JetAppointment WordPress Plugin: The Next WP Amelia Alternative?

Online booking is tightly woven into the HoReCa business. I think that online communication has made this business more global. But this entailed the necessity to use fully-fledged applications, widgets, and plugins on WordPress sites of any services (SPAs, barbershops, gyms, medical services, consultancies, rentals, etc.). I say that a better online appointment plugin becomes a competitive factor.

Amelia Booking Plugin for WordPress covers a lot (even the free version), and now its functionality is a standard for appointments. But what about pricing? The full version is expensive; therefore, there are a lot of WP Amelia alternatives. The Internet abounds in articles comparing worthy plugins with similar functionality to Amelia. Here I want to consider a WP Amelia alternative plugin (full version), which is quite underestimated.

In this article, I compare the following: general features, functionality, scheduling, and appointment forms.

What General Functionality Should Appointment Plugins Have?

Let’s pay tribute to Amelia’s functionality; this plugin sets a high bar. Now it is one of the best ways to manage booking routine through the form on the site. Nevertheless, many plugins also overtake. They inherit the following functionality to some extent:

• adaptability to different types of business with customization to the WordPress website’s theme (including colors, images, and text);
• handy admin tools;
• flexible booking forms and scheduling for different time slots;
• many widgets, including search widgets;
• different notification types (SMS, email, etc.) and integration with Google calendar;
• easy-to-use site interface and adaptive multi-language design;
• WooCommerce integration;
• adjustment of different time zone;
• orders for multiple date and time schedules;
• different types of payment (cash, PayPal, etc.) and currencies;
• customer support through the ticket system.

You can accept applications 24/7 and see all incoming information in the site console. Whatever one may say, that is not a booking system but a kind of mini-CRM.

What Is the Best WP Amelia Alternative?

It should have at least no less functionality and offer scheduling meetings through forms, making appointments for various services/consultations, sending notifications, accepting payment, and managing clients.

Besides, Amelia is a user-friendly WordPress plugin that does not require coding skills. What is a pitfall here?

Is a WP Amelia alternative plugin necessary?

It’s a matter of price and additional features.

The basic paid version of Amelia costs $59/year (or S189/lifetime), and the professional version costs $109/year (lifetime price is S389). The official site proposes the free version, but it has crippled functionality.

Therefore, I suggest considering the multi-functional Crocoblock plugin, JetAppointment.

You can buy only this appointment plugin for $19/year (1-year product updates, 1-year Zoom & Chat support included) or buy 20 Crocoblock plugins for $199 (150 widgets, 1-year product updates, 1-year Zoom & Chat support included). It could be a better solution because you get more functionality than Amelia offers for the half-price.

Besides, you can consider only the plugins fully covering Amelia’s functionality: JetAppointment + JetEngine for $37–76.

Source: JetAppointment | Crocoblock

The main features of this appointment plugin envisage the development of a customized booking site:

• appointment options & settings;
• booking appointments from different WordPress websites;
• different appointment booking schedule types;
• configuring of appointment booking forms;
• managing appointments via a clean dashboard;
• WooCommerce integration;
• integration of external apps to automate processes.

Detailed Comparison

Let’s discuss the functionality of these appointment plugins in detail. The best Amelia’s feature is its variety of business management tools (including tracking statistics). Other benefits include:

• booking forms with custom fields;
• a fully configured calendar;
• integration with many plugins and payment systems;
• managing multiple employees and multiple websites;
• email and SMS notifications;
• ability to configure double booking, show booking slots, delimit paid and free meetings.

At first glance, there is no alternative, but JetAppointment is still worth a closer look. This plugin provides the same functionality and highly customizable meeting management. When coupled with JetEngine, its main benefits include:

• the possibility to create Custom Post Types to add services and set up their provision terms;
• you can add and display an unlimited number of services (multi-booking) and link them to their providers;
• adjusting front-end post-submit actions to create booking forms;
• notifications via email and Google calendar;
• appointment booking from site forms, service page, and provider page.

I categorized the main features to compare these plugins and presented them in the table below.

An essential feature of JetApointment is its compatibility not only with Elementor but also with Gutenberg.

Both plugins 一 Amelia and JetAppointment 一 are easy to install and use: drag and drop custom fields to a template or customize your current theme without coding. Another common feature is the presence of tutorials (demos and videos). The only exception is the backend demos for Amelia.

Comparing their functionality, I can say that the JetAppointment + JetEngine combo offers more; in particular, multi-step form and relations.

These plugins have great functionality and a user-friendly interface. Their activation is typical for WordPress. Sites are full of tutorials for all needs. You can buy these plugins to set up a powerful and efficient booking system.

Common Issues Caused by Appointment Plugins

I considered user feedback and combed through forums to highlight the most widespread issues. They are mainly associated with the timing overlapping:

• Assume the time slot is 30 minutes, which is typical for all appointment plugins. You have the first service, which starts at 10:00 with a duration of 30 minutes, and the second one, which is one hour long, starts at 11:00. So, if you book the first service from 10:00 to 10:30, the second service should start after the first one ends from 10:30 to 11:30. But it instead shows a fixed one-hour slot from 11:00 to 12:00.
• It is better to appoint two different services than one service with two timings.
• You should pay more attention to the buffer time between appointments to avoid overlapping.

Conclusions

Both WordPress appointment plugins are great for any industry that envisages booking. Both of them provide great functionality that covers everything you need. I think the main difference between them is as follows:

• Amelia Booking Plugin focuses mainly on business management tools (reports, statistics, broad integration with payment systems, charts to trace efficiency options);
• JetAppointment (with JetEngine) mainly focuses on clients’ usability, and its tools aim at making appointments as convenient and diverse as possible.

The main focus of these plugins does not mean that they pay less attention to usability and the management tools. But Amelia offers a higher price and appointment functionality only, while JetAppointment, together with JetEngine, offers almost unlimited functionality for a much lower price.