Carz vs HQ Rental Software
HQ Rental Software is a configurable, globally-marketed rental platform with transparent fleet-size pricing and deep rate management. Carz is an operating system for Australian weekly / subscription operators, focused on the revenue-critical layer. Here’s an honest comparison.
| Dimension | Carz | HQ Rental Software |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Fleet operating system (weekly / subscription rental) | Rental management + online booking |
| Region focus | Built for Australia | Global, US-oriented; not AU/NZ-specific |
| Pricing model | Flat AUD $7 per rented car / month — $0 for a car not on rent | Tiered by fleet size: $120 / $175 / $250 for 10 / 25 / 50 vehicles, plus a $550–$1,500 one-time onboarding fee |
| What the entry plan leaves out | Nothing — every module is included, and the ones you switch off do not change the price | Basic ($120) has no customer portal, no bookkeeping and no toll management; the portal arrives at $175 and tolls at $250 |
| Payment providers | Stripe, Square and PayTo | Stripe, PayPal, Global Payments; Square / PayTo not advertised |
| Investor portal & auto payouts | Built in — net × share, per-investor dashboard | Not offered |
| Rental model focus | Weekly / subscription | Daily / reservation |
| Automated renewals & dunning | Yes — renewals, retries, pay-links | Not a headline feature |
| Custom development | Quoted per project, most ship in ~2 weeks | Configurable product |
Carz costs AUD $7 per rented car per month, ex GST. Nothing for cars not on rent, no setup fee, and billing capped at AUD $1,400 a month ex GST (200 rented cars without GPS).
HQ Rental Software pricing next to Carz, by fleet size
| Vehicles | Carz per month (AUD) | Carz first 12 months (AUD) | HQ Rental Software per month (US$) | HQ Rental Software first 12 months (US$) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | A$70 | A$840 | US$120 (Basic) | US$1,990, incl. US$550 onboarding |
| 25 | A$175 | A$2,100 | US$175 (Standard) | US$3,050, incl. US$950 onboarding |
| 50 | A$350 | A$4,200 | US$250 (Professional) | US$4,500, incl. US$1,500 onboarding |
| 100 | A$700 | A$8,400 | US$413 (Enterprise (calculator)) | US$6,456, incl. US$1,500 onboarding |
HQ Rental Software figures are copied from its pricing page and calculator on 23 October 2026, in US dollars, one branch, billed monthly; they are not converted. The Carz figure assumes every car is on rent for the whole month, which is the most it can cost: a car not on rent costs nothing, and billing is capped at AUD $1,400 a month ex GST (200 rented cars without GPS). It covers Carz OS only. GPS tracking is A$3 per rented car on top, within the same cap, and AI Agents are A$3 per booking renewal on top, if switched on. The 12-month columns are our arithmetic from those prices. The table compares price only, and each plan includes different things.
Looking at more than two options? See HQ Rental Software alternatives, with each option’s own published facts.
Checked against HQ Rental Software’s own site, 23 October 2026. Sources: HQ Rental Software pricing
Where Carz wins
- Australian payment rails: Square and PayTo, not just Stripe / PayPal.
- A built-in investor portal with automatic payouts.
- Built for weekly / subscription billing with active dunning, not daily reservations.
- Flat per-rented-car pricing instead of fleet-size tiers.
- Fast, transparent customization quoted per project.
Where HQ Rental Software is the better fit
- Transparent, public pricing tiered by fleet size.
- Deep rate management — seasonal pricing, add-ons, deposits.
- A solid reporting suite (utilization, revenue, damage) and multi-branch support.
- A configurable customer booking site.
Buyer questions
How much does HQ Rental Software cost?
HQ publishes a rate card, which most of this market does not. Read on 23 October 2026 it lists Basic at $120/month for 10 vehicles, Standard at $175 for 25 and Professional at $250 for 50, each on a single branch, and its own calculator quotes $413/month for a 100-vehicle fleet. Extra branches are $50/month each. Every tier also carries a one-time onboarding fee — $550, $950 and $1,500 respectively — which directory listings routinely omit and which, for a ten-car operator, is larger than the first four months of subscription.
Is HQ Rental Software built for Australia?
It is marketed globally and oriented to the United States. Its pricing and product pages advertise Stripe, PayPal and Global Payments, and do not mention Square or PayTo — the two rails Australian operators use to keep card fees off recurring weekly rent. If your renters pay weekly by direct debit, that gap is not a one-off inconvenience; it is a cost that recurs every week.
Does HQ Rental Software handle weekly or subscription rental?
HQ is built around daily and reservation rental: online reservations, rental agreements, and rate management by season with add-ons and deposits. Recurring weekly billing — an auto-charge, a retry when the card fails, a pay-link, an escalation path — is not a headline feature. That layer is the one Carz is built on.
When is HQ Rental Software the better choice?
When you run more than one branch, need deep seasonal rate management, and want a configurable customer booking site on your own domain. Its published tiers also make budgeting straightforward — you can price the platform before you talk to anyone, which is not true of most vendors on this list.
Growing, and want fixed, fair pricing?
Carz is a flat AUD $7 per rented car, and nothing for a car off the road. See it running on your own fleet.