What if we say that you don’t need to own a car right now?
Are you surprised? The truth is that car rental is trending worldwide, and car rental business owners are seeing a huge increase in rental sales.
Mobile app development for the car rental business is one solution that has not only become a great source of convenience for users but has also raised a business worth a billion dollars. Since car rental services debuted on smartphone platforms, they have spread like wildfire.
If you are a car rental business owner wondering how to migrate your business onto an online platform, car rental app development is the right solution.
Here, we have created a blog covering every aspect of car rental mobile app development, from market size to crucial app features and various business models to the cost of creating a car rental app.
So, fasten your seatbelts and put on your first gear for your online car rental business journey with the perfect car rental app.
The car rental industry is not only consistent but also growing steadily. The market’s revenue indicates that there are enough opportunities to start a sustainable car rental app.
The real proof is that the global car rental market size for 2024 is $132 billion, projected to reach $220.10 billion by 2029 at a CAGR of 10.75% (2024–2029).
That’s just one stat; here are some other stats too that await you:
All these statistics indicate a surge in on-demand car rental app development. The statistics we have seen were collected from different sources.
But do you know the reasons behind these statistics?
Here are the following:
Based on the information we have gone through in this section, it is enough to prove that mobile car rental app development is beneficial, especially when you want to grow your business or establish a startup as one of the top ideas for business.
On the other hand, one thing is also clear: why you should invest in car rental app development.
As of 2024, the car rental industry is experiencing several notable trends:
The shift towards sustainable transportation is prompting car rental companies to embrace electric and hybrid vehicles. By enhancing mobile applications with features like real-time inventory updates and charging station locations, these companies can better serve eco-conscious consumers.
In a crowded car rental market, personalization is crucial for cultivating lasting customer relationships. Mobile apps can offer customized features such as vehicle choices and pricing tailored to user preferences, along with loyalty rewards that enhance the rental experience.
To accommodate varying customer needs, car rental firms are beginning to merge services with ride-sharing options. Mobile applications can streamline this integration, enabling users to transition effortlessly between renting a vehicle and utilizing ride-sharing services in the on-demand car rentals app development process.
As technology evolves rapidly, car rental companies must continuously upgrade their mobile apps to remain competitive. Key features like mobile check-in, booking management, and real-time vehicle availability are essential for delivering a seamless customer experience.
Incorporating AI into mobile applications allows car rental agencies to analyze user data and deliver personalized recommendations. This not only drives sales but also strengthens customer loyalty through tailored services with the on-demand car rentals app development process.
IoT technology enables car rental companies to optimize fleet management by providing up-to-the-minute data on vehicle location, fuel status, and maintenance requirements. When combined with mobile apps, IoT enhances the user experience with features like remote vehicle access and keyless entry.
Car rental mobile app development offers numerous benefits to businesses and customers.
On the one hand, customers have the convenience of booking vehicles for rent, and on the other hand, businesses can leverage on-demand car rental app development for business growth. Another key advantage is better business management.
So, let’s categorize the benefits into two as follows:
Via mobile car rental app development, you can easily enter the billion-dollar vehicle rental market, as most customers prefer mobile apps to book a car for rent.
Using a car rental app, you can reach a wider audience quickly. Utilizing digital marketing channels such as social media marketing, ad campaigns, and others, you can easily reach your target audience.
Car rental businesses can engage their customers the best with the help of mobile app development. You can offer personalized services, loyalty programs, booking schedules, deals, and others.
Mobile apps make data collection easy and work as feeds for analytics and reporting.
Using data, you can understand the booking pattern and customer behaviour, find out the peak booking time, and learn users’ preferences. This will help you make informed decisions for your business.
Managing a car rental business is a challenge and requires too much effort. But it is easy with a car rental mobile app. You can keep an eye on all operations, have crucial information at your fingertips, and manage staff on the go.
The competition in the car rental market is high, and with an app, you can step ahead of the curve.
