Booking Calendar vs Event Organiser: A Comprehensive Comparison

Posted by Josh Blackburn, in Event Plugins

Managing events can be a daunting task, but tools like Booking Calendar and Event Organiser make it much more simplified. When it comes to event management on WordPress websites, there are various plugins available, each offering specialized features to cater to the event planning and organizing process. Among these, Booking Calendar and Event Organiser have emerged as popular options, with both offering distinct functionalities that can enhance your event management experience on your website.

Booking Calendar focuses on providing a seamless appointment and booking management system, whereas Event Organiser primarily targets event organization and related functionalities such as advanced event search and custom forms. Choosing the right tool for your specific needs will depend on the features and capabilities offered by each solution and understanding how they fit into your overall event management process.

Key Takeaways

• Both Booking Calendar and Event Organiser are popular options for managing events on WordPress websites.
• Booking Calendar excels in appointment and booking management, while Event Organiser focuses on event organization features.
• Choosing the right tool depends on the individual’s specific event management needs and desired features.

Booking Calendar Overview

Booking Calendar is a versatile tool for managing appointments and events by providing a comprehensive yet easy-to-use interface. This scheduling solution helps businesses streamline their booking process by offering a range of features, from calendar view to filtering options. Booking Calendar comes in both free and paid versions, catering to businesses of varying sizes.

Key Features

• Calendar View: Booking Calendar offers a visual representation of bookings and events, allowing users to see their appointments at a glance.
• Booking Management: Stay organized with tools for managing booking requests, approving or declining appointments, and sending notifications to clients.
• Filtering Options: Filter events by criteria such as date, type, or location, making it easier to find and manage specific bookings.
• Recurring Events: Set repeat appointments or events with ease, simplifying scheduling for repeat customers or recurring activities.
• Save Functionality: Save your calendar settings and appointment configurations to facilitate efficient scheduling.
• Support: Both free and paid versions typically include customer support options to help users address any technical difficulties or questions.

Key Benefits

• Efficiency: Booking Calendar reduces time spent on manual scheduling tasks, streamlining the process and improving overall business operations.
• Flexibility: With a range of customizable features, Booking Calendar can be tailored to suit specific business needs, whether they require a simple booking tool or a comprehensive event management system.
• Customer Satisfaction: By enabling clients to schedule and manage their appointments online, Booking Calendar enhances the overall customer experience, leading to higher satisfaction ratings.
• Scalability: Booking Calendar’s free version allows small businesses to benefit from basic booking features, while more extensive offerings cater to companies with greater scheduling needs.

Event Organiser Overview

Event Organiser is a powerful and flexible WordPress plugin designed to make event management simpler and more efficient. With a wide range of features and capabilities, this plugin is an excellent choice for anyone looking to manage and schedule events on their WordPress website.

Key Features

• Recurring Events: Event Organiser allows you to create events that recur on a regular basis, such as weekly, monthly, or yearly. This makes it easy to manage ongoing events without manually scheduling each instance.
• Event Templates: The plugin comes with pre-built templates that can be easily customized to match your website’s design and branding. This means you can create attractive event listings without any coding or design expertise.
• Calendar View: The plugin offers a calendar view to display your events in a familiar and intuitive format, making it easy for users to navigate and find events they are interested in attending.
• Developer-friendly: Event Organiser is designed with developers in mind, providing a robust set of APIs, hooks, and filters that allow for extensive customization and integration with other WordPress plugins and themes.
• Extensions and Add-ons: There are a variety of premium extensions available to enhance the functionality of Event Organiser, including support for booking management, ticketing, and additional display options.

Key Benefits

• Streamlined Event Management: The plugin offers an intuitive interface that makes managing events simple and efficient, allowing users to focus on the content and marketing aspects of their events.
• Flexible Scheduling Options: The support for recurring events and flexible scheduling options enables users to easily handle events of various types and durations, accommodating both one-time events and ongoing event series.
• Improved User Experience: By implementing Event Organiser on your WordPress website, you can provide a seamless and user-friendly experience for visitors looking to attend or learn more about your events.
• Developer Support: The plugin’s developer-friendly features and extensive documentation make it easy for developers to customize and enhance the plugin to meet specific requirements and integrate it into any WordPress project.
• Time and Resource Savings: With the plugin’s robust feature set and templates, users can save time and resources by automating repetitive tasks and reducing the need for manual scheduling and data entry.

Comparing Booking Calendar and Event Organiser

Events Management

Booking Calendar offers an intuitive interface for managing bookings, allowing users to create booking forms and calendars for visitors or clients [1]. With its free version, users can manage basic booking management and event creation.

Event Organiser, on the other hand, focuses on building a simple events calendar using the Block Editor [2]. It includes features like event categories and tags, recurring events, and support for various calendar views [3].

Integration Capabilities

Both Booking Calendar and Event Organiser support integration with external calendars like Google Calendar. Event Organiser also offers iCal Sync to keep all calendars up-to-date [5].

For payment processing, Booking Calendar supports PayPal and Stripe [2], while Event Organiser offers payment gateways through its premium add-on, Event Organiser Pro [5].

Customisation Options

Booking Calendar provides a range of templates to choose from, giving users the flexibility to choose a design that matches their website’s theme.

Event Organiser, focusing on WordPress integration, provides compatibility with most themes [3]. It also offers custom fields, filters, and widgets for enhanced personalisation and functionality [4].

Price and Value

Booking Calendar has a free version with limited features [1]. Premium versions offer more advanced functionality at different price points, catering to businesses with various needs.

For Event Organiser, the base plugin is free, and a premium version called Event Organiser Pro provides additional features such as tickets, discount codes, and email reminders [5].

Support and Documentation

Booking Calendar offers user documentation and admin pages for managing your bookings [2].

Event Organiser provides comprehensive support with its function reference, hook reference, and user documentation [6]. Premium users receive priority support and access to additional resources [5].

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the main differences between Booking Calendar and Event Organiser?

Booking Calendar primarily focuses on booking and reservation functionalities for various resources such as rooms, vehicles, or services. On the other hand, Event Organiser is specifically designed for creating and managing events on WordPress websites, offering features like event creation, customization options, and third-party integration.

How do they integrate with WordPress?

Both Booking Calendar and Event Organiser easily integrate with WordPress as plugins. After installing and activating the plugin through your WordPress dashboard, you can start using each tool’s features and options according to your needs.

Which plugin is more suitable for event management?

While both plugins can serve different purposes, Event Organiser can be more suitable for event management, as it offers features explicitly tailored for creating, editing, and managing events. Booking Calendar, on the other hand, focuses more on managing reservations and availability of resources.

What are the costs associated with each plugin?

Booking Calendar offers a free version with basic functionalities, while its premium versions come with additional features and pricing plans depending on specific needs. Event Organiser also provides a free version, with a Pro upgrade available for added functionality and features related to event management. Prices for both Pro versions vary, and it’s best to check their respective pricing pages for the most up-to-date information.

How do their user interfaces compare?

Both Booking Calendar and Event Organiser have user-friendly interfaces that seamlessly integrate with the WordPress dashboard. They provide easy-to-navigate menus and intuitive options for creating and managing events or bookings, allowing users to customize their activities without any major learning curve.

What additional features are offered by the pro versions?

Booking Calendar Pro offers advanced features such as multiple bookings in one day, redirecting after a booking, payments integration, multi-language support, and automatic blocking of booked time slots. On the other hand, Event Organiser Pro provides additional functionality like customizable booking forms, email notifications, extended features for recurring events, and an API for building custom extensions.