Bookly vs Simply Schedule Appointments
Updated 6 Oct 2026. 23 features compared side by side.
Modular appointment booking plugin: free core, a Pro upgrade and dozens of paid add-ons for staff, locations, payments and calendar sync.
Straightforward appointment scheduler with unlimited booking calendars free, and paid editions for calendar sync, payments, SMS and team booking.
Choose Bookly if…
- You need recurring appointments and deposits & partial payments
- You also want WooCommerce checkout and coupons
- You want the more complete feature set (91/100 vs 79/100)
- You want the lower entry price ($99/yr vs $129/yr)
Choose Simply Schedule Appointments if…
- You weigh user ratings (5.0 vs 4.4 on WordPress.org)
Bookly includes 5 features that Simply Schedule Appointments lacks, including Recurring appointments, Deposits & partial payments and WooCommerce checkout. Both include 18 of the 23 features we track.
At a glance
Feature comparison
Click a screenshot to see both plugins side by side.
Bookly Simply Schedule AppointmentsBookings & scheduling8/87/8
Free multi-step booking form with live availability and day/week/month admin calendar.
Unlimited booking calendars with double-booking prevention in the free Basic edition.
Free is limited to one staff member and five services; Pro removes both limits.
Free has unlimited appointment types; staff with their own schedules need Business.
Locations add-on, bundled in the Business plan, lets customers choose a location.
No location manager; Business resource booking can model rooms or sites.
Group Booking add-on sets capacity per slot; bundled from Business.
Set a capacity per time slot for classes and group events.
Paid Events add-on for class-style bookings; included in the Ultimate bundle.
Classes and group event booking with capacity from the Plus edition.
Recurring Appointments add-on, bundled from the Business plan.
Booking a repeating series is not listed in any edition.
Pro adds padding time between appointments and per-customer booking limits.
Free advanced scheduling options include minimum notice and per-day limits.
Custom Fields add-on, bundled from the Business plan.
Custom booking form fields come with Plus and higher.
Payments5/51/5
Free has local payments only; Pro adds online gateways, Stripe is bundled from Business.
Stripe and PayPal payments on the booking form from Professional.
Deposit Payments add-on (paid, needs Pro) takes a percentage or fixed part online.
Each appointment type has one fixed price; no deposit or balance-due option.
Bookly Pro can route bookings through the WooCommerce cart and checkout.
No WooCommerce checkout integration; payments run through Stripe or PayPal.
Coupons add-on, bundled from the Business plan.
No native coupons; possible through Gravity Forms or Formidable booking forms.
Packages add-on sells session bundles; included in the Ultimate plan.
Appointment packages or bundles are not offered.
Customers & notifications4/44/4
Customer Cabinet add-on lets clients view, reschedule and cancel; bundled from Business.
Clients can edit, reschedule or cancel via links; logged-in users see their bookings.
Free sends booking notifications; reminder and follow-up templates need Pro.
Free sends confirmations; time-triggered reminder emails need Plus.
SMS and WhatsApp work in free via Bookly Cloud, which bills messages separately.
SMS notifications and reminders through Twilio; no WhatsApp option.
Free can display available slots in the client's time zone.
Detects the visitor's time zone and shifts available slots automatically.
Integrations & admin6/66/6
Pro syncs one way; two-way sync needs Advanced Google Calendar, bundled from Business.
Checks Google Calendar for conflicts and adds new bookings to it.
Paid Outlook Calendar add-on; included in the Ultimate bundle.
ICS subscription feeds show bookings in Outlook or Apple Calendar (one-way).
Pro creates Zoom, Google Meet or Jitsi links for appointments.
Zoom and Google Meet links generated automatically; Webex also supported.
Zapier integration is a paid Bookly Cloud product; no native webhooks documented.
Webhooks on appointment actions for Zapier, Make and similar tools.
Staff Cabinet add-on gives staff a front-end schedule; bundled from Business.
Team members can log in to manage their own appointments, hours and sync.
Pro adds analytics on bookings, customers and payments.
No built-in reports; Professional adds Google Analytics conversion tracking.
Statuses: Yes Pro Add-on Partial 3rd-party No ?
Pricing compared
Bookly Freemium
| Free | $0 |
|---|---|
| Pro | $99 per year, 1 site |
| Business | $129 per year, 1 site |
| Ultimate | $199 per year, 1 site |
Simply Schedule Appointments Freemium
| Free | $0 |
|---|---|
| Plus | $129 per year, 1 site |
| Professional | $249 per year, 1 site |
| Business | $499 per year, 1 site |
Downloads trend
Bookly
26,734 downloads last week
Simply Schedule Appointments
5,658 downloads last week
Verdict
Bookly scores higher on our feature checklist (91/100 against 79/100) and includes recurring appointments, deposits & partial payments and WooCommerce checkout that Simply Schedule Appointments does not. Paid plans start at $99/yr for Bookly and $129/yr for Simply Schedule Appointments. Check the features you rely on in the table below before deciding.
Biggest differences
Bookly: paid version (Business). Simply Schedule Appointments: not included. Recurring Appointments add-on, bundled from the Business plan.
Bookly: via add-on. Simply Schedule Appointments: not included. Deposit Payments add-on (paid, needs Pro) takes a percentage or fixed part online.
Bookly: paid version (Pro). Simply Schedule Appointments: not included. Bookly Pro can route bookings through the WooCommerce cart and checkout.
Bookly: paid version (Business). Simply Schedule Appointments: third-party. Coupons add-on, bundled from the Business plan.
Bookly: paid version (Ultimate). Simply Schedule Appointments: not included. Packages add-on sells session bundles; included in the Ultimate plan.
Written from the feature, pricing and install data on this page, not from hands-on testing. How we compare.
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FAQ
Which is better, Bookly or Simply Schedule Appointments?
Bookly scores higher on our feature checklist (91/100 against 79/100) and includes recurring appointments, deposits & partial payments and WooCommerce checkout that Simply Schedule Appointments does not. Paid plans start at $99/yr for Bookly and $129/yr for Simply Schedule Appointments. Check the features you rely on in the table below before deciding.
Which has more features?
Bookly includes 23 of the 23 features we track, against 18 for Simply Schedule Appointments. Feature count is only part of the picture; check which of the differences matter to you.
Is Bookly free?
Bookly has a free version on WordPress.org. Paid plans start at $99/yr.
Is Simply Schedule Appointments free?
Simply Schedule Appointments has a free version on WordPress.org. Paid plans start at $129/yr.
Feature data last changed 6 Oct 2026. Spotted something wrong? Suggest an edit to Bookly or Simply Schedule Appointments. Some links are affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no cost to you; it never affects our data or rankings.