Here, the only condition is that your app must offer unique features that you can develop with the help of an experienced taxi app development services provider.
Customer retention is an easy task with car rental app development. It allows us to stay connected with the customers 24/7 and offer them assistance regarding their queries. You can offer them coupons, deals and more.
From the statistics and trends, there are multiple opportunities that you can unlock with the help of on-demand car rental app development.
Now, people prefer to take the car for rent, and the purpose can be anything from an office meeting to spending quality time with family at some tourist location.
So, launching an app application for a car rental business is fruitful. There are multiple types of car rental apps that you can develop for your business.
Here is a list of successful business models to consider for your business. Create a car rental mobile application accordingly.
Corporate car rental is a dedicated car rental service for corporations that require frequent car rides and sophisticated chauffeur services. These apps are exclusive to corporations, and rides are fixed according to the pre-set schedule of corporations.
It is for customers who do not want to be chauffeured around and take pleasure in driving cars by themselves.
These types of apps are becoming famous among customers who used to self-drive cars to roam from one point to another and want to rent vehicles at affordable prices.
For tour and travel, these outstation car rental apps are perfect. It is the best solution for businesses and families that must commute to distant places with the freedom to go anywhere they want.
This car rental app’s business model covers everything, from airport pick-up and drop-off to a short trip around the city. It is the most convenient solution for customers around the world.
P2P or Peer-to-peer, car rental business model does not require a car fleet or assigned drivers. Anyone who has a car can use this service. It makes a larger community and helps people save money on their trips.
As the name suggests, this car rental service is for those who require a car for an extended period, such as months or a year. It is a great service for those needing a temporary car or who prefer renting over purchasing.
These are some of the most popular business models out there. However, creating a new business model and raising money completely depends on your vision and the expert mobile app developers who will help you fulfil your vision into a successful and lucrative business model.
However, if you want to go with the existing business models, you must offer the customers what they need to offer in their car rental mobile apps.
Here comes the biggest key point for any successful mobile application.
The built-in taxi app features will provide more convenience to your customers, and they will prefer your app over any other application in the market if these features decide the dominance of any application, such as a car rental application.
Features will play a crucial role in creating the best experiences for car rental services in your business.
Remember one thing: features are one of the key factors influencing the cost of car rental app development.
Later, we will read in this blog how features influence the cost. But it’s time to read about the features.
Let’s consider some of the essential features of a car rental mobile app while developing a white-label car rental app.
A login portal that can be accessed with the help of a social media ID simply adds extra stars in the user convenience column of a car rental application.
It’ll give a sense of freedom to the customer of a car booking application. When your car rental app allows users to choose their preferred car, this could be a major selling point for a business model.
Ride scheduling is one of the fantastic features that you need to consider for your next car rental mobile app. It will offer super flexibility to your customers for their needs.
A user of a car rental app can manage all his/her bookings in one place within the app.
The ride-fare estimation feature within the car rental reservation app helps customers check the price even before taking a ride.
A must-have feature that makes commuting time-saving and pleasant by accurately navigating customers to their destination.
Car rental services like self-driving offer the car to the customer at their doorsteps. This car rental platform feature seems like a little step, but it saves effort and time for the customers.
Having multiple payment options in the ride-booking app enables all customers with various preferred payment methods to make flawless payments.
Reward and referral programs engage customers more. It will also help your business when customers publicize your app among their friends and family.
Push notifications give important updates and alerts to customers so that they never miss any updates related to their car rental.
The feature of easy login with an email ID or phone number is also available to divers or hosts.
The host or driver can check all booking requests at once and then accept the one that seems suitable.
This feature allows a driver to receive payment from the customer via the car rental application itself.
This feature gives you the ability to check trip details like pick-up point, destination, journey time, shortest way with less traffic, etc.
This dedicated dashboard for the driver shows all the essential information, such as total completed rides, upcoming rides, total income, received feedback, etc.
