I'm looking for a low-maintenance website with an easy CMS and integrated booking and payments for local DIY workshops. Squarespace and Acuity are on the shortlist, but I don't like the way Acuity displays its calendar.
Bookings need to show the workshop description, date, time, price and remaining seats. A photo gallery or lightbox would be great too. What other stacks or integrations are worth looking at?
WordPress with Amelia is worth a look if you're open to it. Amelia supports workshop booking details and seat availability, and its calendar may be closer to what you want than Acuity's. Bookly is another option to compare.
Before choosing either, test the full flow for a group session: create a workshop, book multiple seats, check how availability changes and run through payment. Also check whether the gallery and lightbox work the way you want, and which features require a paid plan.
I'd separate the CMS decision from the calendar decision. Squarespace may still be fine for the site even if Acuity's booking display isn't right for you. Check whether another booking tool can be embedded or linked from workshop pages, then judge the actual attendee experience on a phone.
The key question is where the remaining seat count lives and whether it stays accurate through checkout. A nice-looking workshop page isn't much use if people have to start booking before they can see availability.
Craft CMS, Statamic and ExpressionEngine are other CMS options to investigate. They give you alternatives to WordPress, but choosing a CMS alone doesn't settle the booking or payment side.
I'd compare the work needed to add bookings, maintain the site and keep everything updated against a hosted option. For a small local business, that ongoing effort might matter more than having complete control over the design.
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11thstreetcyclist:
I'm hoping to avoid WordPress, though Amelia sounds promising enough to check out.