A restaurant reservation system can make or break the experience: not just for your guests but for your team as well.
Pick the right one, and you’ll streamline operations, minimize errors, and even increase table bookings.
But choose the wrong one, and it could end up doing more harm than good.
So, how do you pick the right one with so many options out there?
That’s exactly what we’re here to help with.
In this article, we’re putting two contenders head-to-head: ResOS and Tablein.
We’ll break down their features, pricing, user feedback, and more so you can confidently choose the platform that works best for your venue.
First, let’s discuss what each of these systems can do.
Both Tablein and ResOS recognize the vital role online reservations play in modern dining and offer useful features that let your guests book tables with ease.
Tablein offers online booking widgets that integrate with multiple channels, including your website, Google, Facebook, Instagram, and even the Michelin Guide (in select markets).
Plus, using predesigned styles, sizes, and colors, you can customize these widgets to fit your restaurant’s unique aesthetic.
It’s also possible to include custom fields for preferences such as dining area, food allergies, discount codes, or special requirements like wheelchair access, high chairs, and anniversaries.
An optional newsletter opt-in field is available as well.
Below, you can see what all this might look like from a diner’s perspective:
Source: Tablein
ResOS provides a similar online reservation experience, with booking available via your website, Google Search, and Google Maps.
However, integrations with Facebook, Instagram, and the Michelin Guide are not currently supported.
Like Tablein, ResOS lets you personalize its widgets.
You can change the color scheme, layout, and fonts, as well as add custom fields so guests can let you know about any preferences or requests ahead of time.
Below, you’ll find the ResOS online booking widget:
Source: ResOS
Both systems support multilingual widgets and allow for prepayment collection.
Both solutions make it easy to view and manage your entire day’s reservations and available tables at a glance.
Tablein offers three organized and intuitive views for bookings: List, Calendar, and Floor Plan.
Each is designed for smooth navigation and quick access to key information.
That way, you and your team always know what your day is going to look like.
Reservation statuses are color-coded by guest category, making it easy to assess availability and activity on the go:
Source: Tablein
All types of reservations—whether phone, group, online bookings, or walk-ins—can be quickly added, edited, or removed using a set of powerful yet user-friendly tools.
These include:
ResOS provides a similar range of views, with one extra: Schedule.
So, you get Calendar, Schedule, List, and Floor plans, all designed to provide you with a full picture of your bookings and guests:
Source: ResOS
Just like Tablein, ResOS uses color-coding to show reservation status, such as accepted, soon-to-be-occupied, seated, waitlisted, and more.
Both platforms also enable users to add walk-ins manually on the spot and quickly disable online bookings when necessary.
With table management features, you can quickly and easily organize your dining spaces, tables, and custom preferences to maximize your restaurant’s potential.
Tablein gives you a fast, intuitive drag-and-drop interface to create your restaurant floor plan exactly how you want it.
You can design an unlimited number of dining areas—such as bars, terraces, chef’s tables, or private rooms—with individual layouts for both floor plans and calendar views.
Source: Tablein
You have full control here.
Turnover time per table, availability per dining area, opening hours, online reservation times, and daily guest limits can all be customized.
There’s also a table joining option for larger groups.
ResOS also features an intuitive online table planner, letting you customize your floor plan with unlimited areas and added details like doors, stairs, and even plants:
Source: ResOS
Just like Tablein, ResOS allows you to manage opening hours, table turnover times, availability, and more.
Here’s where the two systems slightly diverge, though.
ResOS supports multi-level floor plans, which means you can create unique layouts for each level separately:
Source: ResOS
Tablein, on the other hand, does not support separate floors.
However, it allows you to distinguish between areas using elements like walls and labels, giving you a complete view of all reservations and tables at once, without switching layouts.
Here, we should also mention these solutions’ waitlist management features.
Tablein and ResOS support waitlists for walk-ins and online reservations, sending automated SMS notifications when tables become available.
Source: Tablein
ResOS, however, takes this a step further, sending real-time updates on wait-time estimates and enabling two-way communication with guests to keep them in the loop.
Just keep in mind that these advanced waitlist features in ResOS are available as a paid add-on.
To truly boost your diners’ experience, you first need to understand them.
Luckily, both Tablein and ResOS make that possible with detailed guest profiles.
