plugin provides a complete booking calendar with real-time availability. Stop paying 15-25% to OTAs and take direct bookings on your own website. With built-in iCal support, you can synchronize your property across Airbnb, Booking.com, and VRBO seamlessly. 🤖 Free AI Concierge — Your 24/7 Virtual Receptionist The first hotel booking plugin to offer a built-in AI Concierge. Your virtual receptionist answers guest questions about amenities, pricing, and house rules using your property data, guiding guests through the entire vacation rental reservation process. 💰 Direct Bookings — Keep 100% of Your Revenue Hotel Booking Logic: Optimized for per-night stays and guesthouse management. Booking Calendar: A colour-coded, AJAX-powered calendar block for real-time availability. iCal Sync: Automatic synchronization with external OTA platforms (Pro). Stripe & PayPal: Professional checkout for secure guest payments (Pro). 💰 Modern Hotel Booking vs Airbnb / Booking.com Commission per booking: 0% vs 15–25% Guest data ownership: ✅ Yours forever vs ❌ Theirs AI Concierge Receptionist: ✅ Free vs ❌ Not available Professional Invoicing: ✅ Pro vs ❌ Not available Setup fees: None 📋 Complete Free Feature Set Property & Room Management * Unlimited Room Types — setup categories for rooms, units, or apartments * Individual Room Management — assign units to types with custom availability * Min/Max Night Stay Rules — set stay requirements globally or per room * Same-Day Turnover — automated logic for check-in/check-out times Booking Engine & Calendar * Availability Calendar: Responsive Gutenberg block with real-time room status * AJAX Booking Form: Live price calculation as guests select dates * Automated Notifications: Custom email templates for confirmations 8 Native Gutenberg Blocks & Shortcodes * Hotel: Booking Form — Price calculator & reservation flow * Hotel: Room Calendar — Per-room availability view * Hotel: Company Profile — Your property identity * Specialized Blocks: WhatsApp Chat, Bank Transfer Details, and Revolut Pay * Full Shortcode Support: [mhbo_booking_form], [mhbo_room_calendar], and more Privacy & Performance * Zero-Trace Architecture — no tracking, no data sent to our servers * Multilingual: WPML, Polylang & qTranslate-X compatible (15 languages) * Mobile-First: Fully responsive booking calendar and form 🏆 Modern Hotel Booking Pro Online Payments & OTA Sync * Stripe & PayPal: Credit cards, Apple/Google Pay with 3D Secure support * Two-Way iCal Sync: Automatic sync for Airbnb, Booking.com, and VRBO * Coupon System: (New in 2.3.8) Create fixed or percentage discounts for guests Advanced Pricing & Rules * Seasonal Rates: Custom pricing for any date range or holiday * Weekend Multipliers: Automated Friday/Saturday price modifiers * Stay Limits: Global property-wide minimum and maximum night constraints * Calendar Override: Bulk-set prices across room types and dates Analytics & Compliance * Business Intelligence: ADR, RevPAR, and Occupancy Rate KPIs * Tax Engine: VAT Inclusive and Sales Tax Exclusive modes * GDPR Suite: Consent checkboxes and automated PII erasure tools * AI Logs: Review anonymised conversation transcripts and sentiment analysis View Pro Features & Pricing | Privacy Policy | GitHub 🏡 Built for Independent Properties Guesthouses — per-night booking logic, WhatsApp, and professional invoicing Bed & Breakfasts (B&Bs) — min-stay rules, email automation, AI guest support Vacation Rentals — standalone property management with zero OTA dependency Cabins & Cottages — seasonal pricing, deposits, and iCal sync Boutique Hotels — multi-room availability engine with real-time calendar Quick Start in 5 Steps Hotel Booking > Room Types — Create your room or unit categories with base price and capacity Hotel Booking > Rooms — Add individual rooms or units and assign each to a Room Type Hotel Booking > Settings > General — Select your Booking Page from the dropdown Edit any page — Add the Hotel: Booking Form Gutenberg block, or use the shortcode [mhbo_booking_form] (Optional) Hotel Booking > Settings > AI — Paste your free Google Gemini API key to activate your AI Concierge instantly Credits Open-source libraries bundled locally — no external CDN requests: FullCalendar v6.1.20 — MIT License — https://fullcalendar.io Chart.js v4.5.1 — MIT License — https://www.chartjs.org Flatpickr v4.6.13 — MIT License — https://flatpickr.js.org Privacy Policy Modern Hotel Booking does not collect or transmit guest or admin data to our servers. All booking data is stored locally in your WordPress database. AI Concierge: When enabled, guest messages and property context are sent to your configured AI provider (Google Gemini or OpenAI) to generate responses. Conversation context is stored as WordPress Transients for up to 2 hours then automatically deleted. No PII is permanently stored by this plugin. Rate Limiting: Anonymised per-IP request counts are stored as Transients (2-minute TTL) to prevent abuse. No IP addresses are permanently saved. See our full Privacy Policy. External Services All connections are optional and only active when configured by the administrator: WhatsApp — Communication links only. Privacy Policy Revolut — Payment links and QR codes. Privacy Policy Google Gemini / OpenAI — AI Concierge responses during active chat only. Google Privacy | OpenAI Privacy Pro version only: Stripe — Card, Apple Pay, Google Pay processing. Privacy Policy PayPal — Account payment processing. Privacy Policy iCal Sync — Reads public calendar feeds. No data sent to our servers. StartMySuccess — License verification and Pro updates. Privacy Policy