A driver’s reputation is maintained by this feedback. Customers choose drivers according to their feedback and ratings. Hence, this feature allows drivers to receive feedback from customers.
A host or driver has this expense log, which keeps a log of all expenses like toll tax and other on-duty expenses, which helps them get reimbursement.
Navigation comes as a handy feature for the drivers by enabling them to navigate to the customer’s destination without getting confused on the way.
One of the crucial features of an admin is a dedicated dashboard. This feature shows all analytics and data to the admin, separated by categories.
This feature allows admins to manage car fleets remotely via the app itself.
From this feature, admins can manage customers, drivers, hosts, and sub-admins and keep their activities under surveillance.
According to demand and supply, admins can manage the fare for the car rental service accordingly.
App analytics offers various types of essential data, which can be used to enhance the business and app operations of the admins.
All the incoming and outgoing funds can be tracked and managed under this feature of a car rental mobile app.
A content management system (CMS) is an intuitive and convenient tool for admins. It helps admins manage available content all over the car rental application.
The advanced features mentioned in this blog section will help you stand out from the crowd.
Features like CRM help admins maintain a lasting relationship with the customers of car rental applications with the help of email newsletters, loyalty programs, and many more.
Corporate billing is the exclusive feature for corporations, where they can manage all the car rental expenses.
To maintain the demand-supply ratio, the surge charge feature can be used by the administrators.
This feature becomes very useful in Peer-to-Peer car rental services. With the help of this feature, the owner of a car can check and verify the license and other documents before renting the car.
The in-app camera allows customers to capture the image of their documents that are to be uploaded for booking a car.
While booking a car of their choice, the customer may want to check the interior and exterior of the car just to be sure. This feature helps them to check the condition of the car.
How car rental applications bring money to the bank is one of the most important topics of this entire blog. So it is time to talk about some of the famous and successful revenue models of car rental applications.
This business model requires significant capital to kick off the business. This business requires having its car fleet.
In addition, assigning professional drivers is also necessary to manage the business. The earnings come from the profit earned from the fair prices of car rental. Businesses like Hertz, are following this business model and they are making billions every year.
In this model, professional drivers with their cars are hired and they are provided a car rental application platform from which they can receive rental requests and earn money.
In addition, anyone who has a car can also put their car on rest to earn some extra bucks. From this earned money, 15%–30% goes to the car rental app company. Currently, one of the top car-sharing marketplace companies, Turo is working on this business model.
It helps in understanding the user’s behaviour with the app, like how often they use it, when they frequently book the car for rent, what their payment habits are, and others.
It works as an emergency button that customers can press directly from their screen in case of an emergency while going from one point to another.
You need expertise to develop an on-demand app, so the best way is to get it developed by experts. However, it is your right to know how to develop a car rental app.
So, here is the process that’ll give you an overview in easy steps:
Directly proceeding with car hire app development is not the right thing to do. You must first conduct market research on your car rental app development based on the existing market, future trends, end customer pain points, business models, monetization opportunities, and more.
It would be the best if you
Although you will collect most of the requirements from market and competitor research, explore it more, and make a clear set of requirements, it will benefit you by perfectly developing your car rental mobile application.
The requirements could be like this:
For developing car rental apps like Turo, it would be best to hire a top mobile app development company because of the multiple associated advantages.
You can find multiple profiles over the internet using websites like Clutch, Upwork, and others.
So, compare all these based on experience, portfolio, projects done, team size, and experience of developers.
It will help you hire the best mobile app development team specialising in the car or taxi booking app industry, like Arka Softwares.
The on-demand app development company you have hired will design and develop your app. While they work on your app, you can focus on your core business activity.
However, keep an eye on the development process to see if it covers the requirements you’ve shared with them. Stay connected with developers for updates.
Trusted app development companies offer transparent communication processes.
Testing is one of the crucial phases and is more important than developing the app, as users prefer bug-free apps.
