Need to add booking functionality to a new or existing WordPress site? See what to look for in great booking plugins and which ones WPML team recommends.
What to look for in a booking plugin
When looking for a plugin to handle appointments and reservations, check for three things:
A straightforward front-end
Look for a plugin that makes it easy to add a simple calendar or a reservation form to your website. This will allow your customers to do the work of making and editing their reservations.
Check that it looks great and provides full functionality on both desktops and mobile devices.
A customizable backend
You’ll need to be sure you can easily customize the booking system to fit your business needs. This includes setting working days and hours, showing available time slots, and blocking vacation days.
Look for features like the ability to filter, search for, confirm, and cancel bookings.
If you run a business that has more than one service provider (such as a salon with multiple stylists), look for a plugin that allows users to set their own calendars and manage reservations.
Integration with other software
Email confirmations, reminders, and automatic Google Calendar holds will ensure neither customers nor service providers forget an appointment.
If you plan to charge a reservation fee, be sure your booking plugin integrates with your payment gateway of choice, such as PayPal or Stripe.
Make sure all your customers can navigate the booking process by translating it into their language with WPML.
Some of our top recommendations
Here’s how they stack up on some key features:
| Customize booking rules | Manage bookings | Email notifications | Sync to Google Calendar | Payment gateways | Support for multi-service providers | Yearly pricing | |
| WooCommerce Bookings | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Available as an add-on | Available as an add-on | $249 |
| Team Booking | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | $28 |
| Salon Booking | Yes – Free version | Yes – Free version | Yes – Free version | Yes – Free version | Yes – Paid version | Yes – Free version | Free version or upgrade starting at €69 |
| WooCommerce Bookings & Appointments Premium | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Available as an addon | Free version or upgrade for $99 |
| Sagenda | Yes – Free version | Yes – Free version | Yes – Free version | No | Yes – Paid version | No | Free version or upgrade for $99 |
| MotoPress Hotel Booking | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | $79 |
How do booking plugins work on multilingual sites?
WPML makes it easy to cater to all your customers, no matter which language they speak. Use one of the booking plugins above to:
- Translate all the text on the site’s booking page, including the booking calendar and booking forms
- Synchronize free and reserved slots across the different language versions
- Send confirmation emails in the user’s language
For an example on how this works, check out our tutorial for translating Salon Booking with WPML.
Adding the ability to book reservations and appointments through your website doesn’t have to be complicated. Use a plugin to easily add online booking to your site and streamline the process for both yourself and your customers.