This is the most complete list of rental software vendors we know of, with a sentence or two on what each one does, grouped first by shopping cart (WooCommerce, Magento 2 and Shopify plugins) and then by industry. A listing here is a reference, not a recommendation, and we have included our own product, Sales Igniter, in the sections where it competes.
Choosing rental software comes down to a few questions: do you want a hosted platform with a monthly fee or a plugin you own on your own store, does it need to track individual units by serial number or just quantities, and what has to happen after the order is placed, such as check-out, check-in, deposits and signed agreements. Our rental software feature list is a useful checklist while you browse, and the free rental pricing calculator helps you model the day rates you will need to enter into whichever system you pick.
- Rental software by shopping cart
- WooCommerce / WordPress
- Magento 2 / Adobe Commerce
- Shopify
- Rental software by industry
- All Industries
- Equipment Rental (Tools, Construction and Heavy Equipment)
- Car Rental
- Party and Event Rental
- Inflatables and Bounce Houses
- Activities and Tours
- Bike, Ski and Sporting Equipment Rental
- Property Management, Hotel and Vacation Rental
- Appointments
Rental Software by Shopping Cart (Plugins & Extensions)
If you already sell online, or want the store, blog and rental calendar on one site you control, a plugin for your cart is usually the cheapest and most flexible route. These are the rental and booking plugins for the three main carts. For hosted platforms that replace the cart entirely, skip to the industry list below.
WooCommerce / WordPress
WooCommerce is the official e-commerce plugin for WordPress and the most popular cart for small rental businesses. Several plugins add bookings or rentals to it, but they differ a lot in what happens after the order is placed. See how the main ones line up in the WooCommerce rental plugin comparison chart, or read the longer review of the best WooCommerce booking plugins.
Rental booking engine for WooCommerce with check-out and check-in, serial-number tracking, turnover buffers, inventory reports, refundable deposits and signed rental contracts. One-time purchase with full source code; support and updates are optional after the first year.
Automattic’s official booking extension. Built around time slots, resources and per-person pricing for appointments and services, with rentals handled as day blocks. No send/return or serial tracking.
Bookable product type with per-day or per-hour pricing, availability and price rules, a search form and an admin calendar. Aimed at accommodation, appointments and simple hire.
General-purpose scheduling plugin covering single-day, multi-night and time-slot bookings with calendar sync. Multi-night rental behaviour such as pre and post blocking days needs its separate Rental System add-on.
Adds a rental product type with day, hour and range pricing, quantity inventory and a built-in request-for-quote button. Admin order creation, seasonal pricing and PDF invoices are paid add-ons.
Marketplace extension (formerly from 99w) that turns any WooCommerce product into a daily rental with pickup and return times, real-time availability and shipping or pickup. Hourly slots are not offered yet.
Daily, overnight and weekly bookings with buffer periods, quantities per product and a front-end availability search. Syncs calendars with Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo.
Booking plugin for appointments, rentals and services with time slots, multi-day bookings, resources and Google Calendar sync.
Property and accommodation booking plugin with a channel manager for Airbnb and Booking.com. Built for hotels and vacation rentals rather than equipment.
Calendar booking plugin for WordPress and WooCommerce covering rentals, accommodation and services with per-day pricing and availability rules.
Booking plugin for the Elementor page builder, strongest for property and accommodation listings built with JetEngine. Works with WooCommerce for checkout.
Appointment and event booking for service businesses: staff schedules, locations, packages and payments. Not designed for physical inventory rentals.
Appointment scheduling plugin with a free core and paid Pro add-ons for staff, services and online payments. Appointment-focused rather than rental-focused.
Magento 2 / Adobe Commerce
Magento is now owned by Adobe. The free version is Magento Open Source and the paid cloud version is Adobe Commerce. It is generally the more powerful platform, with GraphQL, multi-source inventory and multi-language built in, which is why larger rental fleets choose it. The Magento 2 rental booking module comparison chart puts the main extensions side by side, feature by feature, and the round-up of Magento 2 booking extensions covers the wider field. Not sure which platform to build on? Read Magento vs WooCommerce for rental and booking businesses.
The same rental engine for Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce: rental calendar, send and return, serial numbers, multi-source inventory, contract signing and a Request-for-Quote integration. Supports simple, configurable and bundle products.
Rental and booking extension with a product-page calendar, per-day pricing and availability rules. Covers reservations rather than the operational side such as send and return.
Date and time booking extension from a large Magento extension house. Good for appointment-style and hotel bookings; limited rental inventory tooling.
Booking and reservation extension with a hotel booking module. Suited to rooms and services more than tracked rental stock.
