Picktime is a hosted appointment scheduler with a free plan, which is why many salons, tutors and small clinics start there. The free plan covers three users, two locations and unlimited appointments, with PayPal as the only gateway and one-way calendar sync. The paid plans are cheap per user, but the limits are tight. Starter is capped at three users, Pro at ten before you contact support, and the booking page stays on Picktime's domain. If your business runs on WordPress, a booking plugin removes the user caps and puts the whole flow on your own site.
This guide compares seven alternatives: five WordPress plugins we installed and booked on a clean site in October 2026, and two hosted tools for businesses that want to stay off WordPress. Picktime's plans and limits were read on its pricing page on 26 October 2026. Plugin prices come from each vendor's own pricing page, read on 25 and 26 October 2026. Several vendors had autumn sales running, so the regular price is given next to the sale price wherever the page showed both.
Short answer. Booknetic is the most complete Picktime alternative for a WordPress site. It has no user cap, puts the booking page on your own domain, and adds packages, gift cards, loyalty, deposits, ten payment gateways and a workflow engine for a flat yearly or lifetime licence. Amelia suits businesses that also sell events. LatePoint is the best value if you want every feature on the cheapest plan. Bookly has the largest free install base, and Simply Schedule Appointments is the quickest setup for a consultant. Setmore is the free hosted option for up to four users, and Calendly is the hosted pick for meeting links.
Why people leave Picktime
These are the limits as shown on Picktime's pricing page and plan comparison table on 26 October 2026. Picktime is a fair deal for a solo professional on the free plan. The reasons to leave are the caps and the hosted model rather than the price.
User caps on every plan. Free and Starter stop at three team members, Pro at ten. The pricing page sends larger teams to support. A plugin licensed per site has no user count at all.Reminders and two-way sync are paid. The free plan has email notifications but no reminders, and calendar sync is one-way. Email reminders, SMS, two-way sync with Google, Outlook, iCloud and Exchange, and recurring bookings start on Starter at $3 per user a month billed yearly, or $4 monthly.PayPal only on Free. Stripe and Square join on Starter. There is no deposit option, no packages and no gift cards on any plan, and vouchers and class packs are marked "coming soon".The booking page is hosted by Picktime. WordPress gets a widget and a booking button. The flow, the customer records and the branding stay on Picktime's page, and a custom booking flow needs Pro.Pro-only basics. A waitlist, round robin, discount coupons, booking approval, captcha and customisable emails all sit on Pro. So does a booking page in more than one language. Pro costs $2.25 per user a month billed yearly, or $3 monthly. The comparison table also lists "zero booking commission" as a Pro-only line, and the page does not say what the lower plans charge.
The alternatives at a glance
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1. Booknetic: Picktime's feature list without the user cap
Booknetic is built for the same businesses Picktime targets: salons, clinics, studios, tutors, coaches and multi-location chains. The booking page runs inside your WordPress site on your own domain and theme. Customers walk through location, staff, service, extras, date and time, their details, a cart with the price and a coupon field, and a confirmation. Staff, locations and services are unlimited on every plan, and the licence is per site rather than per user.
The feature list covers what Picktime puts on Pro and what it marks as coming soon. Deposits, no-show protection through card on file, a waiting list, multi-staff and multi-location booking, resources, packages, gift cards, coupons, loyalty and custom appointment statuses are in the plan list. Reminders and follow-ups run through a workflow engine by email, SMS, WhatsApp and Telegram. Ten payment gateways including Stripe, PayPal and Square, two-way Google and Outlook calendar sync, Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams links, invoices and taxes, a customer panel and user roles are there too.
Type WordPress plugin; customers book on your own domain
Free version Yes, from booknetic.com, with limits and a branding bar
Yearly plans Basic $45 ($89 regular), Standard $99 ($199), Premium $149 ($399), Elite $299 ($599)
Lifetime plans Basic $99 ($199 regular), Standard $239 ($399), Premium $599 ($799), Elite $699 ($1,599)
Users and locations Unlimited on every plan; licensed per site
Payments Local payment on Basic; Stripe, PayPal and WooCommerce from Standard; all 10 gateways, Square included, on Elite
Calendar sync Two-way Google and Outlook sync from Standard
Guarantee 14-day money-back guarantee
Booknetic, Amelia, LatePoint, Bookly and Simply Schedule Appointments were installed on a clean WordPress site and booked end to end in October 2026. Their pros and cons come from that real install. The two hosted tools come from vendor pages and public reviews.
