classroombookings vs MyDesk

Classroombookings is an online room and resource booking system for schools, colleges, charities, and other organisations. It can run as a hosted web service or be self-hosted. Its timetable settings support one-week, two-week, or longer cycles mapped to calendar weeks, and recurring bookings can repeat at the same time, in the same room, and on the same timetable week. Different room groups can follow different schedules, with periods restricted to selected weekdays. Viewing and booking permissions can be assigned by department, role, or individual user. Rooms can be grouped and described with custom fields, locations, owners, and images. The system can also manage resources such as equipment, labs, meeting rooms, community spaces, sports fields, event spaces, minibuses, and coaches. Self-hosting requires a PHP-capable web server and MySQL database; that edition is offered under AGPLv3, with a source-sharing condition for modified software used over a network. Cloud organisations have isolated databases, and the hosted service includes maintenance, updates, and email support.

MyDesk is a paid cloud service for office operations, offered on Android, iOS, web, API, and extension platforms. Its modules handle desk booking, meeting rooms, visitor registration, parking, catering, and analytics. Employees can book or release desks through mobile, desktop, Teams, or Outlook. Meeting-room booking includes live floor plans, room overviews, and touch check-in. Visitor registration supports an Outlook Add-in, on-screen registration, customized design, and printed access cards. Catering bookings work through Outlook, Teams, and mobile, with a canteen-staff app available as an extra module. Integrations include Outlook, Teams, Exchange Online, SharePoint, Azure Active Directory, Google Workspace, Q-Park, MobilePay, Dynamics 365, and others. MyDesk reads Microsoft calendar data in real time without storing copies on its servers. It runs in Microsoft Azure, with data processed and stored in the EU/EEA. Desk booking costs €2.80 a month per table, with a 50-seat minimum.