OpenTable vs resOS: reach, or a price you can read?
This pairing turns up when a restaurant has decided the OpenTable bill is not obviously buying anything, and wants to see what the transparent end of the market looks like. They sit at opposite ends of it. OpenTable is a large diner marketplace with quote-only UK pricing and a fee on every cover the network sends. resOS publishes its prices, starts free, and has no marketplace whatsoever.
Side by side
| OpenTable | resOS | |
| Headline price | Quote only in the UK | Free up to 25 bookings a month, then roughly £38–£105 a month |
| Per-cover commission | Yes — a fee on every cover booked through its network | No |
| Contract | 12 months, auto-renewing (estimated) | Rolling monthly |
| Free trial | No | Free tier |
| SMS reminders | Pro plan (a paid add-on on Core) | Paid per-message add-on |
| Gift vouchers | Not a standard feature | Not a standard feature |
| Diner marketplace | Yes — one of the largest | No |
OpenTable
The big marketplace name, with genuine discovery reach. The model is a subscription plus a fee for every cover that arrives through OpenTable itself; bookings you take on your own site are not charged per cover. The UK site shows "Contact us for pricing" on both its Core and Pro plans, so there is no published pound figure.
resOS
Transparent and self-serve, with a real free tier and every feature included on each paid tier except SMS. Priced in euros and dollars, so the pound figure moves with exchange rates.
So which should you choose?
The whole decision is discovery. OpenTable's network is genuinely large, and if a real share of your covers arrive through it then you are buying customers rather than software, which is a reasonable thing to buy. resOS sells you no demand at all — what it sells is a bill you can predict, free under 25 bookings a month and published above it. Two cautions before you switch on price alone: resOS prices in euros, so a sterling budget drifts with the exchange rate, and its SMS is a per-message add-on rather than included. Run a month of your own numbers and count how many covers actually came from the OpenTable network, not from people who would have found you anyway.
Full disclosure: we make a third option
This comparison is published by NomNom, a UK restaurant booking system, so you should know we have a horse in this race. We have kept our own product out of the grid above because the question you asked was about OpenTable and resOS. For completeness: NomNom is £29.99 a month, everything included, with no per-cover fee, no contract and a 14-day free trial, and unlike both systems above we publish that price. We do not run a diner marketplace.
See what NomNom does, or read the full seven-way pricing comparison.
Common questions
How much does OpenTable cost in the UK?
OpenTable does not publish UK pricing — both its Core and Pro plans show "Contact us for pricing". On top of the subscription there is a fee on every cover booked through the OpenTable network, and there is no free trial.
Is resOS actually free?
Genuinely free up to 25 bookings a month, then roughly £38–£105 a month depending on tier. Two things to budget for: it is priced in euros, so the sterling figure drifts with the exchange rate, and SMS is a per-message add-on rather than included.
Will I lose bookings if I leave OpenTable?
Only the ones the network genuinely sent you — guests who found you on OpenTable rather than guests who would have booked anyway. Before switching on price alone, count a full month of covers by source. If most already come from your own website and regulars, you are paying a per-cover fee for demand you already had.
Keep reading
- All booking system comparisons
- Restaurant booking system pricing compared (seven systems)
- Commission-free restaurant booking systems in the UK
- Switching booking system without the stress
Prices and features were accurate to the best of our knowledge on 11 August 2026, summarised from each vendor's own published information and from third-party trackers. Where a vendor does not publish pricing we say so rather than quoting an estimate as though it were a list price. Booking system pricing changes often — always confirm the current figure with the vendor before you sign anything.