Appointment Hour Booking – Booking Calendar vs Booktics – Appointment Booking Calendar for Service Businesses

Appointment Hour Booking is a WordPress plugin for creating booking forms for appointments with a start time and a defined duration over a schedule. The start time is visually selected by the end user from a set of start times calculated based in the “open” hours and service duration. The duration/schedule is defined in the “service” selected by the customer. Each calendar can have multiple services with different duration and prices. This plugin is useful for different cases like booking of medical services where services with different duration and prices may be available, for personal training sessions, for booking rooms for events, for reserving language classes or other type of classes and other type of services/resources booking where start times are selected and the availability is automatically managed using the defined service duration to avoid double-booking (the booked time is blocked once the booking is completed). Main Features: Easy visual configuration of calendar data and schedules Working dates, invalid/holiday dates and special dates can be defined Supports restriction of default, maximum and minimimum dates Open hours can be defined for each date Each calendar can have multiple services defined Each service can have its own price and duration Start-times are calculated automatically based in the open hours and service duration Available times are managed automatically to avoid double-booking Multiple services can be selected on each booking Services can have multiple capacity Automatic price calculation Customizable email notifications for administrators and users Form validation and built it anti-spam captcha protection Manual and automatic CSV reports iCal addon with iCal export link and iCal file attached into emails Calendar available in 53+ languages Multiple date formats supported Blocks for Elementor and Gutenberg Multi-page calendars Printable appointments list Features in commercial versions: Visual form builder for creating the booking form fields Booking form can be connected to payment process (Ex: PayPal Standard, PayPal Pro, Stripe, Skrill, Authorize.net, TargetPay/iDEAL, Mollie/iDEAL, SagePay, Redsys) Payments are SCA ready (Strong Customer Authentication), compatible with the new Payment services (PSD 2) – Directive (EU) Addons for integration with external services: reCaptcha, MailChimp, SalesForce, WooCommerce and others Addons with additional features: appointment cancellation addon, appointment reminders addon, clickatell and twilio SMS add-ons, signature fields, iCal synchronization, Google Calendar API, Zoom Meetings … Appointment Hour Booking can be used for: Booking services or resources: Define schedule, open hours, services, prices and durations and let the calendar plugin manage the schedule. Sample cases: Medical services, personal training, resource allocation, booking rooms, classes, etc… The services can have a maximum capacity (example: number of persons that can book/attend the service at the same time). The default capacity is 1. If the service capacity has been set to 1 the time-slot will be blocked for new bookings after getting one booking. If the service capacity has been set to a greater number (example: service with capacity 10) the time-slot will be blocked after filling the capacity (example: after getting bookings for a total of 10 persons). This feature is described in detail at https://apphourbooking.dwbooster.com/blog/2019/01/24/bookings-for-multiple-persons/ The Troubleshoot Area Use the troubleshot if you are having problems with special or non-latin characters. In most cases changing the charset to UTF-8 through the option available for that in the troubleshot area will solve the problem. You can also use this area to change the script load method if the booking calendar isn’t appearing in the public website. The Notification Emails The notification emails with the appointment data entered in the booking form can sent in “Plain Text” format (default) or in “HTML” format. If you select “HTML” format, be sure to use the BR or P tags for the line breaks into the text and to use the proper formatting. Exporting Appointments to CSV / Excel Files The appointment data can be exported to a CSV file (Excel compatible) to manage the data from other applications. That option is available from the “bookings list”, the appointments can be filtered by date and by the text into them, so you can export just the needed appointments to the CSV file. Other Versions and Features The free version published in this WordPress directory is a fully-functional version for accepting appointments as indicated in the plugin description. There are also commercial versions with additional features, for example: Ability to process forms/appointments linked to payment process (PayPal, Stripe, Skrill, …) Form builder for a visual customization of the booking form Addons with multiple additional features Payments processed through the plugin are SCA ready (Strong Customer Authentication), compatible with the new Payment services (PSD 2) – Directive (EU) that comes into full effect on 14 September, 2019. Please note that the pro features aren’t advised as part of the free plugin in the description shown in this WordPress directory. If you are interested in more information about the commercial features go to the plugin’s page: https://apphourbooking.dwbooster.com/download