No user cap. A ten-person team pays the same $99 a year on Standard ($199 regular) as a solo professional, where Picktime Pro charges per user and stops at ten.
The booking page, the customer database and the branding sit on your own domain, not on a hosted Picktime page.
Packages, gift cards, loyalty, deposits and a waiting list are in the plan list, where Picktime marks vouchers and class packs as coming soon.
Reminders by email, SMS, WhatsApp and Telegram through a workflow engine, with your own SMS provider account.
You need a WordPress site and a host. There is no hosted sign-up like Picktime's.
Basic covers local payment and one domain; Stripe, PayPal, calendar sync and the mobile app start on Standard.
In our test the free build's branding bar forced a desktop width on a 390-pixel phone, so the free version is for evaluation rather than production.
Best for: salons, clinics, studios and tutoring businesses that have hit Picktime's user cap or want the booking flow on their own WordPress site. See the Booknetic pricing page for the full plan matrix and the free version.
2. Amelia: appointments and events, with a free Lite version
Amelia is the closest plugin to Booknetic in scope and adds event booking with tickets. The free Lite version on WordPress.org covers appointments with Square payments and no user cap. Starter at $49 a year covers one domain with coupons, service extras, group appointments and the mobile app. Standard at $99 adds other payment methods, unlimited locations, recurring appointments, deposits, calendar sync and invoices. Pro and Elite add packages, resources, a cart, a waiting list, event tickets and the REST API.
Free version Amelia Lite on wp.org: 90,000 active installs, 4.6/5 from 791 ratings; Square payments included
Starter $49 a year, one domain; Square payments only, no calendar sync or deposits
Standard $99 a year, one domain; multiple payment methods, unlimited locations, recurring, deposits, calendar sync
Pro and Elite Pro $199 a year ($329 regular) for five domains; Elite $399 ($599) for unlimited domains; packages, resources, cart, waiting list, REST API
Guarantee 15-day money-back guarantee; lifetime licences available
Updated Version 2.4.13 on 22 October 2026, tested up to WordPress 7.1
Events with tickets and a waiting list next to appointments, where Picktime's classes stop at a headcount.
Polished admin and a mobile app on every paid plan.
No user cap on Lite or on any paid plan.
Starter is Square-only and lacks calendar sync and deposits; the features most salons need start on Standard.
In our test the booking page loaded about 5 MB of assets, the heaviest of the five plugins.
Service durations are tied to the global slot step, so a 45-minute service needs a 15-minute step across the site.
Best for: a studio or school that books appointments and sells event tickets from the same WordPress site.
3. LatePoint: every feature on the cheapest plan
LatePoint sells one feature set and prices it by the number of sites. Starter covers one site, Scale five and Agency a hundred. The free plugin on WordPress.org already takes Stripe, PayPal and Razorpay payments with unlimited appointments and agents. Every paid plan adds Square, Mollie and other gateways, group bookings, event registration and SMS, email and WhatsApp reminders. It also adds workflows, multi-staff and multi-location management, two-way Google, Outlook and Apple calendar sync, Zoom and Google Meet links, coupons and packages.
Free version On wp.org: 100,000 active installs, 4.9/5 from 105 ratings; Stripe, PayPal and Razorpay payments
Starter $69 a year on the sale shown, $99 regular; one site, all features
Scale and Agency Scale $125 a year ($249 regular) for five sites; Agency $250 ($499) for a hundred
Payments on paid plans Square, Stripe, PayPal, Razorpay, Mollie, Mercado Pago, Braintree, Paystack and WooCommerce Payments
Guarantee 14-day money-back guarantee; lifetime licences available; renewals at full price
Updated Version 5.7.5 on 16 October 2026, tested up to WordPress 7.1
No feature gating: the $69 Starter plan has the same features as Agency, including a waitlist, coupons and WhatsApp reminders that Picktime puts on Pro.
