Booking Widget
A booking widget (or booking form widget) is an embeddable form that lets a website visitor request or reserve a stay directly, without leaving the host's site. It typically checks live availability, calculates a price, and sends the request to the host - the direct-booking counterpart to an availability calendar, which only displays open dates.
Booking widgets vary in how far they go: some only collect an inquiry for the host to answer by email, others let the host bill the guest after confirming, and some accept a card payment inline through the widget itself. Which flow a widget supports is usually a host-configurable setting rather than one fixed behavior.
A capable booking widget also supports the pricing mechanics hosts actually need - fees, discounts, coupon codes, seasonal rates, guest counts, and custom questions - not just a bare date picker and a submit button.
Why it matters for hosts
RentalBeam's Booking Form Widget is a Pro feature that supports inquiry-only, request-now-bill-later, and pay-in-widget flows, with configurable fees, discount rules, coupon codes, seasonal pricing, custom fields with file upload, and optional Stripe Connect guest payments. It takes no commission and no RentalBeam booking fee - card payments carry only the standard Stripe processing fee, paid to Stripe rather than RentalBeam.
Further reading
More detail on how this works with RentalBeam.
Related terms
Other glossary terms that come up alongside this one.
See this in the product.
See the booking widget