What’s the best software to schedule the boat usage in your club? We have posted blogs about that already in 2010 and 2016, but we think it’s time for an update.

Below is the list of previous software options that continue to work well, along with a few new ones that caught our eye.

Schedule It

A free trial version is available to test out before committing to a full purchase. Generally, however, payment is required to have continual access to the features. Schedule It desktop access can be purchased from £65 per year, per license and online access can be purchased from £5 per month (read-only), per license (discounts are available for multiple license purchases).  As before, Schedule It requires having a desktop host to connect with the cloud-based versions. Limits of units available for booking are dependent on which version is purchased.

MRBS

Last updated in June 2014, MRBS is still free to download and use. It is based entirely online and offers a range of access levels, including read-only, user and admin.

Booking System

Another free programme, Booking System offers access to an unlimited number of users – all able to log on remotely. The Booking System features an unlimited number of units available to be booked. Users have full access to create and change their bookings as well as view other users’ bookings. Bookings can be scheduled to repeat and additional fields can be added depending on how you choose to manage your system.

Sports Notice Board

Available in both free (ad-supported) and billed versions, SNB allows control over, boat and crew bookings, from mobile and desktop locations. A complete breakdown of who, when and what makes keeping track of activity a breeze.

BoatCloud – ClubHub

ClubHub was designed specifically for boats and as a result, is perhaps the easiest to use. The user interface is clean and incredibly simple. It offers the greatest level of detail regarding boat information, including real-time booking updates and additional club information – such as member details. Locations of use, boat types and other variables can be customised by the administrator. Once settings have been configured, administrator input is minimal. Like the other software packages mentioned, ClubHub is entirely web-based and is compatible with desktop and mobile devices.

Google/Apple shared Calendars

Even though they don’t have explicit options for boats, their widespread use and constant development make the Google calendar as well as the Apple calendar a practical and easy solution. Another advantage is that basically everyone knows how to use them and their cloud-based functions make them convenient. With both, you have the option to create templates in different colours (for different boats) and read-only events. So while it might be a less elegant option, it’s accessible for basically everybody and especially for small clubs an easy option to manage the use of your boats. It shouldn’t be your first go to if your club has a lot of boats, but for smaller clubs, it is a valid option.

We’re constantly looking out for the latest and greatest tools to use. If you or your club use something we haven’t listed above, we’d love to hear about it!