Creavi and Bookly both add appointment scheduling to WordPress, but they package the booking experience differently. Creavi includes Google and Outlook Calendar synchronization, reminders, built-in video meetings, customizable forms and unlimited services and bookings in its free plugin. Bookly combines a free core plugin with Bookly Pro and a large catalogue of optional add-ons.
Quick answer: Creavi is the stronger choice when you want a modern, scalable WordPress booking system with substantial functionality included for free. Bookly is an established alternative with a mature ecosystem and an extensive range of Pro add-ons. The right choice depends on whether you prefer Creavi’s integrated free feature set or Bookly’s modular commercial structure.
Creavi vs Bookly at a glance
| Question | Creavi | Bookly |
|---|---|---|
| WordPress-native booking | Yes | Yes |
| Free version | Yes | Yes |
| Services in the free version | No plugin-imposed limit | Up to five services |
| Bookings in the free version | No plugin-imposed limit | Not presented as a booking-count limit |
| Google Calendar connection | Included free | Available through Bookly’s expanded feature ecosystem |
| Outlook Calendar connection | Included free | Available through Bookly’s expanded feature ecosystem |
| Busy-time blocking | Google and Outlook included free | Depends on the Bookly configuration and extensions selected |
| Customer email notifications | Included | Included |
| Customer and administrator reminders | Included free | Available through Bookly’s notification system and configuration |
| Built-in video meetings | Included free | Online-meeting options are available within Bookly’s ecosystem |
| Customer timezone display | Included | Included |
| Custom booking-form fields | Included | Form customization is available; advanced options depend on configuration |
| Popup and inline booking | Included | Embeddable booking forms included |
| Gutenberg support | Dedicated blocks and shortcodes | Bookly Form block and editor integration |
| Elementor compatibility | Yes, through shortcodes | Yes, through booking-form embedding |
| Commercial model | Free plugin with the listed features included | Free core, Bookly Pro and optional paid add-ons |
Feature availability can change. Check the current plugin pages and documentation before making a final implementation decision.
What are Creavi and Bookly?
Creavi Appointment Booking Calendar
Creavi is a WordPress appointment-booking plugin designed to create a complete scheduling journey on a business’s own website. It supports popup and inline booking, multiple services, flexible availability, custom forms, email confirmations, reminders, calendar connections and secure video meetings.
The plugin does not impose a service or booking limit. Practical capacity depends on the WordPress website and its hosting resources. Each service can have its own duration, availability, booking window, meeting method, form, notifications, calendar connection and presentation.
Creavi’s distinguishing approach is to include important operational features in the free plugin rather than distributing them across separate paid add-ons.
Bookly
Bookly is a long-established WordPress appointment-booking plugin. Its free version provides a responsive booking form, service and staff configuration, customer management, email notifications, an appointment calendar and interface customization.
Bookly can be extended with Bookly Pro and a broad catalogue of optional add-ons. This modular model allows businesses to assemble a configuration from Bookly’s ecosystem as their requirements develop.
According to WordPress.org, Bookly version 28.0 has more than 60,000 active installations and a 4.4-star average rating at the time of review. That history and installed base are important strengths for organizations that value an established commercial ecosystem.
Booking experience and website presentation
Both plugins let customers book without leaving the WordPress website.
Creavi uses a focused Date → Time → Details flow. A business can place the complete calendar directly on a page or use a styled button that opens it in a popup. Multiple Creavi services can appear on the same page, and each can use its own branding, service image, availability and booking form.
Creavi can be added with a shortcode, dedicated Gutenberg blocks, Elementor’s Shortcode widget or another compatible page builder. The Service Hero and Booking Profile blocks provide more complete layouts for building conversion-focused service pages directly in Gutenberg.
Bookly provides a responsive multi-step booking form that can be inserted into WordPress content. Administrators can edit interface text, colors and the visibility of form elements. Its form can also preselect details such as a service or employee, which is useful when creating targeted booking pages.
Verdict: Both provide an on-site booking journey. Creavi is especially compelling when popup, inline and Gutenberg-native presentation options need to work together without assembling additional components.
Services, availability and scheduling
Creavi allows administrators to create multiple bookable services without a plugin-imposed service limit. Every service can have separate settings for:
- Appointment duration
- Available weekdays and times
- Rolling booking windows or selected dates
- Holidays and excluded dates
- Minimum booking notice
- Buffers between appointments
- Meeting method or location
- Calendar connection
- Form fields and notifications
- Brand color, service image and thank-you message
Creavi rechecks availability when a booking is submitted, including local conflicts and connected-calendar conflicts. This helps prevent a time that has become unavailable from being accepted during the booking process.
