If you’re running a rental business on WooCommerce and researching Booqable, you’ve probably noticed it’s a completely separate platform. That means migrating your entire operation away from WooCommerce, or running two disconnected systems.
For the 15,000+ stores already using Kestrel plugins, that’s a non-starter. Here’s why Rental Products for WooCommerce makes more sense for existing WooCommerce stores.
The core difference: SaaS platform vs native WooCommerce
Booqable is standalone rental management software with its own website builder, inventory system, and checkout. It works well for businesses starting from scratch who want an all-in-one solution.
But if you already have a WooCommerce store with products, customers, orders, and integrations, Booqable creates problems:
- Two systems to manage: Your WooCommerce store for sales, Booqable for rentals
- No shared customer data: Rental customers don’t see their purchase history (and vice versa)
- Duplicate inventory: Track the same products in two places
- Monthly fees forever: $29-249/month adds up quickly
Rental Products for WooCommerce takes a different approach: it extends your existing store with rental capabilities. Same products, same customers, same checkout, same reports.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Booqable | Rental Products |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | $29-249/month SaaS | $199/year plugin |
| 5-year cost | $1,740-14,940 | $995 |
| Works with existing WooCommerce store | Embed only | Native integration |
| Shared customer accounts | No | Yes |
| Security deposits | Yes (add-on) | Included |
| Rental bundles | Limited | Full support |
| Inventory dashboard | Yes | Yes |
| Payment gateways | Stripe, PayPal | All WooCommerce gateways |
| Data ownership | Booqable’s servers | Your database |
| Hourly rentals | Yes | No (day-based only) |
When Booqable makes sense
Booqable is the better choice if you:
- Don’t have an existing website and want their website builder
- Need hourly time slots (bike rentals by the hour, equipment by the half-day)
- (We’re tracking interest in adding this to the plugin, too, though. Get in touch if this is what you need!)
- Want a completely managed solution with no WordPress maintenance
- Run a rental-only business with no product sales
Their website builder and mobile app are genuinely good for businesses starting fresh.
When Rental Products wins
Rental Products for WooCommerce is the better choice if you:
- Already have a WooCommerce store with customers and products
- Sell AND rent the same items (our rent-or-buy toggle handles this)
- Want deposits, bundles, and pricing tiers without add-on fees
- Prefer owning your data instead of paying monthly for access
- Use other WooCommerce plugins that need to work with rentals
Real cost comparison
A mid-sized equipment rental business over 5 years:
Booqable Pro ($79/month):
- Year 1: $948
- Years 2-5: $3,792
- Total: $4,740
Rental Products ($199/year with renewals):
- Year 1: $199
- Years 2-5: $796 (at renewal pricing)
- Total: ~$995
That’s $3,745 saved, plus you keep your data if you ever stop paying.
What Rental Products includes
Everything you need for WooCommerce rentals ships in the base plugin:
Three pricing models:
- Period-based ($/day, $/week, multiplied by duration)
- Period selection (dropdown: 1 day $10, 3 days $25, 7 days $50)
- Fixed rate (same price regardless of duration)
Security deposits:
- Fixed amount or percentage
- Taxable or non-taxable
- Works with partial payment plugins
Availability controls:
- Min/max rental duration
- Buffer days between rentals
- Block specific dates or weekdays
- Separate start/end date restrictions
Rental bundles:
- Package multiple items together
- Combined availability checking
- Single price for the bundle
Inventory management:
- Rental-specific stock (separate from sale stock)
- Auto-return on order completion
- iCal feed for showing rentals on your chosen calendar app
- And more detail on inventory management here in our docs
The one thing we don’t do (yet)
Hourly rentals. Booqable handles time slots, Rental Products is day-based only. If you rent kayaks by the hour or meeting rooms by the half-day, that’s a gap.
It’s our most-requested feature and on the roadmap, but today Booqable wins that use case. You might also be happy with WooCommerce Bookings as another Rental Products alternative that will save you compared to an expensive SaaS solution, though.
Migration from Booqable
If you’re already on Booqable and want to switch:
- Export your product catalog from Booqable
- Import products into WooCommerce
- Configure rental settings per product in Rental Products
- Set up your deposit amounts and pricing tiers
- Test checkout flow before going live
Customer data and order history won’t transfer automatically since they’re different systems, but if this is something you’re trying to do, we’re happy to help. Reach out to support if you need assistance migrating your rentals business to WooCommerce.
Try it yourself
Rental Products for WooCommerce comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Install it on a staging site, configure a few products, and see how it works with your existing WooCommerce setup.
If you need hourly time slots, Bookings (or maaaybe even Booqable) is probably the better fit. For everything else, keeping rentals native to WooCommerce saves money and complexity and allows you to take advantage of everything else the WooCommerce platform has to offer.
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