Bookly is a WordPress appointment booking plugin; Bookly Pro is the paid upgrade. Service businesses use it to let customers book and pay for appointments online. If you only need part of it, you can get a focused plugin built for your own site and pay once.
Bookly: $39 a year for one site (Bookly Pro).
Your own plugin on Pluginora: from $9 once, with 5 free changes. Try it first for $1.
What Bookly does
- Unlimited staff and services (Pro)
- Online payments (PayPal, Stripe, Mollie)
- Google Calendar sync
- Reminders and follow-up emails
- WooCommerce and Zoom integration
- Paid add-ons
Free version: Yes, Bookly Free.
What you can build instead
A Pluginora plugin does one job for your site. For Bookly, that could be:
- One booking request form
- Simple availability rules
- Email confirmation
A small custom plugin would not replace a booking system with staff calendars, payments and add-ons.
Related plugins you can build:
Cost over 3 years
| Bookly | Your own plugin | |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | $39 | From $9 |
| Year 2 | $99 | $0 |
| Year 3 | $99 | $0 |
| 3-year total | $237 | From $9 |
When Bookly is the better choice
- You manage several staff and services
- You need online payments and calendar sync
- You want add-ons for deposits, coupons, recurring appointments
When your own plugin makes more sense
- You use one or two of its features, not the whole package.
- You would rather pay once than renew every year.
- You want it to work exactly the way your site needs, and to change it on request.
How to get your own
- Describe it. For example: “Add a form where clients pick a date and time for a lesson and I get an email to approve it.”
- See the plan and price. Ora replies with what it will build and a fixed price. Nothing is built until you approve.
- Try it for $1. Test it on a practice site for 7 days, then keep it and pay the rest once.
Questions
Is there a free alternative to Bookly?
Yes, Bookly Free. Free plugins from other makers may cover part of it. A Pluginora plugin costs from $9 once and does exactly the job you describe.
How much does Bookly cost?
It costs $39 a year for one site (Bookly Pro), as listed on booking-wp-plugin.com on 20 October 2026. Shown as $39/year with regular price $99; 1 site. Prices change, so check their pricing page.
Will my own plugin do everything Bookly does?
No. A small custom plugin would not replace a booking system with staff calendars, payments and add-ons. It does the focused job you describe, built for your site.
Does Pluginora copy Bookly?
No. Ora builds a new plugin from your description. It does not copy any code, text or design from Bookly or any other product.
Can I try it before I pay the full price?
Yes. For $1, Ora builds your plugin and you test it on a private practice site for 7 days, with 2 changes. If you keep it, the $1 comes off the price.
Product names are trademarks of their owners. Pluginora is not affiliated with or endorsed by Bookly. The name Bookly is used only to describe the product being compared.