OpenTable alternative · facts checked 16 October 2026
An OpenTable alternative for the restaurant whose guests already know how to find it
OpenTable sells two things together: a place where diners go looking for somewhere to eat, and the software a restaurant keeps its book in. Whether Slotora can replace it depends on which of the two you are really using.
Whoever is on the early-access list hears the opening day first.
The question that decides it: where did last month's covers come from?
OpenTable's own plans page draws the line for you. The fee for each seated guest applies to people who found you through OpenTable's website, its app or its partner network. A guest who booked on your own website, rang you or walked in carries no such fee, and neither does a no-show or a cancellation.
So the network is what that fee pays for. Pull up last month and split the covers three ways: the ones the network sent, the ones your own site and phone brought in, and the walk-ins. If the first pile is large and those diners would not have found you otherwise, OpenTable is selling you something Slotora does not have, and you should weigh it on that basis. If the first pile is small, you are mostly paying for the software behind the network, and that is the comparison the rest of this page makes.
OpenTable and Slotora, side by side
| OpenTable | Slotora for restaurants | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A diners' discovery and booking network, on the web and in an app, with reservation software for the restaurant behind it.opentable.co.uk plans page | Software for your restaurant: your booking page, a floor plan drawn to scale and a screen for the host stand, with ordering, a kitchen display, the bill and payments, stock and the rota. No diner network. |
| Where bookings arrive from | Its network, where each restaurant has a page, as well as your own website, the phone and the door. | Your own booking page, the phone and the door. Nothing is passed on from a network. |
| What a booking costs | A fee for each seated guest who came through OpenTable's website, app or partner network. None on your own website, phone or walk-in bookings, and none on no-shows or cancellations.opentable.co.uk and opentable.ie plans pages | Nothing per booking and nothing per cover, from any source. |
| The plan | Two plans, Core and Pro, each with a monthly base fee. In the UK both are priced on request.opentable.co.uk plans page | In the UK, £99 a month per location for the first 100 paying restaurants, then £149; plus VAT where applicable. The same price whether you take ten bookings or ten thousand. |
| How long you sign for | A year as standard. In the UK and Ireland it renews every year unless cancelled 30 days before the renewal date.opentable.co.uk and opentable.ie plans pages | Monthly, after a 3-day trial. The founding price is held for 12 months. |
| Beyond the booking itself | Both plans list deposits and card holds, POS integration, review management, an in-house and online waitlist, Google's reserve button, experiences and ticketing. Automated e-mail campaigns are in Pro.opentable.co.uk plans page | Deposits and card guarantees, through your own Stripe account once it is connected. No till link, no review management, no Google button and no campaigns. A waiting list guests can join from their phone by QR or link is in, and so are events, free or with a ticket the guest pays for when booking. |
Sources for the OpenTable column (all read 16 October 2026)
- opentable.co.uk — Pricing & Plans, read 16 October 2026
- opentable.ie — Pricing & Plans, read 16 October 2026
- opentable.de — Kosten & Pläne, read 16 October 2026
- opentable.fr — Plans, read 16 October 2026
- opentable.fr, read 16 October 2026
- opentable.fr — London restaurants, read 16 October 2026
- opentable.fr — Dublin restaurants, read 16 October 2026
- opentable.fr — Berlin restaurants, read 16 October 2026
When OpenTable is the better choice
Said plainly, because a comparison that never concedes anything is not one.
- Diners who have never heard of you find you in its app or on its website, and you would rather pay for each one seated than go without them.
- You want the booking system to talk to the till you already have, to manage reviews or to send e-mail campaigns. Slotora does none of these.
What you get with Slotora instead
A booking page at your own address
Guests choose the party size, the day, the room they would like and a time that is really free. Each booking comes with a link to cancel, change the party size or move to another free time, so nobody has to ring you mid-service.
The room, drawn to scale
Every table sits where it stands, at its real size. A booking lands on a table, and the host sees the evening the way the floor does: who is due, who is seated, which table wants the bill.
The guests you already have
Phone bookings go in at the stand against the real free times, and a regular is found by name or number with their visits, no-shows and late cancellations on one card.
Services, turn times by party size, a ceiling on covers per window and the largest party you accept online are rules you set once; every booking after that obeys them. Walk-ins are seated with one tap, and every tablet and phone on the floor shows the same room.
What Slotora does not do
- It is not a network. You do not appear in a diners' listing because you use it, and it passes on no bookings from Google, Instagram, TripAdvisor or OpenTable.
- It does not connect to a till, and it runs no reviews, vouchers or campaigns.
Questions owners ask about leaving OpenTable
Can I bring my OpenTable bookings across?
Through a file, not a connection: pick OpenTable on Slotora's import screen, and it shows OpenTable's own export steps; you check how the file's columns are matched and see a preview before anything is saved. Marketing consent comes across only from OpenTable's own Marketing Opt-In column, and only if you tick that these guests agreed to receive marketing from your restaurant; a group or partner opt-in never does.
Will I lose the diners who find me through OpenTable?
Those diners reach you through OpenTable's network, and Slotora has no network, so yes: that route would close. That is why the useful first step is counting them. Your own website, your profiles and your regulars keep working exactly as they do now.
Could I keep OpenTable for its network and use Slotora at the host stand?
The two would not share one book. Slotora is not connected to any booking network, so a table sold on one could be sold again on the other. It is built to be the only book a restaurant keeps.
My contract has months left. Is it worth joining the list now?
The list costs nothing and you hear from us once, on the day Slotora for restaurants opens. OpenTable's own pages say UK and Irish contracts renew each year unless cancelled 30 days before renewal, so it is worth finding your renewal date now.