--- title: "Build a peer-to-peer rental marketplace: build vs buy" description: "Build vs buy a peer-to-peer rental marketplace: compare from scratch, Sharetribe, and Medusa with Mercur for listings, availability, payouts, and deposits." url: https://medusajs.com/kb/marketplaces/rental-marketplace last_updated: 2026-10-29T06:55:50Z topic: "marketplaces" type: "concept" applies_to: "Medusa v2.x" related: - "https://medusajs.com/kb/marketplaces/rental-pricing-availability-deposits.md" - "https://medusajs.com/kb/marketplaces/multi-vendor-marketplace.md" - "https://medusajs.com/kb/marketplaces/stripe-connect-marketplace-payouts.md" - "https://medusajs.com/kb/tickets-and-bookings/bookings-and-reservations.md" sources: - "https://docs.medusajs.com/resources/how-to-tutorials/tutorials/product-rentals" - "https://docs.medusajs.com/resources/recipes/marketplace" - "https://medusajs.com/marketplace.md" - "https://medusajs.com/blog/get-started-with-mercur-2-0-on-cloud.md" - "https://github.com/mercurjs/mercur" - "https://docs.mercurjs.com/platform/payout/concepts/payout-pipeline.md" - "https://docs.mercurjs.com/llms.txt" - "https://medusajs.com/pricing.md" - "https://www.sharetribe.com/pricing/" - "https://www.sharetribe.com/rental-marketplace/" --- # Build a peer-to-peer rental marketplace: build vs buy > For a peer-to-peer rental marketplace you can build from scratch, launch on Sharetribe, or start from Medusa with the Mercur marketplace platform. Mercur adds sellers, commissions, reviews and Stripe Connect payouts, and Medusa's rentals tutorial adds availability and per-day pricing. Deposits, insurance and payout timing are custom work. ## Three ways to build a peer-to-peer rental marketplace A peer-to-peer rental marketplace, such as one where people rent camera gear to each other, needs listings, an availability calendar, time-based pricing, payments, and payouts to owners. You can build it from scratch, launch on a marketplace SaaS such as Sharetribe, or start from Medusa with the Mercur marketplace platform and Medusa's rentals guide. Sharetribe figures are from its own site, as of October 2026. | Factor | From scratch | Sharetribe | Medusa + Mercur + rentals guide | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Time to first booking | Longest | Shortest, rentals are built in | Middle, marketplace is built in and rental logic is added | | Code ownership | Full | Build plan includes full code access; runs on Sharetribe's API | Full, open source (MIT core) | | Platform cost | Your infrastructure | Build $39/month (test mode only), Live $199/month billed yearly | Self-host for free, or Medusa Cloud from $29/month | | Transaction fee | None | No Sharetribe transaction fees on Live | 0% GMV fee on Medusa Cloud | | Availability calendar | You build it | Built in, by day, night, or hour | Official guide, by day | | Owner payouts | You build it | Stripe pays the supplier after the booking ends | Mercur Stripe Connect provider; you trigger each payout | | Deposits | You build it | Listed as an integration you add | Custom | Sharetribe is the faster path if its rental model matches yours. Medusa is the better fit when you need rules Sharetribe doesn't model, such as a custom deposit flow, B2B fleet owners, or bundles, and you want to own the backend. ## How rental marketplace features map to Medusa and Mercur Medusa is an open source commerce platform with a framework for custom modules and workflows. [Mercur](https://github.com/mercurjs/mercur), built by Rigby on Medusa, adds sellers, commissions, split orders, reviews, and payouts. Medusa's [product rentals tutorial](https://docs.medusajs.com/resources/how-to-tutorials/tutorials/product-rentals) adds rental dates, availability, and per-day pricing for a single merchant. | Rental term | How Medusa does it | Status | | --- | --- | --- | | Listings by owners | Mercur sellers with their own products and vendor panel | Starter | | Availability calendar | Rental records with start and end dates and an overlap check per variant | Official guide | | Per-day pricing | Variant price times rental days, set as the line item price | Official guide | | Multi-owner checkout | Mercur splits one cart into one order per seller under an order group | Starter | | Commission | Mercur commission rates, percentage or fixed, matched by rules | Starter | | Owner payouts and onboarding | Mercur payout module with the Stripe Connect provider and onboarding links | Starter | | Reviews | Mercur reviews with moderation and seller answers | Starter | | Delayed payout after return | You decide when to call Mercur's createPayoutWorkflow | Custom | | Security deposits | Separate authorization or charge | Custom | | Damage protection, insurance | Third-party integration | Custom | Two gaps matter. The rentals tutorial is single-merchant, so wiring its rental module to Mercur's sellers is your work; no official guide combines them yet. Mercur's [payout pipeline](https://docs.mercurjs.com/platform/payout/concepts/payout-pipeline.md) ships the payout workflows and webhook handling but no scheduler, so you write the job or subscriber that pays an owner once the gear is returned. ## How the pieces fit together ```text Storefront (Next.js or your own) | Store API Medusa backend |- Product, Pricing, Cart, Order, Payment modules (core) |- Mercur: sellers, commissions, order groups, payouts, reviews |- Rental module (from the rentals guide): configs, rentals, overlap checks |- Your code: deposits, insurance, payout timing Stripe Connect (owner accounts and transfers) ``` Customers book through the Store API, Mercur splits the order per owner, the rental module records the dates, and your payout job transfers the owner's share minus commission after the return. ## When Medusa is not the right choice for a rental marketplace - You want to validate demand in weeks with no developers. Sharetribe's built-in rental flow, calendar, and payouts get you there faster. - Your rentals are hourly or nightly with standard rules, and Sharetribe's model covers them. Medusa's rentals guide works in days, so hourly pricing is custom. - You don't plan to customize the booking or payment flow. Owning the code pays off only when you change it. ## Common questions ### Can Medusa run a rental marketplace out of the box? Not as one package. Mercur adds the marketplace layer on Medusa and the official rentals tutorial adds rental dates and pricing, but combining the two and adding deposits is custom work. ### How do owners get paid in a Medusa rental marketplace? Mercur's payout module connects each seller to Stripe Connect through an onboarding link and transfers the order total minus commission. Mercur doesn't schedule payouts, so you trigger them, for example after the rental is returned. ### Is Sharetribe or Medusa cheaper for a rental marketplace? As of October 2026, Sharetribe's Live plan is $199 per month billed yearly with no Sharetribe transaction fees. Medusa is free to self-host and Medusa Cloud starts at $29 per month with a 0% GMV fee, but you pay for the development work. ### Does Medusa support security deposits for rentals? Not natively. Deposits are custom work, typically a separate payment authorization or a charge that you refund after the return. ## Documentation - [Implement Product Rentals in Medusa](https://docs.medusajs.com/resources/how-to-tutorials/tutorials/product-rentals) - [Marketplace Recipe](https://docs.medusajs.com/resources/recipes/marketplace) - [Marketplace Recipe: Vendors Example](https://docs.medusajs.com/resources/recipes/marketplace/examples/vendors) ## Related - [Rental pricing, availability and security deposits](https://medusajs.com/kb/marketplaces/rental-pricing-availability-deposits.md) - [How do I build a multi-vendor marketplace with open source?](https://medusajs.com/kb/marketplaces/multi-vendor-marketplace.md) - [How do Stripe Connect payouts work for a marketplace?](https://medusajs.com/kb/marketplaces/stripe-connect-marketplace-payouts.md) - [How to build a booking or reservation system on an ecommerce platform](https://medusajs.com/kb/tickets-and-bookings/bookings-and-reservations.md)