DepotProof vs HireCheck: two Australian condition report apps

HireCheck and DepotProof are the two products an Australian hire operator is most likely to shortlist when the goal is narrow: stop arguing about dents. Both are built in Australia, both are web apps that run on the phone at the counter, and both produce a PDF with photographs and signatures. They are not the same product, and the differences matter more than the marketing suggests.

Everything below about HireCheck is taken from hirecheck.app as of 20 September 2026. Prices change; check theirs before you decide.

What both do

• Photograph the equipment at handover, with a timestamp on each photo.
• Capture the customer's signature on the screen.
• Produce a PDF you can hand to a renter or an insurer.
• Run in the browser on a phone or tablet, with nothing to install from an app store.
• Offer a 14-day free trial.

If that were the whole list, you would pick on price. It is not the whole list.

Price, and what it is measured by

	DepotProof	HireCheck
Price	A$59 per depot per month	Starter A$39, Pro A$79, Business A$149 per month
What limits the tier	Nothing. One price, every user, every machine	Equipment count and staff logins: 20 items and 2 logins on Starter, 100 and 10 on Pro, unlimited on Business
Trial	14 days. Your card is taken at signup and charged on day 15 unless you cancel	14 days without a credit card
Contract	None, cancel any month	No lock-in contracts

HireCheck's Starter tier is cheaper than DepotProof, and for a tool library or a two-person yard with fewer than 20 items it may be the better buy. The question is how long you stay under 20 items and 2 logins. A plant hire depot with a counter, two yard hands and a weekend casual is on Pro at A$79 the day the third person needs to log in, and on Business at A$149 the day the fleet passes 100 items. DepotProof is A$59 at every size, because the thing being sold is the record, not the seat.

The trial terms cut the other way. HireCheck lets you try it without a card. DepotProof asks for the card first and charges nothing for 14 days, which is more friction at signup and less surprise on day 15. Choose the one you find more honest.

Offline in the yard

This is the largest functional difference and the one to test before anything else.

DepotProof writes every photo and signature to the phone as it is taken. Once a handover is under way it keeps capturing without a bar of signal, and uploads the next time the app is open in range. A yard behind a tin shed, a country depot on the edge of a tower, a basement carpark: the checklist finishes either way. The first load of the app needs a connection, and so does the upload afterwards, and a handover left half-done sits on the phone until somebody finishes it. Those are the honest limits.

HireCheck describes itself as mobile-first with no app installation required. Its site does not describe offline capture, and we have not tested it in a dead spot, so we will not claim either way. Ask them, and then try it in the part of your yard where your phone drops out.

The report

Both produce a PDF. The shape differs.

DepotProof's report is built around the comparison: one landscape page per angle in the checklist, with the pickup photograph on the left and the return photograph on the right, each carrying the time it was taken. The cover carries the reference, both timestamps, the hire duration, the position each handover was started when the phone could supply one, and any damage note typed at return. Signatures from the renter and the staff member, at pickup and again at return, are on the last page. It is written to be read by a tribunal member who was not there.

HireCheck offers one-click damage claim packs with side-by-side comparisons, audit-ready PDF export, and shareable condition report links that can be embedded in other hire software. If you already run hire management software and want the condition report to live inside the contract there, that integration is a real advantage DepotProof does not have.

What HireCheck has that DepotProof does not

Be clear-eyed about this list.

• Integrations with hire software, and embeddable condition links. DepotProof sits beside your booking system and does not talk to it.
• QR code stickers on equipment, so a scan opens the right item. DepotProof's staff pick the machine from a list.
• GPS-tagged photographs. DepotProof records one position per handover, where the phone was when the handover was started, and prints "Not recorded" when the phone cannot supply one. It does not tag each photograph.
• White-label branding on the Business tier. DepotProof prints your company name on every cover and your logo if you upload one, but the footer says it was generated by DepotProof.
• Role-based team permissions beyond admin and staff.

What DepotProof has that HireCheck does not describe

• Offline capture once a handover is under way, as above.
• One price for unlimited users and machines. No tier to be upgraded out of.
• A guided camera. The screen names one angle at a time and shows one large button. It will not move on until that shot is taken, so a new casual produces the same seven photographs as the depot manager.
• Custom checklists per equipment category, so an excavator, a scissor lift and a plate compactor each get their own angles.
• Renter and staff signatures at both ends, printed with the time each was signed.

Which one

Pick HireCheck if you have fewer than 20 items and two people, or if you need the condition report embedded in hire software you already run and can live with the tier ladder as you grow.

Pick DepotProof if your yard loses signal, if you have more staff than a Pro plan allows, or if the side-by-side report is the artefact you want in the renter's hands. See the full pricing, or start the trial and run one real handover in the worst corner of your yard.