An honest comparison

They started from the calendar. KeyProof started from the proof.

KeyProof now runs the diary too: the calendar, the clash warnings, the customer records, the money. The difference is where each tool began, and that shows the day a hire goes wrong. Here is the honest version, from a company that built proof first.

What every hire leaves behind

IdentityPhoto ID matched to a live selfie

LicenceDVLA share code, checked on gov.uk

ConditionTimestamped photos, both ends

AgreementE-signed, sealed with a hash

DepositLogged, traceable to the hirer

£49 a month for life, any fleet size, while founding is openThe hirer pays the £4.99 verification feeNo contract, 30 days free first

No firm has signed yet, and that is what the founding cohort is for: £49 a month for life, any fleet size, and a direct line to the two founders instead of a support queue. Nothing on this page asks to be taken on trust: walk the whole product in the demo.

KeyProof Ltd 17333773ICO ZC195906Own PI £1m + cyber £500k, Hiscox

Same diary. Different foundation.

Rental platforms grew from the calendar

They began as booking systems: diaries, availability, invoicing, a customer-facing website. Proof got bolted on later, if at all. The handover, the part that decides every dispute, was never the point.

KeyProof grew from the evidence

It began at the handover: verified identity, a DVLA licence check, your agreement e-signed, condition photos, one record you can hand your insurer. The calendar, clash warnings, customer records and money tracking grew around that core.

Scanning a licence is not checking a licence

This is the difference most worth understanding, because the words sound identical. Document scanning reads what is printed on the card, which is useful for filling a form in seconds but does not confirm the licence is genuine or current. A DVLA check is a different act: the firm checks the share code on gov.uk and the answer comes back from the DVLA, confirming the licence exists, is current, and what is on it. One saves typing. The other is the thing you rely on when a hire goes wrong.

Platforms assume you want to change how you sell

Moving to a booking platform means moving your customers to it. If your bookings genuinely live in Instagram DMs and WhatsApp, and that is working, migrating them to a website funnel is solving a problem you do not have.

When a hire goes wrong, the foundation is what matters

A calendar with paperwork bolted on gives you a booking history. A system built on proof gives you a record that settles the dispute instead. KeyProof runs the diary on top of it, at tiered pricing a small fleet can justify.

Same diary, different foundation. Side by side.

CapabilityKeyProofRental platforms
Booking calendar and diaryYes, KeyProof runs the diary too.Yes, this is where they began.
Started from proof of the handoverYes, the evidence was the point.No, proof got bolted on later, if at all.
Migrating your customers to a booking websiteNone. Keep your DMs.Usually yes.
Verified ID, DVLA check, e-signed agreement and timestamped photos in one recordThe foundation.Varies, added on top of the calendar.
How the licence is actually checkedA DVLA share code the firm checks on gov.uk. The answer comes from the DVLA.Commonly document scanning, which reads the card it is shown.
Runs from an Instagram or WhatsApp DMYes.Platform-first.
What settles a dispute the day a hire goes wrongA record built on proof.A booking history.
Terms hashed at the moment of signingSHA-256 over the exact wording, so any later change is detectable.Varies. Often the agreement is stored, not sealed.
Sending one hire to an insurer without a loginA read-only link that expires after 7 days, with the share code and hirer contact withheld.Usually an export, or an account for them.
What happens when the hirer will not verifyYou hand over anyway, type a reason, and the record says on its face that no check-in happened.Not a case most booking systems model.
What the record says about its own gapsNames every missing item in the same fixed place, off the booking’s own columns.A blank field reads the same as a completed one.

Not a claim that rental software is worse. Sometimes a firm needs both, sometimes neither. It is a different foundation for a different firm.

So which do you actually need? Sometimes both. Sometimes neither.

If you run twenty-plus cars with staff, a public booking website and channel management across brokers, a dedicated rental platform may still earn its keep, and KeyProof closes the evidence gap it leaves at the kerb. If you run a handful of cars through DMs, KeyProof now covers both sides: the bookings and the proof, without moving your customers anywhere. And if you never have disputes, never worry about who is driving, and your insurer loves you, honestly, you may need neither. KeyProof is pre-launch, being built for a founding cohort of UK hire firms rather than by one: how it works, the FAQ (including this exact question), and the demo.

Keep your booking chat.
Run it on proof.

Nothing about how you take bookings has to change. The proof goes underneath it.

A founding cohort of five firms
£49/ month

Locked for life, any fleet size.

30 days free on every plan. No setup fee, no contract, cancel any time.