Bookly Deposit Payments (Add-on) is a paid extension for the Bookly PRO appointment booking plugin that lets a business charge part of a service’s price at the moment a client books, instead of collecting everything on arrival. It adds a deposit step to the booking form, so the customer either pays a set portion up front or settles the full amount immediately. It suits salons, clinics, consultants and repair shops that lose money when booked clients fail to turn up, and it is developed by Nota-info, the same team behind the wider Bookly family.
Because it is an add-on rather than a standalone plugin, it cannot do anything on its own. Bookly PRO has to be installed and active first, and the deposit feature then slots into the existing booking flow, payment settings and reporting screens.
What the deposit add-on actually changes in the booking flow
The core idea is simple, but the configuration behind it is where the product earns its place. Rather than applying one blanket rule to the whole business, the deposit can be defined per service and per staff member. A clinic might ask for a fixed 50 in advance for a long consultation while leaving short follow-ups deposit-free, and a salon might apply different terms to a senior stylist than to a junior one. That level of granularity matters in businesses where no-show risk is uneven across the calendar.
The deposit value itself can be expressed in two ways. A percentage ties the amount to the service price automatically, so a 20 percent rule keeps working when prices change. A fixed amount gives a flat figure regardless of what the appointment costs, which is easier to explain to customers and simpler to reconcile. Both options are available, and the choice can differ from one service to the next.
Customers are not forced into a single path. At the point of booking they can either pay the deposit and settle the balance later in person, or pay the full amount online straight away. Giving that choice reduces friction for clients who prefer to clear the whole bill at once, while still protecting the business from the ones who would otherwise book and vanish.
Once money starts moving, the deposit needs to be visible in the back office. Deposits appear in Bookly’s payment reports and in the notification emails the system sends, so staff can see at a glance which appointments are secured, how much has already been collected, and what remains outstanding when the client arrives. Without that visibility, a deposit system becomes an accounting problem rather than a solution to one.
Where this fits, and where it does not
The clearest fit is any appointment-based business with a measurable no-show problem. Hair and beauty salons, tattoo studios, dental and physiotherapy clinics, driving instructors, pet groomers, personal trainers and independent consultants all share the same pattern: a slot that goes unused is revenue that cannot be recovered, because the time has already passed. Taking a portion of the fee up front changes the customer’s calculation before the appointment is even in the diary.
It also suits businesses that already take payment offline. Because the balance is settled in person, the add-on works for studios that prefer cash or card terminals on site and only want the commitment mechanism online. High-value services benefit most, since a deposit on a large booking is easier to justify to a customer than a deposit on a small one.
There are situations where it is the wrong purchase. A business that already collects full payment at the time of booking gains nothing, because there is no remaining balance to defer and no additional commitment to extract. The same applies to free consultations, community or volunteer-run services, and any booking flow where asking for money up front would deter more customers than it protects. Anyone not already running Bookly PRO should also stop here: the add-on is useless without it, and the combined cost has to be weighed against the whole booking stack rather than this single extension. Finally, a business that needs deposits on products, gift vouchers or multi-session packages rather than individual appointments may find the scope narrower than expected, since the feature is built around the service and staff structure Bookly already uses.
Strengths and limitations
Strengths
- Deposit rules can be set per service and per staff member, which matches how real businesses price risk rather than forcing one global rule.
- Both percentage and fixed-amount deposits are supported, so pricing changes do not require rewriting every rule.
- Customers choose between a partial payment and paying in full, keeping the checkout flexible instead of rigid.
- Deposits flow into Bookly’s existing payment reports and notifications, so no separate tracking spreadsheet is needed.
- Published compatibility with WordPress 6.8.x, WPML for multilingual sites, and the major browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, Opera).
- The vendor ships unminified source files — JavaScript, CSS and PHP — which helps agencies that need to inspect or adjust behaviour.
- Gutenberg optimisation is declared, so the booking form sits comfortably inside block-based page layouts.
