From OpenTable’s own UK pages, checked 19 October 2026
OpenTable for restaurantsWhat it is, how the pricing works, and who it suits
If you run a restaurant and you are weighing up OpenTable, the brochure and the bill are two different reads. This page sets out what OpenTable actually is for an owner, how its UK pricing works in OpenTable’s own words, where it earns its fee, and where an independent, food-led room might want something else. We make a rival booking system, so we have stuck to what OpenTable publishes and linked every fact.
What OpenTable is, for a restaurant owner
OpenTable sells restaurants two things in one subscription, and it helps to keep them apart in your head.
A diner marketplace
Diners search and book on OpenTable’s website and app, and your restaurant appears there with a profile and reviews. OpenTable says it is trusted by more than 70,000 restaurants worldwide, seats over 2 billion diners a year, and holds over 155 million verified diner reviews. You can pay extra to rank higher: Restaurant Promotions start at £5 per cover in the UK and put you higher in OpenTable search and in its diner emails.
Table management software
Behind the listing is the software that runs service: floor plans, automatic table assignment (OpenTable calls it Smart Assign), waitlists, a guest database with guest profiles, deposits and card holds, POS integration, a mobile app, review management, a Google “Reserve a table” button, and automated email campaigns. All of that is listed as included in both UK plans.
How OpenTable pricing works in the UK
OpenTable’s UK plans page is clearer about how you are charged than about how much. Here is what it says, plan by plan and fee by fee.
| What you pay for | What OpenTable’s UK pages say |
|---|---|
| The plan | Two plans, Core and Pro. Both say “Contact us for pricing”. Larger groups are sent to a sales demo for Enterprise. |
| Cover fees | Charged only for diners who discover your restaurant on OpenTable’s website, app or affiliate network, and only for seated diners, so no-shows and cancellations are not charged. The per-cover amount is not published. |
| Bookings from your own website | Free on Core and Pro. |
| Phone bookings and walk-ins | Not charged. |
| Contract | The standard contract is one year and renews annually. To leave, tell OpenTable 30 days before the renewal date. |
| Premium SMS messaging | An add-on at £19 a month. |
| Private Dining | An add-on to any plan at £99 a month, cancel any time. |
| Restaurant Promotions | From £5 per cover, for higher placement in OpenTable search and features in its diner emails, website and app. |
| DineCall phone management | Only available with OpenTable Pro. No price shown. |
| Pro over Core | Pro adds guest relationship and data tools and a fully customisable booking widget. OpenTable says POS integration on Pro is available at no additional cost. |
Every line above comes from OpenTable’s own UK pages, read on 19 October 2026: plans and pricing, Pro, Private Dining, Restaurant Promotions and DineCall. Prices exclude VAT unless OpenTable says otherwise. OpenTable changes its terms from time to time, so check the live pages before you sign. Corrections welcome, including from OpenTable: hello@eightish.co.uk.
Because the plan price and the cover fee are both quoted rather than published, the only way to know your real monthly cost is to ask OpenTable for both figures and multiply the cover fee by the network covers you expect. Ask one more question while you are there: when a regular who already knows you books through the OpenTable app, how is that booking counted? The answer tells you how much of the fee is buying new guests and how much is buying the ones you already had.
Who OpenTable suits
Restaurants that need to be found
A new opening, a side street with no passing trade, a city centre full of visitors choosing where to eat tonight. If strangers finding you is the problem, a marketplace with millions of diners is the honest answer, and a cover fee on a guest you would never otherwise have met is a fair price for marketing.
Groups that want one big platform
OpenTable works with restaurants, groups and enterprise, pubs and bars and hotels, and integrates with POS systems such as Square, Lightspeed and Toast. If you want deposits, POS, private dining and promotions from one supplier, it has them.
Venues happy with a yearly term
The standard contract is a year. That suits a business that has already decided OpenTable is its system, and it matters more to one still testing whether the network pays its way.
Where an independent, food-led restaurant might want something different
None of this is a flaw in OpenTable. It is a question of shape. A marketplace is built to bring you new diners; a lot of independent restaurants have a different problem.
Your covers are mostly regulars
If most of the room already knows you, the value of a marketplace is in the minority of guests who would not have come otherwise. Work out that share from your own book before you sign. If it is small, you are mainly buying diary software, and diary software does not need a per-cover fee.
Your problem is the quiet Tuesday
A marketplace works the demand that arrives. If your busy nights are already full and the gap is midweek, the more useful tool is one that goes after a specific empty table from your own past guests.
You want to start without a sales call
Quoted plans and a yearly term make sense at scale. A 50-cover room testing whether online bookings are worth it may prefer something it can switch on tonight and look at properly before paying for anything.
