Start with how you earn
Write down where your money comes from before you look at any tool. A space that earns mostly from monthly cabin and desk rent needs strong billing, reminders, deposits and agreements. A space that earns from hourly meeting rooms and day passes needs a public booking page and online payment. Most Indian spaces are the first kind, and many tools are built for the second.
The checklist
- Billing. Monthly invoices raised automatically, with your GSTIN and your own invoice series; part payments and arrears; receipts sent the same day; statements for any member.
- Payments. A Pay Now link on every invoice for UPI, cards and net banking, through an Indian gateway you choose (Razorpay, Cashfree or Zoho Payments, for example), with the money going straight to your bank account.
- Reminders. Reminders on WhatsApp from your own business number, on a fixed schedule, not typed by hand.
- Members and cabins. Who sits where, deposit held, notice period, agreement end date, and a list of cabins coming free in the next 60 days.
- Agreements. Leave-and-licence agreements generated from a template and e-signed, stored against the member.
- Leads. Every enquiry from your website, WhatsApp and walk-ins in one pipeline, with visits, proposals and follow-ups.
- Bookings. Meeting rooms and hot desks with hourly, day and pass prices, free hours for members and a public booking page for walk-ins.
- Your accountant. TDS recorded on receipts, Form 16A tracking, a month lock, and an export your CA can open in Tally or Zoho Books.
- Several buildings. If you have or plan a second centre: per-centre books, invoice series and staff access.
- Your data. A full export at any time, in a format you can open in Excel.
Work out the real price
Ask for the price at your size today and at double your size. Check whether the price is per member, per seat, per branch or per centre, whether modules are sold as add-ons, whether staff logins cost extra, and whether there is a set-up fee. Convert dollar or pound plans at today's rate and add GST. A tool that looks cheap per seat can cost more than one priced per member once add-on packs are counted.
Run one real month
A demo shows the best path. A trial shows your path. During a free trial, do these five things with your own numbers:
- Import your members and cabins from Excel.
- Raise one month's invoices and send them with payment links.
- Pay one invoice yourself by UPI and check the receipt and the bank.
- Move one member to another cabin mid-month and check the invoice.
- Give a member notice and run the move-out: final invoice and deposit refund.
If all five work without a support call, the tool fits.
Questions to ask every vendor
- Who answers support, on which channel, and how fast?
- What happens to my data if I stop paying?
- What does it cost when I grow past my plan?
- Which Indian payment gateways do you support, and do you take a cut?
- Can members book and pay from their phones without a separate app download?
How Coworking OS answers the checklist
Coworking OS covers every item above in every plan: billing with your GSTIN and invoice series, Pay Now links through Razorpay, Cashfree or Zoho Payments, WhatsApp reminders from your own number, deposits and notice periods, e-signed leave-and-licence agreements, a leads pipeline, room and desk bookings with a public page, an accountant kit and centres for several buildings. It is priced per member billed, from ₹1,999 a month for up to 30 members, with unlimited staff logins and a 30-day free trial with no card. It is not the right choice if you bill in several currencies or need a large integrations marketplace. See the best coworking management software in India for how the other tools compare.