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

OpenTable charges restaurants a monthly plan plus a fee for every guest it seats. Basic is 149 USD a month plus 1.50 USD per network cover, Core is 299 USD and Pro is 499 USD a month, each plus 1.00 USD per network cover. Website bookings cost 0.25 USD a cover or 49 USD a month flat on Basic and are included on Core and Pro. A 2% service fee applies to deposits and prepayments.

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How much does OpenTable charge restaurants?

OpenTable charges between 149 and 499 USD a month for the plan, plus 1.00 to 1.50 USD for each diner seated from its network. For most busy restaurants the cover fees are the bigger half of the bill. A restaurant seating 1,200 network covers a month pays 1,200 to 1,800 USD in cover fees on top of its subscription.

The three published US plans look like this:

Figures are OpenTable's published US plan prices before tax, as listed on its restaurant plans pages and confirmed across independent pricing reviews. Card processing is separate on any system.

How much does OpenTable charge per reservation?

OpenTable does not charge per reservation. It charges per cover, meaning per guest seated. A party of six booked through the OpenTable app costs 9.00 USD on Basic and 6.00 USD on Core or Pro. The same party booked on your own website costs 1.50 USD on Basic if you pay per cover, and nothing extra on Core or Pro.

A network cover is a guest who booked through opentable.com, the OpenTable app or one of its affiliate partners. That includes regulars who open the app out of habit rather than typing your web address, which is why many owners find their network cover count higher than the number of genuinely new guests.

OpenTable says restaurants pay only for seated diners, so no-shows and cancellations do not generate a cover fee.

What a month costs at three restaurant sizes

Subscription prices say little on their own. Here is the same month worked out on each plan for three restaurants, assuming the Basic restaurant takes the 49 USD flat website option whenever it is cheaper than 0.25 USD a cover:

Over a year the busy independent pays about 18,000 USD on Core. The high-volume room pays close to 40,000 USD. None of these totals include the 2% service fee on deposits, add-ons such as the 19 USD a month premium SMS option on Core, or card processing.

Is OpenTable Basic or Core cheaper?

Basic is cheaper only for low-volume restaurants. Because Basic charges 0.50 USD more per network cover, Core pays for its higher subscription once you seat about 200 network covers a month if you also pay the 49 USD website flat fee, or about 300 network covers a month if you take no website bookings at all. Above that, Core wins every month.

Pro costs 200 USD a month more than Core with the same cover fee. You pay that for Pro's added marketing, guest data and reporting features, so the choice between them is about tools, not about cover volume.

What the 2% service fee adds

OpenTable applies a 2% service fee to transactions it processes for you, including deposits, prepaid experiences and no-show charges. On 5,000 USD a month of deposits and prepaid tickets, that is 100 USD a month, or 1,200 USD a year, before the card processor takes its own share. For a restaurant that sells a prepaid tasting menu or holiday events, model this line before comparing plans.

Is there a contract with OpenTable?

Yes. OpenTable plans are sold on a term agreement rather than month to month. Independent reviews of OpenTable's Basic plan terms describe a one-year agreement that renews on its own unless you cancel at least 30 days before renewal. Ask for the term length, the renewal notice window and the data export terms in writing before you sign, and diary the notice date the day you do.

How to find what you actually pay OpenTable

The invoice shows the subscription and cover count, but the full cost is spread across the monthly bill, the service fee on deposits and card processing, often debited on different days. Pull twelve months of bank statements and total every OpenTable debit. If your bank only gives you PDFs, convert the bank statement to a spreadsheet and filter by payee. It takes minutes, and the yearly number is usually larger than the one on the renewal quote.

Then set that total against a count of network covers that were genuinely new guests. If most of them were regulars who happened to use the app, you are paying a fee on demand you built yourself.

Is OpenTable worth it for a small restaurant?

It is worth it when the network brings you guests you would not otherwise see: a tourist district, a new opening, a restaurant with no website traffic. It is rarely worth it when most bookings come from locals, regulars and people who searched your name on Google. In that case the cover fee is a tax on your own reputation.

Resy is the usual second quote. It charges no cover fees, from 289 USD a month, and we broke down its four plans in Resy pricing for restaurants. For a restaurant that does not need a diner app at all, a flat per-venue system costs the least.

The trade is the diner network. OpenTable and Resy both bring discovery. A flat-fee system brings none, and relies on your website, Google profile and Instagram, which is where most regulars book anyway. The full cover by cover comparison and the switching steps are on our OpenTable alternative without cover fees page.

How to lower your OpenTable bill without leaving

• Put your own booking link on your Google Business Profile and Instagram, so returning guests book as website covers instead of network covers
• Move from Basic to Core once you pass about 200 network covers a month
• Ask regulars to book through your site in the confirmation email and on the receipt
• Check whether you need Pro's extra features, or whether Core with the SMS add-on covers the same need for 181 USD a month less
• Negotiate at renewal with a competing written quote in hand

When a flat per-venue system is the better buy

If your cover fees are larger than your subscription most months, you are paying mostly for the network. When that network is not bringing new guests, a reservation system that charges per venue does the same job for a fixed amount. Our restaurant reservation system costs 49 USD a month on Core or 149 USD on Growth with deposits and SMS reminders, per venue, with no fee per guest on any booking. All four plans are on pricing, and a group comparing quote-based vendors can read our SevenRooms alternative page as well.

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