Best Alternatives to OpenTable for Restaurant Reservations

OpenTable has been on the market since 1998, building the largest diner network among its competitors, and developing a robust suite of features for reservation management. 

But is it the right choice for every restaurateur? 

Not necessarily. 

Budget constraints, unique operational needs, or simply a desire for a better match might lead you to look elsewhere.

The good news? 

Plenty of alternatives have emerged, each with its own strengths.

In this article, we dive into five top contenders. 

We break down their features, pricing, pros, and cons—so you can find the perfect reservation system for your restaurant.

Tablein

Tablein is an online table booking system that simplifies restaurant reservations for both you and your diners. 

Here’s how it works. 

First, you integrate customizable online reservation widgets on your website, social media, Google, or any other platform where your customers are. 

Diners can then easily make a reservation, selecting optional fields such as discount codes, food allergies, and special requests like wheelchair access, high chairs, or anniversaries. 

They even get to choose their preferred seating and sign up for your email newsletter if they want.

At the same time, they can see your booking policy and all other essential information you decide to share, as you can see below:

Source: WowYauChow Altrincham

Once the diners complete their booking, they receive an automated confirmation email and SMS.

From your side, managing walk-ins as well as online and phone reservations becomes a breeze.

Tablein neatly organizes everything in a color-coded calendar view, where each color represents a different status—so you can see at a glance what’s going on:

Source: Tablein

Plus, you can set opening hours, manage floor capacities, request deposits and instant payments, and handle waitlists, all from one centralized platform. 

In addition to these essential reservation management features, Tablein offers some extra tools you might find useful, including:

So, here’s the big question: How does Tablein compare to OpenTable? 

The biggest difference is that OpenTable also functions as a restaurant discovery platform, seating over 31 million diners per month. 

That kind of exposure can be great for visibility, but with 60,000+ restaurants on the platform, competition is definitely fierce. 

Although Tablein does offer a similar feature with its restaurant guide, its reach is currently limited to a few markets:

Source: Tablein

OpenTable also has more robust features, particularly its advanced CRM, which allows you to create detailed guest profiles and track visit history, spending, feedback, preferences, and more.

Of course, OpenTable’s visibility and feature set come at a cost. 

Their cheapest plan starts at $149 per month and offers very limited features. And, with its $1 per cover fee, the costs can add up quickly. 

One Reddit user shared their experience:

Source: Reddit

Tablein, on the other hand, starts at €49 per month, and all plans include every feature. 

You can see our pricing below: 

Source: Tablein

All in all, OpenTable is certainly better suited for large restaurants with bigger budgets looking for greater exposure. 

Meanwhile, Tablein is perfect for small to mid-sized restaurants seeking an affordable and user-friendly yet feature-rich solution to boost occupancy, reduce slow hours, and improve overall efficiency.

Still not sure which one’s for you? 

No problem. 

Try Tablein for free for 14 days and see the difference for yourself. 

SevenRooms

SevenRooms is a cloud-based, fully integrated front-of-house platform designed to give you a 360-degree view of your guests. 

Below, you’ll find some of the tools it offers: 

Source: SevenRooms

SevenRooms includes many of the same essential features as OpenTable and other solutions on this list, such as online reservations, SMS, deposits, online orders, waitlists, and more. 

One standout feature, though, is its pre-shift report, which helps you prepare your team with up-to-date insights on upcoming shifts:

Source: SevenRooms

For example, you can identify VIP guests, high-spending customers, or guests with past negative reviews, and then use that info to plan ahead and provide a more personalized experience.

While OpenTable offers a similar feature, it works differently. 

OpenTable automatically emails these reports one hour before shifts, whereas SevenRooms allows you to access them on the fly from anywhere

In general, SevenRooms is incredibly feature-rich, as you can see below:

Source: SevenRooms

Yes, it has almost everything a modern restaurant could need.

But on the downside, this wide variety of tools can feel very overwhelming, especially for new users.

Additionally, SevenRooms leans more toward marketing and guest relationship management, compared to other tools.

It provides deeper insights into guest data to enhance marketing efforts and improve the overall dining experience. 

Source: SevenRooms

OpenTable, by contrast, is more focused on increasing restaurant visibility. 

While it also provides diner insights, it doesn't offer the same level of CRM functionality as SevenRooms.

When it comes to costs, SevenRooms does not publicly disclose its pricing, so you’ll need to contact their team for a quote. 

Some online sources suggest that pricing starts at around $6,000 per year. 

However, unlike OpenTable, SevenRooms doesn’t charge per-cover commissions, which can save you money in the long run.

That said, it’s not the cheapest option either—if you’re looking for a budget-friendly alternative, a platform like Tablein might still be a better fit. 

The bottom line is this: 

• If your primary goal is to maximize restaurant reservations, OpenTable may be the better choice since SevenRooms doesn’t offer a custom-facing app.
• If you’re searching for guest engagement and retention solutions, SevenRooms wins.

To learn more about this solution, you can request a free demo through their website.

Resy

We can't talk about OpenTable alternatives without mentioning Resy—arguably its biggest competitor. 

Resy is a cloud-based reservation management system that, like OpenTable, doubles as a consumer-facing booking platform. 

It offers all the essential features that help keep your reservations under control and your operations running smoothly, including:

• Online reservations
• Waitlists
• Analytics
• Floor plan editor
• POS integration
• Automated messages
• Automated surveys
• Event management

One thing that sets Resy apart is its exclusive partnership with American Express. 

Thanks to this collaboration, Resy gives you unique marketing opportunities to attract high-spending American Express® Card Members and boost your restaurant’s exposure. 

