Reserving is a restaurant waitlist app built into the reservation book. When a party walks in, the host types the name, phone and party size, and the wait is worked out from the tables that fit that party, the bookings already on them and the walk-ins ahead. Walk-ins and reservations sit on one board, so the door never promises a table the book has already sold. It costs 49 USD per venue a month, or 149 USD with SMS to the guest, deposits and a queue that refills cancelled tables. There is no fee per cover.
Harbor Room
Service 17:00 to 23:00
Service board
Table fitted
Deposit rule
No-show risk
Reminders
01
A restaurant waitlist app replaces the clipboard at the host stand. The host adds each walk-in party with a name, a phone number and a party size, the app gives a quoted wait, and the party is seated or marked as left when their turn comes. Better apps text the guest when the table is ready so nobody has to crowd the door.
Most standalone waitlist apps leave the quote to the host's gut. Reserving works it out. It looks for a table that fits the party right now. If none is free, it takes the earliest moment a fitting table clears, using the end time of the booking on it, then adds the parties of a similar size already waiting, and rounds up to five minutes.
That is why the quote holds on a Friday at 7:30. A four-top booked for 8:00 is not offered to a walk-in who would still be on dessert at 8:40.
Walk-ins, Friday dinner
4 waitingAlvarez party of 2
now
Joined 7:41 pm. Seat now, table 6 is free for a full turn
Seat
Chen party of 4
25 min
Joined 7:43 pm. Table 12 clears at 8:05, 1 party of 4 ahead
Text when ready
Okafor party of 6
40 min
Joined 7:48 pm. Tables 14 and 15 combine at 8:25
Text when ready
Brennan party of 2
15 min
Joined 7:52 pm. Bar high-top clears at 8:05
Text when ready
02
A dedicated restaurant waitlist app costs about 30 to 100 USD a month in the US, and the price is usually set by how many texts you send. Waitlist systems inside a reservation platform cost more, from 149 USD a month, because the book and the floor plan come with them. Some platforms also charge per network cover.
The question to ask is whether you also take reservations. If you do, a separate waitlist app means two lists the host has to reconcile at the door.
| App | Price per month | What decides the bill |
|---|---|---|
| Waitlist Me | 34.99, 59.99 or 99.99 USD monthly, 27.99 to 79.99 USD yearly | 1,000, 2,500 or 5,000 notifications, then 0.02 USD each; tables and floor plans on the upper plans |
| TablesReady | free tier, then 39 or 79 USD billed yearly | 150 messages and 100 parties on free, 1,000 messages on paid; bookings and table management on Business |
| Waitwhile | free tier, then from 31 or 55 USD | visits per month (2,500 or 5,000); SMS is a paid credit on the lower plans |
| Yelp Guest Manager | quote only | plan and Yelp listing; reviews report entry plans of roughly 99 to 129 USD |
| OpenTable | 149, 299 or 499 USD | plus 1.00 to 1.50 USD per guest booked through the OpenTable network |
| Reserving | 49 USD Core, 149 USD Growth, half that billed yearly | one flat price per venue, no per-cover or per-party fee |
Waitlist Me, TablesReady and Waitwhile prices are from their own pricing pages. Yelp Guest Manager does not publish prices, so the range is from 2026 reviews. OpenTable figures are its published plan fees and network cover fees.
03
One screen for the door and the book. Everything a host does during a rush happens in two taps, and every walk-in becomes a guest record you keep.
04
If you never take bookings, a waitlist app alone is enough and a cheap one is fine. If you take bookings for even part of the night, you need both, and they need to share one list of tables. Otherwise the host quotes 20 minutes for a table that is booked in 15.
Then 30 to 40 USD a month for Waitlist Me or TablesReady is fair, and we would not try to talk you out of it.
Here the waitlist is part of the restaurant reservation system, not a second app at the door.
05
The best waitlist app for a restaurant depends on whether you also take bookings. For a walk-in only room, Waitlist Me and TablesReady are simple and cheap. For a room that mixes both, the best choice is a waitlist inside the reservation book, so quotes respect the tables already sold.
| Restaurant | Good pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Walk-in only, one location | Waitlist Me or TablesReady | cheap, text alerts included, no booking book to sync |
| Walk-in only, several locations | Waitwhile | up to 10 locations on one plan, priced by visits |
| Heavy Yelp traffic | Yelp Guest Manager | guests join from your Yelp listing |
| Reservations plus walk-ins | Reserving | quotes from the real book, one board, flat price per venue |
| 2 to 5 locations, mixed | Reserving Multi-Venue | 499 USD for 5 venues, wait times and no-shows reported by venue |
06
Most restaurants run the waitlist on the same day they sign up. The work is describing your tables once, because the quote is only as good as the table list behind it.
Add each table with its seats, which tables combine for larger parties, and the turn time for lunch and dinner. The bar and patio go in as their own sections.
Import existing reservations by CSV and paste the booking widget on your site, so bookings and walk-ins share the same tables from the first night.
Open the board on the host stand tablet. A new walk-in is a name, a phone number and a party size, and the quote appears straight away.
On Growth, switch on SMS so guests get a message when their table is ready, and the queue offers cancelled bookings to the next party.
Most hosts estimate by eye, from how far along the seated tables look. Software does it from data. Reserving takes the earliest moment a table that fits the party clears, from the end time of the booking on it, adds the similar-sized parties already waiting, and rounds up to five minutes. The quote respects tables already booked for later.
Walk-in only restaurants often use Waitlist Me, TablesReady or Waitwhile. Restaurants on a reservation platform use the waitlist built into it, such as OpenTable, Yelp Guest Manager or Reserving. The built-in kind is the better fit when you take bookings too, because walk-ins and reservations then share one table list.
Yes, on Growth. The guest's phone number is taken when they join the queue, and they get a text when the table is ready, so they can wait at the bar or outside. Core keeps the queue and the quoted wait on the host stand screen without texts, which suits a small room where the host calls names.
Yes. That is the point of a waitlist inside the reservation book. On Reserving, walk-ins, phone bookings, widget bookings and Google bookings all land on one board, so seating a walk-in updates the same tables the online booking page offers.
Yes. Standalone waitlist apps charge by plan and by text volume, not by cover. Reserving charges a flat 49 or 149 USD per venue a month, half that billed yearly, with no fee per cover or per party. OpenTable is the main platform that adds a fee per network cover.
Quote the real wait rounded up, never down. A party told 20 minutes and seated in 15 is happy; a party told 15 and seated in 25 often leaves. Five-minute steps work well, and quotes over 45 minutes should come with an offer to book a later table instead.
Create your account, describe your tables and put the board on the host stand tablet tonight.
Enter the email address that runs your venue and we take it from there. One field, no card, no sales call.
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