Resy vs OpenTable vs Tock (2026): The Reservation Platform Decision, Priced Out

Reservations look like a marketing decision. They are actually a P&L decision. The reservation platform you choose sets your per-cover economics, your no-show recovery rate, your prepaid deposit strategy, and, increasingly, your ability to run ticketed events. We are asked about Resy, OpenTable, and Tock more than any other software category outside POS.

All three are viable. All three are priced differently. And all three are in the middle of a market shakeup: Amex, which owns Resy, announced the Tock acquisition in early 2026 and the two platforms are on a path to merge. That has real implications for what you sign today.

Below is how we walk clients through this decision. It comes down to what type of restaurant you run and how much cover volume you push. The wrong answer costs a mid-volume operator $20,000 or more per year.

Pricing at a glance

Plan	Resy	OpenTable	Tock
Entry	Basic: $249/mo, no per-cover	Basic: $149/mo + $0.25/cover	Starter: $79/mo (waitlist-only); Reservations from $199/mo
Mid	Pro: $399/mo, no per-cover	Core: $299/mo + $1.00/cover	Plus: $329/mo + 2% on prepaid
Top	Full/Enterprise: ~$899/mo	Pro: $499/mo + $1.00/cover, plus $1.50 for network covers	Pro: $699 to $749/mo, no prepaid fee
Per-cover fees	None on any tier	$0.25 to $1.50 depending on tier and source	None on subscription; 2% on prepaid for Plus tier
Contract	Annual, negotiable	Annual, negotiable	Annual
Payment processing	Bring your own or Stripe	Bring your own	Tock Payments (Stripe) or bring your own

OpenTable’s cover fees are where mid-volume restaurants get surprised. A 200-cover-per-night restaurant open six nights on the Core plan is roughly 3,600 covers per month, which is $3,600 in cover fees on top of the $299 base. Almost $4,000/month all-in. Resy Pro is $399 flat. Do the arithmetic before the vendor does.

Feature comparison

Capability	Resy	OpenTable	Tock
Consumer network reach	Amex-driven, strong in metro fine dining	Largest network, wide demographic	Smaller network, curated (fine dining, tastings)
Waitlist + walk-in tools	Yes, Resy OS	Yes, GuestCenter	Yes, with prepaid deposit workflow
Ticketed events / prix fixe	Limited	Limited	Native and best-in-class
Deposits and prepay	Available, add-on	Available, add-on	Core to the product
Guest CRM and tags	Solid	Deep, mature	Solid, integrated with POS
Marketing and email	Native, tied to Resy platform	Native, ties to OpenTable network offers	Native
POS integrations	Toast, Square, Lightspeed, others	Toast, Micros, Aloha, others	Toast, Square, Lightspeed
Reporting	Cover-by-cover analytics, LTV in Pro+	Deep reporting, industry benchmarks	Payment-forward reporting
Consumer-facing mobile app	Yes, cult status in some cities	Yes, dominant install base	Yes, focused on tasting/tickets

Who this is for

• Pick Resy if you are an urban, reservations-driven, mid-to-high volume restaurant with covers north of 1,500 per month, and you want predictable flat pricing. The Amex-holder demographic overlaps well with fine casual and above.
• Pick OpenTable if you value the network for driving discovery, you operate in a market where OpenTable is what diners default to (many US suburban and secondary markets), or your covers are low enough that the per-cover fee stays cheap. Also stay with OpenTable if your GM has spent a decade on GuestCenter and switching costs are real.
• Pick Tock if your revenue model is anchored in prepaid tastings, ticketed events, wine dinners, chef’s counters, or takeout with deposits. Nobody else handles this workflow as cleanly.
• Wait and watch if you were about to sign a multi-year Tock deal. The Amex/Resy acquisition is likely to bring pricing and roadmap changes.

Where the real tradeoffs live

1. Per-cover math will surprise you

Take three restaurants at Core-tier OpenTable pricing ($299/mo + $1.00/cover) vs Resy Pro ($399/mo, no cover fee):

• 1,000 covers/month: OpenTable $1,299 vs Resy $399. Resy wins by $900/month.
• 500 covers/month: OpenTable $799 vs Resy $399. Resy wins by $400/month.
• 150 covers/month: OpenTable $449 vs Resy $399. Basically a wash.

Break-even is around 100 covers per month, so unless you are a tiny wine bar, the math favors Resy on raw cost. What OpenTable buys you above that number is discovery. Their network still drives incremental covers that show up as $1.50/cover network fees. Ask the vendor for a report showing how many of your last quarter’s covers came through the OpenTable network vs your own website. If the number is under 10%, you are subsidizing OpenTable’s marketing more than they are helping you.

2. Deposits, prepaid, and no-show recovery

Tock built its business on the prepaid tasting menu. If you run wine dinners, chef’s counters, or any experience where deposits or full prepay are the norm, Tock is still the cleanest workflow. Resy and OpenTable both offer deposits, but they are add-ons and their reporting is thinner. The 2% prepaid transaction fee on Tock Plus is the tradeoff. On Pro that fee goes away.

For any restaurant losing 5% or more of covers to no-shows, a $10 to $25 deposit through any of these platforms typically recovers itself in the first month. The platform choice matters less than actually turning the feature on.

3. The Amex/Resy/Tock consolidation risk

Amex announced the Tock acquisition in February 2026. The stated plan is to merge Tock’s tools into Resy over the following 18 to 24 months. Two consequences for operators:

• Tock’s ticketed events roadmap should end up available inside Resy. That is the strategic reason Amex bought it.
• Pricing convergence is likely. Whether Tock’s prepaid workflow stays at current prices or gets folded into Resy’s tiered pricing is unknown.

If your operation depends on Tock’s ticketed workflow, do not sign a 3-year deal right now. Get 12 months, tops. If you were considering Resy, this makes the platform stickier over time. If you were considering OpenTable, this is neutral. OpenTable is the incumbent, not going anywhere, and their competitive position may actually strengthen if the Resy/Tock merge is bumpy.

What we actually recommend

Volume-driven urban restaurant, more than 1,000 covers/month, no heavy prepay model: Resy Pro. Suburban or secondary-market restaurant where discovery drives your traffic and OpenTable is the local default: OpenTable Core, and audit the network cover mix every quarter. Prepaid-heavy concept (tastings, tickets, chef’s counter): Tock, with a one-year commitment while the Resy merge plays out.

Watch the contract length on every one of these. Auto-renewal is the industry norm. Diary the notice window the day you sign.

Related reading

If you are also picking a POS this quarter, see our Toast vs Square breakdown. Browse all our vendor comparisons.

Want a template to compare vendors line-by-line? Grab our free vendor scorecard. New to reservation platform terminology? Grab our free glossary.

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See more in our vendor comparisons archive. Want a one-page tool to run the same exercise across your stack? Download our free vendor scorecard, or grab our restaurant finance glossary.