Booking and reservation extension for hotels, appointments and rentals with time slots and custom booking forms. Compared feature by feature in our Magento 2 chart.
Online booking and reservation extension from a large Magento and marketplace integration vendor, covering appointments, events and rentals.
Shopify
Shopify is a hosted (SaaS) cart: you pay monthly and Shopify provides the hosting. It is not open source, but its app store has several rental apps and hosted rental platforms such as Booqable and Twice Commerce also plug into it.
Long-running Shopify booking app for events, tours, rentals and appointments with calendar availability and reminders.
Rentals and bookings app with date-based availability, deposits and duration pricing for Shopify stores.
Daily or hourly rental system for Shopify with a booking calendar and rental pricing on the product page.
Rental Software by Industry
Hosted and installed rental platforms grouped by the vertical they serve best. Many of the “all industries” tools work fine for a specific niche too, so check that section as well as your own.
All Industries
Hosted rental platforms that serve any vertical. Most are SaaS with a monthly fee and, in some cases, a percentage of bookings, which is the main difference from a self-hosted, open source rental system you buy once. Our rental software alternatives hub compares the most popular ones on cost of ownership.
Open source rental software for WooCommerce and Magento 2 used by car, equipment, camera, party and baby equipment rental businesses. Customisable and extendable because you own the code.
Equipment rental software from EZO with asset tracking, a customer webstore, QuickBooks and Xero integrations and mobile check-in. Built for growing equipment fleets.
Event rental software with quoting, inventory conflict detection and a website wishlist integration. Popular with party and event rental companies in the US.
All-in-one equipment rental software with an online storefront, routing and delivery scheduling, CRM and payments.
One of the longest-established rental management vendors, with Essentials, Expert and Elite editions covering counter POS, dispatch, contracts and e-commerce for equipment, tool and event rental.
Rental software for small shops with an online store builder, website plugins, inventory and a point of sale. Plans are monthly with add-ons.
Online reservation system that embeds in an existing website and handles rentals, accommodation, classes and appointments through configurable widgets.
Accounting-centred rental ERP for local and regional equipment rental companies, with counter, dispatch and financials in one system.
Sirius rental inventory management for events, AV and construction hire, with warehouse, crew and project scheduling.
Cloud equipment rental software widely used by UK AV, event and plant hire companies. Offers a free single-user plan.
Commerce platform for rentals and resale with an online store, point of sale and a Shopify app. Finnish company, strong in ski and bike hire.
Rental booking software with an online store, inventory management and deposits for small rental businesses.
Booking software for tours, activities and rentals with online booking and inventory. Some plans add a per-booking fee.
Enterprise equipment rental management for hire companies with telematics and mobile apps. Mid-market and up.
EasyPro equipment and event rental management software, popular with US rental yards and party stores.
Rental and tour software for bike, ski and watersports shops with POS, online booking and waivers.
Australian-built hire software with bookings, dispatch, invoicing, safety documents and Xero integration.
All-in-one rental platform with a website builder, point of sale, inventory and delivery management.
Equipment rental software with an e-commerce storefront and inventory, aimed at independent equipment rental businesses.
Nordic rental software with an online store, inventory, deposits and self-service pickup options for bike, ski, equipment and event rental businesses.
Rental marketplace software from FATbit for launching a multi-vendor rental platform, with an admin panel, vendor storefronts and mobile apps.
German rental software and online booking system for equipment, event and vehicle hire, with a checkout widget that embeds in an existing website.
Equipment growth platform for heavy equipment dealers and rental companies, covering rental, sales, service and e-commerce. Mid-market and enterprise.
Equipment Rental (Tools, Construction and Heavy Equipment)
Heavy equipment and tool hire needs serial-number tracking, maintenance holds, delivery scheduling and signed contracts. See how Sales Igniter handles heavy equipment and construction tool rentals, or read our guide on how to start an equipment rental business.
Equipment rental software for inventory, bookings and payments across party, tent, AV, camera, bounce house, bike, dumpster, trailer and construction equipment rentals. Offers a free trial.
Hire management software for plant, tool and equipment hire companies, widely used in the UK and part of the Kerridge group.
RentalMan enterprise ERP for large equipment rental fleets, covering rental, sales, service and financials.
Car Rental
Vehicle rental adds fleet, driver and damage handling on top of bookings. Sales Igniter’s car, motorcycle and vehicle rental software page covers how that works on WooCommerce and Magento.
UK vehicle hire software for car, van and truck rental with fleet management, damage recording and online bookings.
Long-established car rental system used by independent and franchised operators worldwide, with reservations, fleet and rate management.
Car rental and car-sharing software with online reservations, fleet tracking and self-service kiosks.
