Best equipment rental software for businesses

Renting out equipment can be a daunting process. Sorting through customer paperwork, keeping tabs on inventory spreadsheets, and maintaining calendars isn’t exactly fun for most people.

Plus, if you’re running a small business that also sells products and requires a managed storefront, chances are you don’t have too much time to dedicate to equipment rental. The best way to ensure your equipment rental process is running smoothly is to let technology take over. When you have the right equipment rental software, it can do the heavy lifting for you.

Equipment rental software is perfect for HR and IT departments that have limited time and resources to put toward managing the equipment check-out process. With hundreds of rental items coming and going through your company’s doors, it’s important to get the process right — otherwise, you risk a major financial loss if equipment goes missing.

Whether you’re a new business just starting to rent out equipment or a veteran company that simply needs more reliable software, this post will help you find the right tool. Here are seven equipment rental software options for your business.

1. HireHop

People who’ve actually worked in the rental industry built HireHop, so they’ve perfected the software through many rounds of employee feedback.

One of HireHop’s greatest strengths is how intuitive the software is, which makes it a great choice for companies that have employees who are less tech savvy or temporary workers who have less time for training. There are over 20 training videos on the site to get you renting equipment immediately, and even though HireHop is simple, its features are impressive.

The software supports multiple languages, allows for easy data import, and lets you sync your calendar to your phone or tablet. One of the best features of HireHop is its affordability — the company offers a free account for single users.

2. Texada

If you’re just starting to rent out equipment, Texada offers advice from experts who can talk you through all aspects of the business. And that advice is certainly trustworthy — the company has been in the equipment rental software business for over 35 years.

Texada is a great option for companies renting out any equipment that requires routine maintenance. You can schedule automatically generated work orders when you know an asset needs work. Plus, you can handle reservations, pickup, and delivery all in a single platform, so you can truly sit back and let the software work for you.

3. Equipment rental with Jotform

If you’re not totally sold on one of the options above, consider checking out Jotform for your equipment rental software needs. While the software isn’t exclusively for renting equipment, Jotform offers form templates that you can use to easily automate your rental process. Here’s how it works:

1. First, choose from one of Jotform’s existing rental application form templates — or if you have a specific layout in mind, try building your own with the Form Builder. You can create forms to collect data or create an equipment release form using the e-signature widget to gather legally binding signatures.

2. Once your form is set up to collect data, you can organize and track the data in Jotform Tables, which will keep your data synced so that multiple employees can access it. Use an equipment inventory template or a similar template.

3. Once your table is functional, use it as your rental database. You can add additional tabs if you’re managing equipment at multiple locations and color-code the equipment to make it easy to sort and visualize.
4. Use the calendar view of your table to check out when you rented each item or restocked it.
5. Access your forms and tables from anywhere with real-time updates. The mobile app allows for easy access, so you can check out your inventory from the warehouse, home, or even on the road.

4. Yo!Rent

Is your business hoping to sell some equipment too? Yo!Rent allows for a rent and sell platform that displays real-time stock availability. The system as a whole is impressively customizable, and if you have developers who’d like to build onto the software, access to the source code is a huge plus.

Another perk of Yo!Rent is its one-time fee — pay for a license, and you’re able to use the software forever. And if you think you’ll need some training, you get a free year of technical support plus a free demo and installation.

5. Booqable

Booqable is an impressive option for companies looking to easily set up a rental storefront from their own websites. Integrations with WordPress, Squarespace, Shopify, and Weebly mean your customers can go online to reserve their equipment. Booqable also excels when it comes to creating contracts, invoices, and other documents, with easy templates and customized branding.

And if you need help creating reports to analyze your company’s revenue, Booqable can do that too. The company is also open to getting new feature requests and accepts suggestions from all users.

6. EZRentOut

EZRentOut lives up to its name — the tool is streamlined to make the equipment rental process quick and stress free. From orders and inventory to booking and invoicing, EZRentOut keeps everything in one platform.

The inventory management feature gives you a heads up when you’re running low on specific equipment. You can also add location tracking to your items, so you can tell where your equipment is located via GPS and a barcode system. The availability calendar also has a convenient visual format that lets you see all of the equipment you have available at a glance.

7. Point of Rental

Three NASA coworkers started a rental store back in 1982 and developed software to help the business run more smoothly. Their brainchild, Point of Rental, has since become a reliable tool for equipment rental businesses. The company specializes in helping businesses rent everything from tents and event equipment to construction and recreation equipment.

In addition to helping with the day-to day-rental process and inventory, the software also helps you get to know your customers. You can track their rental habits with a built-in CRM to make sure your customers are satisfied enough to rent with you again.

Point of Rental also offers dispatching solutions so you can organize delivery and get equipment to your customers in record time. Plus, the company values customer suggestions and makes frequent updates to its software based on customer feedback.

Photo by Mapbox on Unsplash