8 Turo Alternatives For Renters And Hosts

Turo is a peer-to-peer carsharing service headquartered in San Francisco, CA. Established in 2010 by Shelby Clark, it is one of the earliest such companies in the niche. Initially, it was called RelayRides, and its inspiration for the concept came from the likes of Airbnb and eBay. It was only about five years later that the name was changed to Turo. Today, there are nearly 350,000 cars registered on its portal, and it has a healthy presence in 56 countries.

Name	Turo
Founded	2010
Headquarters	San Francisco, CA
SIC Code	7514
Status	Private, Independent Company
Industry Sector	Car Sharing
Employees	707
Trading Symbol	N/A

Turo has switched its car access technology quite a few times over the years. In the early days, the car owners needed to install a gadget that enabled GPS tracking, remote unlocking, and smart card entry. Then, they switched to the good-old person-to-person key exchange. Later in 2018, they switched back to the monitoring device and remote unlock features. Turo generates revenue of around $150 million.

Turo Similar Companies:

Zipcar, Getaround, Europcar, National Car Rental, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Silvercar, Hyrecar, Hiyacar.

Who is Turo’s Biggest Competitor?

The biggest competitor of Turo is Zipcar. It is a carsharing company that rents out vehicles to those in need. Zipcar was launched in 2000 by Antje Danielson and Robin Chase. It is currently owned by Avis Budget Group and is headquartered in Boston, MA. Its services are spread throughout the US, UK, Canada, Turkey, Iceland, Costa Rica, and Taiwan.

How Turo makes Money

Turo provides a platform on which car owners can make money by sharing their vehicles with its vast customer base. Hence, the company takes about 25% of the car owner’s earnings. It is said that on average, a vehicle owner makes around $500 to $600 per month. Thus, Turo earns about $150 from every owner per month. And considering there are 450,000 registered vehicles on the website, you can imagine their commission!

Peer-to-Peer Carsharing

Peer-to-peer carsharing is different from regular carsharing and rental in the sense that the company doesn’t own any of the vehicles shared. It reaches out to existing vehicle owners and connects them with renters. Turo leads the pack in this sector, but it is a very small niche compared to car rental, to begin with. Reportedly, the company is planning to go public soon.

Zipcar

Zipcar is one of the oldest carsharing services in the market. With a revenue of $175 million, it is also one of the largest. It has been a subsidiary of AVG since 2013 when it was bought for $500 million. This publicly-traded company is currently run by Tracey Zhen.

Carsharing

Unlike car rental, the carsharing industry provides door-to-door delivery of vehicles, but its fleet is usually pretty selective. Zipcar owns the carsharing sector due to its experience and wide international presence. It directly competes with Turo in the US.

Getaround

Getaround is another major competitor that clashes head-on with Turo. The company was established in 2009, so it has a year more experience than the latter. Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, it serves many parts of the US, including several countries around the world.

Peer-to-Peer Carsharing

Offering the exact same services that Turo does, Getaround has a strong presence in almost every city that it is active in. However, with revenue of merely $54.5 million, it has a lot of catching up to do. The company has more than five million renters and over 20,000 registered vehicles.

Europcar

Europcar is the biggest international competitor of Turo. Based in Voisins-le-Bretonneux, France, it has a solid international presence with operations in over 140 countries. It is among the oldest companies in the list, with its inception way back in 1949. It rents out a varied fleet of cars throughout four different continents.

Car Rental

Car rental is a vast industry that includes both kinds of carsharing. But in this case, the vehicles that are rented out are owned by the company itself. Europcar leads the pack in Europe, and it is also one of the top firms on the global scale. Its revenue is around $3 billion.

National Car Rental

As the name suggests, National Car Rental is a car rental service based in Clayton, MO and has a nationwide presence. The company is a subsidiary of Enterprise Holdings. National was founded in 1947, and it generates revenue of $484 million.

Car Rental

National rents out vehicles to almost every type of renter, but it focuses more on the business travelers. Its loyalty program is exclusive to businesspersons. You can choose any car from their wide array of vehicles, but you will need to book one well in advance.

Enterprise Rent-a-Car

Also owned by Enterprise Holdings, Enterprise Rent-a-Car has healthy competition with its sister company, National. Enterprise is headquartered in St. Louis, MO, and it provides similar car rental services. It was founded in 1957 by an entrepreneur called Jack C. Taylor.

Car Rental

If not for sharing the same parent organization, Enterprise and National would have gone head-to-head against each other. They compete with Turo instead. Enterprise hasn’t revealed its revenue yet.

Silvercar

Silvercar is a car rental service started by Audi in 2012. It serves 27 locations in several US states. Audi has designated around 370 employees to its Silvercar department. The company is based in Austin, TX, and is growing at a steady rate currently.

Car Rental

As you might have guessed, Silvercar only provides Audi’s luxury fleet of vehicles for rent. Right from sedans to SUVs, Silvercar rents them all. It is one of the few luxury-only car rental services in the trade. Its revenue is upwards of $32 million.

Hyrecar

Hyrecar provides a unique car rental service. Its fleet of vehicles is reserved only for Uber and Lyft drivers, and food delivery services. Since it is such a close-knit niche, its revenue is no more than $25 million.

Car Rental

This unique car rental company was founded in 2014 by Anshu Bansal and Abhishek Arora. Mike Furnari currently leads it as its president. Hyrecar’s headquarters lie in Los Angeles, CA.

Hiyacar

Hiyacar is the third peer-to-peer carsharing service on this list. It directly competes with Turo in the UK, since it is based in London. Founded in 2014, Hiyacar currently generates revenue of about $9 million.

Peer-to-Peer Carsharing

Hiyacar is an app-based service that is compatible with both Android and iOS. You can directly hire a vehicle from a registered owner in your vicinity. It uses keyless technology to provide a secure service.

Conclusion:

Top 8 Turo Competitors: Zipcar, Getaround, Europcar, National Car Rental, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Silvercar, Hyrecar, Hiyacar. Together, they have raised nearly $4 billion between their estimated 92,990 employees. Turo holds the top position in the peer-to-peer carsharing industry.

Competitor’s Stats:

Name	Founded	Headquarters	Employees
Zipcar	2000	Boston, MA, US	553
Getaround	2009	San Francisco, CA, US	397
Europcar	1949	Voisins-le-Bretonneux, France	8482
National Car Rental	1947	Clayton, MO, US	2364
Enterprise Rent-A-Car	1957	St. Louis, MO, US	80,000
Silvercar	2012	Austin, TX, US	370
Hyrecar	2014	Los Angeles, CA, US	87
Hiyacar	2014	London, UK	30