Which accommodation booking plugin should I choose for WordPress? A comparison

For a holiday cottage, a villa or a B&B on WordPress, three plugins come up often: MotoPress Hotel Booking, WP Booking System and GDA Kraft Booking (Global Digital Agency). They do not share the same model: the first two offer a free version supplemented by paid features, whereas GDA Kraft Booking is entirely free and funded by a service fee on online payments. The right choice depends mainly on two needs: online payment and sync with the platforms.

How this comparison was made

Information on the third-party plugins comes from their wordpress.org pages and their publishers' websites (verified on 12 October 2026 on wordpress.org and on the publisher's website). These offers change: check them on the official pages before deciding. No prices are quoted, as price lists change often. This comparison is written by the publisher of GDA Kraft Booking: we have stuck to verifiable facts and we point out the cases where another tool is a better fit.

Which criteria really count?

1. Online payment in the free version: which provider, deposit and balance?
2. iCal sync with Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo: included or paid?
3. Pricing rules: seasons, minimum stay, check-in days, weekly price, extras, tourist tax.
4. Page builder: native integration with the one you use.
5. Invoices and guest area.
6. Maturity: age, number of installations, update frequency.

The three plugins in brief

MotoPress Hotel Booking

According to its wordpress.org page (verified on 12 October 2026 on wordpress.org), MotoPress Hotel Booking offers a free Lite version, with more than 10,000 active installations, which includes availability search, seasonal rates, additional services and coupons, as well as payments by PayPal, on arrival or by bank transfer. Sync with OTAs and additional payment gateways, including Stripe, are presented as paid-version features.

Recognised strengths: a long-standing, widely used plugin, designed for hotels, with an ecosystem of themes and add-ons.

WP Booking System

According to its wordpress.org page and the publisher's website (verified on 12 October 2026 on wordpress.org and on the publisher's website), WP Booking System offers a free booking calendar, with more than 10,000 active installations, embeddable via shortcode or Gutenberg block, with length-of-stay and check-in day rules. iCal sync is presented in the paid plans.

Recognised strengths: a simple, clear availability calendar, suited to owners who mainly want to show free dates and receive enquiries.

GDA Kraft Booking

GDA Kraft Booking is a free plugin, with no Pro version, in public beta 0.1 (version 1.0 planned for June 2027). The complete GDA edition, downloaded from the Kraft GDA customer area (free account), includes everything, with no add-on to install: accommodations and units, rates, seasons, calendar, iCal sync with Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo re-read every 15 minutes, manual bookings and booking requests, online payment (deposit and balance charged automatically), appointments, Kraft Console, design modules, Kraft Fields and multilingual support. A WordPress.org edition (a free core usable without an account) is also available for free on WordPress.org: it covers accommodations, rates, calendar, iCal, manual bookings and booking requests, but not online payment, appointments or Kraft Console, which belong to the separate GDA Kraft Booking Connect add-on, available from Downloads in the customer area; you can also install the complete GDA edition instead. Online payment goes through Stripe via Kraft Pay, with a service fee of 0.9% per transaction, reduced to 0.45% until 30 June 2027, shown to the payer, on top of Stripe's fees.

Limitations to be aware of: a recent product in beta; PayPal is not among the announced features to date; no channel manager (iCal only); native Bricks integration coming soon.

Comparison table

Cells marked “according to its page” or “according to the publisher” reflect the official pages (verified on 12 October 2026 on wordpress.org and on the publisher's website); “not presented” means we did not find it in the description of the free version.

Which plugin for which profile?

• You only want to show your availability and receive enquiries, without online payment: a simple calendar such as WP Booking System's may be enough.
• You run a hotel-style property and prefer an established tool with its ecosystem: MotoPress Hotel Booking is a solid option, allowing for the paid version if you need iCal or Stripe.
• You want to sync Airbnb and Booking.com without a licence, then collect a deposit and balance by card: GDA Kraft Booking covers iCal and payment with just a free account, provided you accept its beta status.
• You manage a large portfolio listed on several platforms: none of these three plugins is a channel manager; see WordPress plugin or SaaS booking software.

To look into a specific case: MotoPress Hotel Booking alternative and WP Booking System alternative. For appointment-based businesses, see the comparison of appointment booking plugins.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free accommodation booking plugin?

There is no best plugin in absolute terms. If iCal and online payment are essential without a licence, GDA Kraft Booking includes them, with a free Kraft GDA account; if you prefer an older tool, MotoPress Hotel Booking and WP Booking System are established, with paid features to plan for depending on your needs.

Is this information up to date?

It reflects the official pages (verified on 12 October 2026 on wordpress.org). Publishers regularly change their offers: always check their pages before choosing.

Can I test several plugins on the same site?

It is better to do it on a test copy: two booking plugins active at the same time can cause display or calendar conflicts.

Does GDA Kraft Booking replace a channel manager?

No. It syncs dates via iCal but does not share prices with the platforms. See What is a channel manager?.