RecommendedEditors Choice
Run WordPress appointment and event bookings with services, employees, payments, calendars, notifications, events, and customer workflows.
Amelia and Bookly both handle appointment scheduling inside WordPress, but they grow in very different ways. Amelia bundles increasingly advanced booking, payment, resource, package and automation features into plan tiers. Bookly starts with a free core and expands through Pro, higher bundles, separate add-ons and Bookly Cloud services.
Quick take
Amelia is easier to budget when you want a broad service-business booking stack under one license family. Bookly is more modular: you can start smaller and add capabilities such as calendar sync, group booking, recurring appointments, customer cabinet features or additional payment gateways as needed.
Pricing checked September 25, 2026. Both have free versions and both currently offer annual and lifetime paid options.
| Compare |  AmeliaFree; paid annual plans from $49 |  BooklyFree; Pro from $39/year promotional ($99/year regular) or $99 lifetime promotional ($129 regular) |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting price | Free; paid annual plans from $49 | Free; Pro from $39/year promotional ($99/year regular) or $99 lifetime promotional ($129 regular) |
| Free version | Yes | Yes |
| Sites included | 1 site on Starter/Standard; 5 on Pro; 20 or unlimited on Elite options | 1 site per current Pro, Business or Ultimate license |
| Lifetime option | Yes | Yes |
| Refund policy | 15-day money-back guarantee | 30-day money-back guarantee for purchases from booking-wp-plugin.com |
| Setup level | Intermediate | Intermediate |
| WordPress.org rating | 4.6/5 (790) | 4.4/5 (579) |
| Active installs | 90K+ | 60K+ |
| Best for | Service businesses, salons, consultants, healthcare providers, educators, fitness businesses and event organizers that want appointments and events in one WordPress system | Appointment-based businesses that want a modular booking system and expect to extend it with specialized add-ons over time |
| Not ideal for | Very simple one-person calendars that only need basic appointment slots and would not use Amelia’s broader employee, payment or event tooling | Hotels or rental businesses, or teams that prefer one bundled license containing most advanced features without separate add-ons |
| Tested version | 2.4.10 | 28.1 |
| Last reviewed | 2026-09-10 | 2026-09-24 |
| Features | ||
| Frontend booking form | Yes | Yes |
| Multiple staff / hosts | Yes | Paid plan |
| Google Calendar sync | Paid plan | Add-on |
| Zoom / Google Meet | Paid plan | Add-on |
| Online payments | Paid plan | Limited |
| Group bookings | Yes | Add-on |
| Recurring bookings / events | Paid plan | Add-on |
| Customer self-service portal | Yes | Add-on |
| Staff / host dashboard | Yes | Paid plan |
| Webhooks / automation | Paid plan | Add-on |
| SMS notifications | Limited | Add-on |
| Resource scheduling | Paid plan | Add-on |
The main difference is bundled features vs add-ons
Amelia’s paid roadmap is organized around Starter, Standard, Pro and Elite. Features such as recurring appointments, deposits, calendar integrations, packages, resources, webhooks and advanced developer controls become available as you move up the tiers. That makes the licensing decision closely tied to which business workflows you need.
Bookly uses a more modular model. Its free plugin covers basic scheduling, while Pro and the current Business and Ultimate plans expand the base. Bookly also continues to offer individual add-ons and cloud services. This can be useful when your requirement is very specific, but it means total cost depends on the exact combination you assemble.
Staff, locations and customer management
Both products can support multi-staff booking businesses. Amelia includes employee and customer-facing management workflows, multiple locations and role-based access. Bookly supports staff scheduling and can be extended with customer-facing and advanced operational add-ons.
For a salon, clinic or other service business with several employees, compare the staff dashboard, customer self-service, location rules and service assignment workflow rather than looking only at the booking form.
Payments and recurring services
Amelia supports multiple online payment methods across paid tiers, plus deposits, taxes, invoices and WooCommerce compatibility. Its Pro and Elite tiers also cover packages and resource management. Bookly currently includes Stripe Payments in its free product and supports additional gateways through Pro or paid add-ons. Its official documentation lists more than ten payment options across the wider Bookly ecosystem.
Recurring appointments and group bookings are available in both ecosystems, but Bookly commonly exposes advanced capabilities through add-ons while Amelia packages them into higher tiers.
Pricing, licensing and refunds
Amelia’s current pricing includes annual and lifetime licensing, with site limits that increase by tier. The official pricing page advertises a 15-day money-back guarantee. Bookly currently lists Free, Pro, Business and Ultimate, each with annual and lifetime options for one site. Purchases made directly through Bookly’s website include a 30-day money-back guarantee; third-party marketplace purchases follow that marketplace’s policy.
Which setup fits which workflow?
Consider Amelia when you want a tightly integrated booking stack and expect to use advanced service-business tools such as resources, packages, recurring appointments, employee panels and integrated payments. Consider Bookly when you prefer a modular architecture and want to add only the specific scheduling, payment or communication components your site needs.
Amelia vs Bookly FAQs
Do Amelia and Bookly both have free versions?
Yes. Both provide free WordPress plugins for basic scheduling, with more advanced features in paid plans or add-ons.
Do both offer lifetime licenses?
Yes. Both currently advertise lifetime purchase options alongside annual licensing.
Which one uses more add-ons?
Bookly uses the more modular add-on model. Amelia also gates features by plan, but more of its advanced booking stack is bundled into defined tiers.
Can both accept online payments?
Yes. Both support online payments, although the included gateways and whether a feature is bundled or requires an add-on differ.
Practical decision notes
Amelia is positioned around service businesses, salons, consultants, healthcare providers, educators, fitness businesses and event organizers that want appointments and events in one WordPress system, while Bookly is positioned around appointment-based businesses that want a modular booking system and expect to extend it with specialized add-ons over time. That difference is more useful than counting features: map the product to the workflow your site actually needs to run every week.
Watch the fit: Amelia is less suitable when very simple one-person calendars that only need basic appointment slots and would not use Amelia’s broader employee, payment or event tooling. Bookly is less suitable when hotels or rental businesses, or teams that prefer one bundled license containing most advanced features without separate add-ons. Treat those limits as implementation checks rather than absolute drawbacks.
Before switching or buying: Amelia currently lists Free; paid annual plans from $49; Bookly currently lists Free; Pro from $39/year promotional ($99/year regular) or $99 lifetime promotional ($129 regular); the setup profiles are Amelia: intermediate and Bookly: intermediate. Recheck the vendor pricing page, then test the actual payment, email, permissions, automation, and data-migration path your production site depends on.
Compare before you choose
Use structured feature, pricing, and editorial research to compare these WordPress plugins side by side.