Track the gear inside the project that pays for it.
Rentman is built around the warehouse. ABRAM books the same gear inside the production, so reserving a camera writes a schedule fact, a budget line and a call sheet entry in one action.
One list, everything on it
Cameras, lighting, grip, audio, vehicles, stages and locations sit in the same inventory, each row carrying its condition, home location, serial number and day rate.
Status is on the row
Available, reserved, on job and out of service are counted at the top and shown on the row, so nobody has to ask where a body is.
Your fields come with you
Whatever your team already tracks per item can be a custom field, so the import does not force you to drop half of what you know.
Booked againstreal shoot days.
The resource calendar lays every item's booked days beside the productions holding them, with the booked hours and the item count on each day and the conflicts counted across the month. Book past the quantity you own and ABRAM refuses the write, naming the window that is already spoken for.
The refusal lives in the database
The availability check sits below the application, so no form, import or integration can slip an overbooking through.
Gear and crew read one calendar
The people and the kit are booked against the same days, so a moved day surfaces both clashes at once.
What one reservation writes.
Gear, crew,and a date.
A work order ties the items, the people and the window to one job. Kits book as a package, so a two-camera interview build moves as one line. ABRAM checks availability before the booking is written and preserves what was already reserved when the order changes.
Resource management
Four thingsRentman does better.
These are in the table below as well, and they are worth saying out loud first. If any of them is what you came for, Rentman has it today and ABRAM does not.
RFID, natively
Rentman integrates RFID so a whole case or rack scans at once. ABRAM stores an RFID tag on an item and has no reader integration behind it.
Photos and maintenance history
A Rentman item record carries photographs and a service history. ABRAM holds one current condition value and nothing behind it.
A native warehouse app
Rentman ships a free mobile app with photos and handling instructions for the crew doing the packing. ABRAM runs in the phone's browser, and camera scanning wants Chrome or Edge.
Subrentals when stock runs short
Rentman's shortages module proposes alternatives and subrentals. ABRAM reports the shortage and leaves the substitution to a person.
ABRAM and Rentman,side by side.
Three rows go to Rentman, and it has the native app. The rest are about what happens when the kit list shares a database with the schedule, the crew and the budget.
Swipe to read across →
| Capability | ABRAM | Rentman |
|---|---|---|
| Equipment database | Serial numbers, auto-assigned asset IDs, day and hourly rates, purchase value, condition, and org-defined custom fields | Searchable database with shelf locations, prices, photos and maintenance history |
| Grouping and kits | Folders, locations, and reusable kits with an AI kit builder that drafts a package from a brief | Custom grouping for flight cases and paired gear such as mic, receiver and batteries |
| Shortage and double-booking warnings | Gear a project needs sits as Needed until someone presses Book. Book checks for a shortage first, and the database rejects an overbooking outright. On Pro | Equipment timelines that surface double bookings and shortages |
| Barcode and QR scanning | Camera and USB scanning with live conflict checks, on the Enterprise plan | QR and serial number tracking, sold as a paid equipment tracking add-on |
| RFID scanning | Not offered. ABRAM stores an RFID tag per item, with no reader integration | Natively integrated RFID for scanning whole cases and racks |
| Item photos and maintenance history | Not offered. ABRAM holds one current condition value per item | Photos and maintenance history on the item record |
| Digital packing lists | One pack list per work order, read from its booked gear. Each line is ticked Packed when it goes out and Returned when it comes back, with who ticked it stamped on the line | Real-time digital packing lists that update with project changes |
| Per-unit serial tracking | Optional per item. Give individual bodies their own serial, scannable tag and condition, and scanning one names it | Serial number tracking, sold as a paid equipment tracking add-on |
| Packing on a phone | Runs in the phone's browser. Crew tick Packed and Returned from the work order | Free mobile app showing photos, serials and handling instructions |
| Subrental and alternative suggestions | Not offered. ABRAM reports the shortage and leaves the substitution to you | Shortages module suggests alternatives or subrentals |
| Crew scheduling in the same plan | Crewing, role matching and availability included, reading the same calendar as the gear | Crew is a separately priced per-user module on top of the platform fee |
| Quoting, invoicing and crew payouts | Quotes, invoices and milestone crew payouts included | Quoting and invoicing is a paid add-on. Crew payouts are handled elsewhere |
| Client approval portal | Token-based portals where clients approve quotes and pay without an account | Not offered |
| AI production copilot | ABRAM Core turns a brief into work packages, drafts kits, and books gear with approval | Not offered |
The honest split, so you spend your evaluation time on the right product.
Stay with Rentman if:
- Renting equipment out is the business, and the warehouse floor is where the work happens.
- You need RFID to scan full cases and racks in seconds.
- Your crew packs from photo-led lists on a phone, in a native app.
- You want the system to propose subrentals the moment stock runs short.
Move to ABRAM if:
- You own gear to make work with, and the gear list only matters next to the schedule and the budget.
- The same people book the crew and the kit, and you are tired of reconciling two systems.
- You want day rates on the project budget the moment the item is reserved.
- Clients approve and pay against the work the gear was booked for.
Moving your inventory across.
Most teams import the item list first and book one live production against it before moving everything.
- 01
Import the inventory
Bring the item list in by CSV. ABRAM assigns readable asset IDs by type, keeps your serial numbers, and takes day rates, purchase values and any custom fields your team already tracks.