Car rental software with online reservations, fleet management, digital contracts and many integrations.
Car rental software for small and mid-size fleets with online booking, reservations and fleet management.
European car rental solution with online booking, fleet management and broker connections.
Fleet management and car-sharing software for corporate pools and rental operators, with keyless access options.
Party and Event Rental
Tents, tables, linens and AV are booked in quantity, delivered and picked up, so quantity-based availability and delivery windows matter more than serial numbers. Sales Igniter’s party and event rental software page explains that setup.
Rental management for AV, event and production companies with equipment scheduling, crew planning and quoting. Dutch company, per-user pricing.
All-in-one rental business software for event and equipment rental with online booking, quotes and delivery.
Cloud rental management for AV, production and event companies with quoting, inventory and crew scheduling. UK-based.
Event and AV rental management with inventory, quoting, warehouse scanning and financial reporting.
Party rental software with online ordering, inventory availability, delivery scheduling and payments.
Event equipment rental software for party and event companies, with contracts, inventory and delivery management.
Inflatables and Bounce Houses
Bounce house operators need delivery routing, weather cancellations and per-unit turnaround. See Sales Igniter for inflatable and bounce house rentals.
Inflatable and party rental software with online ordering, routing, staff scheduling and payments.
Party and event rental software with online booking, delivery routing and marketing tools for bounce house and event companies.
Activities and Tours
Tour and activity operators sell timed slots and seats rather than physical stock, so most of these platforms are booking engines with distribution channels. Sales Igniter’s WooCommerce Bookings & Tours plugin covers timed bookings alongside rentals.
Tour operator booking software priced per booking, with online reservations, point of sale and channel distribution.
Booking software for tours, activities and transport operators with reseller and channel management.
Booking and distribution software for attractions and experience providers, strong in Europe.
Activity reservation software for tour operators, zip lines and adventure parks with waivers and lodging.
Online booking software for tours and activities, owned by Booking Holdings. Free to the operator; a booking fee is charged to the customer.
Tour booking software with a distribution marketplace connecting operators to resellers and OTAs.
Booking software for tour, activity and rental operators with online booking, POS and waivers.
Bike, Ski and Sporting Equipment Rental
Seasonal fleets, sizing and hourly or daily rates. See Sales Igniter for ski, snowboard, kayak and sporting equipment rentals.
Bike rental, repair and tour management software with online booking and fleet tracking for bike shops.
Property Management, Hotel and Vacation Rental
Accommodation software is a separate category: channel managers, property management systems (PMS) and booking engines. For rental businesses that also let out property, Sales Igniter handles hotel, property and vacation rentals within the same store.
Vacation rental website builder with a booking engine and channel manager for Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo.
Property management platform for short-term rental managers with multi-channel distribution and automation.
Vacation rental PMS and channel manager with automation, reporting and a booking engine.
Vacation rental software for Airbnb and Vrbo hosts with unified inbox, automation and cleaning management.
Channel manager and property management platform syncing calendars across booking sites.
Vacation rental management software for professional property managers, with trust accounting and housekeeping.
Vacation rental property management software from Expedia Group for professional managers.
Vacation rental distribution service that lists properties across major booking channels.
Vacation rental software with website design, reservations and owner accounting for property managers.
All-in-one vacation rental software with a channel manager, booking engine and guest communication.
Low-cost vacation rental management software with online booking and channel connections.
Hospitality management system combining PMS, channel manager and booking engine for hotels and hostels.
Cloud hotel management software with reservations, a booking engine and channel management for independent hotels.
Property management and reservation software for bed and breakfasts, inns, campgrounds and vacation rentals.
Property management system for resorts, condos and vacation rentals with owner accounting.
Cloud property management system for hotels, inns and lodging with a booking engine and integrations.
Appointments
Appointment schedulers book people’s time rather than physical stock. Included here because rental businesses often need one for consultations, fittings or pick-up slots.
Booking system for appointments, classes and tours with online payments and calendar sync.
Meeting scheduling software for individuals and teams with calendar integrations and a free plan.
Appointment booking system for service businesses with a free tier and many optional features.
Squarespace’s appointment scheduling software with intake forms, payments and calendar sync.
Not listed yet?
Vendors come and go and rename themselves (Rentle is now Twice Commerce, EZRentOut moved to EZO, Rental Professional became Wise Rental). If you run or use rental software that should be here, tell us and we will add it. If you are looking for a feature none of these do yet, add it to the WooCommerce rental feature requests and roadmap.
Ready to compare the details? Try the free live demo of Sales Igniter on WooCommerce or Magento 2, download the free rental contract templates, or read about refundable security deposits and rental subscriptions and memberships as add-ons to your store.