Self-storage
Custom Self-Storage Management Software Development
Peregrine builds custom self-storage management software: one platform for unit reservations, tenant billing, gate and smart-lock access, and occupancy reporting across every facility an operator runs.
An off-the-shelf facility management system is usually the faster start. Custom software is worth considering when reservations, billing and access control live in separate systems that do not talk to each other, or when facilities use different lock hardware. Our published case study covers exactly that situation for an operator running 150+ facilities.
Fit
Is Custom Self-Storage Software the Right Fit?
A good fit when
- Reservations, billing and access control run in separate systems that staff reconcile by hand.
- Facilities use different gate or lock hardware and you need one way to grant, revoke and audit access.
- You need live occupancy and revenue across the portfolio, not periodic reports.
- You are building self-storage software as a product for other operators.
Probably not the right fit when
- An off-the-shelf facility management system fits your processes and works with your locks. Buy it: self-storage software, build or buy.
- You run a few facilities on one lock vendor with standard billing. Custom software is unlikely to pay for itself.
What we build
What Self-Storage Software Includes
Reservations, units and leases
Tenants, units, leases, payments and facility settings in one data store, with each operator's data isolated from every other operator's. In our case study this replaced separate reservation, billing and access systems that were reconciled by hand every morning.
Shown in: Self-Storage Management Platform with IoT-Powered Access Control
Automated billing with Stripe
Recurring billing on Stripe with automatic retries. A failed autopay is detected immediately, retried with exponential backoff, and facility managers are alerted only when a person needs to step in.
Shown in: Self-Storage Management Platform with IoT-Powered Access Control
Smart-lock and gate access
An IoT bridge that puts different lock hardware, whether Bluetooth LE, Wi-Fi or cellular, behind one API. When a tenant pays, access is granted automatically; when a lease expires, the lock deactivates. The case study platform integrated three lock vendors this way.
Shown in: Self-Storage Management Platform with IoT-Powered Access Control
Multi-site occupancy and revenue dashboards
Live occupancy and revenue for each facility and for the whole portfolio, with configurable alerts, in place of weekly manual reports.
Tenant app and manager portal
A mobile app where tenants pay and control their lock, and a web portal for facility managers, with role-based access so managers, corporate admins and tenants each see only their own data.
Case studies
Self-Storage Case Study
Services
Services for Self-Storage Companies
SaaS Development
Multi-tenant SaaS platforms, from MVP architecture to scaling an existing product.
Related work: Self-Storage Management Platform with IoT-Powered Access Control
API Integration
Reliable integrations between your product, your vendors and your internal systems.
Cloud & DevOps
Cloud architecture, CI/CD and performance work for platforms that need to scale.
Related work: Self-Storage Management Platform with IoT-Powered Access Control
Scope
What Determines the Scope of Self-Storage Software?
These are the inputs that change the effort. None needs a final answer before the first call, but each one you can answer makes the estimate tighter.
- Facilities and units
- The number of facilities and units sets data volume and rollout effort. Bring your late-fee and lien procedures for each state you operate in.
- Lock and gate hardware
- The number of vendors, how each connects (keypad, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, cellular) and whether each offers an API. Every vendor is its own integration.
- Billing rules
- Autopay, proration, late fees, retries on failed payments, protection plans and taxes. The rules, not the payment provider, are the work.
- Systems being replaced
- What each current system can export, and how tenants, leases, balances and access codes are migrated while facilities stay open.
- Apps
- A tenant mobile app, a manager portal, a website reservation flow and a kiosk are separate clients on one backend.
- Reporting
- Portfolio occupancy and revenue, alerts, and any pricing rules that depend on them.
- Rollout
- How many pilot sites, and how facilities are switched over without interrupting access for tenants.
A sensible first phase
A sensible first phase is discovery across a few representative facilities: the workflows, the lock vendor APIs and the data held in each current system, ending in a written architecture. The project in our case study began that way and went live at 10 pilot sites before the full rollout.
What to bring to the scoping call
- The number of facilities and units, and the states they are in.
- The lock and gate hardware at each facility, by vendor and model, and whether the vendor offers an API.
- The software used today for reservations, billing and access, and what each can export.
- Your billing rules: autopay, late fees, proration and what happens when a payment fails.
- Who uses the system (tenants, facility managers, corporate) and what each needs from it.
- Rollout constraints, such as facilities that cannot change during a busy season.
Partial answers are fine. Whatever is missing becomes the first item on the call.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Can custom self-storage software use Stripe for billing?
Yes. In our self-storage case study, billing runs on Stripe with automatic retries for failed payments, and payment events drive access: when a tenant pays, their lock access is granted without staff involvement.
Can one platform manage access control across facilities with different locks?
Yes. The approach is an abstraction layer that normalizes lock, unlock and status commands across vendors, so the application does not need to know which hardware a facility uses. The platform in our case study integrated three smart-lock vendors behind one API.
What reporting should self-storage management software provide?
At minimum, live occupancy and revenue per facility and across the portfolio, with alerts when a facility falls outside the range you set. In our case study this replaced occupancy figures that were updated weekly from manual reports.
When is custom software a better choice than an off-the-shelf facility management system?
An off-the-shelf system is usually the faster start and suits operators whose processes fit the product. Custom is worth considering when your reservation, billing and access systems cannot be integrated, when facilities run mixed lock hardware, or when you need portfolio reporting the product does not offer.
How long does a self-storage platform take to build?
It depends on the number of facilities, the lock hardware and what has to be migrated. The project in our case study ran for 10 months in four phases, with 10 pilot sites before the full rollout. That is one project, not a typical timeline; the discovery sprint sets yours.
Technical consultation
Planning Self-Storage Software?
Tell us how many facilities you run, which lock hardware they use and which systems you want to replace. An engineer will tell you how we would approach it.
- A 30-minute technical discovery call with an engineer, not a salesperson.
- Fixed-scope projects, monthly retainers, or a combination, agreed after the call.
- Small, well-defined tasks get a scoped estimate. We reply within 1 business day.
Prefer to pick a time? Book a call on Calendly
