Bookly is one of the most popular booking plugins for WordPress, and if you are looking for an alternative, you have probably encountered the same problem. The basic version looks solid, but later you discover that SMS notifications, card payments and flexible schedule settings are separate paid add-ons, each with its own price.
Baza Booking Calendar takes the opposite approach: one plan with everything included. This article offers an honest comparison of both plugins based on price, features and the real experiences of users who have already switched from one to the other.
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The main difference: hidden paid add-ons
The most common complaint about Bookly in reviews and support forums concerns its pricing structure. The core plugin is free or inexpensive, but every useful feature, including SMS reminders, payments and custom form fields, is sold separately. The combined cost of the required add-ons often becomes higher than the price of a plugin that includes everything from the start.
Sabrina, a studio owner and Baza Booking Calendar customer, switched for exactly this reason. She gradually purchased a Bookly add-on for every feature she needed until the total cost no longer made sense. Baza Booking Calendar includes all the required functionality in one plan without additional purchases.
Plan comparison
| What you need | Bookly | Baza Booking Calendar |
|---|---|---|
| Basic booking calendar | Included | Included |
| SMS notifications | Separate paid add-on | Included in Pro |
| Online card payments | Separate paid add-on | Included in Pro, multiple gateways at once |
| Twilio, seven.io, Vonage, WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber notifications | Not supported | Included in Pro |
| Partial prepayment | Separate paid add-on | Included in Pro |
| Coupons and loyalty system | Separate paid add-on | Included in Pro |
| Google Calendar synchronization | Separate paid add-on | Included in Pro |
| Customer account with booking history | Limited | Built-in login system with “My bookings”, “Loyalty” and “Profile” tabs (Pro+) |
| Form builder with drag-and-drop fields | Separate paid add-on | Included in Pro |
| REST API for external integrations | Not supported | Included in Pro |
Baza Booking Calendar plans: Starter from €9/M per month (or €79/Y per year) for core functionality, Pro for €179/Y per year (or per month) with the full feature set above, and Elite for for agencies managing up to 15 websites at once. Every plan includes a 14-day money-back guarantee.
Notifications: Baza Booking Calendar clearly wins here
Bookly is limited to email and, for an additional fee, SMS. Baza Booking Calendar sends new booking notifications to several channels at once: Telegram, WhatsApp Business, Viber, SMS through Twilio, Lifecell or TurboSMS, and email. All of this is included in the Pro plan without separate purchases.
For a small business owner, this means one simple thing: the notification arrives where you will actually see it immediately instead of getting lost among dozens of emails.
Payment methods
Baza Booking Calendar supports a wider range of payment methods than a typical booking plugin: Stripe, Square, PayPal, Paddle, Revolut Business, Mollie, SumUp, Klarna, iDEAL, WooCommerce. For an international audience, customers from Poland, the Netherlands and other countries can use a familiar local payment method without searching for a workaround.
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We will help transfer your settings and answer every question.
When Bookly may be the better choice
Honestly, if you only need a very simple calendar without notifications, payments or additional services and never plan to grow, the free version of Bookly may be enough. Baza Booking Calendar shows its advantage when your business grows and you need new features one after another instead of purchasing each one separately.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Bookly migration is already available, and the Baza Developers team can also help manually when needed.
There is no free version, but a 7-day trial is available with a card required, so you can test all features before purchasing.
Yes. The Starter plan is designed for this format, with an easy upgrade to Pro when you need payments and additional notifications.
Conclusion
Bookly and Baza Booking Calendar solve the same task but take different approaches to pricing. Bookly costs less at the beginning, but the price increases with every required add-on. Baza Booking Calendar includes the complete feature set in one plan from the start, without surprises on your bill after several months.
Ready to try Baza Booking Calendar without hidden fees?
