Run your facility
Bayou Self.
The big platforms charge $200 a month to hold your own tenant data hostage. Bayou Self is free forever — a standalone app for Windows or Mac (or web-based, your call) with billing, gate control, and payments built in.
Early access is rolling out now. No spam — just your invite.
$3,600+
what a typical facility pays the big platforms every year — before processing fees
$0
what Bayou Self costs. Free software, flat 2.75% only when a card is swiped
1 app
management, billing, payments, and gate control — no add-on subscriptions
Product tour
See what running your facility feels like
Real screenshots, not concept art. Everything a storage operation needs — nothing a software vendor needs to upsell you.
Your whole facility on one screen
Occupancy, revenue, delinquency, and move-ins the moment you open the app. No dashboards buried three menus deep, no waiting on a cloud server to decide you can see your own numbers.
- Live occupancy & revenue KPIs
- Delinquency at a glance
- Today's move-ins, move-outs & tasks
Runs right in your browser with sample data. No signup, no install.
Everything included
One app. The whole operation.
Every feature exists because we needed it to run our own facilities. No feature gates, no "premium tier," no add-on subscriptions.
Unit Management
Every unit with size, type, amenities, and real-time status.
Tenant Profiles
Contact info, lease history, notes, and payment methods.
Lease Agreements
Leases with automated prorating and renewal tracking.
Move-In Wizard
Guided 5-step flow: unit, tenant, lease, payment, gate.
Card Payments
Flat 2.75% on cards. No per-transaction charges.
Autopay & Recurring Billing
Automated monthly billing with configurable due dates.
Invoicing
Generate, print, and email professional invoices in bulk.
Late Fee Automation
Your rules, applied automatically after the grace period.
Gate Controller
Access codes, remote lock/unlock, entry logs — built in.
Interactive Unit Map
Visual layout with occupancy and status at a glance.
Financial Reports
Revenue, occupancy, delinquency — with CSV export.
Daily Backups
Automatic backups. Your data, your backup strategy.
The honest comparison
The desktop incumbent. The cloud giant. The free upstart.
Here's what their pricing pages don't tell you.
Two of the three biggest names in storage software are owned by the same private-equity group. None of them run on your machine.
| The legacy desktop suiteWindows-era incumbent · private-equity owned | The big cloud platformweb-only · same owner as the desktop suite | The free web toolindependent web startup | Bayou Selfthat's us | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly software cost | Quote-only — pricing not published | Quote-only — per product, per facility | Free | $0. Forever. |
| Card processing | In-house processor — reported rates from ~2.89% + 25¢ | In-house processor — reported rates from ~2.89% + 25¢ | 2.9% + 30¢ online, 2.65% in person | 2.75% flat. Nothing per swipe. |
| How it runs | Windows desktop app, database in their cloud | Web only — their cloud | Web only — their cloud | Desktop app (Windows/Mac) or web — your choice |
| Where your data lives | Their cloud | Their cloud | Their cloud | Your machine (or a web setup we host for you) |
| Works offline | No | No | No | Yes |
| Gate access control | Third-party integrations, sold separately | Their hardware or third-party add-ons | No published gate hardware support | Built in, included |
| Custom features for YOUR facility | Feature request → roadmap → maybe never | Many settings locked — support has to change them for you | Tiny team, slow roadmap per operator reviews | Submit in-app. We build it for you. |
| Who owns them | A private-equity-backed software group | The same private-equity-backed group | Independent startup | Independent — storage operators like you |
| Contract | Month-to-month + one-time license fee | Monthly, per facility | None | None |
Comparison details compiled from public vendor pages, review sites, and trade press as of July 2026; pricing marked "quote-only" is not published by the vendor, and reported processing rates vary by merchant agreement. We reference other platforms by category rather than by name; all product names and trademarks belong to their respective owners — verify current details with each vendor.
A typical small facility pays $80–200 every month for management software before processing fees. Bayou Self does the same job for $0.
See it before everyone elseAffordable custom software
Built for the way YOU work
The big guys make you adapt to their software. We do the opposite. A feedback loop is built into the app — and what you ask for gets built for you.
Tell us what you need
Want a feature? Want something to work differently? Submit it without ever leaving your software.
We build it — for you
Not for a roadmap committee. Not 'under consideration.' We change the software for your facility.
Your software gets better
Updates ship to your installation. Your software grows around how YOU run your facility.
Desktop or web — your choice
Standalone app
Runs on your Windows or Mac computer. Your data lives on your machine, works without internet, and never gets held hostage in someone else's cloud.
Prefer web-based?
We can do that too. If you'd rather log in from anywhere in a browser, we'll set you up web-based instead. You decide — not us.
"We use Bayou Self to run our own facilities every day. We built it because nothing on the market respected our time or our money."
The Bayou Self Team
Storage facility owners, Louisiana
Pricing
Free. And we mean it.
No subscription, no monthly fees, no upsells. The only fees are on card payments — the card networks' cut plus our small margin.
Bayou Self
2.75% flat on card payments. No per-transaction charges.
- All features — nothing held back
- Units, tenants, leases & move-in wizard
- Automated billing, autopay & late fees
- Gate Controller software built in
- Interactive unit map & reports
- Standalone app (Windows/Mac) or web-based
- Daily automatic backups
- No contract, no lock-in, no hostage data
Gate Controller hardware available separately — one-time purchase, no subscription.
Bayou Self Guild
Your facility isn't cookie-cutter. Your software shouldn't be either.
- In-app feedback loop — submit a request, we build it
- Custom features developed for YOUR facility
- White-glove onboarding & support
- Data migration from any platform
- Your branding, your workflows, your way
Join the waitlist and check the Guild box — we'll reach out.
Frequently asked questions
Something else on your mind? Email us.
Stop renting your own software.
Own it.
Early access is rolling out to waitlist members first. Tell us about your facility and we'll make sure your setup fits — desktop or web, stock or custom-built.
No spam. No sales calls unless you ask for one. Unsubscribe anytime.
Still deciding? Poke around the live demo first