- 02
Set up locations, folders and kits
Group items by warehouse or stage, file them into folders, and build the kits you send out together so a whole package books in one action.
- 03
Book against real projects
Add what a production needs and it sits as Needed. Book puts it on a work order and its dates after a shortage check, day rates land on the budget, and the work order's pack list is ready to tick.
Questionsworth asking.
What comes across in the import, what the database enforces, and what ABRAM deliberately does not do.
Is ABRAM a good Rentman alternative?
It depends on what the gear is for. Rentman is built for businesses whose product is the equipment itself, with a warehouse floor, packing crews and subrental partners. ABRAM is built for production companies and studios that own gear to make work with, where the kit list only means something next to the shoot schedule, the crew, the budget and the client approval. If your inventory exists to serve productions you are also running, ABRAM keeps all of it in one system. If you run a rental house, Rentman is the more specialised tool.
Does ABRAM support RFID, item photos or digital packing lists?
Packing lists yes, the other two no. Every work order has one pack list, read from the gear booked on it. Each line is ticked Packed when it goes out and Returned when it comes back, from a desk or in the phone's browser, and the line records who ticked it. It does not do RFID (there is a tag field per unit but no reader integration) and stores no item photos. Barcode and QR scanning work through a phone camera or a USB scanner, though camera scanning currently needs Chrome or Edge rather than Safari. ABRAM resources, the inventory side, start on the Pro plan at eighty items and are uncapped on Studio; advanced logistics is on Studio; barcode scanning is on Enterprise.
How does ABRAM prevent double-booked equipment?
Gear a production needs sits as Needed and holds nothing until someone presses Book. Availability is checked before a booking is written, and the rule is enforced inside the database, so no screen can skip it. A reservation that exceeds the quantity you own is rejected at the moment of write, so it cannot be created by a form, a bulk import, an integration, or the AI assistant. The interface also flags the shortage while you are still scanning or selecting items.
What does ABRAM include that Rentman prices as add-ons?
Rentman sells a platform subscription and then charges separately per power user for Inventory, for Crew, and for options including Quoting and Invoicing, Equipment Tracking, History Logs and extra warehouses. In ABRAM, crewing, scheduling, quoting, invoicing, client portals and crew payouts are part of the platform. Compare total cost against your own headcount, since Rentman does not charge for basic users.
Can I move my existing equipment list into ABRAM?
Yes. Import your items by CSV. ABRAM keeps your serial numbers, assigns readable asset IDs by equipment type, and carries day rates, hourly rates, purchase values, condition and any custom fields your team already tracks. From there you group items into locations, folders and reusable kits.
Put the kit list back next to the job.
Resource management→Rentman is a trademark of its respective owner. ABRAM is an independent platform with no affiliation, sponsorship, endorsement or partnership with Rentman. The Rentman details on this page reflect their published product and pricing pages as read in August 2026 and may have changed since. ABRAM resources, the inventory side, start on the Pro plan at eighty items and are uncapped on Studio, advanced logistics is on Studio, and barcode scanning is on Enterprise. For Rentman’s current features and prices, please see their own website.
ABRAM as a Rentman Alternative for Production Companies That Own Equipment
ABRAM is the production management platform for creative teams whose equipment inventory serves their own productions. Teams comparing equipment inventory software should evaluate ABRAM when the gear list needs to sit alongside crew scheduling, project budgets, client approvals and crew payouts in one system.
Equipment inventory with project-linked availability
ABRAM tracks equipment with serial numbers, auto-assigned asset IDs, day and hourly rates, purchase values, condition, location, folders and organisation-defined custom fields. Bookings attach an item to a project, work package and work order at once, so reserving equipment records a schedule commitment and a budget cost in the same action.
Double-booking prevented in the database
ABRAM checks stock before a reservation is written and enforces the constraint inside the database. A reservation exceeding owned quantity is rejected at write time, so overbookings cannot enter through a form, a bulk import, an integration, or the AI assistant.
Kits, barcode scanning and equipment timelines
ABRAM supports reusable kits with an AI kit builder, barcode and QR batch allocation from a phone camera or USB scanner with live shortage flags, an equipment timeline calendar with saved views, utilisation analytics and an exportable hours log.
Packing lists and per-unit tracking
ABRAM keeps one pack list per work order, read live from the gear booked on it, so the list cannot drift from the bookings. Each line is ticked Packed when it leaves and Returned when it comes back, from a desk or in a phone's browser, and each records who ticked it and when. Gear a project needs sits as Needed until someone presses Book, which puts it on a work order and its dates; resources are on the Pro plan. Items can optionally be broken into individual tracked units, each with its own serial number, scannable asset tag and condition, so scanning one names the specific body rather than the line item.
Where Rentman remains stronger
Rentman offers natively integrated RFID scanning, item photos and maintenance history, a free native mobile app for the warehouse crew, and a shortages module that suggests alternatives and subrentals. ABRAM does not offer these. Rental houses and equipment rental businesses should weigh those capabilities carefully.
Crew, invoicing and payouts included
Rentman prices Crew, Quoting and Invoicing, Equipment Tracking, History Logs and additional warehouses as separate per-user add-ons on top of a platform subscription. ABRAM includes crewing, scheduling, quoting, invoicing, token-based client approval portals and milestone crew payouts in the platform.