Booktics is a powerful booking calendar and appointment scheduling plugin for service-based businesses. It helps you manage appointments, accept online bookings, and automate your scheduling—all from one simple dashboard. Designed for salons, spas, clinics, wellness centers, fitness trainers, tutors, and home service providers, Booktics replaces manual scheduling with a fast, reliable online booking system. Your customers can book appointments 24/7, while you stay in control of availability, services, and payments. Whether you run a small local business or manage multiple services, Booktics keeps your booking calendar organized, automated, and easy to manage. With Booktics, you can : – Create and manage unlimited services and appointments – Offer group booking options – Add extra services and add-ons – Accept payments via Stripe, PayPal, and more – Automate workflows with email notifications and reminders – Use a responsive booking calendar that works on any device Smart Calendar & Scheduling Integration Booktics connects with Google Calendar and Outlook, so every booking updates automatically across your calendars. This helps prevent double bookings, missed appointments, and scheduling conflicts. Online Meetings & Customer Management Host virtual appointments using Google Meet, and manage customer relationships with tools like FluentCRM for follow-ups and communication. Online Payments Made Easy Allow customers to pay while booking using secure payment gateways. This reduces no-shows and improves your cash flow. Built for Service Businesses From beauty and wellness to healthcare and home services, Booktics is built to handle real-world scheduling needs. It simplifies bookings for your customers while giving you full control over your business operations. Live Demo | Documentation | Roadmap | Support | Pro Who Can Benefit from Booktics? (8 Business Types) Booktics is the ideal appointment booking plugin for WordPress service businesses of every size — from solo freelancers to multi-staff studios. If your business runs on appointments, Booktics was built for you. 💇 Salons & Barbershops Hair salons, nail studios, barbershops, cosmetology centers, and beauty professionals can manage daily bookings through a clean, mobile-friendly booking calendar. Clients pick their service, choose a time slot, and confirm — all without a phone call. Staff can track their own appointments and avoid overlapping schedules. 📚 Tutors, Coaches, LMS Sites & eLearning Platforms Online course creators, LMS site owners, tutors, coaches, language teachers, driving instructors, and education centers often don’t need a full learning management system just to let students book a lesson, consultation, or coaching session. Booktics gives WordPress-powered eLearning sites the scheduling layer your LMS is missing or replaces the need for one entirely when all you really need is simple, professional booking. Let students book 1-on-1 lessons, group study sessions, or live coaching calls directly from your WordPress site. Set your available hours, assign sessions to specific instructors or tutors, and automate appointment reminders to eliminate no-shows no complex LMS build required. Perfect for: – TutorLMS, LearnPress and LifterLMS site owners who need bookable office hours or live tutoring sessions alongside their online courses – Independent tutors and online coaches who don’t need a full LMS just a clean booking calendar that works – Language schools, driving instructors, and test-prep centers managing recurring student appointments and eLearning session scheduling – Corporate trainers and workshop hosts offering bookable seminars, team coaching, and instructor-led training (ILT) sessions 🦷 Dental Clinics & Healthcare Reduce missed calls and front-desk workload by letting patients book dentist visits, checkups, therapy sessions, and consultations online. The appointment scheduler keeps time slots clearly visible, prevents double bookings, and gives your clinic a full daily view of upcoming appointments. 🌿 Health & Wellness Centers Therapists, physiotherapists, massage therapists, and wellness studios can manage sessions smoothly with Booktics. Set service duration, add buffer time between bookings, define daily limits, and organize one-on-one or group sessions — all from one booking calendar. 