Switching from MCS, Oct 2026
Thinking of leaving MCS Rental Software?
MCS Rental Software is UK-based rental management software for hire businesses, from independents to multi-depot international firms, covering quotes, contracts, logistics, workshop, invoicing and reporting. If you’re reviewing your options, here’s what to take out first, what RiQ (pronounced “Rick”) offers, and where MCS may still suit you better. Facts about MCS come from its own UK website, checked 23 Oct 2026. RiQ is waitlist-only and onboarding in stages, tool and plant first.
Get your data out before you decide anything
MCS says its reporting includes over 50 standard reports and lets you extract raw data into Microsoft Excel pivot tables. That is a sensible place to start: pull the records you’ll need into spreadsheets while you still have full access, and keep a copy somewhere you control. The MCS pages we checked don’t set out how you take a full export when you leave, so ask MCS what it can supply, in what format, and check your contract for notice periods and data access.
- Assets and products, with serial or asset numbers
- Customer accounts, contacts and credit terms
- Open contracts and forward bookings, so nothing is missed at cut-over
- Workshop, inspection and certificate history
Know where your data lives today
MCS offers a fully managed MCS Cloud, with hosting, backups and disaster recovery handled for you. Its switching webinar also covers the difference between hosting your own servers and opting for MCS Cloud, so some firms run MCS on their own servers. If yours does, your data and your backups sit on hardware you look after, so agree with MCS and your IT support who will take the export and how long the old server stays readable. RiQ is fully cloud-based, with nothing to install on your premises.
- Check whether you’re on MCS Cloud or your own server
- Keep read-only access or a full export for audit and warranty questions
- Pick a quiet week to switch, away from month-end invoicing
Customers book online, on your own domain
RiQ gives you a booking storefront on your own domain with your own branding, and the hire website is Tier 1 itself. Customers see live availability, then book and pay. MCS offers an Online Portal with your logos and colours where customers can place orders, make reservations, manage their account and log breakdowns or off-hires around the clock, and it says you can link your existing e-commerce platform so online reservations arrive in MCS. So the bigger question is whether you want a separate website joined to your hire system, or one built around it.
- Storefront on your own domain and branding
- Live availability on every product
- Card payments, deposits and pre-auths
- Bookings land in your RiQ account
Booking built for UK tool and plant hire
RiQ was built running live tool and plant hire at National Tool Hire and Mammoth Hire. Required items and damage waiver are added at checkout, deposits are taken up front, and inspection records sit on the asset. If most of your work is tool and plant hire booked by trade and retail customers, ask us how RiQ handles your jobs.
- Live availability, bundles and required items
- Damage waiver and hire-insurance lines
- PAT, LOLER and PUWER records on the asset
- Off-hire, exchange, extension and partial returns
Where MCS may suit you better
MCS is available now and says it has served rental businesses for over 40 years, in more than 35 countries. It is built for multi-depot operations, with delivery planning and real-time driver updates, a workshop module for planned maintenance and inspections, Power BI dashboards and accounting integrations, and it serves sectors such as portable sanitation, traffic management, oil and gas, and offshore and marine. RiQ is waitlist-only and onboarding tool and plant first, so if you run many depots across countries, or a specialist fleet like portable toilets, MCS may be the better fit for now.
- Multi-depot and international operations (MCS)
- Over 50 standard reports and Power BI dashboards (MCS)
- List what you use every week before you compare
Talk to us about moving across
Join the waitlist, tell us what you hire out and how customers book today, and talk to us about moving across. Keep your Excel exports to hand when you do.
- Tell us what you hire out and how customers book today
- Check your notice period and how you’ll get your data out
- Ask us which tier fits
Sources
- MCS Rental Software: UK homepage (what MCS covers, track record, sectors)
- MCS: cloud rental software (managed hosting, backups)
- MCS webinar: moving to a new software supplier (self-hosting or MCS Cloud)
- MCS: business intelligence reporting (standard reports, Excel and Power BI)
- MCS: Online Portal (customer orders and e-commerce link)
Checked 23 Oct 2026. MCS Rental Software belongs to its owners. Their product may have changed since; if anything here is out of date, tell us and we’ll correct it.
Waitlist
Get in early.
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Join the RiQ waitlist for early access and a switching review at no cost. It takes about a minute.