Use OpenTable if you need new diners to find you and are willing to pay per cover for them. Use Resy if you want a flat monthly fee with no per-cover charges and a diner-facing booking service behind you. Use your own booking, a flat-fee system on your own website and Google listing, if most of your guests already know you and you want the guest list in your hands. Many restaurants combine them: one system for the floor, and the cheapest possible channel for guests who would have come anyway.

How do OpenTable, Resy and your own booking compare?

Prices are from each vendor's own pricing page as of October 2026.

How does OpenTable pricing work?

OpenTable's plans page lists three plans as of October 2026:

• Basic, $149 a month. Diners who book through OpenTable's network are free for the first 30 days, then $1.50 per cover. Bookings made through your own website cost $0.25 per cover, or a flat $49 a month.
• Core, $299 a month. $1 per network cover. Bookings through your own website are free.
• Pro, $499 a month. $1 per network cover. Bookings through your own website are free, with more guest insights.

A cover is one seated diner, so a table of four is four covers. OpenTable says you only pay for seated diners, not for no-shows or cancellations. Its FAQ says the standard contract is one year and renews each year unless you cancel 30 days before renewal.

A worked example: a restaurant on Core that seats 400 diners a month from OpenTable's network pays $299 plus $400, or $699 a month. The same restaurant pays nothing extra for diners who book through the widget on its own website. That is why it pays to send your regulars to your own site's booking button, not to the OpenTable app.

How does Resy pricing work?

ResyOS lists four plans as of October 2026: Platform and Essential at $289 a month, and Platform 360 and Premium at $459 a month. Essential and Premium are "powered by Tock" and add prepayment, at a 3% fee on Essential and 2% on Premium, plus standard payment processing. Resy says its pricing has "no per-cover fees," and that you pay one monthly fee.

The appeal is predictability. A busy month costs the same as a quiet one. Using the same 400 network diners as the OpenTable example, Resy Platform stays at $289. The trade-off is that the bill does not drop in a slow month, and Resy's network reach in your city may be larger or smaller than OpenTable's. Ask both for local numbers before you choose.

Who owns the guest data?

This is the question to ask before you sign anything, because your guest list is how you fill a slow Tuesday. Platforms have not always agreed with restaurants on it. In 2019, Restaurant Dive reported that OpenTable's CEO told The Wall Street Journal the diner data was not the restaurants', while operators interviewed said the opposite. Contracts and policies may have changed since, so read the current one.

Ask every vendor, in writing:

1. Can I export my full guest list, with emails and visit history, at any time?
2. Can I email guests who booked through your app or network, or only those who booked on my site?
3. What happens to my data if I leave?
4. Do you charge to share data with my other tools, such as my POS or email system?

Guests who book through your own website are the clearest case: you collected them, so you should be able to keep them.

Is the discovery benefit worth the fees?

For a new restaurant, or one in a neighborhood full of visitors, often yes. A network sends diners who had never heard of you, and a $1 or $1.50 cover fee is cheap next to the value of a new regular.

For an established restaurant with a full book of regulars, the math changes. Some of those "network" covers may be guests who already knew your name and simply booked through the app out of habit. If most of your bookings come from people searching your name, you are paying a network fee for demand you created. Check your booking reports by source for a month before you decide.

How do Google reservations fit in?

For many guests, your Google listing is the first page of your restaurant they see. In Google Search and Maps, guests can tap "Reserve a table" on a restaurant's listing, choose party size and time, and book. Google's help page says some bookings finish on the partner's own booking page, and that a restaurant without booking on its listing is not set up for bookings through Google.

On the restaurant side, you connect a booking provider in the Bookings section of your Google Business Profile, and Google says providers show up within a week. Google notes that your provider might charge you for bookings made through Google, so ask your provider how it counts them. You can also add your own booking link to your profile instead.

Most major systems connect to Google. When Toast announced Toast Tables in April 2023, it said guests could book through it directly from a restaurant's Google Business Profile, at a flat monthly price with no per-cover fees.

How do I cut no-shows with deposits?

No-shows cost you the table and the food you prepped. The tools are the same on most platforms: card holds, cancellation fees, deposits and full prepayment. OpenTable lists deposits and card holds on all plans. Resy lists deposits and card holds for no-show and late cancellation fees. Wix's table reservations can require prepayment too. SevenRooms does not publish prices and sells by quote, and says its Starter package includes access to DoorDash and Deliveroo reservation marketplace users with no cover fees.

