An inspHire alternative built for small hire businesses
Opeux Hire is a lightweight alternative to inspHire for small tool, plant and equipment hire firms. inspHire is a capable enterprise platform aimed at larger rental operators with dedicated admin teams. Opeux Hire is designed for owner-run and small-team hire businesses that need the core hire workflow — quote, contract, schedule, bill, return — without an enterprise rollout.
What teams use today
Small hire firms looking at inspHire usually compare it against a paper diary plus a separate invoicing tool, or against another enterprise rental platform. inspHire covers a very wide feature surface, which is why larger operators choose it; smaller firms often use only a fraction of it and still pay for the full system.
Why that breaks
Enterprise rental platforms are powerful but heavy. Set-up takes weeks, staff training takes longer, and small teams often only use the booking and invoicing screens day to day. The rest of the feature surface — depots, advanced pricing matrices, complex transport modules — adds cost and cognitive load without earning its keep for a five-person hire firm.
How Opeux is different
Opeux Hire focuses on the core hire workflow small operators actually run: a catalogue with day, week and month rates; a live availability calendar; e-signed hire agreements; deposits; recurring weekly or monthly billing; and a clean return process with damage and missing-part capture. Multi-currency invoicing is built in. You can be live in an afternoon, not a quarter.
Old way vs Opeux way
Recommended Opeux tools
The core hire workflow — agreements, availability, recurring billing.
Live register of every machine with on-hire status and service dates.
Recurring weekly or monthly invoices in the customer's currency.
Branded quotes for every enquiry, sent in minutes.
How to switch
- 1.Export your current hire catalogue and customer list to CSV.
- 2.Import them into Opeux Hire — items, rates and customers come across in one go.
- 3.Run a single depot or product line in Opeux for two weeks alongside your existing system.
- 4.Move recurring billing across once the team trusts the new flow.
- 5.Retire the enterprise system once everything is running cleanly.
Frequently asked questions
Will Opeux Hire do everything inspHire does?
No, and that is the point. Opeux Hire covers the core hire workflow that small operators actually use day to day, without the depots, advanced pricing matrices and transport modules that larger operators need.
Can I bring my existing catalogue across?
Yes. Items, rates and customers import from CSV.
Does Opeux Hire support recurring weekly billing?
Yes. Recurring weekly or monthly invoices are built in.
Can I run multi-currency hires?
Yes. Multi-currency pricing and invoicing are included from day one.
Is Opeux Hire suitable for plant or tool hire?
Yes. Opeux Hire is used by tool, plant, equipment, AV, scaffolding, trailer and event hire firms.
Is there a free plan to try Opeux?
Yes. Every Opeux tool has a free tier you can run alongside your existing spreadsheets while the team gets used to it. You only pay when you outgrow the limits or want a paid feature.
How long does a typical small team take to switch?
Most small teams are productive on a single Opeux tool within an hour of importing their core list, and have the tool fully bedded in within two weeks. Adding more tools after that is faster because the workspace, customers and contacts are already set up.
Who owns the data inside Opeux?
You do. Every tool exports cleanly to CSV or PDF at any time, so you can leave with your data if you ever need to. There is no lock-in by design.
Does Opeux work on a phone for staff in the field?
Yes. Every Opeux tool runs in a phone browser with no app to install, so field staff can clock in, log usage, view jobs and update records without a laptop.
How does Opeux handle access for different staff?
Each workspace supports role-based access so owners, managers and field staff only see what they should. You can invite a bookkeeper or accountant with limited access, and revoke it cleanly when they finish.
What support is available if we get stuck?
Every plan includes email support and a searchable help centre with short walkthroughs. Paid plans add faster response times and onboarding sessions for the team.
Can we keep using our existing accounting tool?
Yes. Opeux is designed to sit next to your accounting tool, not replace it. Quotes, invoices and sales export cleanly so the bookkeeper stays in the same workflow.
Explore related Opeux tools
One Opeux account — start with one tool, add more later.