Tablein collects a wide range of guest data, allowing you to add tags, notes, loyalty indicators, ratings, and visit history.
This ultimately helps you with guest segmentation and targeting.
History includes info like total visits, canceled reservations, no-shows, last visit date, and average feedback score.
When it comes to common guest notes, they might include whether someone is vegan or vegetarian, a blogger or critic, an employee, a friend of the owner, a regular, a VIP, blacklisted, or has allergies:
Source: Tablein
You can also identify your most loyal guests and automatically apply discounts once they reach a set number of visits.
ResOS is quite similar to Tablein in this regard.
It generates automatic diner profiles containing valuable insights like previous visits, favorite dishes, allergies, and more.
All essential information—name, contact details, dining preferences, past feedback, and custom tags—is stored in one centralized place for easy access.
Source: ResOS
With ResOS, you can easily track high spenders or loyal customers and implement loyalty programs, exclusive offers, or personalized messages to encourage repeat visits.
Plus, ResOS can flag problematic guests, such as frequent no-shows.
If a flagged customer tries to book again online or through staff, a warning immediately appears in the system.
Tablein doesn’t currently support this feature, though a blacklisting option is in development.
A reliable table booking system doesn’t just help you take and manage reservations.
It also drives growth by delivering valuable insights for strategic decision-making.
So, let’s take a closer look at the types of reports available in Tablein and ResOS.
Tablein provides various detailed insights into your daily operations and marketing performance.
Some of the key reports include:
You’ll also find a recent reservations overview, which offers statistics on things like the total number of guests, no-shows, average party sizes, and first-time visitors over a selected period:
Source: Tablein
ResOS offers a wide range of reporting options, too, such as:
|
Bookings |
Number of bookings, guests, cancellations, and booking sources. |
|
Feedback |
Average ratings, atmosphere, and more. |
|
Feedback Replies |
Guest responses to the feedback form. |
|
Customers |
Total guests, top and flagged customers, and new customers during the selected period. |
|
Opening Hours |
Bookings by time of day, booking duration, and operating hours. |
|
Tables |
Individual tables, table combinations, and dining areas. |
|
Prepayments & No-show Fees |
Payments collected, prepayments, no-show fees, and refunds. |
As you can see, both systems keep it fairly simple and provide you with the essential info you need to optimize operations and boost your occupancy.
It’s worth noting, however, that Tablein is actively expanding its reporting capabilities.
Guestbook metrics and filters, advanced feedback analytics and filters, a guest CRM system, and more are already on the way.
The restaurant business is extremely fast-paced, which is why it’s vital to have reservation software that works even when you’re on the go.
Both Tablein and ResOS offer mobile-friendly solutions, but they do so in different ways.
With Tablein, there’s no need to download an app.
You can log in from any device using a web browser and instantly access your booking calendar.
Source: Tablein
It works smoothly on iOS, Android, smartphones, tablets, and desktops, automatically adjusting to different screen sizes.
No need to download an app or any software updates.
ResOS, however, takes a different route with its dedicated mobile app, available for both iOS and Android.
The app gives you full access to all ResOS features, putting everything you need to manage reservations right in your pocket, anytime, anywhere:
Source: ResOS on Google Play
In short, both solutions let you stay on top of bookings no matter where you are, making your job—and your team’s job—so much easier.
Integrations help maximize efficiency and expand the functionality of your software by connecting third-party tools and services.
So, let’s take a closer look at what Tablein and ResOS bring to the table in terms of their integration capabilities.
Tablein provides a wide variety of integrations with systems you already use.
Source: Tablein
For example, for payment processing, it supports Viva Wallet, Stripe, PayPal, Redsys, and Paysera.
For email marketing, Tablein integrates with popular platforms like Mailchimp and Mailerlite.
On top of that, Tablein’s online booking widget can be integrated with social media platforms, the Michelin Guide, and your website, whether it's on WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, or Webflow.
ResOS offers numerous integrations, too.
For marketing, it connects with Mailchimp, Campaign Monitor, and Facebook Pixel, while for payments, it supports PayPal and Stripe.
It also integrates with Trustpilot, Google Reserve and Analytics, as well as Zapier—an automation tool that connects over 2,000 apps, such as Slack, YouTube, Asana, Dropbox, and more.
