Guide · UK restaurant booking systems, 2026

Best restaurant booking systems in the UK (2026)

Ten systems UK restaurants choose between, compared on how they charge, how long they tie you in and who they suit — read from each provider's own pages, with a dash where they don't publish an answer.

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How we compared

The same seven questions, asked of every system

We make TableTango, so read this as a guide from a maker, not a referee. To keep it fair, every line about another system was read on that company's own public pages on the date below, we quote their wording where it matters, and we write "not published" rather than guess. We do not repeat anyone's prices — they change, and each section links to the page that has them.

Pricing model, and any per-cover or commission charge — a flat monthly fee, a fee per cover, or a commission on the bill.
Contract and notice — where the provider publishes them.
Who it suits — a single independent, or a group with central reservations.
Channel — bookings on your own website and listing, or through a consumer marketplace.
No-show tools — reminders, card holds, deposits, a waitlist.
AI and phone booking — can a guest book without a human picking up?
Data — whether your guest list is yours to export.

Last checked: 7 October 2026. Spotted something out of date? Email hello@tabletango.co.uk and we will correct it.

At a glance

Ten live systems, Quandoo and a free form, in one table

A dash means the provider does not publish that answer on the page we checked. Each name links to the detail and its source.

System	How it charges	Per-cover or commission	Contract, as published	Best fit
TableTango	Flat monthly fee — £29.99 per venue, first 30 days free	None, ever	None — cancel any time	UK independents, one venue, own bookings
ResDiary (Access)	Monthly subscription, packages and add-ons	Zero commission on own-channel and DesignMyNight bookings (its words)	—	Independents through to large groups
OpenTable	Subscription, two plans, pricing on contact	Cover fees on seated diners from its network; none on own-website or phone bookings	One year, auto-renews; 30 days' notice before renewal	Marketplace demand; groups and hotels
TheFork Manager	Subscription, three plans, pricing on request	A percentage of your average bill per guest on marketplace bookings; own-channel bookings included	—	TheFork and Tripadvisor demand; groups
SevenRooms	Three plans, quote only	No cover fees on its partner marketplace (its words)	—	Groups, hotels, enterprise
simpleERB	Flat monthly fee, tiered by covers	None	Monthly, no lock-in	UK venues of all sizes
Favouritetable	Monthly tiers, plus free and pay-per-cover options	None on subscription tiers; the pay-as-you-go option charges per cover	"No Tie-ins" (its words); free and pay-as-you-go options contract-free; notice period not stated	UK restaurants, pubs, cafés, groups
Seatly	Flat monthly fee, three tiers	None	Monthly rolling, no notice period	UK independents
Access Collins	From-price per site, demo-led	—	—	Bars, pubs, clubs, multi-site
NomNom	Flat monthly fee per venue	None on bookings	No contract, no notice period	Independents; several venues from one account
Quandoo UK	Closed	—	—	No longer available — see our switching guide
A free form	No cost	None	None	A handful of bookings a week

System by system

What each one is — in its own words where we can

TableTango

Flat monthly fee · your own channel · UK independents

Pricing model: One plan at £29.99 per venue a month, flat. Your first 30 days are free from go-live, with no card to start.
Per-cover or commission: None, ever — and no per-ticket fee on events.
Contract: None. Cancel any time.
Channel: Your own booking page and link — on your website, Google profile, Instagram and a printed QR poster. Not a marketplace.
No-shows: Email confirmations and day-before reminders, guest-book tags for guests with two or more recent no-shows, waitlist auto-fill and optional guest texts on SMS credit. No-show Shield holds a card on the bookings you choose and charges a no-show fee under your own policy through Stripe Connect — the fee is yours, less Stripe’s processing fee; TableTango takes no commission. It is included in your plan at no extra cost and available on request.
AI and phone: Guests book 24/7 by AI chat or a simple form on your page. Phone bookings and walk-ins go into the same live book in a couple of taps — we do not answer the phone for you. Read our AI reservations guide for an example and its limits.
Data: Your guest book is yours — names, numbers and visit history belong to your restaurant. Export it at any time and ask us for your complete booking history, with no TableTango fee.
Guest marketing: Guest marketing through your own Mailchimp is included too, switched on on request. Only guests who tick the box for your email news and offers are copied, and unsubscribes come back automatically. You send your emails from Mailchimp.
Suits: UK independents running one venue on bookings they attract themselves. Hotel restaurants can use it for dining bookings and private functions at one venue. It is not hotel bedroom-booking or property-management software, a multi-site central-reservations system or a diner marketplace. It runs alongside your till rather than inside it.