The most generous free plugin here, with payments on the free plan.
Two-way sync with Google, Outlook and Apple calendars on every paid plan.
In our test a priced service could not be booked until a gateway or "allow paying locally" was switched on, which is off by default.
The sale price and the regular price appear on the same pricing page with different figures, so check the checkout total.
A smaller company than Amelia or Bookly, with support through tickets and a Discord community.
Best for: a small business that wants Picktime's Pro features, and more, on the cheapest paid plan with no user count.
4. Bookly: the largest free install base and WhatsApp notifications
Bookly has been on WordPress.org since 2014 and sits on 60,000 active installs. The free version covers the booking form, the calendar and email notifications, but online payments, unlimited staff and services and calendar sync need a paid plan. Bookly moved from separate add-ons to bundled yearly plans. Pro covers one site with unlimited staff, Google Calendar sync and local payments. Business adds Stripe and PayPal, deposits, group and recurring booking and Outlook sync. Ultimate adds multi-location, packages, a waiting list and events. Notifications go out by email, SMS and WhatsApp, and SMS credits are bought on top.
Free version On wp.org: 60,000 active installs, 4.4/5 from 586 ratings; no online payments, limited staff and services
Pro $39 a year on the sale shown, $99 regular; one site, unlimited staff and services, Google Calendar sync, Zoom and Meet; local payments only
Business $69 a year ($129 regular); Stripe and PayPal, deposits, group and recurring booking, Outlook sync, custom fields, coupons
Ultimate $159 a year ($199 regular); multi-location, packages, waiting list, events, custom statuses
Ultimate $159 a year ($199 regular); every paid feature
Payments Local payment on Pro; Stripe and PayPal from Business; Authorize.Net, 2Checkout and PayU on Ultimate; no Square
Updated Version 28.6 on 13 October 2026, tested up to WordPress 7.1
Unlimited staff on the $39 Pro plan, the cheapest paid plan in this list, where Picktime caps Starter at three users.
WhatsApp and SMS notifications built in.
Chain, collaborative and compound services for multi-step treatments.
No Square gateway, so a Picktime user on Square changes processors when moving to Bookly.
In our test the plugin loaded about 1.2 MB on every page of the site, not only the booking page, and called a geolocation service from the visitor's browser.
Renewals are at the regular price, so the yearly cost rises after the first year.
Best for: a salon or clinic that wants a well-known plugin with WhatsApp reminders and a low first-year price.
5. Simply Schedule Appointments: the five-minute setup for consultants
Simply Schedule Appointments is the Calendly of WordPress. A setup wizard takes you from install to a working booking calendar in a few minutes, and the free Basic edition on WordPress.org has unlimited appointment types and calendars with no time limit. Plus adds Google Calendar, Zoom and Google Meet, custom fields and classes. Professional adds Stripe and PayPal payments, SMS through Twilio and webhooks. Business adds team members and resources with a Zoom onboarding call.
Free version Basic on wp.org: 50,000 active installs, 5.0/5 from 155 ratings; no payments
Plus $99 a year on the introductory price shown, $129 regular; Google Calendar, Zoom and Meet, classes, custom fields
Professional $199 a year ($249 regular); Stripe and PayPal, SMS, webhooks, analytics
Business $399 a year ($499 regular); team members, resources, onboarding call
Payments Stripe and PayPal from Professional; no Square
Guarantee 30-day refund; renewals at the regular price; version 1.6.12 on 14 October 2026
The fastest setup of the five plugins and the highest WordPress.org rating.
Strong form and page builder integrations: Elementor, Divi, Beaver Builder, Gravity Forms, Formidable and MemberPress.
Free Basic edition with unlimited calendars for a consultant who does not take payments.
Team scheduling and resources need Business at $399 a year, more than Picktime Pro for a ten-person team.
No packages, memberships, gift cards or deposits, and no Square gateway.
