WP Booking System vs MotoPress Booking Calendar: How Do They Compare?
Table of Contents
What really makes a WordPress booking system stand out – flexibility, integrations, or ease of use? The answer isn’t obvious until you start comparing specific tools. WP Booking System and MotoPress Booking Calendar are two suitable options that may appear similar at first glance, but upon closer examination, their approaches begin to diverge. In this article, we’ll compare their pricing, calendars, admin tools, payment processing, and more!
This is actually the third time I’m putting WP Booking System head-to-head with a MotoPress booking plugin, and each comparison uncovers new insights. That’s the thing about WordPress booking tools: they may serve the same purpose, but the way they handle bookings, calendars, or payments can be different.
Before we go into details, here’s a quick snapshot of both plugins:
| Name | Provider | Release Year | Compared Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| WP Booking System | Veribo | 2014 | 5.12.3 |
| MotoPress Booking Calendar | MotoPress | 2025 | 1.3.0 |
Now, let’s dive into the features and comparison tables!
WP Booking System vs MotoPress Booking Calendar: Comparing Premium Versions
When evaluating any online booking system WordPress solution, the premium version often shows the real value you’ll work with daily. Let’s break down the most important aspects!
Pricing
Price always matters, but so does the way it’s structured. Both plugins follow the annual subscription model but take slightly different approaches. Let’s compare them:
| Feature | WP Booking System | MotoPress Booking Calendar |
|---|---|---|
| Free Version | Yes | Yes |
| Annual cost | Personal – $69:
Business – $115:
Developer – $229:
|
|
| Lifetime cost | No | No |
| Free trial | No | Yes, 7 days |
| Addons | 21 premium add-ons – available in different Pricing Plans | No |
*Prices are subject to change
Conclusions:
- Both WordPress booking system plugins provide a free version, but MotoPress Booking Calendar goes further with a 7-day trial, giving you a chance to test-drive the system before paying.
- Neither offers a lifetime license. Instead, you’ll find annual subscriptions. WP Booking System has three tiers based on site count (1, 5, or unlimited), while MotoPress Booking Calendar offers two plans (1 site or up to 25).
- The MotoPress plugin is also part of the Membership, which includes 50+ plugins and themes at a discounted rate.
- Another key difference is in add-ons. WP Booking System includes 21 premium addons, distributed across plans, while MotoPress Booking Calendar comes as an all-in-one plugin.
Booking period
One of the most defining features of any WordPress reservation plugin is how it handles booking periods. After all, every business structures its rentals differently: some by nights, others by full days, and some by flexible hourly slots.
WP Booking System: daily, changeover
WP Booking System supports daily and nightly (changeover) bookings:
- Daily: Customers reserve full days.
- Nightly (changeover): Ideal for accommodations calculated per night, like hotels or B&Bs.
MotoPress Booking Calendar: hourly, daily, changeover
MotoPress Booking Calendar supports hourly, daily, and nightly bookings:
- Hourly: Flexible time slots for short-term rentals or services.
- Daily: Each day counts as one rental unit, suitable for standard vacation rentals, vehicles, or equipment rented for multiple days.
- Nightly (changeover): since guests book rental units per night, this option is perfect for vacation rentals.
Conclusions:
- WP Booking System works for daily rentals and traditional accommodations with night-based reservations.
- MotoPress Booking Calendar adds more flexibility, supporting also hourly bookings for services, tools, or events.
Admin Calendar
A clear and user-friendly admin calendar is the core of any WP booking plugin. It’s where you track availability, adjust prices, manage inventory, and keep your bookings organized.
| Feature | WP Booking System | MotoPress Booking Calendar |
|---|---|---|
| Unlimited calendars | Yes | Yes |
| Edit availability | Yes | Yes |
| Edit price | Yes | Yes |
| Bulk edit | Yes | Yes |
| Start day of the week | Custom | Monday |
| Color-coded statuses | Yes | No |
| Inventory | Yes | Yes |
| Tooltips | Yes | No |
| Custom legend items | Yes | No |
| Calendar overview | Yes (Calendar Organizer) | Yes (Variations) |
| CSV export | Yes | No |
| iCal import/export | Yes | No |
| Reports | Yes | No |
Conclusions:
- Both plugins allow unlimited calendars, bulk edits, availability management, and inventory settings.
- WP Booking System includes advanced tools like tooltips, custom legend items, CSV export, and iCal import/export.
- MotoPress Booking Calendar emphasizes a modern visual interface for adding rental units, setting prices, marking availability, customizing inventory, and changing booking statuses.
- While WP Booking System offers more technical extras, MotoPress provides an intuitive interface that streamlines booking management for site owners.
