Use Bookings when someone is reserving a real date and time. Use a capped slot field on a Standard signup page when you need a limited choice, such as a table allocation or a named group. A label reading “Saturday 10:00” is not itself a dated schedule.
For classes and meetings, use dated sessions
A booking page has session dates, times, durations, and capacity. Customers choose an available session; recurring enrollment can reserve a continuing place in a class schedule. The private booking page shows what they booked and lets them cancel.
For example, a workshop with eight places on one Saturday needs a dated session with capacity eight. If it runs again next Saturday, that is another dated session. The earlier customers do not silently become next week's attendees because a counter resets.
A party-size answer is still just an answer. Do not assume that a booking for one place automatically reserves a variable number of seats based on a custom question.
For simple allocations, use capped choices
A Standard slot field gives each option its own capacity. You could offer two named groups with eight places each. With remaining counts enabled, the page shows how many places are available; a full option is disabled.
The server checks availability again when the customer submits. If an option filled while the page was open, the signup can be rejected and the customer must choose an available option. A separate overall page cap can also stop admission before every option fills.
Each accepted entry takes one place in the selected slot. A quantity or party-size question does not multiply that count. For product quantities, use Preorders.
Make the date unambiguous
If you use labels for a one-off signup, include the actual date and time zone in the page copy. “Saturday morning” is not enough when a customer saves the link for later.
For schedules that repeat, customers should not have to infer which week a label means. Dated Bookings is the clearer choice. Configure the schedule and capacity, review the customer preview, then publish. Changes to questions and page configuration save to a private draft until published; changes to booked lessons use the live schedule controls.
Explain what happens after signup
All plans show a private status link on screen. Starter and Pro can send new customer confirmation emails. Standard signups have a number and a way to leave; bookings show the booked session or enrollment.
Cancelling a Standard signup frees its counted place. Marking it served does not. Booking cancellations follow the booking lifecycle instead of resetting a generic signup counter.
There is no automatic overflow waitlist. A full page does not record an extra person for later promotion. Tell customers what to do if no place is available, without implying that they have joined a waiting list.
Check the features you need beyond capacity
Unwaited does not collect payment or synchronize availability with an external calendar. Customers cannot transfer themselves to a different session, and there are no automatic reminder campaigns. If those are essential, include them in your booking-tool requirements.
Physical session capacity is also separate from the monthly account signup allowance. One booking or recurring enrollment counts once; later lessons do not consume another signup. See usage and grace periods for account coverage.