We’ve done everything you need to know about carsharing, and now we want to shed some light about its close relative — car rental. Carsharing has been around for a long time, but the differences between carsharing and traditional car rental services are not often understood. So what exactly sets these two apart?

Here’s a comparison table to better illustrate the differences:

As you can see, there is a distinct difference between carsharing and car rental. Here are some of the main points that you may want to consider when choosing between the two:

1. Booking process

Carsharing: Booking can be done at any time
With carsharing, the cars are available 24/7, so you’ll be able to book a car at any time of the day. Simply unlock the car using a membership card or app, eliminating the hassle of collecting keys!

Car Rental: Collection during office hours
In order to rent a car, you have to head down to the company during office hours, register for an account, fill in the required paperwork and collect the car keys before you can drive off. A deposit is also required for every rental.

2. Location of vehicles

Carsharing: Vehicles available islandwide
Finding a car near you is easy when they’re distributed across the island — simply book a car and hop in!

Car Rental: Specific selected locations
For car rental, the cars are usually located in a central area, so you’ll have to spend some time travelling to collect the car.

3. Usage

Carsharing: Short, ad-hoc trips
Most carsharing services charge by time or mileage, and this flexibility makes it ideal for users who need a car on an ad-hoc basis. They also do not require a hefty deposit on every booking.

Car Rental: Rental packages for longer rental durations
Car rental packages are available at a fixed price (days, weeks or even months), so you don’t have to worry about how long you drive for or the distance travelled. This is better for users who need a car for longer durations.

4. Assistance

Carsharing: Assistance from customer service operators
Most carsharing services have a Live Chat or hotline for users to contact, so you’ll be able to reach out to their customer service operators for any enquiries.

Car Rental: A dedicated sales assistant to serve you
Car rental services usually have a dedicated sales assistant who can attend to any enquiries that you may have and offer you advice on the perfect car for you.

Image credits: CNN

The verdict:

If you need a car for ad-hoc trips, carsharing may be the better option for you due to its pay-per-use model. For longer-term usage where you’ll need the car to travel frequently, car rental is the way to go.

We hope this comparison helped you to get a better idea of carsharing vs car rental!

If carsharing seems like something up your alley, check out our blog post on getting started with GetGo! You can also click on the video below to learn more about how GetGo works.

Drive safe!
Ella 🤩