Most rental businesses don't set out to run nine different tools. It happens one problem at a time: a website builder, then a dedicated booking tool because the website can't handle live availability, then an email platform, then a separate SMS tool, accounting software, a spreadsheet for inventory, a reviews tool, a delivery routing habit that lives on a clipboard, and eventually a second or third point-of-sale terminal because none of the others talk to each other. Nobody chooses this stack on purpose. It accumulates.
We priced out what that stack actually costs, using current, publicly listed pricing from the tools rental businesses commonly reach for.
What the individual tools actually cost
Website + booking software. A dedicated rental booking platform like Booqable starts at $29/month for its entry-level plan, with pricing scaling up from there based on features and order volume — and that's before adding a separate website builder if the booking tool doesn't include one. Booqable holds a 4.8-star rating across more than 1,000 reviews, which reflects that these are genuinely capable tools — the issue isn't quality, it's that they're one piece of a much larger puzzle.
Email and SMS marketing. Mailchimp's paid plans start around $13/month for its entry-level Essentials tier and scale to $20/month and up for Standard, with SMS marketing sold as a separate add-on on top of that, priced by credit volume rather than included in the base plan. Businesses with a larger contact list or that need more advanced automation quickly find themselves priced into higher tiers — Mailchimp's Premium plan starts at $350/month at current published pricing for businesses managing larger contact volumes.
Accounting and invoicing. QuickBooks Online's Simple Start plan lists at $38/month at standard pricing (frequently discounted for new customers, but that's the list price after any introductory period ends), with the Essentials tier at $75/month and Plus at $115/month for businesses that need inventory tracking or multiple users — features many rental businesses end up needing once they're managing real inventory counts.
Reviews management. Dedicated review-generation tools typically run $30–$100+/month depending on volume and features, on top of whatever's already being spent on email/SMS to actually send the review requests.
POS terminals. A single point-of-sale terminal and processing setup commonly runs $30–$70/month in software fees alone, before payment processing rates — and rental businesses with a storefront or multiple event-day checkout points frequently end up paying for more than one.
Website builder, if it's separate from the booking platform, typically adds another $20–$50/month depending on the plan and e-commerce features needed.