Bookly organizes services into categories and connects them with staff schedules. Its free version supports up to five services, according to its WordPress.org listing. Bookly’s broader ecosystem provides additional scheduling configurations through Pro functionality and optional add-ons.
Verdict: Creavi provides generous service-level control in one free package. Bookly provides an established staff-and-service model that can be expanded through its commercial ecosystem.
Google and Outlook Calendar synchronization
Calendar synchronization is one of the clearest differences between the two product models.
Creavi includes Google Calendar and Outlook Calendar connections in the free plugin. Each service can connect to a calendar, create an event when a customer books and use busy calendar periods to remove conflicting times from the public booking calendar. Appointment buffers are included when Creavi checks for conflicts.
This creates a practical two-part workflow:
- New WordPress bookings appear in the connected working calendar.
- Existing busy events prevent customers from choosing unavailable times.
Bookly supports Google Calendar synchronization and documents Outlook Calendar synchronization within its feature ecosystem. The precise Bookly components and licences required should be confirmed against its current product and add-on pages when planning a deployment.
Verdict: Creavi offers a particularly direct value proposition because both Google and Outlook connections, event creation and busy-time blocking are included free.
Confirmations and appointment reminders
Creavi can send separate messages to customers and administrators. Confirmation and reminder templates can include dynamic booking details such as the customer, service, date, time, telephone number and meeting information.
Customer and administrator reminders can be enabled independently, use different schedules and contain different content. When a service uses Creavi’s secure video meetings, the customer receives the appropriate participant link while the administrator receives the host link.
Bookly includes email notification templates and offers a wider notification ecosystem that can include email, SMS and voice notifications depending on the selected Bookly products and services. Businesses interested in those channels should calculate the complete configuration and ongoing communication costs required for their workflow.
Verdict: Creavi provides a complete email confirmation and reminder workflow in the free plugin. Bookly is attractive when access to a broader modular notification ecosystem is a priority.
Video meetings and appointment locations
Creavi supports in-person appointments, telephone calls, custom online meeting URLs and built-in secure video meetings. For a video appointment, it can automatically create the relevant meeting links and include them in confirmations, reminders and connected calendar events.
This is useful for organizations delivering consultations, interviews, lessons, advisory sessions, support appointments and other remote services. It also reduces the need to create and paste meeting links manually for each booking.
Bookly supports online-meeting workflows through its wider product ecosystem. Organizations already using Bookly should review its current integrations and add-ons to identify the combination that matches their preferred meeting platform.
Verdict: Creavi’s built-in video-meeting workflow is a significant advantage for teams that want scheduling and online appointments inside one free WordPress plugin.
Booking forms, branding and localization
Creavi lets administrators edit, hide or require the standard customer fields and add custom text, textarea, telephone and number fields. A privacy-policy link and consent statement can also be included when appropriate.
Each service can have its own color, image and thank-you message. Calendars can follow the website language or use a service-specific language and regional setting. Creavi includes dozens of localization choices and supports right-to-left calendar presentation.
Bookly also provides substantial booking-form presentation controls. Administrators can change colors and interface text, show or hide elements and display times in the customer’s timezone. Bookly additionally highlights compatibility with WPML for multilingual interfaces and notifications.
Verdict: Both plugins support branded and localized booking. Creavi combines per-service presentation, custom fields and calendar localization within its free feature set, while Bookly brings the maturity of a configurable multilingual ecosystem.
Administration and everyday booking management
Creavi centralizes services and bookings in the WordPress dashboard. Administrators can view, filter, edit and export booking information. Configurable data-retention controls can move completed local booking records to Trash or permanently remove them after a chosen period.
The service editor brings availability, duration, booking windows, meeting method, forms, notifications, calendar connections and presentation settings into one guided interface with a live preview.
Bookly provides a mature administration area with appointment-calendar views, customer records, services, staff configuration and filters. Its long product history and commercial support structure will appeal to businesses that value an established platform and a large library of extensions.
Verdict: Creavi emphasizes an integrated, focused administration experience. Bookly emphasizes maturity, staff-oriented configuration and extensibility.
