Compare — argued fairly
Eightish vs OpenTable
The shortest honest version: OpenTable is a demand network that rents you its diners and charges per cover. Eightish is a system that turns your diners into regulars for a flat monthly fee. Which one you need depends on whether your problem is being unknown — or being forgotten.
| Eightish | OpenTable (UK) | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Flat: free plan, then £69–£249/mo. No per-cover fees, ever. The free plan charges 40p an online booking past 50, capped at £69 a month — the only per-unit charge we have, and it has a ceiling. | Reported around £112/mo plus £0.50–£2 per seated cover from the network (quote-based; figures are customer-reported). |
| Whose guest is it? | Yours. Phone-keyed Guest Graph, per-venue consent, exportable. | Diners hold OpenTable accounts; the network relationship is fundamentally theirs. |
| No-show tools | WhatsApp reminders with one-word cancel, smart risk-based deposits, no-show flags on tonight's book, waitlist auto-fill. | Reminders and card-hold options; strong, but built around the network booking flow. |
| Filling quiet nights | Autopilot offers held tables to your own overdue regulars, with a holdout that proves lift. | Network discovery across Google, Maps, TripAdvisor and more — genuinely powerful for new-guest demand. |
| Floor plan & service | Live floor plan-first host stand, walk-ins, waitlist, timeline. | Mature table management, iPad-centric, well proven at scale. |
| Setup | £99, includes a 45-minute working session and diary migration. | Varies by package and sales process. |
OpenTable's UK pricing is quote-based; figures above are customer-reported ranges, researched August 2026. Tell us if we're out of date: hello@eightish.co.uk.
Which one is right for your restaurant
When OpenTable is the right choice
You're new, unknown, in a city-centre tourist flow, and your problem is that strangers can't find you. OpenTable's network puts you in front of diners browsing Google, Maps and TripAdvisor — and you pay per cover because those genuinely are covers you'd never have had. That trade can be worth it, and we'd rather say so than pretend otherwise.
When Eightish is
You're established, you take phone bookings, your regulars matter, and per-cover fees on guests who were coming anyway have started to sting. Your problem isn't being unknown — it's no-shows, quiet Tuesdays, and a diary full of people nobody remembers. That's the exact shape Eightish is built for. OpenTable rents you their customers. We turn yours into regulars.
Leaving the network?
We migrate your OpenTable diary on the setup call. Guests notice nothing except better reminders.