If you’re a travel business owner unsure which travel plugin to choose for your booking website, don’t worry – this guide will help!
WP Travel Engine and WP Travel are two popular options among travel business owners. Both plugins offer powerful features for building and managing travel packages.
But which one is the best fit for your travel booking website? Thus, this guide will compare these plugins in detail to help you choose the best one for your travel booking website.
Let’s dive in and explore which one best suits your travel business needs.
1. WP Travel Engine Vs. WP Travel – Core Features
A well-designed travel agency website should have these key features:
- Easy-to-use menus and clear labels.
- Optimized for various devices (desktop, tablet, mobile).
- Efficient search bar to find specific destinations, packages, or accommodations.
- Destination search with detailed information.
- Pre-planned itineraries with flights, accommodation, and activities.
- Options for creating personalized travel experiences.
- Wide range of accommodation options (hotels, resorts, hostels, etc.).
- Integration with flight booking platforms or direct access to airline websites. (optional)
- Activity bookings options
- Clear and accessible contact information (phone, email, live chat).
- Secure and reliable reservation platform.
- Multiple payment methods (credit cards, PayPal, wire transfers, etc.)
- Blog or news section.
- Social media integration.
Both WP Travel Engine and WP Travel include these essential features in their core plugins. The difference is in the number of features offered for free and the level of advanced features provided.
WP Travel Engine stands out by offering more essential features for free, as shown in the comparison table above.
In addition, WP Travel Engine isn’t just about managing bookings—it also helps increase your Average Order Value (AOV), making it a smart choice from a business perspective.
2. WP Travel Engine Vs. WP Travel – Performance
Website speed is crucial for a great user experience. Slow websites can frustrate visitors and lead to lost bookings.
Both WP Travel Engine and WP Travel are designed to be fast and efficient, helping your site load quickly on both desktop and mobile devices. But how do they compare?
Note: Your website’s speed may vary depending on your server and other factors, so results can differ for each site.
Summary: Though both plugins aim for good speed, WP Travel Engine provides quicker page loading times, making it the better choice for performance.
3. WP Travel Engine Vs. WP Travel – Theme Support and Compatibility
Compatibility is one key aspect to consider when choosing a travel booking plugin for your WordPress website. It helps avoid technical issues and ensures smooth future updates and expansions.
WP Travel Engine supports a wide range of WordPress themes and plugins. It includes 9 in-house travel themes and works well with third-party travel themes. The plugin also integrates easily with page builders like Elementor and Gutenberg, offering over 30 dedicated widgets through the WP Travel Engine – Elementor Widgets plugin and the Trip Blocks feature for Gutenberg.
WP Travel Engine also supports major plugins such as WooCommerce, Polylang, and WPML.
At the same time, WP Travel also provides broad compatibility with WordPress themes and plugins.
It offers 13 in-house travel themes and supports third-party options. Like WP Travel Engine, it integrates with Elementor and Gutenberg and offers 54 custom blocks for Gutenberg users.
WP Travel is also compatible with popular plugins like Yoast, WPML, and SliceWP.
Summary: Both plugins are compatible with essential themes and plugins.
4. WP Travel Engine Vs. WP Travel – Upsell and Cross-Sell
Upselling and cross-selling are essential features for travel agencies to increase revenue, enhance customer satisfaction, and gain a competitive edge in the market.
WP Travel Engine provides these features through premium add-ons like Extra Services and Group Discounts.
Meanwhile, WP Travel provides premium add-ons like Tour Extras and Tour Guide.
Summary: Both offer similar upsell and cross-sell features.
5. WP Travel Engine Vs. WP Travel – Search Filter
Ensuring your travel offerings are easy to find is key to attracting customers. Users can search for trip packages based on criteria like price, destination, activities, trip types, duration, and more.
Both WP Travel Engine and WP Travel offer solid search functionality, but WP Travel Engine takes it a step further with advanced search features available in both the free and pro versions.
In contrast, WP Travel only includes basic search filters in its free version, with advanced custom filters reserved for the PRO version. This can be a drawback for some travel booking websites.
Summary: WP Travel Engine provides excellent advanced search capabilities and custom filters at no extra cost, making it a strong choice.