So, quality analysts will help you make your app free from all bugs and ensure its quality. Once the app is okay-tested, launch it on platforms like the Google Play Store or Apple App Store.
Here’s an in-depth explanation of the design tools and tech stack needed to create on how to create a car rental app:
Figma is a versatile tool for collaborative design. It allows designers to create wireframes, prototypes, and high-fidelity designs all in one place. Its real-time collaboration features make it ideal for teams, enabling simultaneous editing and feedback.
Adobe Illustrator is essential for creating vector graphics, such as icons and illustrations, that can be scaled to any size without loss of quality. Adobe Photoshop is widely used for editing images and creating detailed design assets.
Zeplin facilitates the handoff between design and development by generating style guides and providing developers with precise specifications for design elements. Abstract is a version control tool in the car rental software development for design files, which helps manage changes and keep track of design iterations.
React Native and Flutter are popular frameworks for developing cross-platform mobile applications. React Native uses JavaScript, allowing for a single codebase to target both iOS and Android, while Flutter uses Dart and provides a highly customizable and performant solution for building natively compiled applications in car rental software development.
Material-UI and Bootstrap are libraries that offer pre-designed components to ensure a consistent and responsive user interface. Material-UI, based on Google’s Material Design principles, provides a set of React components, while Bootstrap is a general-purpose framework that includes components and layout utilities.
Redux is a popular library for managing the state in React applications, providing a predictable state container that helps manage complex application state. For Flutter, Provider and Riverpod are used for state management, offering different approaches to managing and propagating state throughout the application.
APIs and Data Handling
Axios and the Fetch API are used for making HTTP requests to interact with backend services. GraphQL offers an alternative to traditional REST APIs, allowing clients to request exactly the data they need and reducing the number of requests required to fetch related data.
Node.js with Express is a popular choice for building scalable server-side applications in JavaScript. Python with frameworks like Django or Flask is known for its ease of use and readability, making it suitable for rapid development.
PostgreSQL and MySQL are reliable relational databases that use structured query language (SQL) for managing and querying data. MongoDB, a NoSQL database, is ideal for handling unstructured data and offers flexible schema design, which can be beneficial for applications that require scalability and speed.
OAuth and JWT (JSON Web Tokens) are standards for implementing secure authentication and authorization. Auth0 is a third-party service that simplifies the integration of authentication and authorization features, providing out-of-the-box support for various identity providers and advanced security features.
Stripe and PayPal are popular payment gateways that facilitate the processing of transactions. They provide APIs and SDKs for integrating payment functionality, handling various payment methods, and ensuring secure transactions.
We have created an excellent cab booking app, Pearl Cab, which was developed with the motive of providing ultimate convenience to users.
It includes all the latest features, such as live tracking, ETA calculation, in-app navigation, multiple payment modes, and other advanced features.
Stunning UI/UX is one of the key USPs of this app, that we can also develop for your app. Feel free to connect with us at any time.
One of the top questions that a business owner asks before developing an app is, How much does it cost to develop a car rental app?
The whole game revolves around requirements and other factors. So, decide what your requirements are.
For example, a simple car rental app development cost ranges between $15,000-$25,000 for a single platform. If you need an advanced app, the cost will be based on its features and functionalities.
There are some deciding factors in app development cost. So, before you reach any conclusion, let’s examine these factors and how they influence cost estimation.
Features are the top cost-influencing factors for developing a car rental app. It works with several features, and their degree of complexity increases the overall complexity of the app.
