Best Room Booking Software for Charities and Community Organisations in 2026

Choosing the right room booking software can save a community organisation hundreds of hours per year and recover thousands of pounds in lost revenue from double-bookings and underused spaces. This guide compares the leading platforms for UK charities, community centres, and nonprofit venues in 2026.

TL;DR: Purpose-built room booking software designed for the charity sector outperforms generic scheduling tools on pricing flexibility, reporting, and integration with member databases. Plinth is the strongest all-in-one option for organisations that also need CRM, case management, and grant reporting alongside venue hire.

Who this is for: Charity venue managers, office administrators, and operations leads responsible for room scheduling.

What you'll learn: Which room booking platforms are best suited to UK charities and community organisations, what each costs, and how to decide between them based on your venue's size, complexity, and budget.

Why this matters: The UK has an estimated 10,000+ community centres and village halls, with many more faith buildings, youth centres, and council-owned venues that hire out rooms. The community venue hire market generates hundreds of millions of pounds annually, yet a significant proportion of bookings are still managed with paper diaries, email chains, and spreadsheets. According to research by the National Association of Local Councils (NALC), over 40% of village halls still rely on manual booking methods. Modern software eliminates double-bookings, automates pricing, and provides the occupancy data that funders increasingly expect.

What to Look For in Room Booking Software

Before comparing specific products, it helps to understand the features that matter most for charity and community venues.

Conditional pricing is essential. Community venues typically offer different rates for charities, commercial hirers, community groups, and internal use. Software that cannot handle multiple pricing tiers per room forces staff to calculate discounts manually, which leads to errors and inconsistency.

Recurring bookings matter because the majority of community centre income comes from regular hirers: weekly fitness classes, monthly committee meetings, and fortnightly support groups. A system that handles repeating bookings with the ability to edit or cancel individual dates saves significant administrative time.

Clash detection prevents the most common and most embarrassing problem in venue management. Real-time conflict checking across linked rooms (for example, a hall and its adjacent kitchen) is a feature that separates purpose-built tools from generic calendars.

Reporting and export capabilities are increasingly important. Funders such as the National Lottery Community Fund and local authorities want to see utilisation data, demographic breakdowns, and evidence that community spaces are meeting local need. Software that can produce these reports without manual collation is a genuine competitive advantage when applying for grants.

A 2024 survey by Locality found that 73% of community organisations cited "demonstrating impact" as one of their top three challenges. Robust booking data directly supports this.

The 5 Best Room Booking Platforms Compared

1. Plinth

Plinth is an all-in-one platform for charities and community organisations that combines room bookings with CRM, membership, case management, activities, and grant reporting. It is designed specifically for the UK charity sector.

Key strengths:

• AI-powered venue setup -- upload a PDF, Word document, or spreadsheet describing your venue, and Plinth's AI assistant (Pippin) extracts rooms, capacities, pricing, and opening hours automatically. You can also use the AI chat sidebar to create or modify venues conversationally.
• Conditional pricing -- three pricing models (per hour, flat rate, per person) with unlimited conditions based on time of day, day of week, booker profile, and duration. Community group discounts are applied automatically at checkout.
• Multi-room bookings -- book multiple rooms in a single transaction with real-time clash detection, including for linked spaces that share a wall.
• Recurring bookings -- daily, weekly, or monthly repeats with individual date management (approve, deny, cancel, or reschedule each occurrence independently).
• Custom booking forms -- venue-wide and per-room questions to capture purpose, attendee count, layout preferences, and any other information you need.
• Occupancy and revenue reporting -- dashboards showing bookings, revenue, hours, and occupancy by room, day, time, or booker. CSV export with configurable columns including demographics for funder submissions.
• Network-level reporting -- generate reports across multiple organisations for funders and council networks.
• Integrated CRM -- booking data feeds directly into member profiles, so you can see a hirer's full history, outstanding invoices, and which groups they belong to.
• Stripe payments -- secure online card payments, invoicing, and manual payment recording.
• Email notifications -- customisable per-venue templates for confirmation, denial, and cancellation.

