For a rental business the question “which CMS should I choose?” is really two questions: where does your website live, and where do customers book and pay? Mix those two up and you end up with a web shop platform that can sell products but not rent them out, or a beautiful site nobody can reserve on. This article compares the five platforms rental businesses use most and shows how to combine them with a booking system.
In short
- A CMS manages your website; a booking system handles availability, reservations and payments. You need both, and they do not have to come from the same vendor.
- WordPress and Webflow are the best fit for an informative site with product pages; Shopify, BigCommerce and Magento only if you also sell.
- With a booking widget you add rentals to any platform in two lines of code, without a plugin, app or extension.
- No website? Start with a hosted rental web shop and connect your own site later.
Contents
What a rental business needs from its website
Before comparing platforms it helps to know what you are comparing them on. A rental website has to do five things:
- Be found. A page per product or product group that ranks for “bouncy castle hire Bristol”, not just a homepage.
- Show availability. A customer wants to see whether the party tent is free on 14 June without calling.
- Reserve and pay. Pick a period, add accessories, check out, receive a confirmation.
- Be easy to manage. Change prices, stock and text without a developer.
- Stay fast and safe. Updates, hosting and certificates should not become a weekly chore.
The first, fourth and fifth are CMS work. The second and third are booking work, and that is where rental usually goes wrong.
A CMS and a booking system are two different things
A web shop platform such as Shopify or Magento counts in quantities: a product is in stock or sold out. Rental counts in time: a product is available from Friday to Monday, or it is not. Add buffer time for cleaning, prices per day or weekend and returns. No general CMS does that by itself.
So you have two options:
- A rental plugin or app on your CMS. Works, but ties you to that platform, needs updates and is often limited in price rules and availability.
- A separate booking system you place on any site. Your website stays what it is; the renting happens in a widget on a page of your site, with availability, payments and invoices from the booking system.
The second route makes the CMS choice a lot more relaxed: you pick the platform you like working with, and rentals come with it in two lines of code.
Five platforms compared for rental
The platforms below are the ones rental businesses use most. We deliberately leave out prices: they differ per plan, country and year; check the platform’s own site. The “cost model” column does tell you what to expect. On all five you place the rental widget as a piece of HTML; how that works per platform is explained further down.
| Platform | For whom | Cost model | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| WordPress | Rental businesses that want to manage and grow their own site, with a blog and local pages | Software free, you pay hosting and possibly a theme or builder | Updates and too many plugins make a site slow and vulnerable |
| Webflow | Those who value design and want a fast, hosted site | Subscription per site, hosting included | Fewer plugins and a learning curve of its own |
| Shopify | Rental businesses that also sell products | Subscription plus transaction fees and paid apps | Built to sell, not to hand out and get back |
| BigCommerce | Larger web shops with rental as an extra | Subscription, tiered on revenue | Same limitation as Shopify; overkill for rental only |
| Magento | Large organisations with a development team | Open source free, hosting and development cost the most | Too heavy and too expensive for a small rental business |
Per platform: choose this if
WordPress
Choose WordPress if you want to tinker with your site yourself, write regularly and create local pages for every town or product group. Keep the number of plugins small and let updates run automatically. Renting out on WordPress takes two lines of code in an HTML block; no plugin needed.
Webflow
Choose Webflow if design and speed come first and you do not want to deal with hosting and updates. The site is hosted, fast and clean, and you place the rental widget as an Embed element in any section.
Shopify
Choose Shopify if you really sell as well as rent: accessories, consumables, second-hand stock. The web shop handles sales, the rental widget in a Custom Liquid section handles dates, availability and returns. Rental only? Then you pay for a web shop you do not use.
BigCommerce
Same story as Shopify, for those who already run a store on BigCommerce; see our BigCommerce integration. The widget goes into an HTML widget in Page Builder.
Magento
Choose Magento only if you already run on it and have a developer. For a starter it is too heavy and too expensive. If you have it, place the widget as HTML on a page, no extension needed.
No website? Start with a hosted web shop
You do not need a CMS to start. A hosted rental web shop gives you your own address with product pages, availability, payments and confirmations, without hosting, a theme or updates. Put that link on your Google Business Profile, your social media and your flyers and you are bookable.
Growing and wanting a real website with a blog, local pages and your own design? Then pick a CMS at that point and place the same web shop as a widget on your new site. Your products, customers and bookings move with you, because they live in the booking system, not in the website.
Which CMS is best for SEO?
Honest answer: none of the five. All of them can rank well; the difference is what you do with them. What does count for a rental business:
- One page per product or product group with price, photos, dimensions and a book button. “Party tent hire” is a different search than “bouncy castle hire”.
- Local pages for the towns you deliver to, if the demand is there.
- Speed. Big photos and too many plugins are the usual culprits, on any platform.
- Reviews and your Google Business Profile, often more important than the website itself for local enquiries.
- A booking module inside the page, so the visitor does not have to go to another domain to reserve.
How to choose in ten minutes
- Already have a website that works well? Keep it and put the rental widget on it. Moving platforms costs time and rankings.
- No website and want to be bookable fast? Hosted web shop, CMS later.
- Want to build, write and grow yourself? WordPress.
- Want a clean design without maintenance? Webflow.
- Do you sell products too? Shopify or BigCommerce, with the rental widget added.
- Already on Magento with a developer? Stay, and place the widget.
Checklist: website and bookings for a rental business
- Decided whether you sell, rent or both
- Platform chosen on management and design, not on rental features
- Booking system chosen with availability per date and online payments
- One page per product or product group planned
- Widget placed on a page of your site and tested on your phone
- Google Business Profile linked to your booking page
- Speed checked: photos resized, plugins limited
Frequently asked questions about a CMS for rental
Which CMS is best for a rental business?
For most rental businesses WordPress or Webflow: both are good at informative sites with product pages, and you add rentals with a booking widget. Shopify, BigCommerce and Magento only make sense if you also sell products or already run on them.
Can I use Shopify for rentals?
Yes, combined with a booking system. Shopify itself counts in stock, not in time. With a rental widget in a Custom Liquid section you handle availability per date, payments and returns on a page of your Shopify store.
Do I need a plugin for WordPress?
Not with Be-Bookable: you paste two lines of code into an HTML block on a page. No plugin means no updates, conflicts or extra load on your site.
What if I do not have a website yet?
Start with a hosted rental web shop on its own address. It is bookable straight away. You can add your own website with a CMS later; your products and bookings move with you.
Can I switch CMS later?
Yes. Because your products, customers and bookings live in the booking system and not in your CMS, you only move your website. You place the widget again on the new platform.
Does the widget work on every CMS?
On any platform where you can place HTML on a page. In Be-Bookable you set which domains may show the widget and check with one click that it works.
Bookable first, pretty second
Put your rental web shop online today and choose your website at your own pace.
