Bookly vs WooCommerce Bookings
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.
Official Woo extension that turns WooCommerce products into bookable appointments, rentals or classes, paid through the normal WooCommerce checkout.
Choose Bookly if…
- You need Zoom & Google meet links and recurring appointments
- You also want packages & memberships and Outlook & iCal sync
- You want the more complete feature set (91/100 vs 69/100)
- You want to start with a free version
Choose WooCommerce Bookings if…
- Existing WooCommerce stores that want to sell appointments, rentals or tours as bookable products
Bookly includes 5 features that WooCommerce Bookings lacks, including Recurring appointments, Packages & memberships and Outlook & iCal sync. 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 WooCommerce BookingsBookings & scheduling8/87/8
Free multi-step booking form with live availability and day/week/month admin calendar.
Customers pick an available date or time slot on the bookable product page.
Free is limited to one staff member and five services; Pro removes both limits.
Staff are modelled as resources with their own availability; no staff user accounts.
Locations add-on, bundled in the Business plan, lets customers choose a location.
No location module; resources can represent rooms or venues with separate availability.
Group Booking add-on sets capacity per slot; bundled from Business.
Persons settings set minimum and maximum participants per booking or slot.
Paid Events add-on for class-style bookings; included in the Ultimate bundle.
Classes and tours via persons and fixed slots, but not designed for one-off event tickets.
Recurring Appointments add-on, bundled from the Business plan.
Woo's docs say Bookings is not designed for recurring events or series.
Pro adds padding time between appointments and per-customer booking limits.
Buffers between bookings, minimum notice and maximum booking window per product.
Custom Fields add-on, bundled from the Business plan.
Extra booking fields need the paid Product Add-Ons extension.
Payments5/54/5
Free has local payments only; Pro adds online gateways, Stripe is bundled from Business.
Uses any WooCommerce payment gateway, such as Stripe or PayPal.
Deposit Payments add-on (paid, needs Pro) takes a percentage or fixed part online.
Requires the separate paid WooCommerce Deposits extension.
Bookly Pro can route bookings through the WooCommerce cart and checkout.
Bookings are products paid through the WooCommerce cart and checkout.
Coupons add-on, bundled from the Business plan.
Standard WooCommerce coupons apply because bookings pass through the cart.
Packages add-on sells session bundles; included in the Ultimate plan.
No appointment bundles or prepaid packages.
Customers & notifications4/44/4
Customer Cabinet add-on lets clients view, reschedule and cancel; bundled from Business.
Bookings listed in My Account with optional cancellation; no self-service rescheduling.
Free sends booking notifications; reminder and follow-up templates need Pro.
Confirmation emails plus automatic reminders before the booking.
SMS and WhatsApp work in free via Bookly Cloud, which bills messages separately.
No built-in SMS; needs AutomateWoo (paid Woo extension) or another SMS tool.
Free can display available slots in the client's time zone.
Can display availability in the customer's own time zone.
Integrations & admin6/63/6
Pro syncs one way; two-way sync needs Advanced Google Calendar, bundled from Business.
One-way or two-way sync with a single Google Calendar per site.
Paid Outlook Calendar add-on; included in the Ultimate bundle.
Calendar connection supports Google Calendar only.
Pro creates Zoom, Google Meet or Jitsi links for appointments.
No automatic Zoom, Meet or Teams links.
Zapier integration is a paid Bookly Cloud product; no native webhooks documented.
REST API and WooCommerce webhooks; Zapier needs the separate WooCommerce Zapier extension.
Staff Cabinet add-on gives staff a front-end schedule; bundled from Business.
Resources are not user accounts; staff cannot log in to manage their own schedule.
Pro adds analytics on bookings, customers and payments.
Bookings list and calendar views; revenue reporting comes from WooCommerce Analytics.
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 |
WooCommerce Bookings Premium
| 1-year subscription | $249 per year, 1 site |
|---|
Downloads trend
Bookly
26,707 downloads last week
WooCommerce Bookings
No WordPress.org download data (premium-only plugin).
Verdict
Bookly scores higher on our feature checklist (91/100 against 69/100) and includes Zoom & Google meet links, recurring appointments and packages & memberships that WooCommerce Bookings does not. Only Bookly has a free version. Check the features you rely on in the table below before deciding.
Biggest differences
Bookly: paid version (Pro). WooCommerce Bookings: not included. Pro creates Zoom, Google Meet or Jitsi links for appointments.
Bookly: paid version (Business). WooCommerce Bookings: not included. Recurring Appointments add-on, bundled from the Business plan.
Bookly: paid version (Ultimate). WooCommerce Bookings: not included. Packages add-on sells session bundles; included in the Ultimate plan.
Bookly: via add-on. WooCommerce Bookings: not included. Paid Outlook Calendar add-on; included in the Ultimate bundle.
Bookly: paid version (Business). WooCommerce Bookings: not included. Staff Cabinet add-on gives staff a front-end schedule; bundled from Business.
Written from the feature, pricing and install data on this page, not from hands-on testing. How we compare.
Which would you choose?
0 votes so far. Vote to see the results.
Compare something else
FAQ
Which is better, Bookly or WooCommerce Bookings?
Bookly scores higher on our feature checklist (91/100 against 69/100) and includes Zoom & Google meet links, recurring appointments and packages & memberships that WooCommerce Bookings does not. Only Bookly has a free version. 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 WooCommerce Bookings. 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 WooCommerce Bookings free?
WooCommerce Bookings is premium only. Paid plans start at $249/yr.
Feature data last changed 6 Oct 2026. Spotted something wrong? Suggest an edit to Bookly or WooCommerce Bookings. Some links are affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no cost to you; it never affects our data or rankings.