Rent.is vs Black Sheep Campers

Black Sheep Campers takes a deliberately minimalist, adventure-first approach: its entire fleet is 4x4 SUVs, and you sleep either in the back of the vehicle or in a hard-shell roof-top tent. Options run from the compact Suzuki Jimny (manual, sleeps 2) through several Dacia Duster configurations -- sleep-in-the-back, or sleep-in-back plus a roof tent, sleeping 2 or more -- up to the Ford Explorer with a roof tent, which sleeps 4 and is the largest in the lineup. Only one model, the automatic Subaru Legacy 4x4, is not cleared for F-roads; every other Black Sheep camper is 4x4 and F-road legal. There are no built-out campervans here -- no built-in kitchen, no toilet, no indoor standing height, and all cooking is done outside on a portable camp stove. Rent.is sits at the opposite end of the spectrum, listing roughly 18 model lines that span compact campers, larger vans, California-style campers, Crosscamp units, and full motorhomes with separate living and sleeping areas. Notably for this comparison, Rent.is also offers a 4x4 roof-tent line, which is the product most directly comparable to Black Sheep's -- but it is one slice of a much wider menu rather than the whole fleet.

On living equipment the two diverge sharply. Black Sheep bundles a full sleep-and-cook kit into its all-in price: mattress, two sleeping bags, pillows, sheets and towels, plus a camp-stove kit (stove, kettle, pots, pan, coffee press, cutlery, dishes and washing-up gear), a passive cooling box rather than a powered fridge, and two chairs and a table (removed in winter). There is no water tank or sink, and heating is limited -- a 220V electric heater is provided only from November 1 to April 15, needs a campsite power hookup, and there is no diesel or parking heater for off-grid warmth. Most Rent.is vehicles, by contrast, are built-out campervans and motorhomes with an interior kitchen and living space, letting you cook and shelter inside rather than stepping outside -- the interior comforts Black Sheep deliberately does without. Travelers who want a cabin they can cook and shelter in will gravitate to the Rent.is side; travelers comfortable camping out of an SUV will find Black Sheep purpose-built for exactly that.

Both operators fold standard insurance and unlimited mileage into the price. Rent.is is noted for unusually transparent, clearly documented insurance, while Black Sheep bundles taxes and standard insurances into a single all-in EUR rate with no deposit taken at booking (a card hold is placed at pickup). Pickup differs in a way that can shape an itinerary: Black Sheep offers two self-service locations -- a lockbox lot next to the BSI Bus Terminal in central Reykjavik and Keflavik Airport (with a free shuttle from BSI) -- with flexible self-service returns, whereas Rent.is operates 24/7 from a single Keflavik base with a complimentary airport shuttle. On cancellation, Rent.is allows free cancellation up to 24 hours before pickup with no prepayment, while Black Sheep refunds in full only if you cancel more than 48 hours out (within 48 hours or a no-show is charged in full, and early returns are not refunded). Reviews favor each on a different axis: Black Sheep posts a higher Google score of 4.9 from 148 reviews, plus 4.5 on Trustpilot from 39 and 9.1/10 on Northbound from 103, while Rent.is carries far more volume -- 4.3 on Google from roughly 1,550 reviews and 4.7 on Trustpilot from about 964 -- making its rating one of the most independently validated in the market.