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A free OpenTable alternative with no per-cover fees

OpenTable charges a monthly fee plus a cut of every diner. DineKit is a free, self-hosted WordPress plugin used by restaurants worldwide — menus in your own currency, region-aware allergens, QR codes, commission-free ordering, on-site card payments, a full POS with a Kitchen Display, and table bookings with a floor plan, waitlist and deposits. It even installs as an app on your staff tablets, all synced live. All on your own site, where you own the customer.

Get DineKit — Free

How OpenTable works & what it costs

OpenTable is a restaurant-booking marketplace. Diners search its app and website, and OpenTable passes those bookings to you — for a fee that grows as you get busier.

Pricing is typically built in two parts. There’s a monthly subscription — roughly £149/month for the Core plan — and then a per-cover fee on top: about £0.80–£1.20 per diner booked through the OpenTable network, with some booking types running up to around £2 per cover.

Those per-cover fees are the part that catches people out. At around 500 covers a month, the combined bill can total £700+ per month — and it keeps climbing the more diners you seat. The busier you are, the more you pay.

The honest trade-off: OpenTable’s marketplace can put you in front of diners who’d never have found your website, which is real value. But the fees scale with your success, and OpenTable — not you — holds the customer relationship and the booking data.

DineKit vs OpenTable at a glance

Here’s how the two compare on cost, ownership and what you get out of the box.

What you need	DineKit	OpenTable
Monthly cost	Free — open-source plugin	~£149/month (Core plan)
Per-cover fees	None, ever	~£0.80–£1.20+ per diner
Works worldwide	Yes — any country, your own currency & language	Yes — in supported markets
Online menu & QR codes	Included, live today	Not the focus
Allergen compliance	Region-aware allergens + printable matrix (e.g. UK-14 / Natasha’s Law built in)	Not included
Who owns the customer & data	You do — it’s on your site	OpenTable owns the relationship
Table bookings	Free, live today — floor plan, waitlist, deposits Live	Yes — this is its core product
Unified booking panel & diary	One click-to-edit panel: seat, move, no-show, notes; bulk-manage many at once	Yes
Walk-ins	Auto-seated at the best-fit free table, from now	Yes
Returning-guest recognition	Guest directory — visit counts, VIP flags, allergens, notes	Yes (in their database)
Kitchen Display & full POS	Included — KDS, tabs, coursing, splits, on-site card payments	Not included
Installable staff app (PWA) & multi-tablet sync	Install to any phone/tablet; changes sync live across screens	Yes (their apps)
Built-in support	In-dashboard support tickets — no licence key needed	Yes (paid plan support)
Diner discovery marketplace	No — takes bookings you already earn	Yes — sends you new diners
Where it runs	Self-hosted on your WordPress site	OpenTable’s platform

Why restaurants choose DineKit

Built to keep your costs flat and your customers yours — with useful tools you can switch on right now, anywhere in the world.

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No per-cover fees

Your bill doesn’t grow every time you seat a diner. DineKit is free and stays free — a fuller restaurant costs you nothing extra.

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Works worldwide

Run it in any country, in your own currency and language, with allergens presented for your region. Restaurants use DineKit across the globe.

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You own your customers

Bookings and diner details live on your own WordPress site, not on someone else’s marketplace. A guest directory even recognises returning diners — visit counts, VIP flags, allergens and notes — all yours.

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Menus & QR codes today

Build a menu and print QR codes that link straight to it. Live now, no setup fees, no waiting.

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Region-aware allergens

Tag allergens per dish and print a compliance matrix for your kitchen and front of house. The UK-14 (Natasha’s Law) list is built in as one example; menus localise for restaurants around the world.

