TRAIL ALTERNATIVE · CHECKLISTS PLUS EVERYTHING ELSE

Your checklists, your compliance, and the rest of the pub too.

Trail digitised the daily checklist and did it well, which is why the Access Group bought it. But checklists are one job. The same pub still needs a booking system, a guest database, a rota and a maintenance log, and every extra product means another login and another staff list. Hendra One covers Trail’s ground and the rest, for a flat £100 a site.

Book a demoSee pricing
Compliance included, not the whole product.
WHERE TRAIL IS STRONG

What Trail gets right.

Trail understood before most that paper checklists fail silently, and built a business on fixing it.

Focused checklist design

Task lists with evidence, built around hospitality routines and refined over years.

Sensor integrations

Automated fridge monitoring via temperature sensors on some plans.

Access Group backing

Part of a large hospitality software portfolio, with integrations into that ecosystem.

Adoption-friendly

Simple enough that teams actually complete the checks, which is the whole battle.
THE COMPARISON

Hendra One and Trail, side by side.

Like for like on operational compliance, and then the modules Trail does not attempt.

AT A GLANCEHendra OneTrail
Pricing modelFlat £100 per site per month, published, everything includedQuote-based per site; free trial; no standard published price list (August 2026)
Daily checklistsIncluded: daily, weekly, monthly, named completion and undoIncluded: this is the product
Food safety recordsIncluded: SFBB-aligned diary, temperature targets, enforced corrective actions, signed daily closeIncluded: records and monitoring
EHO inspection modeTime-limited link to a printable 28-day reportRecords and reports within the product
Escalation by roleFailures alert named roles and climb the org chart until resolvedAlerts and dashboards
Fire log, accident book, COSHHIncludedChecklist coverage varies by setup
Bookings & guest widgetIncluded: diary, pacing, widget, waitlist, deposits, pre-ordersNot part of the product
Guest CRM & marketingIncluded: automations, vouchers, campaign statsNot part of the product
Rotas, labour costs, HRIncludedNot part of the product
Maintenance & equipment registerIncluded: warranty dates, service tracking, contractorsNot part of the product

Trail details are from its published materials and third-party listings as of August 2026 and may change: confirm current pricing and features with the vendor before deciding.

WHERE HENDRA ONE DIFFERS

What one system does that a checklist app cannot.

The checks are only half the value. The other half is what the system knows because everything else lives in it too.

One staff list, everywhere

The person signing the fridge check is on the rota, in the org chart and in HR. Nobody maintains the same list in four products.

Escalation follows the org chart

A failed check alerts whoever holds the role now, and climbs the chart if ignored. A leaver never breaks the chain.

Maintenance closes the loop

The failing fridge in the temperature log is the same fridge in the equipment register, with its warranty date and the right number to call.

Paid for by consolidation

Dropping the separate booking, marketing and HR subscriptions typically covers the whole cost of the switch.

Choosing between Trail and Hendra One

If digital checklists are the only gap in your stack, Trail is a credible way to fill it, and switching costs attention a busy pub may not have spare. The comparison gets interesting when you list what else the pub is paying for: a booking system with per-cover fees, an email tool with a decaying list, an HR app, and a maintenance spreadsheet. Each is another monthly bill and another system that does not know who works for you this week.

The compliance half of Hendra One stands on its own against a dedicated checklist product: SFBB-aligned records, enforced corrective actions, role-based escalation and an EHO mode built for the inspection itself. The difference is that it arrives with the rest of the operation attached, at one published price, instead of as one more subscription in the pile.

The practical path is usually to compare on the next renewal: price your current stack in full, including the booking fees, against £100 a site for everything, and weigh one migration against carrying four systems for another year.

See what is included in detail: bookings, guest CRM and marketing, compliance, rotas and HR and pricing.

MOVING OVER

Switching without a gap in the diary.

Your bookings come with you

We import your future bookings so nothing already in the diary is lost in the move.

Your guest database too

Guests arrive with their visit history and their consent status intact, so lawful marketing carries straight on.

Run both until you are sure

The booking widget can run alongside your old system until you are ready to switch it off. Most venues move in under two weeks.
BEFORE YOU DECIDE

Trail switching questions.

What is the difference between Trail and Hendra One?

+

Trail digitises checklists, food safety records and operational tasks. Hendra One includes that ground, aligned to SFBB with escalations and an EHO inspection mode, and also runs bookings, guest CRM and marketing, maintenance, rotas and HR. Trail is one module of what Hendra One is.

How does pricing compare?

+

Trail is quote-based per site as of August 2026, with a free trial; published third-party listings do not show a standard price list. Hendra One is a published flat £100 per site per month with every module included, so the comparison is one known number against a quote.

Does Hendra One do checklists like Trail does?

+

Yes. Department checklists run daily, weekly and monthly with named completion, timestamps and undo, alongside the SFBB diary, temperature logs with enforced corrective actions, the fire log, the accident book and COSHH. Failures escalate to a named role until someone deals with them.

We already use Trail. Is it worth switching just for compliance?

+

Probably not for compliance alone: if Trail is working and its price suits you, the switch earns its disruption only when you also want the bookings, CRM, rota or maintenance side. The case for one system is everything sharing one staff list, one permission model and one login.

Can an EHO see our records in Hendra One?

+

Yes, by design. Inspection mode gives the officer a time-limited link to a printable 28-day report covering temperatures, checks, corrective actions and signatures. You hand over a link, not a binder, and the link expires on its own.

Trail is a trademark of its respective owner, which is not affiliated with and does not endorse Hendra One. This page reflects our understanding as of August 2026 and exists to help operators compare options; if anything here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.

See it running on your own menus and your own tables.

A 30-minute walkthrough with someone who has run a service, not a sales deck.

Book a demo