So, if the complexity is high, the cost will be higher. So, the cost of a car rental app like:
| App’s Complexity | Development Cost |
|---|---|
| Simple Car Rental App Development Cost | $15k onwards |
| Mid-Complex Car Rental Mobile App Development Cost | $25k onwards |
| Advanced Car Rental App Development | $35k onwards |
Hiring costs play a crucial role in cost estimation, especially when hiring developers on a location-based basis. The hiring cost varies depending on the region you are hiring from.
| Region | App Developers Hiring Cost |
|---|---|
| Mobile App Developers in the USA | $120-$150/ hr. |
| Mobile App Developers in the UK | $100-$120/ hr. |
| Mobile App Developers in Europe | $50-$100/hr. |
| App Developers in Australia | $50-$100/hr. |
| Mobile App Developers in New Zealand | $50-$100/hr. |
| Hire on-demand App Developers in India | $25/hr. Onwards |
For developing a robust and seamless car rental app, you need a mixed team of mobile app development experts, from graphic designers to quality analysts.
The team size depends on the project size—the larger the team, the larger the project. So, the overall hiring cost influences the mobile app development cost.
Suppose you need a team of 10 experts; then the hiring cost would be like this:
| Number of Experts | Hiring Cost (For each) |
|---|---|
| Junior Developers -2 | $20/ hr. |
| Intermediate Developers-1 | $25/hr. |
| Experienced Developers-1 | $30/hr. |
| Team Lead -1 | $50/hr. |
| Project Manager -1 | $100/ hr. |
| UI/UX designers -2 | $20/hr. |
| Quality Analysts-2 | $20/hr. |
The type of mobile app you need for your business will determine the cost accordingly. You can develop your mobile car rental app in three ways: Android app development, iOS app development, and cross-platform app development.
All these have their advantages, like native app development, which helps target platform-specific users, but with cross-platform app development, you can target all platform users with a single app.
| Type of Mobile App | Development Cost |
|---|---|
| Android App Development Cost | $20,000-$30,000 |
| iOS App Development Cost | $20,000-$30,000 |
| Cross-Platform App Development Cost | $15,000-$25,000 |
UI/UX and other visual components determine user satisfaction, but they also contribute to car rental app development costs.
For example, if you want to develop an app like Getaround, it will need stunning UI/UX and eye-catching graphics, and its design cost would be around $10,000–$15,000.
| Factor | Cost Estimate Range |
|---|---|
| Basic App Design | $5,000 – $10,000 |
| Advanced App Design | $3,000 – $30,000 |
| Hourly Rate | Varies based on experience and location |
| Number of Design Hours | Custom based on project requirements |
| Total App Design Cost | Calculated as Hourly Rate * Number of Design Hours |
In terms of hourly hiring cost, you can hire experienced UI/UX designers from India at just an hourly cost of $15/hr.
Complex features generally require more development time. You have two options:
No matter which option you choose, a complex project will be more expensive than one requiring a shorter timeline.
Every entrepreneur’s ultimate objective is revenue generation, and a car rental app is no exception. There are myriad ways to earn revenue from a vehicle rental app.
Let’s see what these are!
The primary revenue source from a car rental app is rent. You can decide the rent based on the class and category of the cars in your fleet. This will generate direct income for your business.
Like other on-demand apps, you can earn via third-party advertisements. You can set an advertisement fee to display ads of different businesses for a specific time duration.
Offering subscription plans to users is one of the best monetization strategies for your car rental app. Users can choose subscriptions according to their needs.
You can also consider value-added services to generate revenue via your car rental mobile app. Here, you can provide additional services by collecting an extra amount from users, such as pick-up, insurance, extra-hours services, and others.
You can earn a commission on each booking with the car rental marketplace. It will work as a one-stop destination for car owners who want to rent their vehicles, and customers can find multiple options.
| Name of the app | Name | Play Store Link | App Store Link |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Turo |
 |
 |
 |
Hertz Car Rentals | |
|
 |
Getaround | |
|
 |
Avis | |
|
 |
Alamo Rent-a-Car | |
|
It is always beneficial to refer to top mobile apps for developing an app for business. So, the same is true with car rental app development.
Here are the top 5 examples of car rental apps that you can refer to develop your app by understanding their business model, features, functionalities, and users.