Best for: Community centres, faith buildings, youth centres, council venues, and any charity that needs room bookings alongside CRM, activities, or case management in a single platform.

Pricing: Contact Plinth for pricing. Free demo available at plinth.org.uk/demo.

2. Hallmaster

Hallmaster is a UK-based room booking system that has been serving village halls, community centres, and church halls since 2010. It focuses specifically on venue hire management.

Key strengths:

• Long track record in the UK community venue sector with a loyal user base of village halls and church halls.
• Calendar-based interface that is straightforward to learn.
• Online booking requests that hirers can submit through a public-facing page.
• Invoice generation and basic financial reporting.
• Support for multiple rooms and recurring bookings.

Limitations:

• No integrated CRM or member database -- booking data lives separately from any contact management you might use.
• Limited conditional pricing flexibility compared to newer platforms.
• No AI-powered setup or document extraction.
• Reporting is functional but basic; limited export options for funder submissions.
• The interface has not been significantly modernised in recent years.

Best for: Small village halls and church halls with simple pricing structures and straightforward booking needs.

Pricing: Hallmaster offers tiered pricing starting from around £12-15 per month for a single venue, scaling up based on the number of rooms and features required.

3. BookingsPlus

BookingsPlus is a UK venue booking system targeted at local authorities, parish councils, and community organisations that manage multiple venues.

Key strengths:

• Designed with local authorities and parish councils in mind, with multi-site management capabilities.
• Online booking portal for public-facing availability and booking requests.
• Invoice management and payment tracking.
• Configurable booking forms and terms and conditions.
• Support for managing multiple venues from a single account.

Limitations:

• More complex to set up than simpler tools, which can be a barrier for volunteer-run organisations.
• No AI features for setup or ongoing management.
• CRM functionality is limited compared to integrated platforms like Plinth.
• Reporting is adequate for basic venue management but may not meet the demographic and impact reporting needs of funded organisations.

Best for: Parish councils and local authorities managing several community buildings with similar booking processes.

Pricing: BookingsPlus pricing is typically quoted per venue, with costs varying based on the number of venues and required features. Contact BookingsPlus directly for current pricing.

4. Skedda

Skedda is an international space scheduling platform used across corporate, education, and community settings. It was acquired by Robin in 2023 and has since been integrated more closely with workplace management tools.

Key strengths:

• Clean, modern interface with a strong calendar view.
• Self-service booking with user accounts and permissions.
• Automated booking rules and policies.
• Good API and integration options for technically capable organisations.
• Mobile-friendly interface.

Limitations:

• Not designed specifically for the UK charity sector, so it lacks features like charity-rate pricing tiers, funder reporting, and integration with UK payment norms.
• No conditional pricing based on booker profile (e.g., charity vs commercial) in the standard product.
• No CRM, member database, or case management integration.
• Pricing is in US dollars, and support is primarily US/Australia-based.
• Following the Robin acquisition, the product direction is increasingly focused on corporate workplace management rather than community venues.
• No AI-powered setup or document extraction.

Best for: Organisations with technical capability that need a modern scheduling interface and are comfortable configuring integrations themselves.

Pricing: Skedda offers a free tier for very small spaces (up to 2 spaces with limited features). Paid plans start from approximately $15/month (USD) for the Pro tier, with Enterprise pricing for larger deployments.

5. Generic Tools (Google Calendar, Outlook, Calendly)

Some smaller venues use free consumer tools like Google Calendar, shared Outlook calendars, or scheduling tools like Calendly for room bookings.

Key strengths:

• Zero cost.
• Familiar interface that most people already know how to use.
• Quick to set up with no learning curve.

Limitations:

• No clash detection across linked rooms.
• No pricing calculation, invoicing, or payment processing.
• No conditional pricing or discount management.
• No reporting on occupancy, revenue, or utilisation.
• No audit trail of who booked what and when.
• No custom booking forms or information capture.
• Quickly becomes unmanageable with more than a handful of regular bookings.
• Provides zero data for funder reporting.

Best for: Very small venues with fewer than 5 bookings per week and no need for pricing, invoicing, or reporting.