🏋️ Fitness Trainers & Yoga Studios Personal trainers, yoga instructors, Zumba coaches, and fitness centers can accept bookings for individual sessions and group classes online. Control your schedule, set class capacity limits, and let clients choose time slots that work for them — no back-and-forth needed. 🧹 Cleaning Services Home cleaning, office cleaning, and specialist cleaning businesses can show real-time availability and let customers book a service, date, and time in seconds. Your booking calendar updates instantly, helping your team plan jobs without scheduling conflicts. 🔧 Repair, Maintenance & Home Services Plumbers, electricians, HVAC technicians, and home service providers can manage job bookings easily. Customers select a service and time online; your team sees everything in the booking calendar and eliminates double-scheduling. 💄 Beauty & Personal Care Professionals Makeup artists, nail technicians, skincare specialists, estheticians, and grooming experts can handle full appointment schedules without confusion. Clients book multiple services, reschedule if needed, and always see live availability. ✨ Booktics is a complete online booking system for WordPress that supports appointments, classes, sessions, group bookings, and service reservations in one place. No coding required. No complex setup. Just install, configure, and start accepting bookings. Booktics Free Features — More Than Most Plugins Charge For The free version of Booktics includes features that competing plugins lock behind premium plans. You get a fully functional service booking system — with Stripe payments, Google Calendar sync, and full team management — at zero cost. 🗓️ Appointment Booking & Scheduling 24/7 Online Booking — Customers book directly from your website at any time. They see only available time slots, eliminating phone calls and preventing double bookings automatically. Multi-Step Booking Form — A guided step-by-step flow: choose a service → pick a date and time → confirm. Designed to reduce drop-offs and works flawlessly on mobile and desktop. Custom Time Slots — Set the exact duration for every service. A 30-minute haircut and a 90-minute massage each get their own accurate slot length. Buffer Time Between Appointments — Add prep or cleanup time before or after any service. Protects your team from back-to-back burnout and keeps your schedule realistic. Booking Limits — Cap the number of appointments per time slot or per day to prevent overbooking and protect your team’s capacity. Client Self-Service Cancellation & Rescheduling — Customers manage their own bookings via a direct link. Reduces admin workload and keeps your calendar accurate without manual updates. Booking Approval System — Choose between auto-confirmation and manual review for new bookings. Ideal for premium services, consultations, and intake-required appointments. 🛠️ Service Management Unlimited Services — Add as many services as your business needs, each with its own name, duration, price, and description. Service Categories — Group services into categories (e.g., Hair, Skin, Wellness) so customers find what they need faster and your booking form stays organized. Service-Level Scheduling Rules — Configure unique availability, duration, and pricing per service for maximum scheduling flexibility. 👥 Staff & Team Management Team Member Management — Assign specific services to each staff member, set individual working hours, and keep everyone’s calendar organized from one admin panel. Individual Staff Panels — Each team member gets their own secure login to view and manage their personal appointment schedule. Admins maintain full oversight from the central dashboard. Automatic Conflict Prevention — Booktics blocks already-booked time slots in real time. Two clients can never be assigned to the same staff member at the same time. 💳 Payments & Checkout — Stripe Is Free This is where Booktics stands apart from every competitor. Stripe Integration — 100% Free — Accept credit cards, debit cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay at checkout. No commission taken by Booktics. No upgrade required. Full Stripe is available in the free version — unlike Bookly, Salon Booking System, and LatePoint which charge for this. Local & Offline Payment — Offer in-person or cash-on-arrival payment for clients who prefer not to pay online. WooCommerce Integration — Connect Booktics with WooCommerce to access additional payment gateways, tax management, invoicing, and advanced order tracking synced with your booking calendar. 📅 Calendar Integrations & Sync Two-Way Google Calendar Sync — Every new booking appears on your Google Calendar instantly. Changes made in Google Calendar sync back to Booktics automatically. Prevents double bookings and keeps your schedule accurate across every device. Available free — no upgrade required. Drag-and-Drop Calendar View — An interactive backend calendar lets admins and staff move, edit, and review appointments visually with a single drag. 