Renty vs. erento: Experiences, process, and terms compared

What erento is and what it explicitly is not

Erento Campanda GmbH, based in Berlin, has operated a brokerage platform since 2003. Commercial rental providers post their items, and interested parties search and get in touch. According to the company, this results in over 500,000 rental inquiries per year. The range of items extends from motorhomes, construction machinery, and stretch limousines to party tents, bouncy castles, and sound equipment.

The crucial point is stated in erento's own documents, and it is phrased more clearly than most guides suggest.

The legal notice expresses the same idea in everyday language: erento is not a rental provider itself and cannot answer questions about individual items; the provider listed in the advertisement is responsible for that. The "About Erento" page also states that there is no dedicated phone number for general inquiries. However, the tenant FAQ does provide a service number and support email address for issues with a provider.

This is not a criticism, but a description of a business model. It simply has consequences that you should be aware of before making an inquiry. With Renty, the rental provider is the same as the platform operator, and the rental terms apply equally to every booking, regardless of location.

Renty and erento in direct comparison

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The path to booking: six steps versus three

The biggest time-saver is not the price, but the process. Section 5.1 of the erento terms of use describes it soberly: you submit a non-binding inquiry, erento forwards your data, and the provider gets in touch to send either a rejection or an offer, which you can then accept or decline.

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Direct booking is available, but not everywhere. Section 5.2 describes it for items with a direct booking model, and even there, it only applies after the provider has confirmed availability. For all the event technology listings we opened on 07/31/2026, the main button was "Inquire now".

What is less obvious is that even for a non-binding inquiry, your name, email address, street and house number, zip code, city, and phone number are mandatory fields. Anyone wanting to compare three providers must therefore provide their full address three times before knowing if anything is even available.

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With Renty, the process is shorter because there is nothing to clarify: select the product and location, enter the dates, and book. How this works in detail is explained in the booking process.

What the listings really say

Since the terms and conditions of the respective rental provider apply according to section 5.3, we checked what they actually state. On July 31, 2026, we opened 84 listings from ten event technology categories—including speakers, DJ equipment, microphones, mixing consoles, lighting systems, fog machines, projectors, screens, party tents, and photo booths—and analyzed the "Rental Terms" section.

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Rental terms range from 79 to 4,290 characters in length, with an average of around 486. Twelve listings had no such text at all. Regarding security deposits, the range spans from "no deposit required" to fixed amounts of 50, 100, and 250 euros, up to a sliding scale of 200 to 1,200 euros depending on the value of the equipment, payable in cash. One provider reserves the right in their contract text to demand a deposit up to the full value of the rental item. Eleven listings require cash payment upon handover, and twenty require a form of ID.

There is also a lot of ambiguity regarding VAT: 70 of the 84 listings provide no information on this. Six explicitly state the price as net. For private individuals, this represents a 19 percent difference that only becomes apparent in the quote.

erento itself notes in the category text for speakers and sound systems that a deposit is required by most providers. This is honest and consistent with our findings. At Renty, however, deposit-free rental is the standard; §7 of the General Terms and Conditions only allows for an exception in the case of high-value equipment, such as in the DJ sector, and the amount is communicated before the rental begins. Instead of a deposit, an <aux translate="no">all-risk insurance</aux> policy with a 250 euro deductible per product applies.

Prices for the same example

A fair comparison requires the same scenario. Let's assume a party with around 100 guests, a sound system with speakers, stands, and cables, self-pickup, from Saturday morning to Monday afternoon.

The result is clear and works against us: the local provider on erento is significantly cheaper in this example. With them, the entire weekend costs the same as a single day because they calculate the rental as one period. Renty counts in 24-hour increments, and every additional day adds to the cost.

So, if you only look at the daily rate and have a good local provider nearby, you will get a better deal through the marketplace. The premium at Renty buys you something else: a confirmation instead of an inquiry, insurance without needing to book an add-on, no deposit, and a contact person available until 10:00 PM.

Cancellation fees: the 200 euro floor

The most striking difference in the terms lies in section 8 of the erento Terms of Use. It applies to direct bookings and payments made via erento and scales the cancellation fee based on the lead time: 30 percent from 50 days out, 50 percent for 15 to 49 days, 80 percent for 1 to 14 days, and 95 percent on the day the booking begins. Cancellation is free of charge as long as the provider has not yet accepted the request, as well as within 24 hours of booking, provided there are at least 7 days remaining until the start of the rental.

The crucial detail is the addendum in the first three tiers: if the calculated percentage is less than 200 euros, a 200 euro fee applies. For event technology with booking values in the low three-digit range, this floor almost always applies.

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With a booking value of 250 euros, a cancellation 60 days in advance costs the same as one day in advance: 200 euros. Renty charges nothing up to 14 days before the start of the rental and refunds to the original payment method. On the day the rental begins, the situation reverses: Renty is at 100 percent, which is higher than erento's 95 percent.

Two caveats apply. The erento scale only applies to direct bookings and payments made via the platform. In all other cases, the terms of the respective provider apply, and in our sample, only one out of 84 cases mentioned a cancellation policy at all. Statutory rights of withdrawal remain unaffected for both providers, and Renty GTC §6(2) explicitly allows for the proof of lower damages.

erento reviews: what the ratings show

On Trustpilot, as of July 31, 2026, erento has a rating of 4.8 out of 5 from 496 reviews; the profile has been claimed since October 2017. The distribution is unusual: 77 percent five stars, 6 percent four stars, less than 1 percent three stars, 1 percent two stars, and <aux translate="no">15 percent one star</aux>. The TrustScore is not a simple average but is weighted based on factors such as recency, which is why it is higher than the mathematical average of this distribution.

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Two things must be considered to interpret this number correctly. First, Trustpilot itself points out that erento has not recently invited customers to leave reviews, so the ratings may not be representative. Second, a marketplace profile mixes two groups: renters and providers. The critical reviews we read came predominantly from providers and concerned contract terms and the placement of their listings, not a rental transaction.

From a renter's perspective, a pattern emerges that fits the model: the provider does not respond or stops responding.

The other side of the coin is also fair: Trustpilot shows that erento has responded to 100 percent of its negative reviews, usually within 24 hours. And erento is actively working to address the issue by factoring a provider's response rate into their ranking. However, the published scale shows how much room for improvement remains: a response rate of 50 to 79 percent is considered "Average," while "Poor" only begins below 50 percent.

There is one detail from the provider FAQ you should be aware of when reading the star ratings on listings: if a provider's average rating falls below three stars, erento states that it will no longer display customer feedback. Additionally, section 4.2 of the terms and conditions notes that reviews are generally not verified for accuracy.

Pros and cons of both providers

Who is better for whom

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