Car-hire comparison

The real price of car hire.

Every supplier, ranked by what you will actually pay: the second driver, the mileage cap and the deposit included.

Every supplier, via DiscoverCars Free, no account No confirmation number to beat a booking

Every supplier on DiscoverCars, priced the way you will pay.

What it does

Seven things comparison sites leave out.

Comparison sites sort by the headline rate. Car Rental Brain works the parts of the price they leave out — the second driver, the deposit, the excess, the counter you collect from — and watches the price after you book.

The real out-the-door total

Add a second driver and the fee is in every price from the start, at the local going rate. Mileage caps, cross-border permission and the fuel your trip will use are folded in too — so the cheapest sticker is never mistaken for the cheapest trip.

Beat a booking you've made

No confirmation number, no lock-in. Paste your dates and price; we check every supplier for a cheaper like-for-like deal.

Where to pick up

A city is not one rental desk. One airport can have dozens of pick-up points, at prices that differ several times over. We rank every counter by price and by how far it is from you.

The card at the desk

The deposit is held on the main driver's card, and most suppliers want a credit card in their name. At some airports only a handful of cars accept a debit card. We show you which ones, instead of letting you find out at the counter.

What cover actually costs

A cheap headline is often an insurance play: a very low price can carry a four-figure excess. We put the fully covered price and the deposit beside every car, so you can see which is really the cheap one.

Chain long rentals

Hiring for 40 days or more? We price every way of covering it with back-to-back legs, and say so right in your results when splitting wins.

Price-drop alerts

Rates move daily. Ask us to watch your dates and we'll email you when it's worth rebooking cheaper — opt-in, one click to stop.

Market reports

We measure every airport we report on. The differences are absurd.

Not opinions about car hire — measurements of it, taken on a schedule and kept. Each report says how many searches it is built on and how every figure was worked out.

Read the market reports →

How it works

Three steps. Then it keeps working while you don't.

Tell us your dates

Pick up, drop off, driver age. Or paste a booking you've already made — we'll beat it.

The Brain checks everything

Every supplier on DiscoverCars, with the second-driver fee (if you want one) and cross-border rules folded into one honest total.

Book the lowest total

Book direct in a click. Ask for a price watch on the results page and we'll email you if it drops enough to rebook — nothing is monitored unless you ask.

Why it's different

Comparison sites show the sticker. We do the harder maths.

They are good at listing every car. Here is what the headline price leaves on the table.

CapabilityTypical comparison siteCar Rental Brain
Beat a booking you already madeStart over from scratchNo confirmation number needed
Second-driver fee in the headline priceAdded at the counterIn the total when you add one
Chain back-to-back legs on 40+ day hiresOne quote onlySplits when it's cheaper
Cross-border permission flaggedFind out at the deskShown before booking
Watch the price and alert to rebookCheck back manuallyAutomatic email alerts
Jimi Walters, who built Car Rental Brain

Built by someone who got sick of the price changing at the desk

I'm Jimi. I live in the western Algarve and collect a hire car from Faro almost every month. This started as a private script that watched prices at one airport, because the quoted price and the price at the counter were never the same number. It worked, so it became a website.

Why I built it →

See the real price before you book.

Search a new trip, or check a booking you have already made: no account, no confirmation number.