Creavi vs Bookly pricing and long-term value
Creavi Appointment Booking Calendar is free, including its listed Google and Outlook synchronization, reminders, built-in video meetings, custom forms, popup and inline booking, and unlimited services and bookings. There is no monthly Creavi booking-software fee for those features.
Bookly has a free core plugin that can be used indefinitely. Bookly Pro is installed as a paid add-on, and additional Bookly add-ons require Bookly Pro. Bookly states that the Pro licence includes lifetime plugin updates and six months of support; businesses should consult its current store for live prices and the cost of any additional components.
The fairest cost comparison is therefore not simply free versus paid. It is the cost of the complete configuration needed for a particular booking workflow.
Before choosing, list the capabilities required from launch and compare:
- Core plugin or licence cost
- Calendar connections
- Reminder channels
- Online-meeting workflow
- Number of services
- Booking-form customization
- Page-builder presentation
- Support requirements
- Additional extensions
- Renewal or usage charges
Verdict: Creavi offers unusually strong value when its integrated feature set matches the intended workflow. Bookly offers a mature modular platform for organizations that prefer to build from a larger commercial add-on catalogue.
Which WordPress booking plugin should you choose?
Choose Creavi when you want:
- A modern WordPress booking experience
- Google and Outlook Calendar synchronization included free
- Automatic event creation and busy-time blocking
- Built-in secure video meetings
- Customer and administrator email reminders
- No plugin-imposed limit on services or bookings
- Popup and inline booking presentation
- Dedicated Gutenberg layouts plus shortcode and Elementor compatibility
- Flexible per-service forms, branding, availability and localization
- A focused product that is actively and rapidly developed
Choose Bookly when you want:
- A long-established booking product with a large installed base
- A staff-and-service scheduling model
- A mature commercial support structure
- A broad catalogue of optional add-ons
- A modular system that can be assembled from Bookly Pro and extensions
- Access to Bookly’s wider notification and integration ecosystem
Final verdict
Creavi and Bookly are both capable WordPress booking platforms. Bookly’s principal strengths are its maturity, active installation base and extensive commercial add-on ecosystem. Creavi’s principal strength is how much of the modern booking workflow it delivers in one free plugin.
For organizations that want Google and Outlook Calendar connections, busy-time blocking, reminders, flexible forms, popup or inline booking and built-in video meetings without assembling a collection of paid extensions, Creavi is a powerful Bookly alternative in 2026.
Bookly remains a credible option for businesses that prefer an established modular ecosystem and are comfortable selecting Bookly Pro and additional components for their desired configuration.
The best way to decide is to map the complete booking journey—from availability and page presentation to reminders and calendar management—and test each plugin against that workflow.
Download Creavi free from WordPress.org or explore the live booking demo to see the customer experience before installing it.
Frequently asked questions
Is Creavi a free alternative to Bookly?
Yes. Creavi is a free WordPress booking plugin offering popup and inline booking, Google and Outlook Calendar synchronization, email reminders, customizable forms, timezone handling and built-in video meetings. It does not impose service or booking limits.
Is Bookly free?
Bookly has a free core plugin that can be used indefinitely. Bookly Pro and optional add-ons provide access to its broader commercial feature ecosystem. Additional Bookly add-ons require Bookly Pro.
Which plugin includes Google Calendar synchronization for free?
Creavi includes Google Calendar event creation and busy-time blocking in its free plugin. When assessing Bookly, verify the current licence and components required for the desired calendar workflow.
Which plugin supports Outlook Calendar?
Both products support Outlook Calendar workflows. Creavi includes Outlook event creation and busy-time blocking free. Bookly documents Outlook Calendar synchronization within its broader product ecosystem.
Can Creavi and Bookly send appointment reminders?
Yes. Creavi includes configurable customer and administrator email reminders. Bookly provides notification functionality, with available channels and advanced configurations depending on the selected Bookly setup.
Does Creavi support video appointments?
Yes. Creavi can generate secure video-meeting links automatically and place the appropriate links in customer and administrator emails, reminders and connected calendar events.
Do Creavi and Bookly work with Elementor?
Yes. Both can be embedded on Elementor pages. Creavi supplies service shortcodes that can be placed with Elementor’s Shortcode widget and also supports complete inline calendars or popup booking buttons.
Which plugin is more scalable?
Both can support growing booking operations, but they scale through different product models. Creavi does not impose service or booking limits, so practical capacity is determined by the WordPress site and hosting environment. Bookly scales through its core platform, Bookly Pro and optional add-ons.
