Is WP Booking System right for you?
WP Booking System is a WordPress booking plugin built primarily for businesses that accept bookings by day or date range.
If customers choose a check-in and check-out date, a rental start and end date, or simply one or more days on a calendar, WP Booking System is likely to be a good fit.
It is commonly used for holiday homes, apartments, villas, guest houses, cabins, campsites, boats, vehicles, equipment, venues and other things that are rented for one or more days.
WP Booking System is not an appointment scheduling plugin. It does not use hourly time slots, staff schedules or appointment-style service booking.
The quick answer
WP Booking System is a strong choice when you want to add a straightforward booking system to an existing WordPress website without turning the entire website into an eCommerce or property-management platform.
Customers can view availability, select dates, complete a customizable booking form and, if required, pay online. You manage availability and reservations directly from WordPress.
If your business revolves around appointments at specific times, staff schedules or hourly availability, an appointment booking plugin will usually be a better fit.
If you operate a larger hotel or accommodation business that requires a complete property management system, real-time OTA rate and restriction distribution, complex room allocation or other traditional PMS features, a dedicated hotel booking system or channel manager may be more appropriate.
Who is WP Booking System best for?
Vacation rentals and holiday homes
WP Booking System is particularly well suited to independently operated vacation rentals where guests reserve a property for a number of nights or days.
This includes holiday homes, villas, cottages, cabins, apartments and other short-term rentals.
You can display availability, accept direct bookings on your WordPress website, calculate the booking price, collect guest information and accept payments.
If you also list your property on platforms such as Airbnb or Booking.com, availability can be synchronized using iCalendar feeds.
Guest houses, B&Bs and smaller accommodation businesses
WP Booking System can also be used by guest houses, B&Bs and smaller accommodation businesses that manage one or more bookable units.
Each rental resource can have its own availability calendar, while tools such as the Search Widget can help visitors search for available dates across multiple calendars.
For businesses that require a full hotel PMS, complex room-type allocation or real-time distribution of rates and restrictions to OTAs, a specialist hotel platform may be a better choice.
Vehicle and boat rentals
If customers rent a car, campervan, motorhome, motorcycle, boat, jet ski or another vehicle for one or more days, the date-based booking model used by WP Booking System is a natural fit.
Each vehicle can have its own availability, pricing and bookings.
Equipment rentals
WP Booking System can also be used for equipment and other resources that are rented by the day.
Examples include tools, sports equipment, entertainment equipment and other physical resources where customers need to reserve specific dates.
If your rentals are primarily hourly rather than daily, WP Booking System is not the right booking model.
Venues and other daily rentals
Any resource that can be represented by an availability calendar can potentially be managed with WP Booking System.
This can include venues, event spaces and other resources that customers reserve for full days or multiple consecutive days.
What kind of booking system is WP Booking System?
WP Booking System is an availability-first, date-based booking system.
The central part of the plugin is the availability calendar. Customers see which dates are available, select the period they want to book and submit the booking form.
This makes it different from appointment booking plugins, where the process normally revolves around selecting a service, member of staff and available time slot.
It is also different from a traditional hotel PMS, where rooms, room types, occupancy, distribution channels and hotel operations are usually managed as one larger system.
WP Booking System sits between these two categories: it provides a flexible WordPress-native booking system for businesses that primarily need to manage daily availability and direct bookings.
What can WP Booking System handle?
| Requirement | WP Booking System |
|---|---|
| Daily bookings | Yes |
| Multi-day/date-range bookings | Yes |
| Availability calendars | Yes |
| Multiple rental calendars | Yes |
| Custom booking forms | Yes |
| Seasonal and custom pricing | Yes |
| Prices based on number of guests | Yes |
| Deposits / part payments | Yes |
| Online payments | Yes |
| Bank transfer / offline payments | Yes |
| Discounts and coupons | Yes |
| Email notifications and reminders | Yes |
| SMS notifications | Yes |
| Invoices and contracts | Yes |
| Airbnb availability synchronization | Yes, through iCalendar |
| Booking.com availability synchronization | Yes, through iCalendar |
| Other iCalendar-compatible platforms | Yes |
| WooCommerce checkout | Available as an integration |
| Requires WooCommerce | No |
| Hourly appointment slots | No |
| Staff appointment scheduling | No |
| Full hotel PMS/channel manager | No |
Do I need WooCommerce?
No.
WP Booking System works as a standalone WordPress booking plugin, so you do not need to install WooCommerce simply to accept bookings.
The booking calendar, forms, pricing and booking management are handled by WP Booking System itself.
If you already use WooCommerce or specifically want bookings to go through WooCommerce Checkout, an optional WooCommerce Checkout integration is available.
This makes WP Booking System useful for rental businesses that want online booking functionality without the additional complexity of building their booking process around WooCommerce products.
Can WP Booking System accept online payments?
Yes.
Depending on your license and configuration, WP Booking System can accept online payments through gateways including Stripe, PayPal, Square, Mollie, Authorize.Net and GoPay.
Offline methods such as bank transfer, payment on arrival or other manual payment methods can also be used.
The plugin can also handle deposits or part payments, security deposits, taxes, discounts, additional services, multiple currencies and payment requests.