Source: ResOS
Moreover, ResOS provides API credentials to expand the capabilities of its restaurant management system.
With ResOS’ REST API, your existing systems can directly communicate with the booking system, enabling the transfer of guest data, booking details, and other relevant information.
While ResOS currently has a slight edge when it comes to integrations, Tablein is catching up fast.
We are always working on new features, including integrations with Zapier, AI tools, POS systems, digital wallets, and Apple Pay.
Signing up for a new booking platform often comes with plenty of questions, which is why strong customer support is a must.
Tablein excels in this area, offering 24/7 online chat support, in-app messaging, and email assistance—all ready to address your questions around the clock.
Phone support is also available in selected markets.
On top of that, Tablein offers hands-on help with onboarding, including installation assistance and a settings optimization advisor to make sure everything runs smoothly from day one.
For those who prefer a self-service approach, Tablein’s detailed knowledge base offers step-by-step guides and helpful articles for quick solutions.
Source: Tablein
ResOS also offers reliable support via email and online chat, promising to respond within 24 hours of your request, even on weekends and holidays.
Like Tablein, it features a Help Centre packed with useful information and FAQs to support you at any stage:
Source: ResOS
Most importantly, both platforms provide equal support to all users, regardless of their pricing plan.
This means opting for a more affordable tier doesn’t translate to longer wait times.
And no matter where your restaurant is located, both Tablein and ResOS offer global customer support to help you resolve issues as soon as possible.
So, what are users saying about these two platforms?
Let’s start with Tablein.
Tablein holds an impressive average rating of 5.0 on Capterra, with users frequently praising its ease of use and straightforward implementation.
Source: Capterra
This is largely thanks to its intuitive software design and responsive customer support, which is always available to resolve any issues that may arise.
Most criticisms are minor—some users note the absence of a dedicated mobile app or certain advanced features.
That said, Tablein is continually evolving and regularly adding new functionalities based on user feedback.
ResOS has an average rating of 4.3 on Trustpilot.
Users appreciate its affordability and practical, easy-to-use features.
Source: Trustpilot
However, some report that the mobile app can occasionally freeze, and a few mention that the initial setup can be a bit confusing.
This confusion often stems from its customizable pricing structure, which includes various add-ons.
Still, once everything is in place, most users find the platform easy to navigate and powerful without being too feature-rich.
This makes it especially appealing for beginner users who want an efficient booking system without breaking the bank.
At this point, you must be wondering, how much does it all cost?
So, let’s break down the pricing for both Tablein and ResOS.
Tablein offers three subscription plans: Starter (€47/month), Growth (€97/month), and Success (€157/month).
Source: Tablein
The best part?
All features are included in every plan.
The only differences are the number of reservations included and the cost per additional reservation.
On top of that, there are no extra fees for setup or integration, and you can cancel anytime—no long-term contracts required.
Now, let's talk ResOS.
ResOS offers four subscription tiers: Starter ($23/month), Basic ($37/month), Plus ($78/month),
Unlimited ($119/month).
Source: ResOS
These prices are based on annual billing with built-in discounts. If you prefer monthly billing, you can expect slightly higher rates.
Similar to Tablein, all plans include the same core features, with differences only in the number of bookings allowed.
However, it’s important to note that many essential features—such as waitlists, prepayments, and Google integrations—are considered add-ons and require additional payment.
Below are the prices for these additional features:
Source: ResOS
This does give you some flexibility, but it can lead to higher overall costs if you need those extras.
In any case, there’s no need to commit to a purchase before trying out both solutions yourself.
Tablein’s offers a 14-day free trial, while ResOS offers a 7-day free trial and a 45-minute demo.
So, consider taking these tools for a spin before making a final decision.
If you’ve jumped ahead to this section hoping there’ll be a clear winner between these two solutions, you might be a bit disappointed.
Ultimately, it all depends on your restaurant’s unique needs, goals, and typical workflows.
If you’re after something simple, powerful, and backed by solid customer support every step of the way, Tablein could be your go-to.
But if you’d like to customize your solution, picking and choosing features through add-ons and only paying for what you actually use, then ResOS might be the better match.
Either way, it’s worth taking advantage of the free trials both platforms offer before making your decision.