OpenTable pricing: plans, cover fees and what a month really costs

A cover is one seated diner, so a table of four booked through the OpenTable app counts as four network covers. This is the fee that grows with success: the busier the network keeps you, the larger the bill.^[1]

Basic is the only plan that charges for bookings made on your own website. You choose between US$0.25 a cover and a flat US$49 a month. Core and Pro include website bookings at no charge.^[1]

OpenTable says it does not take a cent when a diner calls the restaurant or walks in. If much of your trade comes by phone or through the door, those guests add nothing to the bill and the plan fee is the main cost to weigh.^[1]

OpenTable takes a 2% service fee on prepaid experiences on every plan and on prepaid ticketing on Core and Pro. As an illustration, a US$120 tasting menu sold to 40 guests brings in US$4,800, and 2% of that is US$96.^[1]

Diners can see this fee too. One of the results that ranks for this search is a Reddit thread in which a diner reports a 2% OpenTable service fee on a prepaid, non-refundable brunch booking.^[11] If you sell experiences, check how the fee shows at checkout before a guest asks.

Premium SMS is an add-on on Core and included on Pro. The UK plans page prices it at £19 a month. The US page says only "Add on"; Eat App reports US$19, but we could not confirm that on an OpenTable page.^[1][2][8] Private dining lead handling is a separate solution with no published price, and the plans page lists no setup fee.^[1]

The standard contract is one year and renews automatically each year. To stop it, OpenTable asks for notice 30 days before the scheduled renewal date. For a contract that renews on 1 July, that means notice by 1 June.^[1]

Basic's 30 free days of network covers soften the first month. Eat App describes them as a 30-day free trial and says onboarding is included.^[1][8]

Each figure is the plan fee plus network covers at the plan's rate, plus website covers on Basic. Core at 800 network covers is US$299 plus 800 times US$1, which is US$1,099. Basic at 800 is US$149 plus 800 times US$1.50, which is US$1,349, before website covers and after the 30 free days. Phone and walk-in covers add nothing on any plan.^[1]

Core costs US$150 a month more than Basic but saves US$0.50 on each network cover. 150 divided by 0.50 is 300, so at 300 network covers a month the two cost the same, and above 300 Core is cheaper. If you pay Basic's US$49 website fee, Core catches up sooner: 150 minus 49 is 101, divided by 0.50 is 202 network covers.^[1]

Pro charges the same US$1 per cover as Core and costs US$200 more each month, so it only earns its place through features: Premium SMS, automated email campaigns, automated guest tags and a fully customisable widget.^[1]

Basic's network line is 11 paid months of 800 covers at US$1.50; Core and Pro pay 12 months at US$1. The year comes to US$15,576 on Basic, US$13,188 on Core and US$15,588 on Pro. Because the contract renews by itself, a missed notice date commits the same amount again.^[1]

In the estimator below, enter your monthly prepaid sales from experiences and tickets in the card payments box. It adds the plan fee, Basic's US$49 website option and the 2% service fee over one to three years; add network cover fees from the table above.^[1]

The UK plans page shows only Core and Pro; there is no Basic. Premium SMS is a £19 a month add-on, and Pro adds DineCall, a phone tool that recognises callers and turns missed calls into bookings. The same one-year, auto-renewing contract applies.^[2]

We could not read prices for Singapore, the UAE or the other country sites, so none are shown here. Ask OpenTable for a written quote that states the plan fee, the fee per network cover, any service fee on prepayments and the currency you will be billed in.

Tock now sits inside Resy as its "powered by Tock" plans. Resy Platform and Platform 360 cost US$289 and US$459 a month with no prepayment option. Essential and Premium cost the same but add prepayment, at 3% and 2%. Resy says it charges no cover or per-reservation fees, and standard processing fees apply.^[12] Demand comes from its own diner app, rated 4.9 from about 808,000 US ratings.^[14] See Resy pricing and OpenTable vs Resy.

Eat App has a free plan for up to 100 guests a month, and Core at $199 billed monthly or $159 billed yearly. Deposits and prepayments are a $19 a month add-on, and every plan comes with a 14 day free trial.^[15] Its diner app is used mainly across the Middle East.^[16] More in Eat App pricing.

SevenRooms prices its Starter, Growth and Premium plans by quote only. Starter includes a reservation marketplace of more than 50 million DoorDash and Deliveroo users with no cover fees.^[17] Third-party estimates disagree: a directory reports about US$499 per venue a month on an annual contract, while two competitors report US$700 or more.^[18][19][20] See SevenRooms pricing and SevenRooms vs OpenTable.

Benvo Reservations is US$249 per venue a month, billed in US dollars, with a 14 day trial, no setup fee and no cover fees or booking commission. Guest records sit in Benvo Core at US$0, so keeping them in the restaurant CRM adds nothing to the price.^[21][22] Full module prices are on Benvo pricing.

The restaurant reservation software covers list, timeline and floor views, a floor plan editor, the host stand, a walk-in waitlist, turn times and pacing, an online booking page and widget, and booking reports with export.^[23] Benvo also connects with OpenTable, so bookings taken there arrive in the same day view; a venue that keeps its OpenTable listing still pays OpenTable's plan and cover fees. It sits within the wider restaurant management software for clubs, hotels and groups.

What it does not do matters on a pricing page: Benvo brings no diner network, so it pays off on bookings you already win direct. Deposits, card holds and no-show fees are taken by card through the processor each venue chooses (KPay, Adyen or Stripe), and paid events sell tickets online. There is no 2% fee: card fees are charged by the venue's own processor, and Benvo adds nothing on top.^[23]

On Core and Pro, a guest who books on your own website or by phone costs nothing in cover fees, while the same guest booking through the OpenTable app costs US$1.^[1] Give regulars a direct way back: the booking link in confirmation emails, on your Google profile and on the menu card. A guest found once through the network does not need to be paid for on every visit.

The contract renews each year unless OpenTable hears from you 30 days before the renewal date.^[1] Put a reminder in the calendar 60 days out, which leaves a month to review cover reports, ask for a better plan or look at other tools before the notice window closes.