The verdict in three sentences
For a company with 400 to 1,200 employees across several sites, a custom booking application (rooms, vehicles, equipment) costs EUR 15,000 to 35,000 excl. VAT and ships in 2 to 4 months. An off-the-shelf SaaS at EUR 2 to 6 per user per month still makes sense below 300 users, but becomes more expensive over 3 years beyond 600 users. The real payoff lies in occupancy analytics: they typically let you release 10 to 20% of rooms or vehicles, which often exceeds the project cost in year one.
What managing bookings in Outlook and spreadsheets really costs
The facilities teams we work with usually handle rooms through Outlook resource calendars, pool vehicles through a shared Excel file and equipment (projectors, video kits, tools) by email. The outcome: no consolidated view, bookings that are never used and vehicle purchases decided on gut feeling.
| Metric (800 staff, 5 sites) | Outlook + spreadsheets | With a dedicated app |
|---|---|---|
| Room no-show rate | 20 to 30% | 5 to 8% (auto-release after 15 min) |
| Actual room occupancy | 35 to 45% | 55 to 65% |
| Pool vehicle utilisation | 40 to 50% | 60 to 75% |
| Facilities time spent on bookings | 8 to 12 h per week | 2 to 3 h per week |
| Booking conflicts reported per month | 25 to 40 | fewer than 5 |
| Time to produce an occupancy report | 2 to 3 days | instant |
These 2026 orders of magnitude come from comparable projects in industrial and service companies. The key figure is actual occupancy: until it is measured, the real estate team can neither hand back a room nor shrink the fleet.
Off-the-shelf SaaS or custom app: the 2026 comparison
| Criterion | Booking SaaS | Custom application |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | EUR 0 to 5,000 (setup) | EUR 15,000 to 35,000 |
| Recurring cost | EUR 2 to 6 per user per month | EUR 150 to 400 per month (hosting, maintenance) |
| 3-year cost, 800 users | EUR 57,600 to 172,800 | EUR 20,400 to 49,400 |
| SSO with Microsoft Entra ID / Google | often a premium add-on | included |
| Approval rules (vehicles, costly equipment) | standardised | mapped to your org chart |
| Fleet integration (mileage, fuel card, servicing) | rare | tailored |
| Time to go live | 2 to 6 weeks | 2 to 4 months |
| Ownership of data and code | vendor | you |
SaaS remains a sound choice for a single site under 300 people that only books rooms. Once pool vehicles, equipment and multi-level approvals come into play, custom development becomes more cost-effective and fits your processes better.
A well-sized V1 scope
An effective V1 includes: SSO with your directory, a per-site resource catalogue with photos and equipment, calendar sync with Outlook or Google, 3-click mobile booking, QR code check-in at the room door, automatic release of unconfirmed slots, an approval flow for vehicles and equipment above a threshold, vehicle condition reports at departure and return, and an occupancy dashboard by site, floor and resource type. V2 usually adds door displays, presence sensors and internal cross-charging by cost centre.
| Work package | Content | Indicative 2026 budget |
|---|---|---|
| Core | SSO, roles, multi-site catalogue | EUR 4,000 to 8,000 |
| Room booking | calendar, Outlook sync, QR check-in | EUR 4,000 to 9,000 |
| Vehicles and equipment | approvals, condition reports, mileage | EUR 4,000 to 10,000 |
| Analytics | occupancy dashboards, exports, alerts | EUR 3,000 to 8,000 |
Mini case study
Sanne, facilities manager at an 850-employee food company headquartered in Amsterdam-Zuidas with 4 other sites in North Holland, manages 42 rooms and 28 pool vehicles. After 4 months on the app (cost: EUR 28,000), the dashboard shows 6 HQ rooms are used less than 20% of the time and the fleet runs at 52%.
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- Handing back 180 m² of office space: 180 × EUR 400 per m² per year = EUR 72,000 saved per year.
- Shrinking the fleet from 28 to 23 vehicles: 5 × EUR 6,500 per year (lease, insurance, servicing) = EUR 32,500 per year.
- Facilities time freed: 8 h per week × 46 weeks × EUR 40 = EUR 14,720 per year.
Total: about EUR 119,000 per year for an investment of EUR 28,000 plus EUR 3,600 of annual maintenance. Payback in under 4 months.
FAQ
How much does a room and vehicle booking app cost for a mid-sized company in 2026?
Budget EUR 15,000 to 35,000 excl. VAT for a custom app with SSO, approval rules and occupancy analytics. Hosting and maintenance add EUR 150 to 400 per month depending on the number of sites.
Can the app sync with Outlook and Teams?
Yes, through the Microsoft Graph API: a booking made in the app shows up in Outlook and vice versa within 30 seconds. Teams links can be generated automatically when a video-equipped room is booked.
How long does a 5-site rollout take?
Development takes 2 to 4 months, followed by a 3 to 4 week pilot on one site. The other 4 sites then go live within 2 to 3 weeks, with a 30-minute training session per site champion.
What real savings can we expect on the fleet?
Companies that measure actual usage typically find 10 to 20% of vehicles underused. With a full cost of EUR 5,000 to 8,000 per vehicle per year, every vehicle returned funds a meaningful share of the project.
Is the data GDPR compliant?
Yes: hosting in the EU, access logging, configurable booking retention (12 months by default) and no individual GPS tracking without a legal basis and employee notice, in line with Dutch works council (OR) expectations.
Let's scope your project. Send us your number of sites, rooms and vehicles and we will propose a V1 scope, an indicative budget between EUR 15,000 and 35,000 and a 2 to 4 month timeline. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
