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BookWellNow – Appointment Booking icon
Actively maintained Tested with WP 7.1 #38 in appointment booking

BookWellNow – Appointment Booking

Let customers choose a service, staff member, and time slot online. Includes unlimited staff, Zoom, PayPal Checkout, and a customer panel.

Active installs10+10+ tier
Downloads · 30d637▲ 4.1× vs prev. 30d
Rating—0 reviews
Health score70/100Good
All-time downloads1.7KSince Jun 2026
Support resolved1 / 1100% in last 2 months
RequiresWP 5.3PHP 7.4+
Downloads · 7d149▼ -36.6% week over week
Our verdict

Solid choice

BookWellNow is a solid plugin choice in 2026, with a few things worth checking first. It runs on 10+ sites and was last updated 4 days ago, and scores 70/100 on our health check.

  • Actively developed — last update 4 days ago
  • Tested with the latest WordPress (7.1)
  • Momentum — downloads up 305.7% vs the previous 30 days
  • Small user base (10+ active installs)
  • Very few reviews so far

How does it stack up?

Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support

Daily downloads

132639Jul 7Aug 20Oct 4
Yesterday5
Daily average (1y)15
Peak day53Sep 15, 2026
Last 12 months1.7K

Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.

Rankings

Where BookWellNow stands today

WordPress.org search rankings

Live position in the plugin search, top 100
KeywordPositionCompeting pluginsCategory
appointment booking #46 745 Best appointment booking plugins →
appointment scheduler #14 74 Best appointment scheduler plugins →
booking button #75 1,222 Best booking button plugins →
booking plugin #80 2,121 Best booking plugin plugins →
calendar booking >100 897 Best calendar booking plugins →

Version adoption

Share of active sites per release.

  • 3.0100.0%

About BookWellNow – Appointment Booking

From the official readme · v5.0.8

Description

BookWellNow helps you take service bookings on your WordPress site. Customers pick a service, a staff member, and an available time, then confirm. You can collect PayPal Checkout or pay-on-arrival payments, and optionally create a Zoom meeting for the visit.

There is no per-staff or per-service limit in the free version. You manage working hours, shifts, holidays, and special days from the WordPress admin. Customers can log in to a panel to view history and cancel when you allow it.

| Documentation | Demo | Need Support? |

Appointment Booking Demo Themes:

🌟 Yoga Class Appointment 🌟
🌟 Beauty & Spa Salon Booking 🌟
🌟 Healthcoach Booking 🌟

Free Features

  • Appointment Booking Popup Button
  • Gutenberg blocks (booking form, popup button, customer panel)
  • Elementor widgets (booking form, popup button, customer panel)
  • Free Zoom Meeting
  • Overnight booking supported
  • Free Unlimited Staff Members
  • Free Unlimited Services
  • Free PayPal Payment Gateway
  • Free Staff Shift Management
  • Free Staff Holiday Management
  • Free Customer Panel
  • Free Customer Appointment Cancellation
  • Duplicate Service & Staff
  • Day-based services (duration in days)
  • Lightweight & Very Fast Loading
  • Online Appointment Scheduling
  • Booking Calendar Management
  • Single & Multi Day Service
  • Mobile-Friendly Booking Experience

Pro Features

The free plugin covers the workflow above. BookWellNow Pro adds:

  • Google Calendar two-way sync
  • Google Meet
  • Custom fields
  • Buffer time
  • Reschedule
  • Scheduled notifications
  • WooCommerce payment gateways
  • Service extras and rules
  • Staff Panel
  • Stripe Payment Gateway
  • Multi-service Booking
  • Multiple quantity and maximum capacity support

Getting started

  1. Activate the plugin and open Book Well Now in the admin menu.
  2. Add at least one service and one staff member, then assign the staff member to the service.
  3. Set working hours (and holidays if needed) for that staff member.
  4. Add the form with a Gutenberg block, an Elementor widget, or a shortcode (see below).
  5. Optionally enable PayPal or Zoom under Settings.

Gutenberg blocks

Add BookWellNow from the block inserter. Search for BookWellNow or open the BookWellNow category. You can also use the matching Elementor widgets.

BookWellNow Booking Form

Shows the booking wizard on the page. In the block sidebar you can optionally pre-select a staff member and a service.

BookWellNow Booking Popup Button

Places a button that opens the same form in a popup. You do not need the booking form block on the same page. In the block sidebar you can set the label, staff/service filters, alignment, colors, font family, font size, border radius, and hover styles.

BookWellNow Customer Panel

Shows the logged-in customer area (history, profile, and cancellation). You can place it on the same page as the booking form or popup button.

Shortcodes

Create shortcodes from Book Well Now → Shortcode Generator, or paste them into a page or post. The Gutenberg blocks and Elementor widgets use the same forms.

Form popup button

[bookwell_booking_button]

Places a button that opens the form in a popup. You do not need [bookwell_booking] on the same page.