6. WP Travel Engine Vs. WP Travel – User Experience
A good user experience is essential for any website. It includes how easily visitors can use and navigate your travel site and their overall satisfaction.
WP Travel Engine enhances the user experience on your travel website by offering features like Trip Fixed Starting Dates, an Advanced Itinerary Builder, Per Trip Emails, a Form Editor, an Email Customizer, a Currency Converter, a Trip Weather Forecast, a Wishlist, an Itinerary Builder, and Social Login.
WP Travel also provides valuable features, including User History, Recurring Dates, a Travel Guide, On-Page Booking, Currency Exchange Rate, Weather Forecast, Geo Location, and Invoice.
Summary: Both plugins offer valuable features to improve the user experience on your travel website. They make it easy for visitors to find and book their desired trips.
7. WP Travel Engine Vs. WP Travel – Ease of Use
Both WP Travel Engine and WP Travel are designed to be user-friendly, but they differ slightly in their setup and onboarding processes.
WP Travel Engine features a straightforward five-step onboarding process that includes helpful tips.
It guides you through setting up the currency, email notifications, key pages, and payment options, as well as finalizing the setup, making it easy to get started quickly.
Meanwhile, WP Travel’s onboarding process involves six steps and requires a bit more technical knowledge.
It includes setting currency, pages, email, payment options, and a list of compatible themes, which can make the initial setup more complex.
Summary: Both plugins are user-friendly and can be mastered with some practice. However, WP Travel Engine offers a smoother and simpler onboarding experience, making it ideal for beginners.
8. WP Travel Engine Vs. WP Travel – Payment Gateways
When it comes to booking travel, offering your customers a variety of payment options is key. After all, everyone has their preferred way to pay.
Both WP Travel Engine and WP Travel offer standard options like PayPal and bank transfers, but what about other payment methods?
Think about the wallets your customers might use. Here’s a breakdown of what each plugin offers:
- WP Travel Engine: Provides 11 different payment gateways through add-ons, including popular options like Stripe and Authorize.net.
- WP Travel: Offers 13 payment gateways, including Stripe and Square.
While WP Travel boasts a few more options, the best choice really depends on where your customers are located and what payment methods they prefer.
Here’s a tip: Research to see which payment gateways are most popular in your target market.
Summary: Ultimately, both WP Travel Engine and WP Travel offer flexibility in accepting payments. Hence, choose the plugin that best meets your customers’ needs.
9. WP Travel Engine Vs. WP Travel – Support and Documentation
Running a travel booking website requires reliable tools, but even the best plugins can sometimes need a little troubleshooting.
Both WP Travel Engine and WP Travel understand this, which is why they offer a variety of support options to help you get back on track quickly.
Here’s a breakdown of what each plugin offers:
- Support Channels: Both WP Travel Engine and WP Travel provide tickets and live chat support. You can choose the method that best suits your needs.
- Knowledge Base: Both offer access to helpful resources like blogs, YouTube tutorials, and documentation. These can be great starting points for finding answers to common questions.
- Community Support: Both plugins have active Facebook communities, which can be valuable resources for connecting with other users and getting advice.
Summary: Both WP Travel Engine and WP Travel offer excellent customer support options. Customer reviews on WordPress.org indicate high satisfaction among users of both plugins.
10. WP Travel Engine Vs. WP Travel – Average Ratings and Reviews
Customer reviews are a great way to gauge how well a plugin performs. Hence, when choosing a travel booking plugin, reading customer reviews can be a goldmine of information. It also helps you understand how real people feel about the product and its features.
So, let’s see what users are saying about WP Travel Engine and WP Travel on WordPress.org:
WP Travel Engine:
- Impressive Ratings: Boasts a stellar 4.9-star rating based on over 300 reviews!
- User-Friendly Interface: Customers rave about how easy it is to use and navigate the plugin.
- Feature-Rich: Many users appreciate the wide range of features offered within the plugin.
- Top-Notch Support: The responsiveness and helpfulness of the support team are consistently praised.
WP Travel:
- Positive Feedback: Enjoys an excellent 4.7-star rating with over 120 reviews.