Booking Form
When it comes to booking forms, both WP Booking System and MotoPress Booking Calendar let you collect customer details and adjust pricing. However, the way each plugin approaches form building is quite different.
WP Booking System
The WP Booking System plugin offers a dedicated form builder as a tab on the Edit Form page. The page is divided into two columns:
- Left: the form you’re building;
- Right: available fields you can add by clicking.
Field Categories
Form fields are grouped into three categories:
1. Basic Elements
- Text Field
- Email Field
- Phone Field
- Textarea Field
- Dropdown Field
- Checkbox Field
- Radio Field
- Number Field
2. Advanced Elements
- HTML Field
- Datepicker Field
- Hidden Field
- Captcha Field
- Consent Field
- Signature Field
3. Pricing Elements (visible only if Pricing is enabled in plugin settings)
- Product Field
- Product Number Field
- Product Dropdown Field
- Product Checkbox Field
- Product Radio Field
- Security Deposit Field
- Coupon Field (via add-on)
- Inventory Field (via add-on)
- Total Field
- Payment Method Field
Conditional Logic
Certain fields can be shown/hidden based on the value of other fields.
Field Options
1. Basic options:
- Label
- Required/optional
- Options (for dropdown, checkbox, and radio)
- Price calculation (per day or per booking for pricing fields)
2. Advanced options:
- Placeholder
- Default value
- Description under the field
- Layout (full-width or half-width for columns)
- Custom CSS class
- Multiplication (tie pricing to another field)
- Custom “Total” label (for pricing items)
- Date format (for Datepicker field)
- Hide label
- Dynamic population
MotoPress Booking Calendar
The MotoPress Booking Calendar plugin uses the WordPress block editor for form building, making it visually familiar and flexible.
The form editor is structured as:
- Left menu: functional fields and layout blocks;
- Center: live preview of the booking form;
- Right menu: settings for the selected block or field.
Form Fields
There are 13 fields available for collecting customer data:
- Customer Name
- Customer Email
- Customer Phone
- Short Answer
- Long Answer
- Number
- Dropdown
- Multiple Choice
- Checkbox
- Country
- Price Adjustment
- Phone
Default fields included in every form:
- Name
- Phone
They can be required, replaced, or deleted. However, keeping them is recommended for effective booking management.
Price-Adjusting Fields
Some fields directly affect the booking price:
- Price Adjustment
- Checkbox
- Multiple Choice
- Number
Layout Blocks
With MotoPress Booking Calendar, you can add Layout Blocks to improve form structure and design:
- Columns
- Images
- Spacers
- Separators
Form Sections
- Common (permanent) section – global fields shown on all bookings;
- Unique (dynamic) section – fields specific to a rental variation, shown only at checkout for that item.
To cut a long story short, here is the table that summarizes the key features of each plugin’s booking form at a glance:
| Feature | WP Booking System | MotoPress Booking Calendar |
|---|---|---|
| Form builder type | Dedicated form builder | WordPress block editor |
| Default fields | None (start from scratch) | Name, Email, Phone |
| Field categories | Basic, Advanced, Pricing | 13 functional fields + layout blocks |
| Pricing fields | Product fields, deposits, coupons (add-on), inventory (add-on), total, payment method | Price Adjustment, Checkbox, Multiple Choice, Number |
| Advanced fields | HTML, Datepicker, Hidden, reCaptcha, Consent, Signature | Handled via block editor |
| Layout customization | Column layouts (full/half width), custom CSS classes | Columns, images, spacers, separators |
| Conditional logic | Yes | Limited |
| Assigning forms | Create multiple forms and link them individually to calendars | Create or reuse forms; assign globally or per variation |
| Form sections | Single structure | Common (permanent) and Unique (dynamic) |
Payment Processing
Flexible pricing and secure payments improve both the user experience and your revenue management. How do the compared WordPress booking system solutions handle payments?
| Feature | WP Booking System | MotoPress Booking Calendar |
|---|---|---|
| Complex Pricing | Prices per person/day/season | Via price-related booking form fields (conditional pricing) |
| Payment Gateways | PayPal, Stripe, Square, Mollie, GoPay, Authorize.net, and Redsys – Business and Developer | Stripe (20+ supported) |
| WooCommerce Integration | Yes (Business and Developer) | No |
| Pay on arrival | Yes | Yes |
| Deposit | Yes | Via the booking form field |
| Discounts | Yes (Business and Developer) | Via the booking form field |
| Sell extras | Yes | Via the booking form field |
| Taxes | Yes | No |
| Invoices | Yes (Business and Developer) | No |
| Payment request | Yes | No |
| Security deposit | Yes | No |
Conclusions:
- Both plugins support complex pricing settings.
