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 SeTLS
SeTLS is run by good people and does a genuine job for the libraries that use it. ToyHive is a newer, phone-first take — a shared catalogue, a wishlist that drives buying, and reports you ask for in plain English. Here is the honest comparison, including where SeTLS is still ahead.
Why we can be fair about this
ToyHive is built by a toy library volunteer. At Bright Toy Library I was President and Treasurer, I led the decision to move to SeTLS, and I managed the full migration myself. This is not a comparison written from a features page — I have done the switching, from the inside, with a committee watching.
When SeTLS 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.
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.
Working-with-children records, kept tidy
A record of your team’s WWCCs with expiry reminders and an optional roster check, 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 | SeTLS | ToyHive |
|---|---|---|
| Loans, returns and renewals | Yes | Yes |
| Members, memberships and feesConfigurable types, durations and automated charges. | Yes | Yes |
| Piece lists and missing-piece tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Digital membership cardsA member card added to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet from the welcome email or portal; printable cards for everyone else. | No | Yes |
| Online paymentsHow members pay a membership fee without coming to the desk. | PayPal and Square | 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. | “Wedge” barcode scanner | Phone camera or USB scanner |
| Shared catalogue across librariesAdd a toy once; every library on the platform gets the record. | No | Yes |
| Member wishlist and demand signalsMembers request toys; families vote; buying follows real demand. | Not verified | Yes |
| Working-with-children credential trackingWWCC records with expiry reminders, an optional roster check, Code of Conduct acceptance. | Not verified | Yes |
| Reports and dashboardsPreset stats vs asking your own question. | Preset stats, member heatmaps | Ask in plain English (AI) + build-your-own dashboards, scheduled |
| Volunteer rosteringSessions, self-nomination, accept/decline. | Yes | Yes |
| Maintenance and safety checksCleaning schedules, battery and safety check logging. | Yes | Yes |
| Click & collectMembers order from home for a collection day; volunteers pack from a pick list. | Booked time slots | Pick a day, staff pick list |
| Member heatmaps and demographic breakdowns | Yes | No |
| Data exportGetting your own records back out again. | CSV/Excel from statistics and graphs | Full self-service export |
| Runs on a phone | Computer or tablet | Yes |
Compiled from SeTLS’s published feature pages and FAQ (surveyed June 2026) and from building ToyHive’s SeTLS importer against a real instance. 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 SeTLS is still ahead
No comparison is worth reading if it only lists the author’s wins. These are real.
- SeTLS click & collect books a timed appointment slot. ToyHive books a collection day, with an optional cap on orders per day — not a slot per family.
- SeTLS has member heatmaps and demographic breakdowns. ToyHive has plain-English and build-your-own reports, but those specific demographic visualisations are not built.
- SeTLS has desk alerts that interrupt checkout for a flagged member or toy. ToyHive has notes fields, which is not the same thing.
- SeTLS is actively developed — public release notes show new features shipping into 2026. This is not a product standing still.
- SeTLS has run since 2014 and serves libraries in several countries. ToyHive is new. Our pricing is published in full (A$3 per active member household per year, A$60 minimum, A$600 maximum, GST included), but we count active households over twelve months where SeTLS counts over three, so the two headline numbers are not directly comparable — work yours out on our pricing page and put it next to your current bill.
Moving from SeTLS
Migration was the first thing ToyHive built properly, because it is the step that actually stops a library switching. ToyHive brings across members and households, balances, full loan and financial history, memberships, toys and piece lists — and your library’s own look and feel. You get a dry run to inspect before anything goes live, and early libraries get hands-on help through the whole move.