A wishlist that drives buying
Members request the toys they wish the library had, and families add their vote. Your next order follows real demand instead of a committee guessing — the demand signals are right there when you plan.
Comparison
ToyHive vs MiBase
MiBase has kept hundreds of toy libraries running across Australia and New Zealand, and it was built by people who care. ToyHive is a newer, phone-first take — a shared catalogue, a wishlist that drives buying, reports you ask for in plain English, and recalls watched for you. Here is the honest comparison, including where MiBase is still ahead.
Loan desk
Saturday session
Scan member
Phone camera ready
Household
Rivera family
2 active loans
Toy
Wooden market stall
Due in 14 days
Payment
Renewal ready
Online checkout
Catalogue
Roster
Reports
Why we can be fair about this
ToyHive is built by a toy library volunteer. I was a member and committee member at Port Melbourne Toy Library, which ran on MiBase. I am not comparing against something I read about — I used it, on a real Saturday desk, with real families waiting.
When MiBase was designed, smartphones were not the primary computer in everyone’s pocket, AI could not read a barcode and write a toy record, and libraries could not share a catalogue across the country. That is not a criticism. It is what has changed.
First: which MiBase do you mean?
“MiBase” is three related things, and it is worth knowing which one your library runs before comparing anything:
- MiBase Desktop — a free local install for Windows, built on the Microsoft Access runtime. Still supported, but its developer has said new development is going into the online version.
- MiBase Online (AU) — the hosted Australian version, run by MiBase’s founder on a Sydney-hosted server, with a subdomain and separate database per library.
- MiBase NZ — a separate organisation (SqualaDesign) that took over New Zealand operations in 2018 with its own design and feature set. If you are in New Zealand, this is almost certainly the one you use — and its feature list is not identical to the Australian one.
The comparison below is against the hosted versions, since that is what a library choosing today would sign up for.
Why libraries switch
The features libraries switch for
Not a longer feature list — the handful of things volunteers tell us actually change their Saturday and take real work off a committee.
Ask for a report in plain English
Type “which toys got borrowed most in the last six months?” and AI turns it into the chart. Under it sits a full builder — pick measures, filters and grouping — plus dashboards you can save and have emailed to the committee. Not a fixed list of canned reports.
AI fills in the toy record
Scan the barcode on the box and the name, manufacturer, age range, pieces and warnings populate themselves — or forward a supplier invoice and ToyHive drafts every intake line. Adding a toy is seconds, not a twenty-minute form.
One catalogue, shared by every library
Add a toy once and every ToyHive library gets the record — piece list, age range, warnings and photos included. The first library to catalogue a new toy does the work once; everyone after pays nothing. A genuine network effect.
Grant numbers, ready to acquit
Point-in-time financial membership, concession share and volunteer hours come out as a report, not a spreadsheet night before the acquittal is due. The numbers a toy library actually gets asked for.
Recalls watched for you
ACCC and Consumer NZ recalls are matched against what your library actually holds and flagged at the desk, so an unsafe toy does not quietly stay on the shelf.
Working-with-children, handled
WWCC credential tracking with expiry alerts and roster blocking, a policies store (child safety, toy safety) published to staff, members or the public, and a Code of Conduct every volunteer accepts before they can operate the app.
Permissions that fit a real committee
Built-in roles plus a custom-role and permission editor, so a Treasurer, a loans volunteer and a committee member each see exactly what they should — with an anti-escalation guard so nobody can grant themselves more than they hold.
Lend a volunteer more rights for one session
A session leader can lift a helper’s permissions for that session only — Returns, or Loans & returns, or Stocktake — capped to what the leader holds and auto-expiring when the session ends. No standing admin access handed out at a busy desk.
A roster that runs itself
One-click term rosters with a preview before you commit, one-tap accept/decline by email, verified attendance, a fairness view so load spreads evenly, and late-cancel handling that promotes a waiting helper or broadcasts an emergency-cover call.
Count pieces when the session allows
On a busy return desk you can defer the piece count. ToyHive keeps the window of every loan between the last complete check and the one that finds a piece missing — so when something turns up short you can pinpoint which borrow lost it, instead of guessing.
Memberships that renew themselves
Members join, renew and pay by card online, with opt-in auto-renewal and automatic receipts — no committee member chasing renewals at the desk. Short-term bonds are charged, auto-released and refunded to the card without a manual ledger.
Children’s data, encrypted
Sensitive personal information, including children’s records, is encrypted at the application layer, with PostgreSQL row-level security as a second wall between libraries. The data a toy library holds about families is treated like it matters.
Feature comparison
| Feature | MiBase | ToyHive |
|---|---|---|
| Loans, returns and renewals | Yes | Yes |
| Members, memberships and feesConfigurable types, durations and charges. | Yes | Yes |
| Member self-service portalMembers see their own loans, balance and reservations. | Yes | Yes |
| Online paymentsHow members pay a membership fee without coming to the desk. | PayPal | Stripe card payments, incl. opt-in auto-renewal |
| Scanning at the deskWhat a volunteer needs in their hand to check a toy in or out. | USB barcode reader | Phone camera or USB scanner |
| Shared catalogue across librariesAdd a toy once; every library on the platform gets the record. | No | Yes |
| Safety recall monitoringACCC and Consumer NZ recalls matched against your inventory. | No | Yes |
| Member wishlist and demand signalsMembers request toys; families vote; buying follows real demand. | Not verified | Yes |
| Working-with-children and compliance trackingWWCC credential expiry, roster blocking, Code of Conduct acceptance. | Not verified | Yes |
| Reports and dashboardsA fixed list of reports vs asking your own question. | 200+ preset reports | Ask in plain English (AI) + build-your-own dashboards, scheduled |
| Volunteer rosteringSessions, reminders, term/year roster generation. | Yes | Yes |
| Public and member websites | Public + member sites; integrates with WordPress, Wix, Squarespace | Auto-generated page from your live data |
| Accounting and HR modulesFixed assets, accountability reports, timesheets. | Yes | Ledger + exports |
| Data export | Export to Excel | Full self-service export |
Compiled from MiBase’s published feature pages (surveyed June 2026) and from building ToyHive’s MiBase importer against a real export. A dash means we could not confirm it either way from published material — not that the feature is missing. If anything here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
Where MiBase is still ahead
No comparison is worth reading if it only lists the author’s wins. These are real.
- MiBase has accounting and HR modules. ToyHive deliberately does not — our ledger exports, and most treasurers already have accounting software they trust.
- MiBase gives you both a public and a member website, and integrates with WordPress, Wix and Squarespace. ToyHive auto-generates one public page from your live data: less flexible, but nothing to maintain.
- MiBase publishes its prices. ToyHive is still setting pricing with founding libraries, so we cannot give you a number to compare yet — only a commitment that it will respect not-for-profit budgets.
- MiBase has run libraries for years, and there is real value in software your committee already knows. ToyHive is new.
Moving from MiBase
ToyHive imports a MiBase export directly — members and households, toys and piece lists, loan history, financial records, opening hours and your library’s policy pages. You get a dry run to inspect before anything goes live, and early libraries get hands-on help through the whole move.