Source: our pricing and what is included · checked 7 October 2026

ResDiary (The Access Group)

Monthly subscription · zero commission · independents to large groups

Pricing model: A monthly subscription sold as packages with add-ons. Its homepage describes it as low monthly pricing with zero commission; prices are not shown on the page we checked.
Per-cover or commission: None on bookings from your website, social media, Google and DesignMyNight, in its own words.
Contract: Not published on the page we checked.
Channel: Your own website, Google and social, plus a listing on DesignMyNight, the discovery site Access also owns.
No-shows: Lists automated reminders, deposits and prepayments, and AI-driven insights it says help identify no-show risks; card-hold detail is not on its homepage.
AI and phone: Its homepage describes AI for insights and review summaries, not for taking bookings by chat or phone.
Data: Guest-data export is not mentioned on its homepage.
Suits: Single operators, small groups and large group operations — it addresses all three.

Source: ResDiary: Restaurant Booking System · checked 7 October 2026

OpenTable

Marketplace · subscription plus cover fees on network diners

Pricing model: A subscription in two plans, priced on contact with its sales team; an enterprise route is offered separately.
Per-cover or commission: Cover fees only on seated diners who found you through OpenTable's website, app or affiliate network. Its FAQ says bookings from your own website, by phone or as walk-ins are not charged, and nor are no-shows or cancellations.
Contract: Its FAQ says the standard contract is one year and renews annually unless you tell OpenTable 30 days before the renewal date.
Channel: The OpenTable diner network and partner sites, plus a booking widget for your own website and Google's "Reserve a table" button.
No-shows: Deposits and credit-card holds are listed on both plans.
AI and phone: A feature named DineCall is listed on its plans page without a description. Its FAQ says bookings taken by phone at the restaurant are not charged.
Data: A guest database with tags and notes is listed; export is not mentioned on its plans page.
Suits: Restaurants that want marketplace demand, restaurant groups, hotels and larger operations.

Source: Pricing & Plans | OpenTable for Restaurants · checked 7 October 2026

TheFork Manager

Marketplace · subscription plus a percentage fee on marketplace bookings

Pricing model: A subscription in three plans — Visibility, Performance and Enterprise — each marked "Ask for pricing".
Per-cover or commission: On bookings that arrive through TheFork marketplace, Tripadvisor and partner channels, a fee based on a percentage of your average bill per guest. Bookings from your own website, Instagram and Facebook are included without commission, per its pricing page.
Contract: Not published on its pricing page.
Channel: TheFork and Tripadvisor diner audience, plus your own channels.
No-shows: Credit-card imprints and pre-payments, reconfirmation by SMS and email, and AI no-show prediction alerts. Its plan table marks the card guarantee, pre-payments and SMS reconfirmation "Not Included" on Visibility; they come with Performance and Enterprise.
AI and phone: Lists "automatic call assistants" for phone bookings among its features.
Data: Lists building your own guest database, with import and export of guest information.
Suits: Restaurants that want TheFork's diner audience; the Enterprise plan is built for multi-venue groups.

Source: Restaurant Software Price | TheFork Manager · checked 7 October 2026

SevenRooms

Quote-only · groups, hotels and enterprise

Pricing model: Three plans, priced by quote; no prices are published on its pricing page. Its FAQ says there is also a one-time setup fee, and that it never charges reservation fees.
Per-cover or commission: Its pricing page says access to the DoorDash and Deliveroo reservation marketplace comes with no cover fees.
Contract: Not published on its pricing page.
Channel: Your own channels plus that partner marketplace.
No-shows: Not detailed on its pricing page.
AI and phone: Lists Voice AI as an available add-on, which it says answers every guest call and books reservations.
Data: Not published on its pricing page.
Suits: Restaurants and restaurant groups, hotels, membership clubs, nightclubs and bars, and sports and entertainment venues, per its "Who we serve" menu; its entry plan is called Starter, described as "Essential Operations".

