For independent restaurants
Restaurant reservation software, priced flat
Reservation software should fill your tables, run your service and remember your guests. It should not take a cut of every cover. TableHelm does the first three for $0 or $29 a month, flat.
Thursday, July 2
84 covers · 31 reservations
- 5:30Alvarez×2T4Seated
- 6:00Chen×4T12Seated
- 6:15Okafor×2B2Booked
- 6:45WhitfieldHold×6P1Booked
- 7:00Marsh×3T7Booked
What is restaurant reservation software?
Restaurant reservation software takes bookings online from your website and Google profile, matches them to your real tables and turn times, and gives the host stand one screen to run the night: reservations, walk-ins, waitlist and no-shows. Good systems also build a guest book (visits, notes, allergies) that the restaurant, not the platform, owns.
What restaurant reservation software must do
Five jobs, in the order a service actually runs. Judge any system, including ours, against this list.
Take bookings online, around the clock
Most guests decide where to eat after your phone stops being answered. Reservation software publishes your live availability on a booking page and your own website, takes the booking, and confirms it by email without anyone standing at the stand.
Only offer tables you can actually seat
The engine has to know your tables, seat counts and turn times, and pace covers per slot so the kitchen is not buried at 7:00. If the software just collects requests you still have to call back, it is a contact form, not a reservation system.
Run tonight's service at the host stand
A timeline of who is coming, who is seated, who is late, plus the waitlist, on one screen. Statuses should change in one tap, because Saturday at 7:30 is not the time for menus and submenus.
Remember your guests for you
Visit counts, no-show history, allergies, occasions, preferences. That guest book is the most valuable file your restaurant produces, so the software should let you export all of it, free.
Deal with no-shows, not just record them
Reminder emails cut no-shows; card holds with a stated fee cut them further. The fee should go to the restaurant that lost the table, not to the software company.
How TableHelm does it
Bookings from your own site, not a marketplace
Guests reserve on your page in about thirty seconds: date, party size, a live time grid built from your tables and pacing rules, then a confirmation email with a manage link. No diner accounts, no platform branding over yours.
- Live availability, no request-and-wait
- Embeds on your website with one snippet
- Parties over your online cap directed to phone
The Copper Kettle
Modern American · King Street · $$
Date
Thursday, July 2
Free cancellation until 3 hours before
The guest book
A guest book your restaurant owns
Every booking builds guest history you keep: visits, no-shows, dietary notes, occasions. Export the whole book to CSV free on every plan. If you ever leave, it leaves with you.
- Visit and no-show history
- Tags and preferences at the host stand
- Free CSV export, forever
Naomi Chen
naomi.c@example.com
14
visits
0
no-shows
Jun 18
last visit
DietaryShellfish allergy
NotesAnniversary in October. Prefers Barolo.
Your guest book exports to CSV free, any time. It leaves with you.
How the pricing compares to OpenTable
| TableHelm | OpenTable | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | $0 or $29 flat | $149 to $499 (Basic to Pro) |
| Per-cover fee | Never | $1.00 to $1.50 per network cover |
| Service fee | None | 2% on online covers (from 2026) |
| Guest data export | Free CSV, every plan | Diner network data stays with the platform |
OpenTable published pricing, verified 2026-07-02. OpenTable also brings a diner marketplace, which we do not; that is the honest trade. Pricing changes; check the vendor's site. Read the full OpenTable comparison.
Questions restaurants ask first
Published prices in 2026 range from free to about $499 a month, and the big platforms add per-cover fees on top: OpenTable lists $149 to $499 a month plus $1.00 to $1.50 per network cover and a 2% service fee on online covers (verified 2026-07-02). TableHelm is $0 or $29 a month flat, with no per-cover fees.
Put your reservations on rails tonight
Free forever for one location, unlimited reservations, no card to start.