In our test the booking form rendered in an iframe of about 3 MB and called a third-party IP service.
Best for: a consultant or coach who books one calendar and wants a WordPress page up in minutes.
6. Setmore: a free hosted booking page for up to four users
Setmore is the hosted tool closest to Picktime, with a more generous free plan. Free covers up to four users with unlimited appointments, a branded booking page, payments, email reminders, group classes and the Reserve with Google, Instagram and Facebook booking buttons. Pro costs $5 per user a month on yearly billing and adds text reminders, recurring appointments, two-way calendar sync, video appointments and the option to remove Setmore branding.
Free $0 for up to four users; unlimited appointments, payments, email reminders, mobile apps
Pro $5 per user a month billed yearly; SMS reminders, recurring appointments, two-way calendar sync, no branding
Add-on Live receptionist from $99 a month
Support 24/7 human support advertised on every plan
Ratings 4.9/5 on Trustpilot from 3,274 reviews
Four free users and email reminders on Free, where Picktime gives three users and no reminders.
Pro is cheap even for a team, at $5 per user a month on yearly billing.
The highest Trustpilot score among the seven tools.
SMS reminders are Pro only and depend on a fair-use policy by country.
No packages, memberships or gift cards in the plan list.
Still a hosted page, so the booking flow and customer data live on Setmore. Our Setmore alternatives for WordPress guide compares the plugin options.
Best for: a team of up to four that wants to stay on a free hosted page and only needs more than Picktime's free plan gives.
7. Calendly: the hosted meeting link with the widest integration list
Calendly is built around a link rather than a service menu. You connect a calendar, set your availability, share the link, and the other person picks a slot that lands on both calendars. The Free plan covers one event type and one calendar with unlimited one-on-one meetings and meeting polls. Standard adds unlimited event types, six calendars, reminders, HubSpot and Mailchimp, and payments through Stripe and PayPal. Teams adds round robin, lead routing and Salesforce.
Free One event type, one calendar, unlimited one-on-ones, meeting polls, browser extension
Standard $10 per seat a month billed yearly, $12 monthly; six calendars, reminders, Stripe and PayPal
Teams $16 per seat a month billed yearly, $20 monthly; round robin, routing, Salesforce
Enterprise From $15k a year, 50 seats minimum
Service features No packages, memberships or gift cards; payments are per booking
Ratings 4.1/5 on Trustpilot from 714 reviews
The simplest setup for one person: a link, a calendar and a booking page in minutes.
The widest integration list, with CRM, video and marketing tools on the paid plans.
Round robin and routing on Teams make it the pick for sales and recruiting teams.
Every host needs a paid seat, so a six-person team on Standard pays $720 a year.
No services, resources, classes or locations, which Picktime has even on Free.
No packages, memberships, gift certificates or intake forms built for service businesses. Our guide to Calendly alternatives for WordPress covers the plugin route.
Best for: sales, recruiting and consulting teams that book meetings rather than services and need CRM integrations.
Picktime vs Calendly
People compare the two because both have a free plan, but they do different jobs. Picktime is a service scheduler with staff, resources, classes and locations. Calendly is a meeting link with event types and hosts.
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For a small service team on a budget, Picktime is the cheaper and more fitting of the two. For meetings with a CRM behind them, Calendly wins. Neither puts the booking page on your own site, and neither has packages or gift cards. Our comparison of Calendly, Acuity Scheduling and SimplyBook.me covers the hosted tools with service features in more depth.
What a six-person salon pays per year
The table assumes six staff members with their own calendars, reminders and online payment. Prices are yearly totals from the vendor pages read on 25 and 26 October 2026, with the regular price in brackets where a sale was shown.
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Moving from Picktime to a WordPress plugin
Picktime's free plan includes contact export, so the move is a few hours of setup rather than a data problem.
