Compare — argued fairly
Eightish vs ResDiary
ResDiary is the UK-built incumbent: solid, proven, and everywhere in pubs and hotel dining rooms. The honest differences are the true monthly cost once add-ons land, and what the system does on the nights your diary is thin.
| Eightish | ResDiary | |
|---|---|---|
| Listed price | Free plan, then £69–£249/mo flat. | £109–£279/mo + VAT, plus £99 setup. |
| True entry cost | £69 + £99 setup. Reminders and confirmations included up to your cover band. | Customer-reported £150–£175 once SMS bundles, POS integration, vouchers and pre-orders are added at £10–£35/mo each. |
| Messaging | Unlimited confirmations and reminders, included on every paid plan. | SMS typically bought in bundles as an add-on; email included. |
| Filling quiet nights | Autopilot proactively offers held tables to your overdue regulars, holdout-proved. | Yield management optimises the demand that arrives; it doesn't generate demand for a specific quiet night. |
| Guest memory | Phone-keyed Guest Graph with rhythms, tags and no-show history on tonight's book. | Guest database with booking history; strong records, less built around proactive recognition. |
| Interface | Floor plan-first host stand; timeline one tap away. | Grid-first diary (time × tables); floor plan as secondary view. Deep pub/hotel distribution. |
Figures researched August 2026 from published pricing and customer reports. Corrections welcome: hello@eightish.co.uk.
Which one is right for your restaurant
When ResDiary is the right choice
You're a hotel dining room or pub group that wants the system your ops team already knows, with yield management tuned over fifteen years and a big integration catalogue. It's a mature product with real distribution, and if grid view is how your team thinks, it's a fine home.
When Eightish is
You're an independent that cares about the two numbers ResDiary doesn't move by itself: your no-show rate and your quiet Tuesdays. Eightish costs less once ResDiary's add-ons are counted, includes reminders rather than selling them as an SMS bundle, and is the only one of the two with an agent whose job is filling the room.
Resenting the bill is not a plan.
We migrate ResDiary diaries on the setup call. £69 a month, and a free plan you can sit on first.