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Commission-free bookings, live today

Free table booking is in the core right now — a drag-and-drop floor plan, joinable tables, live availability, walk-ins, a waitlist and deposits via your own Stripe account. Manage the whole service from one unified booking panel, and bulk-handle bookings in a couple of taps. No per-cover fees, ever. Get DineKit — Free

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Kitchen Display & full POS

DineKit isn’t just bookings — it’s your whole front and back of house: open tabs, course and fire orders to a Kitchen Display, split bills, and take on-site card payments through your own Stripe.

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Installable app, synced live

Install the staff app to any phone or tablet, separate from wp-admin. Run several tablets and they stay in sync automatically — a change on one screen shows on the others within seconds.

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Open-source, self-hosted & supported

No WooCommerce required, no lock-in. Install it, own it, run it on your own terms — and get help from built-in support tickets right inside the dashboard, no licence key needed.

To be clear: DineKit is self-hosted — you (or your web person) run it on your own WordPress site, and there’s no diner-discovery marketplace like OpenTable’s. That’s the trade-off for keeping 100% of your data and never paying a fee, whether that’s per cover or per order.

When OpenTable might still be right for you

We’d rather be straight with you than oversell. OpenTable does things DineKit doesn’t, and for some restaurants that’s worth the fees.

You want diner discovery. OpenTable’s marketplace puts you in front of people actively searching for somewhere to eat — diners who might never find your website. DineKit doesn’t do discovery; it takes the bookings you’ve already earned, commission-free. That’s its deliberate design: your own channel, not a marketplace.
You need SMS reminders or diner self-service. OpenTable sends text reminders and lets diners cancel or modify themselves. DineKit is email-only today — no SMS, no add-to-calendar (.ics), and no diner self-cancel — so a member of staff manages changes from the diary.
You rely on no-show protection or wider network tools. DineKit takes deposits, but it won’t auto-charge a no-show, and card capture is in GBP today (menus and pricing localise worldwide). If automated no-show charging, guest reviews, loyalty and a cross-restaurant network are central to how you operate, that ecosystem is something DineKit won’t replicate.
You’d rather not run anything yourself. OpenTable is fully managed — no WordPress site, no hosting, nothing to set up. DineKit is self-hosted, so you (or your web person) install and run it on your own site.

Frequently asked questions

Can I take table bookings with DineKit today?

Yes. Table booking is free in the core of DineKit right now — a drag-and-drop floor plan, joinable tables, live availability, walk-ins, a waitlist, deposits via your own Stripe account and a booking diary with one unified click-to-edit panel. No per-cover fees, ever. Get DineKit — Free.

Does DineKit work outside the UK?

Yes — DineKit is used by restaurants worldwide. It runs in any country, in your own currency and language, and presents allergens for your region (the UK-14 / Natasha’s Law list is built in as one example). One honest note: payment capture is in GBP today, though menu pricing and display localise across dozens of countries.

Will DineKit really never charge per-cover fees?

Correct — there are no per-cover fees, ever, on bookings or anything else. DineKit is a free, open-source plugin, so a busier restaurant never means a bigger bill.

Is DineKit only for bookings, or is it a full restaurant system?

It’s the whole thing. As well as commission-free bookings you get menus and QR codes, online ordering, a full POS with tabs, coursing and split bills, a Kitchen Display, on-site card payments through your own Stripe, and a guest directory that recognises returning diners. It even installs as an app on your staff tablets and keeps every screen in sync.

Does DineKit bring me new diners like OpenTable’s marketplace?

No, and we won’t pretend otherwise. OpenTable’s marketplace is built for discovery — sending you diners who’d never have found your site. DineKit is for taking bookings you already earn, on your own site, without a commission. If discovery is your priority, OpenTable does that; if keeping your fees flat and owning your customers is, DineKit is the better fit.

Does DineKit send SMS reminders or let diners cancel themselves?

Not yet — DineKit is email-only today, with no SMS reminders, no add-to-calendar (.ics), no diner self-service cancel/modify, and no automatic no-show charging. Your team manages changes from the booking diary. If those automations are essential to you, OpenTable offers them as part of its paid platform.