Use them in proportion:

1. Everyday tables: a reminder text and a clear cancellation window are usually enough.
2. Weekend peaks and large groups: a card hold with a stated late-cancellation fee.
3. Tasting menus, holidays and private dining: a deposit or full prepayment, with the policy shown before the guest pays.

Say the policy plainly on the booking page. A fee a guest did not see is a fee that turns into a bad review.

When should a restaurant use its own booking?

Your own booking makes the most sense when:

• most guests find you by name, through Google, Instagram or word of mouth;
• you have a small room, a counter or a single seating, so you do not need more demand, you need fewer gaps;
• you sell experiences such as tasting menus, classes or events, where prepayment matters more than discovery;
• you want every guest's details in your own system for email and birthdays.

The trade-off is that nobody sends you strangers. Your website, your Google listing and your social channels have to do that job, so they need to be good. Our restaurant AI search guide covers how to get named when guests ask Google or ChatGPT where to book. You can see a restaurant site with booking built in our Atelier Mercer work.

What we can't promise

We cannot tell you which network will send more diners in your city, because that depends on local demand and the vendors do not publish it. Prices and terms change, so confirm them on each vendor's page and in your contract. And no booking system fixes a dining room that guests do not want to return to.

How can Project 66 Studio help?

We build restaurant websites with booking that works on a phone, connected to OpenTable, Resy, your own system and your Google listing, starting from $799 for a new website or rebuild; we confirm the final price before any work begins. See our hospitality and restaurants page, check pricing, or start a project.

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Questions people ask

How much does OpenTable cost a restaurant?

As of October 2026, OpenTable's plans are Basic at $149 a month, Core at $299 and Pro at $499. Diners from OpenTable's network cost $1.50 per cover on Basic after 30 days free, and $1 per cover on Core and Pro. Bookings from the restaurant's own website are free on Core and Pro, and $0.25 per cover or $49 a month on Basic.

Does Resy charge per cover?

No. As of October 2026, Resy says ResyOS has no per-cover fees. Plans are $289 or $459 a month, and the Tock-powered Essential and Premium plans add a 3% or 2% fee on prepayments plus standard processing.

Do I pay OpenTable for no-shows?

No. OpenTable says restaurants only pay for seated diners, so no-shows and cancellations are not charged as covers. To protect yourself from no-shows, OpenTable offers deposits and credit card holds on all of its plans.

Can guests book my restaurant directly on Google?

Yes, if your restaurant connects a booking provider in the Bookings section of its Google Business Profile, guests see a Reserve a table option in Search and Maps. Google says providers may charge you for bookings made through Google, and you can add your own booking link to the profile instead.

Who owns guest data on OpenTable or Resy?

It depends on each vendor's current contract, so ask in writing before you sign. Check whether you can export your full guest list at any time, whether you can email guests who booked through the vendor's app, and what happens to the data if you leave. Guests who book on your own website are the clearest case of data you collected yourself.

Is it worth leaving OpenTable for my own booking system?

It can be, if most of your guests already find you by name and you pay cover fees on many of them. Check a month of booking reports by source first. If few bookings come from new diners on the network, a flat-fee system on your own site and Google listing may cost less.

Read next

• How to get your restaurant found in Google and recommended by AI
• What a restaurant website costs in 2026
• Squarespace, Wix, Toast or a custom site for your restaurant?

Sources

1. OpenTable restaurant plans, OpenTable (read 26 Oct 2026).
2. ResyOS plans and pricing, Resy (read 26 Oct 2026).
3. SevenRooms pricing, SevenRooms (read 26 Oct 2026).
4. Set up bookings through a provider, Google Business Profile Help (read 26 Oct 2026).
5. Make reservations in Google Maps, Google Maps Help (read 26 Oct 2026).
6. OpenTable blocks data sharing with competitors, Restaurant Dive (read 26 Oct 2026).
7. Introducing Toast Tables: integrated reservation and waitlist management, Toast (read 26 Oct 2026).
8. Wix Restaurants: an overview, Wix Help Center (read 26 Oct 2026).