The organiser's guide

How Book the Circle works for you

A booking and payments website for people who run classes, workshops, courses and retreats. This guide explains what it does and how the pieces fit together, in plain English.

Book a call Download as a PDF

In one picture

1 You set upyour events, prices andbooking options2 Guests find youon your own site, in your ownname3 They book and payby card on a phone in a minuteor twoMoneystraight toyour Stripe4 It runs itselfconfirmations, receipts,reminders, instalments5 On the daycheck people in on your phoneor on paperYou're toldabout everybooking
The whole thing in one picture. You do steps 1 and 5. Steps 2 to 4 happen without you, day or night, and the money goes straight into your own Stripe account, never through ours.

Your website

Your own booking site in your name. Guests don't need an account or an app.

Your money

Payments go straight into your own Stripe account. We take 2% per booking and nothing else.

Your time back

Emails, reminders, waitlists and instalment chasing happen by themselves.

Three ways you might use it

Read each picture from top to bottom, through time. The colour of each box, and the word in its corner, shows who does it.

You do thisYour guests do thisPayment, into your StripeHappens by itself

Weekly classes and drop-ins

BEFORE TERMAdd term datesYOUsay the day, time and first and last week;skip half-termFINDING A CLASSOffer passesYOUe.g. a 10-class pass or monthly unlimited(optional)Your home pageYOUR GUESTS“This week” at the top, then one row perweekly classBOOKINGChoose how to payPAYMENTpay for this class, use my pass, or buy a passConfirmationBY ITSELFand receipt emailed straight awayBEFORE THE CLASSCan't come?YOUR GUESTScancel online: money back, credit, or theclass back on a passRemindersBY ITSELFthe day before and two hours beforeON THE NIGHTCheck people inYOUtap names on your phone, or print an A4registerPasses renewBY ITSELFmonthly passes charge themselves and top up
Weekly classes and drop-ins. You set up a term in one go rather than one night at a time. Regulars can buy a pass and book each class with a tap; everyone else pays per class. A full class offers a waitlist.

One-day workshops

SETTING UPAdd a workshopYOUpick “One-day workshop” and see just what'sneededFINDING ITPricesYOUearly-bird until a date, then full price;tiers like a sliding scaleThe event pageYOUR GUESTSshows the price that applies today and placesleftEarly-bird endsBY ITSELFfull prices take over at midnight on your dateBOOKINGBook and payPAYMENTyour questions, your terms, a discount code ifyou gave oneConfirmationBY ITSELFand receipt to them, a copy to youBEFORE THE DAYSold out?YOUR GUESTSthey join the waitlist; a freed place is keptfor themRemindersBY ITSELFthe day before and two hours beforeON THE DAYCheck people inYOUwith any health notes flagged for you to readHealth answersBY ITSELFdeleted 30 days after the event unless theguest asks to keep
One-day workshops. Set it up once and it sells itself: the early-bird price switches to the full price on its own, a sold-out workshop takes waitlist names, and reminders go out without you.

Courses and retreats

SETTING UPAdd a retreatYOUdates, rooms with their own places, depositand termsAPPLYINGSay yesYOUapprove who you'd like; they're emailed abooking linkApplyYOUR GUESTSname, email and a message (only if you wantapplications)BOOKINGBook in 3 stepsPAYMENTroom and price, their details, then review andpay a depositConfirmationBY ITSELFevery date and the payment schedulePAYING THE RESTPay the balancePAYMENTby card from the email or My bookings, or incash on the dayPayment remindersBY ITSELFthree days before each instalment; overdueones chasedON THE DAYSCheck people inYOUfor each date, on your phone or an A4 registerRemindersBY ITSELFbefore every date of a course
Courses and retreats. Applications are optional. Rooms each have their own number of places, so single rooms can sell out while shared rooms stay on sale. A deposit secures the place and the rest is collected in instalments, with reminders sent for you. If a guest cancels, your refund bands decide what comes back.

Everything it does

All 75 features, grouped and searchable, showing which are always on and which are a switch in your settings.

Open the Features page

Getting started

  1. Book a call. Tell us what you run and how you take bookings now.
  2. Connect Stripe. About ten minutes, once. Card payments then go into your own account.
  3. Set up your site. Add your logo, colours, terms and first events, with a plain-English help page for every screen of your admin, and a person to email when you need help.
  4. Share your link. Put it on your website, in your newsletter and on social media.

What it costs

2% per booking. No monthly fee, no setup fee in 2026, and nothing for events that don't sell. Stripe charges its own card fee (in the UK, typically around 1.5% + 20p for UK cards), as it would anywhere you take card payments online.

Book a call at bookthecircle.com/book-a-call/ or email bookings@bookthecircle.com.