The best reservation system for a small restaurant: how to choose
A small restaurant needs a booking page, a clear screen for service and a price that fits a quiet month.
ResOlio gives a small restaurant its own booking page, an embed for its website and a service screen for the team, free for 50 bookings a month. Here is what a small place needs from a reservation system, a short list of systems that publish their prices, and what ResOlio costs as you grow.
What a small restaurant needs, and what it can skip
- Your own booking page, so guests can book from Google, Instagram or a message.
- An embed for your website, so they can book without leaving it.
- One book for everything: online bookings, phone bookings and walk-ins together.
- Your floor as it really is, with tables you can combine for a bigger party.
- Reminders by email, so fewer tables sit empty.
- A price you can read, that stays the same however full the room gets.
What you can skip: a fee for each guest, a long contract, a deposit asked of your guests, and features built for a group of fifty restaurants.
A shortlist, with published prices
Five systems that publish a price on their own page, ResOlio first. For the free plans side by side, see free restaurant booking systems compared.
| Booking system | What it publishes a month | Fee per cover |
|---|---|---|
| ResOlio | Free €0 (50 bookings), Starter €39, Plus €59, Pro €99 | None, and guests never pay |
| resOS | Free €0 (25 bookings), Basic €45, Plus €85, Unlimited €125 | None, its FAQ says |
| Eat App | Free $0 (100 guests), Lite $99, Core $199, Pro $389 | Not stated on its pricing page |
| Tablein | Starter €67 (50 reservations), Growth €117, Success €177; no free plan | None per cover; €0.67 for each reservation over Starter’s 50 |
| Zenchef | Reserve €129, Manage €169, Grow €249 (French page); no free plan | €0 on Reserve, its page says |
ResOlio
ResOlio gives each restaurant one flat price, with every price on the page. Free gives you 50 bookings a month at no cost, Starter 500 for €39, Plus 1,500 for €59, and Pro as many as you take for €99. No plan charges a fee per cover, and your guests never pay. Every plan gives you your own booking page and an embed for your website, a service screen with your floor map, and emails that confirm and remind, in English, French and Arabic, Arabic right to left. From Starter, Olio, the AI host, books guests on your page; from Plus, on WhatsApp too. On Pro, keep a guest book of every visit, run a waiting list and pace your arrivals. Start free or see every plan.
resOS
resOS also charges a flat price by plan, and like ResOlio it has a free plan and charges no fee per cover. Its pricing page lists Free at €0 for 25 bookings a month, Basic at €45 for 350, Plus at €85 for 750 and Unlimited at €125. Text messages are an add-on at €0.10 each. ResOlio vs resOS.
Eat App
Eat App has a free plan, and shows a price for each paid plan, in dollars. Its pricing page lists Free for 100 guests a month, then Lite at $99 a month, Core at $199 and Pro at $389, or $69, $159 and $299 a month paid yearly. Enterprise is on request.
Tablein
Tablein charges by plan and offers a 14-day free trial with no card required. Its pricing page lists Starter at €67 a month for 50 reservations, Growth at €117 for 150 and Success at €177 with no limit. A reservation over Starter’s 50 costs €0.67. It has no free plan.
Zenchef
Zenchef publishes its prices on its French page, with €0 commission per cover on Reserve, and its plans can take card payments from guests. Reserve is €129 a month, Manage €169 and Grow €249. Its English page publishes no amounts, and it has no free plan. ResOlio vs Zenchef.
What ResOlio costs at 50, 500 and 1,500 bookings
On ResOlio, a booking is a table, whatever its size: a table of six is one booking. You pay one flat price for the month, never a fee per booking or per cover.
| Bookings a month | ResOlio plan | Price a month |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 50 | Free | €0 |
| Up to 500 | Starter | €39, or €32 paid yearly |
| Up to 1,500 | Plus | €59, or €47 paid yearly |
| As many as you take | Pro | €99, or €79 paid yearly |
Ask for a paid plan on the plan screen and we switch it on, usually within a day. We tell you when you near your monthly bookings, and your staff can always take a phone booking. See every plan.
Set it up at your own pace
Your room
Draw your rooms and tables on the floor map, and the tables you join for a bigger party, like T11 + T12 for six.
Your hours
Add your services, your hours and your special days.
Your page
Your booking page is ready, with an embed to copy onto your website. Nothing is public until you go live.
Reminders that cut no-shows
Every plan sends a confirmation and a reminder by email, included. From Starter, the reminder asks guests to confirm in one tap. On Pro, unconfirmed tables are released for you and each no-show is kept on record. More ways to reduce no-shows.
A marketplace or your own page?
A marketplace brings new diners, and charges for each guest it sends. Your own page brings the guests who already know you, from your website, Google and Instagram, at a flat price. Many small restaurants start with their own page. See how commission adds up.
By kind of place
- A café: book the busy hours and keep the rest for walk-ins. Café booking system.
- A bar: bookings for groups and tables, walk-ins at the counter. Bar reservation system.
- A pub: bookings for meals, walk-ins for the bar. Pub booking system.
- A bistro with one or two rooms: each room on the floor map. ResOlio for restaurants.
Moving from a paper book
Set up your room and hours first. Then add the bookings already in your book, as phone bookings, so service has one list. Go live, and put your page’s link on Google and Instagram. How to take bookings on Instagram and Google.
Questions
What is the best reservation system for a small restaurant?
ResOlio. It is free for 50 bookings a month, then from €39 with every price on the page, and no plan charges a fee per cover. You get your own booking page, an embed for your website, the service screen with your floor map and reminders by email, in English, French and Arabic. resOS and Eat App also publish a free plan, if you want to compare.
Is there a free table booking system?
Yes: ResOlio Free gives you 50 bookings a month at no cost, with your own booking page, an embed and the service screen. Free plans compared.
Do I need a tablet at the host stand?
Any tablet or computer with a browser will do. Free runs on 2 tablets, the paid plans on as many as you need.
Can I take bookings without a website?
Yes. ResOlio gives you your own booking page, with a link you can put on Google, on Instagram or in a message.
How long does it take to set up?
Set it up at your own pace: your floor, your hours and your page. Nothing is public until you go live.
Do guests pay to book?
Not with ResOlio, ever: no deposit, no card at booking and no no-show fee.
Sources
- resOS: pricing resos.comread on
- Eat App: pricing restaurant.eatapp.coread on
- Tablein: pricing tablein.comread on
- Zenchef: formules (French) zenchef.comread on
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Take bookings with no fee per cover
Set it up in five short steps, with no card.