What’s New in WpCarRently: Multi-Branch, Analytics & Google Reviews

WpCarRently (Car Rental Manager) just shipped its biggest update yet. The free version now includes multi-branch management with dedicated branch managers, plus flexible fee options like one-way fees and security deposits. The update also introduces powerful new Pro features, including an analytics dashboard, Google Calendar sync, Google Reviews integration, and SMS notifications. Whether you’re on the free plugin or considering Pro, there’s a lot new here.

If you’ve used WpCarRently before, or read our earlier guides on setting it up, forget what you remember about the admin screens. They’re gone. The whole plugin got rebuilt from the inside out, and honestly, it doesn’t really feel like the same tool anymore.

Let’s get into what actually changed.

Why this update matters more than a typical changelog

Most plugin updates are incremental. A bug fix here, a new field there. This one isn’t that. WpCarRently went from “solid single-location booking plugin” to something that can genuinely run a multi-branch rental business right out of the free version, while the Pro tier picked up serious upgrades of its own, like analytics, calendar sync, and automated SMS.

That’s worth pausing on. If you’ve looked at other car rental plugins for WordPress, you’ve probably noticed the pattern: the free version gets you a single location and basic booking, full stop. WpCarRently’s free plugin now handles multiple branches, which is genuinely rare at this price point (free). Everything else below is clearly marked so you know exactly what you’re getting at each tier.

Running more than one location, for real this time (Free)

Branch Management. Instead of treating every car as belonging to one fixed pickup point, you can now set up multiple branches, each with its own vehicles, and add Branch Managers who only see and manage their own location’s bookings.

Practically, that means:

• A rental business with locations in, say, Dhaka and Chittagong can run both from one WordPress site instead of juggling separate installs
• Each branch manager logs in and sees their own fleet, their own bookings, nothing else
• Driver information is visible per vehicle in the free version too, so you always know who’s associated with a booking (actually assigning drivers to specific bookings is a Pro feature, more on that below)

This used to be the kind of thing you’d need an enterprise-tier plugin for. Now the core of it is just… in there, free.

Finally, an answer to “how’s the business actually doing?” (Pro)

The new Analytics dashboard is a Pro feature, and it’s the kind of thing a lot of car rental owners have been quietly wishing for. Instead of digging through order lists to figure out how the month’s going, you get:

• Bookings over time, as a line chart
• Revenue over time, as a bar chart
• A breakdown of bookings by status, so you can see how many are pending, confirmed, or completed at a glance
• Your top-performing vehicles, ranked

If you’re already running Pro for other reasons, this alone is worth logging in to check out.

Google Reviews, built right into your booking pages (Pro)

This one’s easy to underestimate, but it might be the Pro feature that moves the needle most on actual bookings. WpCarRently can now pull your real Google reviews directly onto your site through a simple shortcode.

Here’s why that matters: when someone’s deciding whether to trust a rental site enough to hand over their payment details, social proof does a lot of heavy lifting. A five-star badge you made yourself doesn’t carry the same weight as real reviews pulled straight from Google. With Pro, your existing Google Business reviews just show up where your customers are already looking.

Your calendar, actually in sync (Pro)

If you’ve ever double-booked a car because your WordPress site and your personal calendar weren’t talking to each other, Pro fixes it. WpCarRently now supports:

• Google Calendar sync, two-way, so bookings made on your site show up in your calendar and vice versa
• iCal export, if you’re using a different calendar tool
• Auto-sync, with a frequency you control, so you’re not manually refreshing anything
• A dedicated Calendar View inside the plugin itself, so you can see everything at a glance without leaving WordPress

Keeping customers in the loop without living in your inbox (Pro)

Email confirmations are table stakes at this point, everyone expects them, and custom email templates are a Pro feature now too. The bigger addition is SMS notifications, also Pro, with support for custom API gateways if you’ve already got an SMS provider you like. Automated customer templates mean you’re not writing “your booking is confirmed” texts by hand every time someone books a car.

The fees that make a rental business actually work (Free)

A daily rate is only part of the picture in real rental operations. This update adds proper, configurable handling for all of this, which is free:

• One-way fees, for when a car gets picked up in one branch and dropped off in another
• Security deposits, with flexible deposit types
• Vehicle delivery and collection fees, if you’re bringing the car to the customer instead of the other way around
• Early bird discounts, on top of the tiered, day-wise, and seasonal pricing that was already there

This is real pricing flexibility built into the free plugin, not a stripped-down version of what Pro gets.

What about payments and booking management?

A couple of things worth knowing before you set up your workflow:

• Payments: without WooCommerce, only offline payment is available in the free version. PayPal and Stripe both require Pro.
• Booking List: you can view all your bookings in the free version. Editing a booking directly from the list requires Pro.
• PDF export: generating booking or invoice PDFs is a Pro feature.

What this looks like if you’re upgrading from an older version

If you set up WpCarRently a while back, a few things will feel different the moment you log in:

• The whole admin area has a new shell, sidebar navigation, a consistent header, and a cleaner card-based layout across every screen
• Adding a car is now a step-by-step wizard instead of one long form, so you can’t accidentally publish a car missing a required field buried in a tab you forgot about
• Your old “Locations” menu is now “Branch Management,” and it does a lot more than it used to

Nothing about your existing bookings or vehicle data changes; it’s the same underlying plugin, just meaningfully more capable now, at both tiers.

Frequently asked questions

Can WpCarRently manage multiple rental locations?

Yes, and it’s free. The Branch Management feature lets you set up multiple branches, each with its own vehicles and bookings, and add branch managers to run them independently.

Does WpCarRently include analytics or reporting?

Yes, as a Pro feature. The Analytics dashboard shows bookings over time, revenue trends, booking status breakdowns, and your top-performing vehicles.

Can I show Google reviews on my car rental site?

Yes, with Pro. The Google Reviews integration pulls your real reviews onto your site via shortcode.

Does WpCarRently sync with Google Calendar?

Yes, as a Pro feature. It supports two-way Google Calendar sync, iCal export, and automatic syncing at a frequency you set, plus a built-in calendar view.

Can I accept PayPal or Stripe payments without WooCommerce?

No. Without WooCommerce, only offline payment is available in the free version. PayPal and Stripe both require the Pro version alongside WooCommerce.

Can I edit bookings from the Booking List?

You can view all bookings in the free version. Editing a booking directly from the list requires Pro.

Is Branch Management free, or does it require Pro?

Branch Management is free, along with one-way fees, security deposits, delivery and collection fees, and early bird discounts. Analytics, calendar sync, Google Reviews, SMS notifications, custom email, PDF export, and driver assignment are Pro features.

Ready to see it yourself?

If you’re already running WpCarRently, updating gets you the free improvements automatically, multi-branch management and the expanded fee options chief among them. If you’re curious about the Pro features covered here, analytics, calendar sync, Google Reviews, and SMS notifications are genuinely useful additions worth a look.

Get WpCarRently from WordPress.org →