Eigenes Reservierungssystem vs. OpenTable — der ehrliche Kostenvergleich

What do OpenTable / TheFork really cost?

The platforms love to advertise “affordable entry prices”. But let's look at what that actually means — using a restaurant with 60 seats and 300 reservations per month as an example.

Important note upfront: Neither OpenTable nor TheFork publish fixed list prices for Europe. Terms are negotiated individually. The figures below are approximate benchmarks and example calculations — they show the rough scale, not guaranteed prices.

OpenTable (approximate benchmarks — OpenTable does not publish fixed Europe prices; individual terms are negotiated directly): Estimated base fee around €249/month + approx. €1 per seated guest. Example calculation: 300 reservations × avg. 2.5 people = 750 guests × €1 = €750 + €249 = around €999/month.

TheFork (approximate benchmarks — TheFork negotiates prices individually): Estimated base fee around €169/month + approx. €2 per seated guest. Example calculation: 750 guests × €2 = €1,500 + €169 = around €1,669/month.

These are example figures — your actual contract may be better or worse. But they show the scale of what you're dealing with.

Then there are the hidden costs that don't show up on your invoice: your guest data is shared with the platforms. Your restaurant name sits behind the platform's branding. And when the platform raises its prices — which they do regularly — you have no choice.

What does your own system cost?

One-time development: A solid reservation system with all the important features — table management, automatic confirmation emails, deposits, calendar sync — costs a one-off investment of around €8,000–€15,000, depending on how custom it needs to be. In our Full-House-Pro package it is included as part of the 12-month collaboration (€4,500/month = €54,000 annual service, of which the reservation system portion is approx. €8,000–€10,000).

Ongoing costs: €15–€25/month. This breaks down as hosting (€5–€20), email sending (€5–€20) and database (€0–€10). Total: approx. €20/month.

As your restaurant grows, the price stays the same: At 500 reservations/month, platform costs would rise to around €1,500/month. Your own system still costs around €25/month.

What does it cost vs. what does it save — calculation over 3 years

With OpenTable (estimate): 3 years × 12 months × €999 = €35,964 in pure platform costs.

With your own system: one-off €10,000 (as part of the Full-House package) + 3 × 12 × €20 = €10,720 total over 3 years.

Saving: around €25,244 over 3 years — at a typical 60-seat restaurant. For larger venues (100+ seats, 500+ reservations) the saving roughly doubles.

And that doesn't count the advantages you can't put on an invoice: your guest data belongs to you. Your restaurant brand is visible from the first to the last interaction. You are not dependent on a platform that could change its terms tomorrow.

When does OpenTable still make sense?

Honestly: when you need the platform's reach just to get found at all. OpenTable has its own app with a large user base searching for restaurants. A new restaurant in a tourist area can get 30–50% of its reservations through there — from guests who would otherwise never have found it.

But that is a marketing problem, not a reservation problem. The solution is not to keep OpenTable forever. The solution is to build a strong online presence of your own — good SEO (meaning: Google finds you easily), social media, Google Business Profile — so that guests find you directly. Then switch off OpenTable in months 6–12.

With our clients, the transition typically goes like this: Year 1, build your own website + run OpenTable in parallel; Year 2, switch off OpenTable; from Year 2 onwards, completely independent and paying no commissions.

Conclusion

Your own reservation system pays off for any restaurant from around 150 reservations per month. Below that, you pay less for platforms than a custom system would cost. Above that, the savings begin — and they grow with every additional guest.

Even more important than the cost question is the control question: do you want your most important customer database sitting with a provider who also uses that data to market to competing restaurants? Most restaurant owners answer that question immediately: No.