Source: SevenRooms Pricing | Flexible Plans for Hospitality Operators · checked 7 October 2026

simpleERB

Flat monthly fee, tiered by covers · UK · no lock-in

Pricing model: A flat monthly subscription, tiered by how many covers you seat a month, with a Small Chain tier for up to five restaurants. Prices are published on its pricing page.
Per-cover or commission: None — "not a per-cover fee", in its own words.
Contract: Monthly with no lock-in. Its pricing FAQ says you can cancel at any time, taking effect at the start of the next billing period, and its homepage says you can pause your plan and restart at any time.
Channel: A booking widget on your own website, plus Google, Facebook and Instagram.
No-shows: No-show protection tools and a built-in waitlist on every plan; card capture and payments are bundled into its top plan. A free trial measured in covers, with no card needed.
AI and phone: Not published on its pricing page.
Data: Not published on its pricing page.
Suits: Restaurants, bars and venues of all sizes, in its own words; its about page describes it as a restaurant technology company based in the UK.

Source: Restaurant Booking System Pricing: Affordable Plans, No Lock-In | simpleERB · checked 7 October 2026

Favouritetable

Monthly tiers, plus free and pay-per-cover options · UK

Pricing model: Monthly subscription tiers billed monthly or annually, with prices published. It also offers a free entry level capped at a small number of online bookings a month, and a pay-as-you-go option charged per cover.
Per-cover or commission: "No Commission, No Per-Cover Fees, No Tie-ins" on its subscription tiers, in its own words. The pay-as-you-go option is, by design, a charge per cover.
Contract: Its pricing page says "No Tie-ins", and marks the free and pay-as-you-go options "Contract-free"; a notice period for the subscription tiers is not shown.
Channel: Your own website; booking inside Google search is listed as included.
No-shows: Online card payments, and payments for no-shows and late cancellations.
AI and phone: Not published on its pricing page.
Data: Not published on its pricing page.
Suits: UK restaurants, pubs, cafés, bars, hotels and groups; based in Reading.

Source: Pricing Plans | Favouritetable · checked 7 October 2026

Seatly

Flat monthly fee · UK independents · no notice period

Pricing model: One flat monthly fee in three tiers, with prices published on its site.
Per-cover or commission: None — no per-cover charges.
Contract: Monthly rolling, no minimum term and no notice period, in its own words.
Channel: A booking widget on your own website rather than a consumer marketplace.
No-shows: Automatic email and text reminders the day before; card deposits and pre-payments on prime-time, group and private-dining bookings on its Business tier, taken through your own Stripe account.
AI and phone: Not a booking feature on its homepage; the AI it describes is a plain-English summary in analytics.
Data: Says your customer data belongs to your restaurant, with full exports on demand.
Suits: UK independents — restaurants, cafés, bistros and pubs.

Source: Seatly - The Digital Concierge for Independent Restaurants · checked 7 October 2026

Access Collins (DesignMyNight)

From-price per site · bars, pubs, clubs and groups

Pricing model: Publishes a from-price per site per month; packages are demo-led. Collins sits under The Access Group, and designmynight.com/collins now redirects to its page.
Per-cover or commission: Its page does not mention per-cover fees or commission either way.
Contract: Not published on its page.
Channel: Your own channels plus discovery on DesignMyNight, which Access runs.
No-shows: Deposits, pre-orders and payment at the point of booking.
AI and phone: Lists an AI voice assistant, Access Collins Call AI, which it says handles enquiries and bookings automatically.
Data: Not published on its page.
Suits: Bars, pubs, clubs, hotels and restaurants, single and multi-site, with pre-orders for large party bookings.

Source: Hospitality Booking Software for Easy Reservation Management · checked 7 October 2026

NomNom

Flat monthly fee per venue · one plan · no contract

Pricing model: A flat monthly fee per venue with the price published on its site: one plan with every feature included — "No add-ons. No upsells.", in its words — with SMS credits bought separately and a separately priced website design and hosting service. A 14-day free trial and no setup fee.
Per-cover or commission: None on bookings. SMS credits are bought separately.
Contract: "No contract. Ever" and no notice period, in its own words.
Channel: Embedded booking on your own website; a Google integration is described as upcoming.
No-shows: Deposits and card holds through Stripe.
AI and phone: No AI or phone-answering booking is described; its copy is about taking a phone booking fast at the desk.
Data: "Download every booking, with each guest's contact details, as a spreadsheet whenever you like", in its own words.
Suits: Independents, and anyone running more than one venue from a single account; a developer API for your EPOS or till supplier.

Source: NomNom — Restaurant Reservation & Booking Software, in Your Browser · checked 7 October 2026

Quandoo UK

Closed

Status: Quandoo's own notice says it has completed its planned closure and its platform is no longer available. Anyone with open questions is asked to contact it by 31 December 2026.
If you were on Quandoo: Our switching guide covers existing bookings, your guest list and getting a new booking link live.