Feature Comparison Table

How to Choose: Decision Framework

Choose Plinth if your organisation needs room bookings alongside CRM, membership, activities, case management, or grant reporting. The AI-powered setup and conditional pricing engine make it particularly strong for multi-room venues with complex pricing. It is also the best choice if you need to report booking data to funders with demographic breakdowns.

Choose Hallmaster if you run a single venue with simple pricing, do not need CRM integration, and want a dedicated room booking tool with a proven track record in the village hall sector.

Choose BookingsPlus if you are a parish council or local authority managing multiple venues and need a system designed for that specific administrative structure.

Choose Skedda if you have technical capability, need a modern API-first scheduling platform, and your pricing model is straightforward enough not to require charity-specific conditional rates.

Choose Google Calendar if you manage a very small venue with minimal bookings and have absolutely no budget for software. But plan to migrate as soon as booking volume grows -- the lack of clash detection and reporting becomes a serious liability quickly.

Research by the Small Charities Coalition indicates that organisations investing in appropriate digital tools save an average of 5-8 hours per week on administrative tasks. For venue-managing charities, room booking software is typically one of the highest-impact digital investments available.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does room booking software cost for a charity?

Costs vary significantly. Free options like Google Calendar exist but lack essential features. Dedicated room booking tools typically range from £12 to £50+ per month depending on the number of venues and features. All-in-one platforms like Plinth bundle room bookings with CRM and other tools, which can represent better value than paying separately for multiple systems.

Can we migrate from spreadsheets to room booking software easily?

Yes. Most platforms allow you to import existing booking data or start fresh. Plinth's AI setup feature is particularly helpful here -- you can upload your existing venue documentation and have rooms, pricing, and capacities extracted automatically rather than entering them manually.

Do we need separate software for room bookings and CRM?

Not necessarily. If your organisation also manages members, activities, or cases, an integrated platform like Plinth provides a single source of truth. This means you can see a hirer's booking history, payment status, and group memberships all in one place, which is more efficient than switching between separate systems.

What if we manage multiple venues?

Look for software that supports multi-site management with unified reporting. Plinth and BookingsPlus both handle multiple venues well. Hallmaster and Skedda can manage multiple rooms within a venue but are less suited to organisations overseeing a portfolio of separate buildings.

Is online payment processing essential?

For most community venues, yes. Offering online card payments via Stripe (or similar) reduces the administrative burden of chasing invoices and handling cash. It also improves the hirer experience. All dedicated room booking platforms except Google Calendar support some form of online payment.

How do we handle different pricing for different types of hirers?

This is where purpose-built charity sector tools shine. Plinth allows you to set conditional pricing rules based on booker profile (charity, community group, commercial), time of day, day of week, and booking duration. The correct rate is applied automatically at checkout, eliminating manual calculations and ensuring consistency.

Conclusion

The best room booking software for your charity depends on your specific needs: the number of venues you manage, the complexity of your pricing, whether you need CRM integration, and what reporting your funders require. For most UK community organisations with moderate to complex needs, a purpose-built platform designed for the charity sector will deliver significantly more value than generic scheduling tools.

Ready to see how Plinth handles room bookings? Book a demo to see AI-powered venue setup, conditional pricing, and occupancy reporting in action.

Recommended Next Pages

• The Complete Guide to Room Booking Management for Nonprofits -- Everything you need to know about managing room bookings effectively in a charity or community organisation.

• Room Booking Software vs Spreadsheets -- A detailed comparison of dedicated room booking software against spreadsheet-based approaches for community centres.

• How to Set Room Hire Pricing -- Strategies for conditional rates, discounts, and smart pricing for community spaces.

• How AI Is Transforming Room Booking for Charities -- Data-driven analysis of how artificial intelligence is changing venue management in the charity sector.

• The Complete Guide to Managing Community Venue Hire -- Comprehensive guidance on running a successful venue hire operation.

• Room Booking Software for Local Authorities -- What councils and parish authorities should look for when choosing room booking software.

Last updated: February 2026

For more information about room booking software for your organisation, contact our team or schedule a demo.