📊 Reporting & Dashboard Business Dashboard — See all upcoming bookings, total revenue, and customer stats at a glance from one clean admin screen. Booking Status Tracking — Monitor confirmed, pending, and cancelled appointments from one organized panel. Upcoming Bookings View — Always know what is scheduled next so your team is never caught off guard. 📨 Notifications & Communication Automated Email Notifications — Automatically send booking confirmations, reminders, rescheduling alerts, and cancellation notices to both clients and staff. Reduces no-shows and builds trust. Google Meet Integration — Offer virtual appointments and automatically generate Google Meet links when a booking is confirmed. Perfect for online consultations and remote sessions. FluentCRM Integration — Sync customer data with FluentCRM for follow-up campaigns and loyalty communications. 🌍 Translation Ready & WPML Compatible Booktics is fully translation-ready and compatible with WPML and Polylang — ideal for service businesses serving multilingual communities. Translate your booking form, email notifications, and service names into any language. 🔒 GDPR Compliant Booktics handles customer data securely and transparently, with optional consent fields available during the booking process. 🧩 Works With Your Favourite Page Builders Embed your booking calendar anywhere using: – Gutenberg block — native WordPress block editor – Elementor widget – Shortcode — paste [booktics] into any page, post, or sidebar 🚀 Booktics PRO — Advanced Features for Growing Service Businesses Booktics Pro unlocks powerful tools for businesses that need deeper customization, expanded payment options, and advanced team control. ⚙️ Advanced Service Management Extra Service Add-Ons — Let clients add optional extras at checkout. A salon can offer “Haircut + Deep Conditioning”; a clinic can bundle “Consultation + Lab Test.” Increases average booking value per customer. Group Booking — Accept bookings for multiple people in one appointment. Perfect for yoga classes, workshops, fitness sessions, and team training. Multiple Pricing & Duration Options — Offer the same service at different lengths and price points. A therapist can list a 30-minute and a 60-minute session as separate bookable options. Custom Booking Fields — Add custom questions to the booking form — preferred staff, medical notes, special requirements, or anything your service requires. 💳 Advanced Payment Options PayPal Integration — Accept PayPal payments at the time of booking. Available exclusively in Booktics Pro. 📅 Extended Calendar & Business Integrations Outlook Calendar Integration — Connect Microsoft Outlook to keep your work and personal schedules aligned across devices. Directorist Integration — Link Booktics directly to your Directorist directory listings so visitors can discover and book your services in one step. 👥 Advanced Team & Location Management Granular Team Permissions — Set detailed permissions for each staff member. Team members manage their own bookings independently while admins keep full oversight and control. Multi-Location Support — Run your booking system across multiple branches or locations from one central WordPress admin panel. 📦 More Powerful WordPress Plugins from Arraytics 📅 Eventin — All-in-one event management plugin. Sell tickets, manage events, and run virtual or in-person events. 🍽️ WPCafe — Online food ordering, restaurant menu, table reservations, and delivery management for WordPress. 📅 Timetics — AI-powered appointment scheduling plugin with smart time optimization. 🎨 Poptics — Create conversion-driven popups, lead capture forms, and promotional overlays for WordPress. Visit Arraytics to explore our full suite of WordPress solutions. External Services This plugin connects to the following external services: Stripe Payments Processes secure online payments for bookings when Stripe is enabled as a payment method. Data sent: Transaction data required to process the payment (order amount, currency, customer name/email). Payment card details are handled directly and securely by Stripe — never stored by Booktics. Service provider: Stripe, Inc. — Terms of Service | Privacy Policy Note: Optional. Only active if you enable Stripe payments in the plugin settings. Google Calendar API Synchronizes appointments between your WordPress site and Google Calendar with two-way sync. Data sent: Calendar event data (appointment details, dates, times, attendee information) when bookings are created, updated, or cancelled. Service provider: Google LLC — Terms of Service | Privacy Policy Note: Optional. Only active if you connect your Google Calendar account in the integration settings. Arraytics FluentCRM Service Connects to Arraytics.com’s FluentCRM service for optional marketing communication (product updates, feature announcements, support information). Data sent: Your email address — only when voluntarily provided during business setup or onboarding. Service provider: Arraytics — Terms of Service | Privacy Policy Note: Optional. Not required for core plugin functionality.