Developing an app like Turo is the best option for business. It is one of the most preferred car rental apps among users, where they can find a car for any occasion, from an office meeting to roaming to some tourist destination. Using this app, you can also rent EV Vehicles.
Another top name among car rental apps is- Hertz Car Rental. At Hertz, you can rent vehicles like Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Tesla and more. It offers a wide range of luxury, sports, and hybrid vehicles for any occasion.
Apps like Getaround offer a new way to rent a car. You can rent cars based on their price by hour or day with no waiting time, and you can unlock the car using its app. It offers pickup, commercial, family car, and SUV ranges.
Avis is one of the top brands that offers the best car rental services, including multiple deals like savings of up to 25%, flash sales, and more. One surprising fact about Avis is that you can also buy budget-friendly vehicles from it.
Another good app is Alamo, which you can refer to when developing your next car rental app. A user can rent a well-maintained vehicle. It offers various deals like Plan Ahead Specials, Last Minute Specials, Rent and Save, Free Rental Car Upgrades, and others.
So, are you ready to build a car rental app for business?
To develop a car rental app, you need an expert on-demand app development team; we are the perfect choice.
We have a year of presence in the mobile app development industry and a track record of providing solutions to different industries.
Taxi booking app development services are one of the premium services we offer businesses, such as car rental, taxi booking, and travel agencies.
We can provide the right resources to develop a cutting-edge car rental app. Feel free to contact us at any time.
Smartphones have transformed all aspects of our lives and the automobile sector is no exception. Car rental apps are getting more traction amongst users and app owners alike.
These apps help enterprises offer their services, stay in touch with their customers, and provide personalized promotions and offers as well. The car rental app is a win-win proposition for all the stakeholders.
Hopefully, we have provided all the essential information for developing your car rental app from scratch.
Developing a car rental app is indeed a brilliant app idea for your business, as it helps you address the dynamic user demands while also enabling you to establish solid market imprints and yield successful outcomes.
If you have decided to build a car rental application, then you need to understand what you are developing, why you are developing it, and what business outcomes you are expecting from it. You need a full-fledged car rental app if you want to venture into the rental car business.
If you have any doubts or concerns, feel free to call our experts or book a free online consultation. Our seasoned app developers are known for transforming your dreams into beautiful realities.
FAQs
If you want to start a car rental business with a mobile app, congratulations on making the right decision. For starting the business
1. First, you need to decide about car rental business models like B2C, B2B, and others.
2. Research the market and target audiences.
3. Choose a monetization model
4. Hire an on-demand app development company
5. Design and develop a dazzling app
6. Test and launch the app
7. Regularly update your app for better customer satisfaction.
Multiple factors determine the cost of developing a car rental app like Turo. So estimating the exact cost is a challenge. However, the ideal cost to develop an app like Turo may vary between $25,000-$40,000, considering specific business requirements.
The prime objective of a car rental app is to offer convenience to its users for their car rental needs. In terms of its working – users can make their account, choose a location, choose a vehicle type, pay for the rent via multiple payment modes, and drive the car.
Yes, we can develop a car rental API for your business that covers all your needs. We provide all types of car rental app development solutions that will help you grow your business. For discussion, connect with us anytime.
The time it takes to develop a car rental app depends on the complexity of the app and its number of features. If the app is complex, it may take 6–10 months, approx. But if you need an MVP for a car rental business, you can have it within 2–3 months.
Jeeto11
The app quickly earned over 1,000 downloads within two months of launch, and users have responded positively. ARKA Softwares boasted experienced resources who were happy to share their knowledge with the internal team.
Archithrones
While the development is ongoing, the client is pleased with the work thus far, which has met expectations. ARKA Softwares puts the needs of the client first, remaining open to feedback on their work. Their team is adaptable, responsive, and hard-working.
Service Provider
I started my project with Arka Softwares because it is a reputed company. And when I started working with them for my project, I found out that they have everything essential for my work. The app is still under development and but quite confident and it will turn out to be the best.
