No matter what kind of business you own, you will most certainly need an online booking system to keep your customer booking appointments on time.
Having a booking system can assist you in managing your business more efficiently and provide you with a steady stream of income. Here, I have compiled a list of the best online booking systems that you can use for free or at a reasonable cost.
AppointmentCore
AppointmentCore is a cloud scheduling software designed to leverage your Infusionsoft and Google Calendar for online bookings. It also integrates with key cloud meeting apps, such as GoToMeeting and ConferenceCalling.
The app lets you create time slots, where your clients choose their date. It also automatically creates the meeting in Infusionsoft or GoToMeeting. Invitations from both platforms are then sent to clients without manual entry.
Likewise, the app lets you set the lead time for last-minute bookings. Open dates are displayed with at least 48 hours prior notice. You can also set buffer time to help you prepare for a meeting.
Also, we like how the app gives you the flexibility to rotate your team’s availability. Pricing starts at $27 per month featuring unlimited booking links and appointments.
What is unique about AppointmentCore?
- Automated GoToMeeting and Infusionsoft link
- Staff availability management
- Provides configurable 48-hour lead time for last-minute bookings
Doodle
Price: Free (Basic), $6.95 one user/month (Starter), $44.75 for 5 users/month (Team), contact for enterprise pricing.
Create meeting polls to send to clients and prospects, suggest meeting dates and times, and allow voting on dates that work all with Doodle’s free version. While the free version might be helpful enough for most individuals, you’ll need to upgrade to the premium pricing tier to remove ads from your polls, set a deadline for the poll, and collect contact information from meeting guests.
The paid version of Doodle’s scheduling software helps you find a time to meet that works for all attendees. The meeting host suggests meeting times, invites participants to indicate their availability, then the meeting host picks a final time. When the time is finalized, a calendar event is added to the host and meeting invitees’ calendars. Plus, there’s a dashboard feature where you can manage all the meetings you have.
Setmore
Setmore is a free lightweight scheduling platform (premium available) for entrepreneurs and small businesses, such as hair salons, spas, photography, medical, and consulting. It lets you reach more customers online via 24/7 online booking, and sends you alerts and reminders to ensure appointments are kept.
The app features an integrated calendar, being compatible with Google Calendar, Outlook Calendar, and Office 365. Likewise, it integrates with social pages such as Facebook and Instagram, and with key business apps like Slack, WordPress, and CRM solutions.
Setmore also allows payment processing and features mobile apps for Android and iOS, which lets you manage contact lists and sync your calendar on the go. Other key features include staff logins, reviews, class booking, and self-booking.
The premium plan starts at $25 per month featuring two-way calendar sync, credit card payments, and custom branding.
Detailed Setmore ReviewREAD MORE
What is unique about Setmore?
- Free app with robust features including 24/7 online booking platform and integration with Google Calendar, Outlook Calendar, and Office 365.
- Integrates with key social networks like Facebook and Instagram
- Mobile apps allow contact list management and calendar synchronization
Ovatu Manager
Ovatu Manager is a rich schedule software solution designed for fast-growing small businesses. It helps you maximize your schedules, bookings, and resources. It also accommodates different appointment types and multiple services for recurring bookings and class bookings, among others.
Standard tools include automated SMS reminders with in-app communication for replies and confirmations. The app also features more than just arranging schedules. We like the built-in reporting features that allow you to generate real-time financial documents and point-of-sale invoicing with a pre-built tax calculator.
Furthermore, Ovatu Manager works offline, allowing you to access your data and accept bookings even when the internet connection is down. The app syncs the data once you log online.
What is unique about Ovatu Manager?
- Offline-online sync allowing you to access data and accept bookings even when the internet is down
- Accepts different appointment types, such as recurring bookings and class bookings
- Built-in reporting that generates real-time financial reports
EssentialPIM
EssentialPIM (Personal Information Manager) is a flexible cloud management platform that offers a plethora of features for managing appointments, notes, tasks, emails, and more. It’s a cross-platform solution that can seamlessly synchronize data through different devices, like laptops and smartphones, and across various cloud applications such as Google Calendar, Drive, Outlook.com, Dropbox, and more.
The system also lets you organize and manage your data in more efficient ways with features such as cross-linking of items and tagging of data. This makes it easier to access and handle data more flexibly. Furthermore, EssentialPIM also ensures your data is protected from unauthorized access and loss by using encryption keys, SSL certificates, backups, and other advanced security features.
EssentialPIM has two main versions available — free and pro. The free version provides basic scheduling functionalities such as synchronization with iOS and Android, appointment calendar, notes, reminders, and more. The pro, on the other hand, offers three tiers of pricing ideal for different needs and business requirements.