- WP Booking System lets you set prices per person, day, or season, and includes many payment gateways via add-ons available in Business and Developer plans (PayPal, Stripe, Square, Mollie, GoPay, Authorize.net, Redsys).
- MotoPress Booking Calendar has a built-in price calculator and Stripe support out of the box.
- WP Booking System also supports WooCommerce integration, deposits, invoices and discounts, while MotoPress enables extras and conditional pricing through its booking form fields.
Notifications
Notifications keep both you and your customers informed, reducing mistakes and improving communication. A reliable booking system for WordPress ensures messages are timely, clear, and customizable.
| Feature | WP Booking System | MotoPress Booking Calendar |
|---|---|---|
| Email notifications | Yes | Yes |
| SMS Notifications | Yes – Business and Developer | No |
| Email templates | Yes | Yes |
| iCalendar attachment | Yes | No |
Conclusions:
- Both plugins offer email notifications with ready-to-use templates.
- WP Booking System also supports SMS alerts and iCal attachments via Business and Developer plans.
- MotoPress Booking Calendar ties notifications directly to specific booking forms, keeping messages relevant and accurate.
Compatibility with page builders
Does the WordPress reservation plugin support integration with your site editor to build and manage booking pages with no hassle? Let’s see from the table:
| Feature | WP Booking System | MotoPress Booking Calendar |
|---|---|---|
| Page builders | Block editor, Elementor, Divi, Beaver, Avada, Visual Composer, WP Bakery, and Bricks | Fully optimized for the Block editor (Gutenberg) |
| Shortcodes | Yes | Yes |
Conclusions:
- MotoPress Booking Calendar works seamlessly with the native WordPress editor. It relates not only to adding a calendar to the needed page, but also to editing your checkout/booking form.
- WP Booking System supports Block Editor, Elementor, Divi, Beaver Builder, Avada, Visual Composer, WP Bakery, and Bricks.
- So, WP Booking System suits better if you use multiple page builders, while MotoPress Booking Calendar is ideal for a WordPress-native approach.
- Both plugins support shortcodes, giving flexibility for placement.
WP Booking System vs MotoPress Booking Calendar: Free Versions Compared
Free versions are a great way to test a WordPress booking system before committing. Each plugin offers limitations that influence whether you can run a functional workflow without upgrading.
Key limitations of the WP Booking System free:
- Online and offline payments;
- iCal synchronization;
- Unlimited booking calendars and booking forms;
- Custom calendar legend and tooltips;
- Split days selection;
- Multiple months view;
- Custom start day/month/year;
- Bulk edit;
- Booking restrictions;
- Booking notifications;
- Customer management.
Key limitations of MotoPress Booking Calendar free:
- Price adjustment form field;
- Payments with Stripe;
- Premium support.
Conclusions:
- WP Booking System free edition restricts more options, such as the number of calendars, calendar management options, payment methods, etc.
- MotoPress Booking Calendar free keeps most core features, but limits complex pricing and Stripe.
Concluding Remarks: What Are the Pros of the Compared Plugins?
So, choosing the best WordPress booking system isn’t just about features or price – it’s about what works best for your business and your workflow. Both WP Booking System and MotoPress Booking Calendar aim to solve the same problem: making online booking simple for you and your customers. However, they approach it differently.
WP Booking System is packed with integrations and features for advanced use. MotoPress Booking Calendar, meanwhile, focuses on versatility and ease of use, especially for businesses that need different types of rental periods.
Let’s take a closer look at their strengths.
Pros of WP Booking System over MotoPress Booking Calendar:
- Wide choice of payment gateways and WooCommerce integration.
- SMS notifications and iCal attachments in emails.
- More page builder integrations.
- Extra calendar tools: CSV export, custom legends, tooltips.
- Extensive addon system for customizing functionality.
- Natively supports discounts, deposits, invoices, and extras.
- Annual license for unlimited sites.
Pros of MotoPress Booking Calendar over WP Booking System:
- Supports hourly bookings in addition to daily and nightly.
- 7-day free trial.
- Built-in Stripe support at no extra cost.
- Visual calendar with modern UI, images, and descriptions.
- Fewer limitations in the free version.
- Included in MotoPress Membership (50+ products).
- Easier setup for beginners – no need to manage addons.
- More affordable pricing plans.
At the end of the day, the choice comes down to your business model. Are you a hotel owner who needs multiple gateways and integrations? Or are you looking for a flexible tool that works across any rentals and services? Select the best solution for your case and share it in the comments!
Disclosure: this article may contain affiliate links for third-party products. If you click a link and later make a purchase, we may earn an affiliate commission that doesn’t result in additional charges to you.
FAQ
Why use a WordPress booking system plugin?
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