Source: An Important Update on Quandoo Services · checked 7 October 2026

A free booking form

No cost · no availability check

Pricing model: No cost, and no commission.
What it does: Takes any request without seeing your tables, so someone re-keys every booking into the diary, catches double-bookings by eye and sends the confirmations by hand.
Suits: A venue with a handful of bookings a week. If that someone is you on a Friday night, the form is costing you covers.

Which should you choose

An honest answer depends on where your bookings come from

You run one independent restaurant and your bookings already come to you — your website, your Google listing, Instagram, regulars. A flat monthly fee on your own channel is the better fit, because a per-cover fee on those guests is a fee on bookings you already had. TableTango is built for exactly this: one plan at £29.99 a month, no per-cover commission, no contract, and your guest book is yours. simpleERB, Seatly, NomNom and Favouritetable also publish flat monthly tiers; compare their pages too.

You depend on being found by people who have never heard of you. A marketplace can earn its cover fee. OpenTable and TheFork both charge only on the diners their network brings and leave your own-website bookings uncharged — read the contract term before you sign, because OpenTable's standard term is a year.

You run a restaurant group or need central reservations across venues. You want multi-site reporting, central reservations across venues and an account manager. SevenRooms, ResDiary, OpenTable and Access Collins are built for that; TableTango is built around a single venue's book, and we would rather say so than stretch it.

You run a bar or club that lives on big party bookings and pre-orders. Access Collins is built around those, with DesignMyNight for discovery.

Where TableTango is not the answer yet: it runs alongside your till rather than inside it; it does not yet offer booking inside Google search itself — your booking link goes on your Google profile instead; and it does not answer your phone for you — guests book themselves 24/7 by AI chat or form, and your team types phone bookings into the same live book. If any of those is a must-have today, look at the systems above that list them.

Before you compare quotes, our guide to what a booking system costs lists every charge to ask about, with a worked example to redo with your own numbers.

Questions

Choosing a booking system — what owners ask

What is the best restaurant booking system in the UK for an independent?

It depends on where your bookings come from. An independent whose guests already book direct is best served by a flat monthly fee with no per-cover charge — TableTango is built for that, and simpleERB, Seatly, NomNom and Favouritetable publish flat tiers too. A restaurant that needs to be discovered may get its money's worth from a marketplace's cover fee, and a group with central reservations needs multi-site tooling such as SevenRooms, ResDiary, OpenTable or Access Collins.

Which UK booking systems charge per cover or commission?

On the pages we checked on 7 October 2026: OpenTable charges cover fees on seated diners who found you through its own site, app or affiliate network, and not on bookings from your website or phone. TheFork Manager charges a fee based on a percentage of your average bill per guest on bookings from its marketplace, with own-channel bookings included. Favouritetable's pay-as-you-go option is charged per cover. TableTango, ResDiary, simpleERB, Seatly and NomNom state flat monthly pricing with no commission. Terms change, so read each provider's current page before you decide.

Do UK booking systems tie you into a contract?

Some do. OpenTable's own FAQ says its standard contract is one year and renews annually unless you give 30 days' notice. simpleERB, Seatly and NomNom describe monthly terms with no lock-in. TableTango has no contract: cancel any time. Where a provider does not publish its terms, ask before you sign.

Is a marketplace ever the right choice?

A marketplace's consumer app can be worthwhile when it brings you diners you would not otherwise reach. Compare the total subscription and channel fees with the extra bookings it brings; direct bookings are not charged by every provider or plan. Check what guest data you can access and export, too. TableTango runs the bookings you attract yourself, commission-free.

What does a free form actually cost?

The re-keying: every request typed into a diary by hand, double-bookings caught by eye, confirmations you remember to send. A booking system sees your real availability, assigns the table and confirms and reminds the guest automatically.

What happened to Quandoo in the UK?

Quandoo's own notice says it has completed its planned closure and its platform is no longer available; it asks anyone with open questions to get in touch by 31 December 2026. If you took bookings through Quandoo, our switching guide covers existing bookings, your guest list and getting a new booking link live.

Can we add booking to our existing website?

Yes. Link a Book a table button to your TableTango booking page, or add the TableTango booking box to your website. You can also put your booking link on your Google profile and social profiles.

Keep every cover yours.

One plan, £29.99/month per venue — no commission and no per-cover fees, ever. Your first 30 days are free from go-live, with no card to start.

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