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Birchpress Scheduler is an established and well-rated booking plugin for WordPress. It offers straightforward features and a short-code based functionality. One of the best things about this plugin is that it makes it super easy to capture PayPal and credit card payments without having to install a third-party payment gateway. The free version listed on the WordPress repository has an average rating of 4.5 (out of 5) from 118 reviewers. However, it is no longer available due for download (due to security isues) since it was last updated more than 2 years ago. The premium version of Birchpress Scheduler is competitively priced with annual plans going for $99 to $249.
This is a fairly new but increasingly popular bookings plugin for WordPress. Simply schedule appointments is rated highly by users due to a minimal setup with a 5-minute wizard, and an organized admin dashboard that makes it easy to use. The plugin was launched about 3 years ago but has been ranked competitively in the midst of established appointments plugins. Simply Schedule Appointments offers powerful free version that has been rated 5 star by all 57 reviews on the WordPress plugin repository. While some errors have been reported with plugin loading issues and email delivery, these are not unusual for a product that is still evolving. The plugin's developer appears to be very active in responding to developer queries. Simply Schedule Appointments has a competitive pricing arrangement that is comparable to that of BirchPress Scheduler.
Amelia is a fairly popular and decently rated WordPress booking plugin. It is a lightweight system that integrates with WordPress themes via shortcode and supports diverse appointment-setting needs. It may take some time to figure out how everything falls into place but the plugin development system appears to be very supportive in this regard. The free version, Amelia Lite, is available in the WordPress plugin repository. It offers some very basic functionality and has an average rating of 4.2 (out of 5) from 192 reviewers. Compared to similar plugin, the pro versions of Amelia are competitively priced with annual and lifetime plans ranging from $59 to $586.
This is an established Wordpress appointments plugin that has been in place for over 10 years. It has a consistently impressive average rating of 4.7 stars from more than 475 users on the WordPress plugin repository. Booking calendar comes across as a matured WordPress plugin with powerful and flexible features and new updates released quite often. There is a learning curve involved before you can figure out the plugin but the vendor provides good support. The free version of Booking Calendar offers very basic functionality but users can also choose from multiple premium options to suit their specific needs.
Start Booking is a newer appointment scheduling plugin that supports a customizable booking experience. While not as matured as some of the other bookings plugins, Start Booking comes across as simple and easy to set up. They have a free version that's downloadable from the WordPress repository or their official website, but that has a less than impressive average rating of 4.3 stars from a bunch of users. Start Booking is a cloud-based platform that requires users to log in to the official website in order to manage booking actions. This may come off as an inconvenience for anyone who is looking to centralize everything in the native WordPress dashboard. The premium version of Start Booking is available within the price range of $25 to $75 (per month) - which is notably more expensive compared to some of the other bookings plugins.