General
What Does a Booking System Cost for Your Housing Co-op? Price Guide 2026
Price matters — but total cost matters more
When the board evaluates a booking system, it's tempting to just look at the monthly price. But the real cost also includes:
- Time spent on setup and administration
- Conflicts and frustration (what does a neighbor dispute cost?)
- Time residents spend finding available slots
- Risk of double bookings
Overview of alternatives
1. Paper-based (free)
- Cost: 0 NOK
- Time spent: High (checking lists, updating, conflicts)
- Problems: Double bookings, illegible handwriting, no overview
- Real cost: 2-5 hours/month for the board
2. Google Calendar (free)
- Cost: 0 NOK
- Time spent: Medium
- Problems: Not built for this, everyone sees everyone's bookings, messy
- Real cost: Frustrated residents, support requests to the board
3. Generic booking tools (200-1000 NOK/month)
- Cost: 200-1000 NOK/month
- Typical: SimplyBook, Calendly, YouCanBook.me
- Problems: Not built for housing co-ops, not localized, complex setup
- Real cost: Overkill + time on configuration
4. Booking Map (from 199 NOK/month)
- Cost: 199 NOK/month (Lite), 349 NOK/month (Starter), 799 NOK/month (Standard) — 17% off with annual billing
- Setup: 5 minutes
- Advantages: Built for housing co-ops, localized, mobile-friendly, simple admin
- Real cost: Minimal — the system manages itself
What should you pay for?
A good booking system for housing co-ops should cost:
- Under 200 NOK/month for small co-ops (under 20 apartments)
- Under 400 NOK/month for medium (20-50 apartments)
- Under 800 NOK/month for large (50+ apartments)
Important: The price should NOT increase per user. In a housing co-op, it's unfair if the price rises because more residents book.
ROI calculation
Let's say the booking system costs 200 NOK/month = 2,400 NOK/year.
What do you save?
- 1 avoided neighbor dispute = priceless
- 3 hours/month saved for the board = 36 hours/year
- 0 double bookings = better neighbor relations
- Access to sharing economy = potentially thousands saved per household