See the Pricing page for the features and payment integrations included with each license.
Does WP Booking System work with Airbnb and Booking.com?
Yes, for availability synchronization.
WP Booking System can import and export iCalendar (.ics) feeds, allowing booked dates to be exchanged with platforms that support the iCalendar format, including Airbnb and Booking.com.
For two-way availability synchronization, the WP Booking System calendar is exported to the external platform and the external platform’s calendar is imported back into WP Booking System.
It is important to understand what iCalendar synchronization does and does not do.
iCalendar synchronizes booked or unavailable dates. It does not provide real-time synchronization of prices, rates, booking restrictions or all reservation information.
Updates are also dependent on how frequently each connected platform refreshes its iCalendar feeds.
If your business requires real-time OTA rate, inventory and restriction distribution, you should use a dedicated channel manager or property management platform instead.
Can I manage multiple properties or rental items?
Yes.
WP Booking System supports multiple calendars, which means you can create separate availability calendars for different properties, rooms, vehicles, equipment or other rental resources.
For websites with several calendars, the Search Widget can allow customers to enter their preferred dates and find resources that are available during that period.
The Booking Manager can also bring bookings from your calendars together into a central management interface.
Is WP Booking System suitable for hotels?
It depends on how the hotel operates.
WP Booking System can work well for smaller hotels, B&Bs, guest houses and accommodation businesses whose main requirement is to display room or property availability and accept bookings by date.
For a traditional hotel requiring complex room inventory management, room-type allocation, a hotel PMS, housekeeping workflows, real-time OTA distribution or other specialist hotel functionality, a dedicated hotel booking platform will generally be more appropriate.
WP Booking System is best thought of as a flexible daily rental and accommodation booking system, rather than a complete hotel property management system.
When should I choose something else?
You need hourly appointments
If customers need to choose a specific appointment time such as 10:30 AM or 2:00 PM, WP Booking System is not designed for that workflow.
Appointment plugins such as Amelia, Bookly or BookingPress are designed around services, staff and time slots and are likely to be a better fit.
You need staff scheduling
WP Booking System manages the availability of rental resources rather than employee schedules.
Businesses such as salons, clinics, therapists and consultants normally need an appointment scheduling system instead.
You need a complete hotel PMS
WP Booking System handles accommodation bookings and availability, but it is not intended to replace a full property management system or enterprise channel manager.
If your operation depends on sophisticated room allocation, housekeeping operations, real-time OTA rate distribution or centralized management across a large number of properties, a specialist hospitality platform may suit you better.
You rent primarily by the hour
WP Booking System works on a per-day basis and does not provide hourly booking slots.
If customers primarily rent meeting rooms, sports courts, studios or equipment for specific hours, choose a booking system designed for time-slot or hourly rentals.
Why choose WP Booking System for daily rentals?
WP Booking System focuses on a narrower booking problem than many all-purpose booking platforms: helping WordPress businesses manage availability and accept reservations for things rented by the day.
That focus means you can add a booking system to your existing WordPress website without having to build the website around a hotel PMS, appointment scheduler or WooCommerce store.
You can start with a simple availability calendar and booking form, then add pricing, payments, calendar synchronization, reminders, invoices, contracts and other functionality as your booking process grows.
Frequently asked questions
Is WP Booking System a vacation rental plugin?
Yes. Vacation rentals are one of the main use cases for WP Booking System. Guests can select their arrival and departure dates, submit a booking and optionally pay online.
Can I use WP Booking System for an Airbnb property?
Yes. You can accept direct bookings through your WordPress website and synchronize availability between WP Booking System and Airbnb through iCalendar feeds.
Can WP Booking System sync with Booking.com?
Yes. WP Booking System can exchange availability with Booking.com using iCalendar import and export.
Is the Airbnb or Booking.com synchronization real-time?
No. iCalendar synchronization depends on how frequently each connected service refreshes its calendar feeds. It should not be described as real-time synchronization.
Does iCalendar synchronize prices?
No. iCalendar synchronization is primarily for availability and blocked dates. Pricing and booking restrictions are not synchronized through iCalendar.
Does WP Booking System support hourly bookings?
No. WP Booking System works with bookings on a per-day basis and does not provide appointment-style hourly time slots.
Does WP Booking System require WooCommerce?
No. WP Booking System works independently of WooCommerce. A WooCommerce Checkout integration is available if you want to use WooCommerce for the checkout process.
Can I accept payments directly through WP Booking System?
Yes. Online and offline payment methods are available, depending on the license and add-ons you use.
Can I try WP Booking System before buying?
Yes. A free version of WP Booking System is available on WordPress.org, and live demos are available on the WP Booking System website.
Still not sure?
The simplest way to decide is to look at what your customer selects when making a booking.
If they select one or more dates, WP Booking System is likely to be a good fit.
If they select a specific time slot, you probably need an appointment booking system.
If you need to run the operational side of a large hotel or distribute live rates and inventory across multiple booking channels, you probably need a dedicated PMS or channel manager.
If your business rents accommodation, vehicles, equipment or another resource by the day, WP Booking System is designed specifically for that type of booking.
View the demos to see how the booking process works, or compare the available plans to find the version that fits your business.