  • service_id – pre-select a service (useful on a service page)
  • staff_id – show only that staff member’s services
  • label and class – button text and extra CSS class

Examples:

[bookwell_booking_button label="Book Now"]

[bookwell_booking_button service_id="2" label="Book this service"]

[bookwell_booking_button staff_id="1" label="Book with this staff"]

[bookwell_booking_button service_id="2" staff_id="1" label="Book now"]

Inline form

[bookwell_booking]

Shows the form on the page. In Settings → Appearance (or Shortcode Generator) choose Small Booking Wizard or Service List with Popup.

Optional attributes: staff_id, service_id

[bookwell_booking]

[bookwell_booking staff_id="1" service_id="2"]

Customer panel

[bookwellnow_customer_panel]

Shows the logged-in customer area (history, profile, and cancellation).

Availability

  • Customers see only open dates and time slots
  • Overlapping times for the same staff member are blocked
  • Working hours, breaks, holidays, and special days control what is offered
  • Overnight hours: set start and end across midnight (for example 2:00 PM to 2:00 AM the next day)

Staff and services

  • Add as many staff members and services as you need
  • Assign services to staff and set duration and price
  • Auto-select when only one service or staff member applies

Customer panel

  • Customers log in to see upcoming and past visits
  • They can cancel when cancellation is enabled
  • Optional WordPress user creation when someone books (Settings → Customer Panel)

Payments

  • Pay on arrival / manual
  • PayPal Checkout (sandbox and live)

Emails

  • Confirmation and status update emails
  • Placeholders for Zoom join/host links when Zoom is enabled

Types of booking

BookWellNow is a timed-visit scheduler. A guest picks a service, a staff member, and an open slot. That same flow covers several kinds of businesses without a separate “booking type” setting.

1:1 appointments
Use it for consults, coaching, clinics, tutoring, and client meetings. Each visit is one person, one staff member, and a duration you set on the service.

Salon, spa, and beauty
Stylists and therapists appear as staff. Customers book the person they want, and overlapping times for that person are blocked.

Fitness and wellness
Personal training, yoga, massage, and similar sessions work as standard services. Day-based duration is available when a visit should occupy a full day instead of a clock time.

On-site and trade work
Home visits, repairs, and technician dispatch can be booked as services with staff calendars. Overnight shifts are supported when a working day runs past midnight.

Classes, studios, and events
Workshops, photo sessions, and studio time can be listed as bookable services. Guests still choose a slot from the staff calendar (class waitlists are not part of the free plugin).

Dining and table-style holds
A reservation can be a service with a length and a staff/resource calendar. Party-size seating charts are not included; treat each booking as one timed hold.

Remote sessions
Enable Zoom on a service and staff member when the visit should happen on a video call. Join details can go out in the confirmation email.

Who it is for

Anyone who sells time: clinics, salons, trainers, tutors, consultants, trades, photographers, auto shops, studios, and pet services.

Security and permissions

Admin screens use capability checks and nonces. Notification settings are limited to users who can manage plugin settings.

Third-Party Libraries

This plugin bundles the following third-party libraries (see THIRD-PARTY-LICENSES.txt for versions and licenses):

  • Vue.js (MIT) – https://vuejs.org/
  • Element Plus / Element Plus Icons (MIT) – https://element-plus.org/
  • Axios (MIT) – https://axios-http.com/
  • Qs (BSD-3-Clause) – https://github.com/ljharb/qs
  • SortableJS (MIT) – https://sortablejs.github.io/Sortable/
  • Chart.js (MIT) – https://www.chartjs.org/
  • intl-tel-input (MIT) – https://github.com/jackocnr/intl-tel-input

Bundled minified vendor files (for example *.min.js) are third-party libraries, not obfuscated plugin code. Upstream sources are listed in THIRD-PARTY-LICENSES.txt.

External Services

Google Fonts

When a Google font is selected in appearance settings, or on the popup button Gutenberg block / Elementor widget, the booking form may load fonts from https://fonts.googleapis.com/ (Google LLC). Browser request data (IP, user agent, requested font) is sent only on pages where the booking form or styled button is shown. Privacy: https://policies.google.com/privacy

PayPal Checkout

When PayPal is enabled, payments use the PayPal Checkout SDK and Orders API (https://www.paypal.com/sdk/js, https://api-m.paypal.com/, sandbox API). Booking amount, currency, appointment reference, and standard request headers are sent during checkout. Credentials are stored in WordPress; only the Client ID is exposed on the frontend. Privacy: https://www.paypal.com/us/legalhub/privacy-full

Zoom Meetings

When Zoom is enabled (Settings → Integrations), BookWellNow uses Zoom Server-to-Server OAuth (https://zoom.us/oauth/token, https://api.zoom.us/v2/) to list users and create/delete meetings. Account ID, Client ID, and Client Secret are stored in WordPress. Meeting join/host URLs are saved on appointments. Privacy: https://explore.zoom.us/en/privacy/

Installation

  1. Upload the plugin to /wp-content/plugins/
  2. Activate it from Plugins in WordPress
  3. Open Book Well Now in the dashboard
  4. Add a service and staff member, then put the BookWellNow Booking Form block (or [bookwell_booking]) on a page

Frequently asked questions

How do I put the form on a page?