For instance, your restaurant can gain visibility by being featured on American Express Maps, a platform connecting cardmembers with recommended dining spots:

Source: Resy

You can also participate in events like The Resy Tastemakers and Member Week, to generate buzz and drive traffic. 

In other words, if your goal is to reach an affluent dining audience, this partnership could be a serious game-changer. 

But how exactly does Resy compare to OpenTable? 

For one, OpenTable’s consumer app has a broader user base than Resy. That means more potential diners—but also more competition. 

Still, Resy seems to be more popular in certain locations, according to this Reddit thread: 

Source: Reddit

Additionally, some users suggest that Resy often attracts a younger demographic compared to OpenTable's slightly older user base. 

Therefore, this isn’t necessarily the question of which tool is better, but rather who and where your target audience is. 

Another thing to keep in mind is that OpenTable offers a mobile app for both iOS and Android, whereas Resy only supports iOS. 

This is an important consideration if your diners are mostly Android users. 

As for the cost, Resy’s pricing starts at $249 per month and, unlike with OpenTable, there are no cover fees. 

Source: Resy

Ultimately, if you’re looking for a reservation system with a built-in diner network, both Resy and OpenTable are excellent choices. 

Just be sure to research your target audience and thoroughly compare the two solutions’ pricing plans before making the final decision. 

Resy doesn’t offer a free trial, but you can book a consultation through their website to learn more.

Quandoo

Quandoo is a web-based reservation management solution used by over 16,000 restaurant partners across Europe and APAC. 

Here’s what it brings to the table:

• Customizable online booking widgets
• Integration with social media
• Reporting and analytics
• Table and capacity management
• Automated email confirmations
• Waitlists

Quandoo also helps predict wait times, allowing you to make smarter decisions and improve the overall experience for your diners. 

You can track reservation statuses (e.g., Confirmed, Seated, Checked Out), and add reservation phases to visualize where guests are in their dining journey (e.g., Appetizers, Main Course, Desserts, Paid). 

Source: Quandoo

From there, you can set/manage table retention times for better planning.

However, Quandoo’s features are relatively basic compared to other tools on this list. 

For instance, it lacks email marketing, CRM, deposits, and online ordering, which could be deal-breakers for some restaurants. 

That said, Quandoo offers a diner marketplace, just like OpenTable, though it’s limited to Europe and APAC. 

Interestingly, you don’t need to be a Quandoo software user to leverage their customer platform. 

Depending on your existing system and location, you can integrate with the Quandoo network to get the best of both worlds. 

Source: Quandoo

In the UK, for instance, it integrates with SevenRooms, Zonal, Collins, and Mozrest. 

Now, let’s talk pricing. 

Quandoo offers two plans: 

• Pro at £39/month + a £249 setup fee
• Premium at £99/month + a £749 setup fee

There’s also a £3.90 fee per booking made through Quandoo’s portal, app, or partner network.

However, reservations from Google, social media, or your website don’t incur extra fees. 

Source: Quandoo

So, while the base price is affordable, these additional costs can make it expensive in the long run—be sure to do the math before committing to the purchase. 

In any case, if you run a restaurant in Europe or APAC and want to boost visibility and manage reservations without extra frills, Quandoo could be a solid choice for you. 

Also, no free trials or demos are available—so if you’re interested, contact their sales team to find out more. 

Toast Tables

Toast Tables is a cloud-based waitlist and reservation solution from Toast, a company that provides a range of hospitality tech, both software and hardware. 

It includes:

• Online reservations
• Waitlists
• Two-way SMS communication
• Guest tags and preferences
• Event management
• POS integration

As the name suggests, table management is its core focus. 

For example, you can seat servers with a synced server roster that shows the time since the last seating, total covers, and active covers. 

You can also access an automatically updated floor plan that shows each table's progress, whether guests have ordered, and if those orders have been fulfilled, all in real-time.

Source: Toast Tables

Overall, Toast Tables is somewhat simpler than some competitors on this list. 

However, you can always supplement it with other Toast offerings like email marketing, online ordering, and loyalty programs. 

The upside of this module-based approach is that you can build a solution perfectly tailored to your needs. 

That said, each module is billed separately, so costs can easily add up. 

You can see Toast’s pricing below, but it's best to contact Toast for a quote. 

Source: Toast Tables

One important thing to keep in mind is that, unlike other tools, Toast works only on tablets (iOS and Android). 

More specifically, they recommend running Toast Tables on an iPad with iOS 12 or later for optimal performance.

Toast also offers Local by Toast, a diner-facing app for restaurant discovery to boost your visibility. 

However, some users find it less seamless than OpenTable:

Source: Reddit

Its reach is also more limited, operating only in the United States, Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. 

Again, it all comes down to where you are located and how much you’re willing to spend for exposure. 

This Reddit user summarizes it perfectly:

Source: Reddit

All in all, Toast Tables is a great option, especially for those who prefer a modular system and want to build their own solution. 

You can request a free demo on their website to learn more.

Conclusion

Despite being in the game for so long and practically becoming an industry standard, OpenTable isn’t necessarily the best fit for every restaurant. 

The key is to find the tool that aligns with your unique needs and goals.

If boosting visibility is your top priority, you’ll want a tool with a strong diner network—but it’s important to consider your target audience’s preferences to ensure you choose the right match.

Are you more focused on streamlining operations and delivering an amazing customer experience without breaking the bank? 

A simple yet powerful tool like Tablein might be a smarter choice.

In any case, before making a final decision, do your due diligence. 

Research each tool thoroughly and take advantage of free trials and demos whenever possible. 

Good luck!