- Supportive Team: Users also highlight the positive experience with the support team.
Overall, both plugins have happy users. WP Travel Engine has more reviews and a slightly higher average rating, but the difference isn’t massive. The key takeaway? Both plugins offer a reliable and well-supported user experience.
Summary: Don’t just rely on average ratings! While they offer a general sense, read specific comments to understand user experiences better and identify the features that matter most to other travel agency owners.
11. WP Travel Engine Vs. WP Travel – Pricing
Both WP Travel Engine and WP Travel offer free versions to get you started. However, if you need more features and functionality, they also have premium plans with different pricing structures.
Let’s break down the costs to see which fits your budget better.
WP Travel Engine Pricing:
- Personal: $9 monthly (1 site) – Includes basic features like an itinerary builder and currency converter. Ideal for individuals or freelancers.
- Growth: $19 monthly (1 site) – Adds features like an email customizer and all payment gateways. Perfect for growing travel agencies.
- Travel Agency: $24 per month (1 site). This plan offers all features, add-ons, and updates. It is great for agencies aiming to expand.
- Development Company: $35 per month (10 sites). This includes everything in the Travel Agency plan for multiple sites.
WP Travel Engine also provides lifetime plans:
- Personal: $399 (Single domain)
- Growth: $699 (Single domain)
- Travel Agency: $999 (Single domain)
- Development Company: $1999 (10 domains)
WP Travel Pricing:
- Personal: $8.49 monthly (1 site) – Access to all add-ons, themes, and updates.
- Plus: $17.49 per month (5 sites). This plan includes the same features as the Personal plan but for more sites.
- Expert: $50.49 per month (25 sites) – All features for up to 25 sites.
WP Travel’s annual plans are available:
- Personal: $99.99 (Single domain)
- Plus: $199.99 (5 domains)
- Expert: $599.99 (25 domains)
Summary: WP Travel has simple pricing with monthly or yearly plans based on the number of sites. However, WP Travel Engine offers more varied plans with different features to match different needs.
WP Travel Engine Vs. WP Travel – Our Say
When deciding between WP Travel Engine and WP Travel, you might have some common questions in mind. Below, we’ve answered a few frequently asked questions to help you make an informed choice.
1. Which plugin offers more features, WP Travel Engine or WP Travel?
Both WP Travel Engine and WP Travel offer valuable features for travel agencies and tour operators. However, WP Travel Engine stands out with its wide range of free and premium options, user-friendly design, and excellent support.
While WP Travel provides a more budget-friendly choice, WP Travel Engine is the better option if you value reliability and a comprehensive set of features.
2. Which plugin is more popular?
WP Travel Engine is more widely used and is one of the most popular tour booking plugins for travel booking websites. However, WP Travel is also well-liked among travel business owners.
As per WordPress.org, WP Travel Engine is active on over 10,000 travel sites, while WP Travel is used on over 6,000 sites.
3. Which plugin has better reviews?
Both WP Travel Engine and WP Travel are highly rated by users on WordPress.org.
- WP Travel Engine boasts an impressive 4.9-star rating based on over 300 reviews.
- WP Travel also receives positive feedback with a 4.7-star rating from over 130 reviews.
4. Is WP Travel Engine safe?
WP Travel Engine is a safe and reliable plugin. It’s regularly updated to meet the latest WordPress security standards, ensuring a secure environment.
To keep your website safe, continually update to the latest WP Travel Engine version and follow WordPress security best practices. These include using strong passwords, keeping your WordPress core and themes updated, and regularly scanning for malware.
5. Is WP Travel Engine better than WP Travel?
This is a subjective question, and we’ve covered it in this post. WP Travel Engine does offer more features than WP Travel, especially in the free versions.
However, that doesn’t automatically make it better for your site. It really depends on whether you’ll use those features and how much you value choosing the newer option with WP Travel.
Conclusion
Choosing the right travel booking plugin depends on your needs and goals. WP Travel Engine is ideal for those seeking a wide range of features and customization options. WP Travel is a good choice for those on a budget who need basic features.
Therefore, consider your needs and budget to choose the best plugin for your travel business. Both WP Travel Engine and WP Travel can help you create a successful online booking platform.