Detailed EssentialPIM ReviewREAD MORE
What is unique about EssentialPIM?
- EssentialPIM Cloud takes care of transparently syncing all your data between different devices and apps through a secure cloud.
- Custom views of calendar, tasks, and schedules make it easier to keep track of appointments, notes, projects, etc.
- Fully supports desktop, Android, and iOS versions of the app, each tailored to its respective device.
Acuity Scheduling
Price: $14/month for 1 calendar (Emerging), $23/month for 6 calendars (Growing), $45/month for 36 calendars (Powerhouse)
Acuity Scheduling makes it easy to book appointments with clients and prospects. It’s an online assistant where prospects, customers, and clients can see your real-time availability and book their own appointments. The tool allows you to send customized confirmations that reflect your branding. And appointment reminders and follow-up messages can be sent via email or text message.
YouCanBook.me
Price: $10/calendar/month
Connect your Google Calendar or iCloud calendar to set your availability to create a booking grid and start booking meetings. Share the booking grid on your website, Facebook page, or via email. Add custom styling, use unlimited fields, and manage your bookings using advanced tools.
HoneyBook
Price: $9/ month (Starter), $34/month (Unlimited), $390/year (Unlimited Annual)
HoneyBook allows you to manage bookings throughout the entire sales process. You can book initial meetings with prospects and even send proposals, contracts, and invoices when they’re ready. It helps you manage your clients and HoneyBook integrates with other tools like Gmail, Google Calendar, and more.
Bookeo
Price: $14.95 per user/month (Solo), $29.95 per user/month (Small), $39.95 per user /month (Standard), $79.95 per user/month (Large)
If you’re looking for a tool that provides appointment setting and advanced tracking for how your meeting contacts move through the sales pipeline, Bookeo Appointments is the tool for you. This platform automatically updates your schedule in real-time for optimal booking and integrates directly with HubSpot to keep your contact list up-to-date based on booking reservations.
Sugar Calendar
Sugar Calendar is a powerful event management and calendar plugin for WordPress that you can use to create event schedules, collect payments, and more.
Sugar Calendar event syncs with your Google Calendar to help with your workflow.
You can connect Sugar Calendar with other WordPress form builder plugins like WPForms or Ninja Forms to unlock the full power of form builder and events.
What we really like about Sugar Calendar is that it’s fast and simple. Unlike other plugins, it’s not bloated and works very well with other plugins.
If you’re looking to do one-off events or recurring events, Sugar Calendar is the plugin for you. It has great timezone support, the plugin works on all devices, comes with calendar widgets, and everything you need.
BirchPress
BirchPress is a comprehensive WordPress booking plugin. It allows you to add a professional online booking management system into your WordPress site. Your users can book appointments from your website and pay for it using their PayPal account or credit card.
BirchPress syncs your booking calendar with your other calendars such as Google Calendar, iCal, Android, Outlook, etc. It has a customizable email notification and reminder system to keep you, and your clients informed about the booking.
Booking Calendar
Booking Calendar is one of the best free WordPress booking plugins in the market. It is simple, easy to use, and well documented. It comes with a calendar view for both you and your website visitors. You can easily add your booking / appointment form into any WordPress post or page.
While it is simple enough for beginners, it is also very powerful and includes a whole range of options that can be configured from the plugin’s settings page. It comes with built-in captcha to prevent spam, email notifications, jQuery effects, and more. You can even customize the booking form with your own custom fields.
WP Simple Booking Calendar
WP Simple Booking Calendar is another straightforward WordPress booking plugin. Simply create a calendar and then add it to a post or page using the shortcode. It only allows users to book an entire day. This means there are no hourly time slots.
If you were looking for something very simple and basic for rooms, accommodation, or other per day offerings, then this plugin will do the job. For more complex items, look at the plugins we mentioned above.
Easy Appointments
Easy Appointments is a flexible and free WordPress appointment booking plugin. It allows you to easily add multiple locations, services, and workers. After that you can create flexible connections with granular control of the calendar. It also allows you to customize the booking form by adding custom form fields.
You can easily add appointment booking form to any page or post using the shortcode. You can also customize the notification emails plugin sends to clients, workers, and website administrator.
WPForms
WPForms is the best WordPress contact form plugin. It comes with a beginner friendly drag and drop form builder that allows you to easily create any kind of form within minutes.
WPForms can be integrated with Google Calendar through Zapier but it doesn’t allow you to set working hours. However, if you already have WPForms installed, then you can easily use it to create a custom booking form. You will have to manually approve and confirm each appointment.
Conclusion
There are several ways you can use an online software. You can use it for online trading, website design and development, or simply book an appointment with a physician. In fact, the online booking system is one of the most beneficial software there is.