Choose between Swikly and Holdyy by how the deposit is secured and when you must inspect the rental, then compare the contract and costs. A registered card, a temporary card hold and a collected refundable payment are different arrangements. They do not give your rental business the same access to funds.
This comparison is for short-stay and equipment-rental operators choosing deposit software. It covers the deposit decision; it does not claim either product replaces your booking calendar, insurance or legal assessment of a damage claim.
Does the guest's card actually have funds reserved?
Swikly's official explanation says its default arrangement registers the card without blocking or debiting the deposit amount. Its separate hold FAQ says a temporary preauthorization option, for up to thirty days, is available on request. Therefore, saying Swikly can never reserve funds would be inaccurate. Ask which arrangement your proposal includes.
Holdyy describes a Stripe card preauthorization, with capture or release from its dashboard. Its published FAQ describes a seven-day hold and renewal options for longer needs. Confirm eligibility, the exact deadline and whether renewal needs the guest to act. A renewal feature is not evidence of an indefinite or guaranteed continuous hold.
| Arrangement | What happens initially | What to establish before buying |
|---|---|---|
| Card registration without a hold | Card details support a later collection request; the amount is not reserved | Claim process, collection conditions, fees and any separately contracted guarantee |
| Card preauthorization | An eligible amount is temporarily reserved | Actual expiry, eligible card, capture rules and renewal conditions |
| Collected refundable payment | Money is charged, with a later refund if appropriate | Refund processing, fees, accounting and applicable terms |
A booking payment toward the hire price is another record again. Keep rental revenue and damage security separate so a guest can understand what is paid, what is held and what may be returned.
Three rental timelines to put into a supplier demonstration
These are original hypothetical cases, not live deposit tests. Use them to make a supplier demonstrate what happens when the operational deadline does not fit the payment deadline.
| Case | Assumed sequence | Buying implication |
|---|---|---|
| Weekend equipment hire | Authorization Friday 15:00; return Monday 10:00; inspection Monday 12:00 | Needs at least 69 hours of valid authorization through inspection, plus your chosen operating buffer |
| Ten-night stay | Authorization two days before arrival; inspection one day after departure | Needs roughly thirteen days of coverage; a single seven-day hold is insufficient |
| Long rental | Authorization thirty days before return; inspection two days later | A stated thirty-day option alone does not cover the full thirty-two-day interval |
The first case's 69 hours comes from 72 hours between Friday and Monday 15:00, minus three hours. It is an operational requirement, not a promised provider authorization duration. The other rows use whole-day assumptions to expose the gap; replace them with exact timestamps for a real booking.
Stripe documents authorization and capture separately. Validity varies by card network, transaction type and eligibility. Use the actual provider deadline for the specific authorization. Do not promise a guest or a staff member a generic seven- or thirty-day window from a marketing headline.
For the longer cases, ask when authorization should occur, whether a later request is possible, what happens if the guest does not complete it and what fallback you accept. Storing a card does not prove a later charge will succeed; an expired hold is not money waiting indefinitely for inspection.
Compare capacity as well as monthly rental volume
Assume twelve rentals per month, each needing a deposit. Four requests are pending for next week's arrivals, three are authorized for current rentals and two have returned but await final resolution. That means nine open records at the busiest point in this hypothetical example.
Use two separate purchasing numbers: twelve new monthly requests and nine simultaneous open requests. A plan can meet the first and fail the second. Ask which statuses count, when allowances reset and whether partially captured deposits remain open.
Holdyy's pricing lists Standard at €19/month with up to twenty deposits per month and a 1% capture fee; Business is €39/month with unlimited monthly deposits and a 0.5% capture fee. Stripe fees are separate. Confirm tax, eligibility and current terms. The subscription is still a cost when no deposit is captured.
For Swikly, obtain the current proposal for your selected arrangement, including accepted-request, collection and optional guarantee charges. A default card-registration price is not necessarily the price for an optional held-funds service. This comparison does not turn an unverified quote into a universal fee claim.
A reusable budget is subscription + accepted-request charges + capture charges + provider charges + optional service charges. Keep assumed capture frequency visible. A month with no damage does not tell you what a claim-heavy month costs, and neither scenario proves a saving.
Choose the claim workflow you can actually operate
Ask both suppliers to show a clean return, a partial damage claim, an expired arrangement and a disputed claim. Name the staff member who records the inspection and the person authorized to request collection. Confirm what documentation and guest notice the contract requires.
Neither a card hold nor a provider's collection button proves that a damage claim is justified. Insurance or a payment guarantee, if offered, has separate eligibility, coverage and evidence terms. Evaluate those terms rather than assuming a hold and insurance provide the same protection.
When to evaluate PayRequest instead
PayRequest security deposits is an option when you already have an eligible Stripe account and want deposit links with authorization tracking, partial capture and release. It does not provide a universal thirty-day hold, Swikly's contractual services or a replacement for rental-management software.
Use the same timeline and capacity worksheet. Current PayRequest allowances distinguish new requests from open deposits: Free has three new requests per calendar month and one open at a time; Premium has fifteen new and five open. Pending, authorized and partially captured records count as open. The twelve-rental, nine-open example therefore exceeds Premium's listed simultaneous allowance, even though twelve is below fifteen. Confirm the suitable plan before choosing.
Create an account, connect your eligible Stripe account and evaluate one short rental through its actual inspection deadline. If a long reservation, claim guarantee or PMS integration is essential, make that a purchase condition rather than assuming it is included.
For the underlying equipment-hire choice, see card holds versus refundable deposits. For a separate protection decision, compare damage waivers and security deposits.
Editorial note: AI assisted the text and illustration. Official sources and PayRequest scope were reviewed on 26 October 2026. The timing and capacity tools are hypothetical worksheets, not completed vendor tests, guaranteed collection or legal advice.