You can embed BookWellNow using a Gutenberg block, an Elementor widget, or a shortcode. In the block editor, add BookWellNow Booking Form. You can also generate a shortcode with optional staff or service filters from Book Well Now → Shortcode Generator.

How do I open the form from a button?

Add the BookWellNow Booking Popup Button block, or use [bookwell_booking_button]. Example: [bookwell_booking_button service_id="2" label="Book now"]. The same form opens in a popup. Style the button in the block sidebar, Elementor Style tab, or shortcode attributes.

Does this work with Elementor and Gutenberg?

Yes. The plugin provides native Gutenberg blocks and Elementor widgets for the booking form, popup button, and customer panel.

Can I set staff working hours and time off?

Yes. Each staff member has shifts, breaks, holidays, and special days.

Can customers cancel on their own?

Yes, from the customer panel when cancellation is enabled.

Does it stop two people taking the same slot?

Yes. Availability is checked when the slot list is built and again when the booking is saved.

Is there a staff or service limit?

No. The free version does not cap how many staff members or services you can add.

Can I take PayPal payments?

Yes. PayPal Checkout supports sandbox and live mode. You can also use pay on arrival / manual payment.

Is overnight (after midnight) supported?

Yes. On a working day, set Start Time and End Time across midnight. Example: 2:00 PM to 2:00 AM the next day. That range is treated as one continuous shift.

Changelog

Fixes staff and service image selection by displaying the WordPress media picker above the editor drawers.

5.0.8

  • Fixed the WordPress media picker opening behind the staff and service editors, preventing image selection.
  • Fixed the WordPress user dropdown remaining in the top-left corner after saving or closing the staff editor.

5.0.7

  • Refined the setup wizard with a more compact premium header, footer, form layout, and step indicator.
  • Added polished current, completed, and waiting step states with improved progress connectors.
  • Improved responsive behavior and complete RTL support for Arabic layouts, controls, and wizard navigation.
  • Remove Placeholder service image
  • Auto hide staff step when active one staff

5.0.6

  • Replaced remaining heading tags with divs on the frontend booking form and customer panel so theme heading styles do not override the layout.
  • Added support for extra Pro payment gateways (including Mollie) on the booking form and in the customer panel.
  • Compatibility update aligned with BookWellNow Pro 2.0.8.

5.0.5

  • Added Gutenberg blocks: BookWellNow Booking Form, Booking Popup Button, and Customer Panel.
  • Added Elementor widgets for the same booking form, popup button, and customer panel.
  • Added popup button style options (colors, font family, font size, border radius, hover, and alignment) for Gutenberg, Elementor, and shortcode.
  • Fixed Gutenberg inline booking form so clicking a service advances to the next step.
  • Fixed customer panel and booking form on the same page so both blocks work, not only the first one added.
  • Fixed Gutenberg block editor crash when choosing a button font family.
  • Fixed empty Gutenberg staff/service filters being treated as a pre-selected ID.
  • Updated translation template and language files for Gutenberg, Elementor, and popup button strings.

5.0.4

  • Hide WordPress and third-party admin notices on BookWellNow plugin screens.

5.0.3

  • Fixed Database issue
  • Hardened table install with safe dbDelta fallback and existence checks before migrations.

Full changelog on WordPress.org →

Screenshots

BookWellNow – Appointment Booking screenshot
BookWellNow – Appointment Booking screenshot
BookWellNow – Appointment Booking screenshot
BookWellNow – Appointment Booking screenshot
BookWellNow – Appointment Booking screenshot
BookWellNow – Appointment Booking screenshot
BookWellNow – Appointment Booking screenshot
BookWellNow – Appointment Booking screenshot
BookWellNow – Appointment Booking screenshot

For developers

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Best BookWellNow alternatives

All appointment booking plugins →
Alternatives
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FAQ

BookWellNow – Appointment Booking: quick answers

Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.

Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 5, 2026

Is BookWellNow free?

Yes. BookWellNow is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.

Is BookWellNow safe to use in 2026?

BookWellNow is a solid plugin choice in 2026, with a few things worth checking first. It runs on 10+ sites and was last updated 4 days ago, and scores 70/100 on our health check.

How many websites use BookWellNow?

BookWellNow is active on 10+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 1,707 times since it launched in June 2026. It was downloaded 637 times in the last 30 days.

Does BookWellNow work with WordPress 7.1?

Yes. The developer has tested BookWellNow up to WordPress 7.1.2, the latest release. It requires WordPress 5.3 or newer.

What PHP version does BookWellNow need?

BookWellNow requires PHP 7.4 or higher. Most hosts run PHP 8.x today, so it works on any modern WordPress hosting.

When was BookWellNow last updated?

The latest version, 5.0.8, was released on October 1, 2026 (4 days ago).

Who makes BookWellNow?

BookWellNow is developed and maintained by BookWellNow Plugin.

What are the best alternatives to BookWellNow?

The most popular alternatives to BookWellNow are Appointment Booking Plugin (100K+ installs), Online Scheduling and Appoi… (60K+ installs) and Simply Schedule Appointments (50K+ installs).

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