- A track record of 2,184 sales and a 3.75 out of 5 rating from 12 reviews indicates a product with real users, though the review sample is small.
Limitations
- It is strictly an add-on. Bookly PRO is a separate purchase and a hard requirement, so the true cost of entry is higher than the $49 price tag suggests.
- The rating of 3.75 is respectable but not outstanding, and with only 12 reviews the signal is thin — buyers should read the existing feedback rather than assume a smooth experience.
- The balance is collected offline. There is no built-in mechanism described for charging the remainder online later, which limits the add-on for fully remote or international services.
- Deposit configuration is tied to Bookly’s service and staff structure, so businesses with unusual pricing models may not be able to express exactly what they want.
- Nothing in the listing specifies which payment gateways handle the deposit transaction. That depends on the gateway integrations already configured in Bookly PRO, and the vendor does not state it here.
- No information is given about refund handling or what happens to a deposit when a client cancels, which is a practical question for any business taking money in advance.
How it compares with other ways of reducing no-shows
The alternatives fall into three broad groups, and the choice between them is about fit rather than quality.
The first is a general-purpose booking plugin with deposit support built in. These tend to be broader in scope — handling events, resources, classes and products alongside appointments — but the deposit logic is usually a single global rule rather than something tuned per service and staff member. For a simple one-person operation, that is often enough and avoids paying for two plugins.
The second is a dedicated deposit or payment add-on for an existing booking system, which is exactly the category this product occupies. The advantage is depth: the feature is designed around the host plugin’s data model, so it inherits the service structure, the notification system and the reporting screens instead of duplicating them. The disadvantage is lock-in. Once the deposit rules live inside Bookly, moving to a different booking platform means rebuilding them.
The third is the manual route — a cancellation policy stated in the terms, enforced by card details held on file or a small invoice sent after booking. This costs nothing in licences but depends entirely on staff chasing customers, and it does not prevent the booking in the first place. The add-on’s value is that it moves the commitment to the moment of booking, when the customer is still motivated.
Compared with these, the product’s differentiator is granularity: per-service, per-staff deposit rules inside a booking system that already handles scheduling, notifications and payments. Businesses that need that precision and already run Bookly PRO get a tight fit. Businesses that do not need it are paying for configuration they will never open.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need Bookly PRO to use Bookly Deposit Payments?
Yes. The deposit add-on will not function without the Bookly PRO appointment booking plugin installed and active. It extends Bookly PRO rather than replacing any part of it, so the two must be purchased and maintained together. Budget for both licences before committing to this approach.
Can customers pay the rest of the balance online?
No. The add-on collects the deposit during booking and the remaining amount is paid offline when the client arrives. There is no described mechanism for charging the balance through the website later. Businesses that operate entirely remotely, or serve clients who cannot pay in person, should factor that into the decision.
Can different services have different deposit amounts?
Yes. Deposit rules can be configured separately for each service and each staff member. The amount can be set as a percentage of the service price or as a fixed sum. That means a business can apply strict terms to high-risk or high-value appointments and lighter terms elsewhere.
Does the deposit show up in Bookly’s reports?
Yes. Deposit payments appear in Bookly’s payment reports and in the notifications the system sends out. Staff can therefore see which appointments are secured and how much has already been collected, without maintaining separate records. This keeps deposit accounting inside the same interface used for the rest of the booking data.
Verdict
Bookly Deposit Payments (Add-on) is a sensible purchase for businesses already running Bookly PRO that lose meaningful revenue to no-shows and want deposit rules tuned to individual services and staff. The per-service configuration, the choice between percentage and fixed amounts, and the integration with existing reports make it a focused tool rather than a bloated one. The 2,184 sales and 3.75 rating suggest a workable product with a modest but real user base, though the small review count means expectations should be set from the existing feedback rather than the marketing page. It is the wrong buy for anyone not on Bookly PRO, for businesses that already take full payment at booking, and for operations that need the remaining balance collected online rather than in person. The offline settlement model and the absence of stated refund or cancellation handling are the two points worth clarifying with the vendor before purchase.