Export your contacts. Use Export Contacts in Picktime and import the CSV into the plugin's customer list.Rebuild the catalogue. Create services with lengths and prices, add staff, locations, resources and classes, and set working hours and breaks.Connect the gateway. Keep PayPal, Stripe or Square if you already use it, then add deposits or full prepayment per service.Reconnect the calendars. Link each staff member's Google or Outlook calendar with two-way sync, so existing Picktime bookings block time until they pass.Replace the widget. Put the plugin's booking page on your site and point the Picktime link in your Google Business Profile, email signature and social bios at it.Switch reminders on and close the account. Set email, SMS or WhatsApp reminders and a follow-up, then cancel Picktime once its last bookings have passed.
Which Picktime alternative should you pick?
A salon, clinic, studio or chain on WordPress : Booknetic. Unlimited staff, locations, deposits, packages and reminders on one flat licence.Appointments and event tickets on one site : Amelia, with Standard for calendar sync and deposits.Every feature on the cheapest paid plan : LatePoint Starter at $69 ($99 regular).The lowest first-year price with unlimited staff : Bookly Pro at $39 ($99 regular).A one-person consultancy on WordPress : Simply Schedule Appointments, free on Basic.A free hosted page for up to four users : Setmore Free.Meeting links for a sales or recruiting team : Calendly Teams.A hosted tool with packages and memberships : Acuity Scheduling, covered in our Acuity Scheduling alternatives guide.
Still shopping around? Our round-up of the best WordPress appointment booking plugins compares the plugins from the same lab test.
How these tools were checked Picktime's plans, limits and plan comparison table were read on picktime.com/pricing on 26 October 2026, in USD with both the yearly and the monthly toggle. Booknetic, Amelia, LatePoint, Bookly and Simply Schedule Appointments were installed on a clean WordPress site and booked end to end in October 2026. Their install counts, ratings and version dates come from the WordPress.org plugin API. Plugin prices were read on each vendor's own pricing page on 25 and 26 October 2026, with the regular price given next to any sale price shown. Setmore and Calendly facts come from their plan pages and Trustpilot, read on 25 October 2026. We did not run paid accounts for the two hosted tools.
FAQ
What is the best Picktime alternative for WordPress? Booknetic. It has no user cap and runs the booking page on your own domain. It adds packages, gift cards, loyalty, deposits, ten payment gateways and a workflow engine for reminders, on a flat licence from $45 a year ($89 regular) or $99 lifetime. Amelia, LatePoint, Bookly and Simply Schedule Appointments are the other plugins worth a look, depending on budget and features.
Is Picktime free? Yes, with limits. The free plan covers three users, three resources, two locations, two classes and unlimited appointments, with PayPal as the only gateway, email notifications but no reminders, and one-way calendar sync. Starter costs $3 per user a month billed yearly and Pro $2.25 per user a month billed yearly, as shown on the pricing page on 26 October 2026.
What are Picktime's user limits? Free and Starter stop at three team members and Pro at ten. The pricing page asks larger teams to contact support. The WordPress plugins in this list are licensed per site with unlimited staff, apart from Simply Schedule Appointments, which adds team members on its Business plan.
Does Picktime work with WordPress? Only as a widget or a booking button. The booking flow, the customer records and the branding stay on Picktime's hosted page. A plugin such as Booknetic runs the whole flow inside WordPress with its own customer database.
Picktime or Calendly? Picktime for a small service team: it has services, staff, classes and locations, and Pro costs $2.25 per user a month billed yearly. Calendly for meetings with a CRM behind them: it has event types, round robin and the widest integration list, at $10 per seat a month billed yearly on Standard. Neither puts the page on your own site.
Is there a free Picktime alternative with more users? Yes. Setmore Free covers four users with email reminders. On WordPress, the free versions of LatePoint and Amelia have no user cap, and Simply Schedule Appointments Basic has unlimited calendars. Reminders, payments and calendar sync vary by plugin, so check the facts in each section.
Can Booknetic replace Picktime completely? Yes, for a business on WordPress. Booknetic covers Picktime's services, staff, resources, locations, classes, reminders, two-way calendar sync and payments, and adds deposits, packages, gift cards, loyalty, a waiting list and a workflow engine. The customer list moves over by CSV, and the booking page runs on your own domain.
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