OpenTable and Eightish, honestly compared
We make Eightish, so weigh this section accordingly. It lists only what Eightish does today, and it says plainly where OpenTable does more.
| OpenTable (UK) | Eightish | |
|---|---|---|
| Diner marketplace | Yes. Diners find and book you on OpenTable’s website and app. | No. Bookings come from your own booking page, your website, your phone and walk-ins. Eightish does not send you strangers. |
| How you pay | Plan quoted on request, plus cover fees on diners from the OpenTable network. | Flat monthly plans, published in full on the pricing page. No per-cover fee on any plan. |
| Free option | None listed on the UK plans page. | A free plan, Walk-In, for one restaurant and up to 50 online bookings a month. Phone bookings and walk-ins you enter yourself are not counted. |
| Running service | Floor plans, Smart Assign, waitlists, mobile app. | A live floor plan host stand with walk-ins, a timeline and turn timers, a waitlist that texts waiting guests when a table frees up, and an availability engine that handles turn times, pacing and table combinations. |
| Guest records | Guest database and guest profiles, with more on Pro. | The Guest Graph: one profile per diner, keyed on their phone number, with visit history. On paid plans. |
| Filling quiet nights | Network discovery, plus paid Restaurant Promotions for higher placement. | Autopilot, on paid plans: it watches the book, spots the quiet slots, works out which past guests are most likely to come back, and reaches out to them by text on its own. |
| Deposits and card holds | Included. | Deposits, on paid plans. |
| POS integration | Yes, including Square, Lightspeed and Toast. | Not available today. |
| Google “Reserve a table” | Included. | Not available today. Your booking page link can go on your Google listing. |
The short version: if being found is the problem, OpenTable is built for it and Eightish is not. If the room is already known and the problems are a diary full of people nobody remembers and quiet nights in the middle of the week, that is the shape Eightish is built for. Eightish vs OpenTable goes further on the trade between the two, and our guide to UK restaurant booking systems covers the wider field if neither is right for you.
Before you sign with OpenTable
Four questions worth asking, whichever system you end up on.
What is the plan price and the cover fee, in writing?
Neither is on the UK pages, so get both from the sales team and work out a month at your real volume, not a quiet one.
Which bookings count as network bookings?
OpenTable charges for diners who discover you on its site, app and partner network. Ask how a booking is classed when a regular who already knows you uses the app.
When is the renewal date?
With a one-year term that renews and 30 days’ notice to leave, the renewal date is the one that matters. Note it on day one.
Which add-ons will you actually need?
Premium SMS, Private Dining and Promotions are priced separately. Decide which you would use before the demo, not during it.
OpenTable for restaurants: common questions
How does OpenTable work for restaurants?
OpenTable is two things at once. It is table management software that runs your diary, floor plan and guest records, and it is a diner marketplace where people browse restaurants on OpenTable's website and app and book a table. OpenTable says it is trusted by more than 70,000 restaurants worldwide. In the UK it sells two plans, Core and Pro, and charges a cover fee for diners who find you through its network.
How much does OpenTable cost a restaurant in the UK?
OpenTable does not publish its UK plan prices. Its pricing page lists Core and Pro with “Contact us for pricing” on both. On top of the plan, it charges a cover fee for seated diners who discover you on OpenTable's website, app or partner network. The size of that fee is not on its UK pages either, so ask for both numbers in writing before you compare.
Is OpenTable free for restaurants?
No. There is no free plan on OpenTable's UK pricing page; Core and Pro are both quoted on request. What is free on Core and Pro, according to OpenTable, is any reservation that comes from your own website, along with phone bookings and walk-ins. You pay cover fees only on seated diners who came through OpenTable's network.
Does OpenTable charge for bookings from my own website?
Not on Core or Pro. OpenTable's UK pricing page says that on those plans all reservations from your website are free, and that it does not charge for phone bookings or walk-ins. Cover fees apply to diners who discover you on OpenTable's website, app or affiliate network, and only once they are seated, so no-shows and cancellations are not charged.
How long is an OpenTable contract?
OpenTable's UK pricing page says the standard contract is one year and renews each year, and that you need to tell OpenTable 30 days before the renewal date if you want to leave. Put that date in your diary the day you sign.
Is there an alternative to OpenTable for an independent restaurant?
Yes, and the useful split is between marketplaces and booking systems. A marketplace like OpenTable brings you diners who did not know you existed. A booking system such as Eightish runs the diary and the guest list on your own website, with no per-cover fee, but it does not send you strangers. If discovery is not your problem, a booking system is usually the simpler fit. Eightish vs OpenTable goes through it side by side.
If your room is already known, start with your own guests.
Eightish has a free plan for one restaurant. Set it up tonight and judge it on a real service.