ResDiary vs SevenRooms: which should a UK restaurant choose?
ResDiary and SevenRooms get shortlisted together often, and they are less alike than that suggests. ResDiary is an operations system built around the floor: tables, covers, yield rules and booking flow. SevenRooms is a guest-data platform that happens to take bookings, built around profiles, tagging, marketing and retention. Both are commission-free on direct bookings. Neither publishes a price.
Side by side
| ResDiary | SevenRooms | |
| Headline price | Quote only | Quote only |
| Per-cover commission | No on bookings — but 1.2% on deposits and payments, and 3% on gift vouchers | No |
| Contract | Annual by default, 90 days' notice | Annual |
| Free trial | Not stated | No |
| SMS reminders | Paid add-on (around £10 a month) | Included (varies by tier) |
| Gift vouchers | Paid add-on (around £35 a month) | Not a standard feature |
| Diner marketplace | Yes — Dish Cult | No |
ResDiary
Established, operations-led and group-friendly, built around table management, yield rules and floor flow. Genuinely commission-free on bookings, but the price is quote-only, payments carry a surcharge, and several capabilities other systems bundle (SMS, pre-orders, events, vouchers) are paid add-ons.
SevenRooms
Closer to a guest CRM than a booking widget: automated tagging, rich guest profiles, targeted marketing, loyalty and feedback loops. No marketplace and no per-cover fee, but it is enterprise-priced, quote-only and on an annual contract, and it is aimed at upscale groups and multi-site operators rather than a single independent site.
So which should you choose?
If your problem is the floor — too many covers, not enough tables, staff moving bookings they should not — ResDiary is the more natural fit, and it is the one more UK independents already run. If your problem is retention — you want to know who your regulars are, what they drink, and how to get them back — SevenRooms is built for that, but it is priced and scoped for upscale groups rather than a single site. The practical catch is the same for both: you cannot compare them on price without booking two sales calls, and both will want an annual commitment.
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 ResDiary and SevenRooms. 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
Is ResDiary or SevenRooms better for a UK independent restaurant?
For a single independent site, ResDiary is usually the closer fit. It is operations-led, widely used by UK independents and pubs, and priced per venue. SevenRooms is built for upscale groups and multi-site operators, and its strengths — guest CRM, segmentation and automated marketing — need someone with time to run them.
Do ResDiary or SevenRooms charge commission on bookings?
Neither charges a per-cover commission on direct bookings. ResDiary does add 1.2% on deposits and payments and 3% on gift vouchers, and bills SMS, events, pre-orders and vouchers as separate add-ons.
How much do ResDiary and SevenRooms cost in the UK?
Neither publishes its pricing — both are quote-only and you have to contact sales. Third-party trackers put ResDiary's entry tier at roughly £99–£109 a month rising to £200–£400+ for larger venues, and SevenRooms from around $499 a month per venue on an annual contract. Those are estimates, not list prices.
What are the alternatives to ResDiary and SevenRooms?
The main UK alternatives are OpenTable and TheFork (both run diner marketplaces and charge per cover on network bookings), Sugarvine at £75 + VAT a month, resOS with a free tier, and NomNom at £29.99 a month. Of those, only Sugarvine, resOS and NomNom publish a price you can read without contacting sales.
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.