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A free ResDiary alternative

ResDiary is a solid, flat-fee booking system — but it’s a monthly bill on someone else’s platform. DineKit is free and open-source, used by restaurants worldwide: menus, QR codes, allergens and now a full reservations toolkit — availability engine, floor plan, timeline diary and guest CRM — live today, with no per-cover fees. Here’s an honest comparison so you can pick the right one.

Get DineKit — Free

How ResDiary works & what it costs

ResDiary is a mature reservation platform built around table booking and yield management. It’s popular with pubs and restaurant groups because the billing is predictable.

Unlike some rivals, ResDiary charges a flat monthly fee rather than a cut of every cover — so a busy Saturday doesn’t cost you more than a quiet Tuesday. Entry pricing sits at roughly £109/month, rising to around £200–£400+/month for larger groups or advanced features. In return you get real strengths: solid table management, yield and capacity tools, and a booking engine that works across web, phone and its diner discovery network.

The trade-offs are the ones common to any hosted SaaS: it’s a recurring bill for as long as you use it, your booking data lives on their platform, and it’s a separate system bolted alongside your website rather than part of it.

DineKit vs ResDiary at a glance

Where each one stands right now — no spin.

What you need	DineKit	ResDiary
Monthly cost	Free, forever	~£109–£400+/month
Per-cover fees	£0, ever	None (flat fee)
Digital menu builder	Yes, today	Not the focus
QR code menus	Yes, today	Not the focus
Allergens + printable matrix	Yes, today	No
Availability engine & smart slots	Yes, live today	Yes — its core strength
Drag-and-drop floor plan	Yes, today	Yes
Timeline / service diary	Yes — one-click edit panel	Yes
Walk-ins, deposits & waitlist	Yes, today	Yes
Guest recognition / CRM	Yes — your own database	Yes — on their platform
Advanced yield / capacity tools	Basic covers-per-hour pacing only	Yes, mature
Diner discovery marketplace	No — own-channel by design	Yes
Text (SMS) reminders	Yes — via your own Twilio (beta)	Yes
Installable staff app + live tablet sync	Yes (PWA)	Web/app
Runs on your own website	Yes, self-hosted	Hosted on their platform
You own your diner data	Yes, open-source	Held on their system

Being straight with you: DineKit’s reservations toolkit is live and free today — availability engine, floor plan, timeline diary, walk-ins, deposits, waitlist and guest CRM, with no per-cover fees. Where ResDiary still leads is mature yield/capacity management and a diner discovery network — especially for high-volume, multi-site groups. (Text reminders now send through your own Twilio account, in beta.) Read the honest section below to see which fits your restaurant.

Why restaurants choose DineKit

Menus, allergens and now a full reservations toolkit — all free from day one, anywhere in the world.

💷

No monthly fee

DineKit is free and open-source. No £109-and-climbing bill every month, no per-cover charges, no contract to escape.

📱

Menus & QR codes today

Build your menu once and publish clean QR codes for every table. Update prices and specials yourself in seconds.

⚠️

Allergens done properly

Major allergens tracked per dish (the UK’s 14 statutory allergens and Natasha’s Law come pre-seeded), with drill-down sub-sources and a printable matrix your staff and inspectors can rely on.

📅

Full reservations toolkit

A real availability engine with smart slots and best-fit tables, a drag-and-drop floor plan, a timeline service diary with one-click edit, walk-ins, deposits, a waitlist and bulk booking management — commission-free, no per-cover fees. Get DineKit — Free.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑

Your guests, your CRM

Diners are recognised across bookings and events — visit counts, no-shows, allergens, VIP flags and service notes — all in your own database, not a marketplace’s.

🌍

Works worldwide

Menus and pricing display in your own currency, localised across dozens of countries, and every string is translation-ready. It’s a global tool, not a UK-only one.

📲

Installable app + live sync

Install the staff app to any phone or tablet home screen; many tablets stay in sync automatically, so a change on one screen appears on the others within seconds.

🔓

Open-source, no lock-in

The code is open and everything lives in your own WordPress. Nothing holds your data hostage, and you’re never one price rise away from being stuck. Built-in support is a click away.

When ResDiary might still be right

We’d rather you pick the right tool than the free one. ResDiary is genuinely better for some restaurants today.

You run a high-volume or multi-site group. ResDiary’s yield and capacity management are mature and built for busy, multi-site operations. DineKit’s booking system currently does basic covers-per-hour pacing only, and it’s single-venue per site — that depth isn’t something a newer tool matches yet.
You want a built-in diner network. ResDiary plugs into an established diner discovery network that can bring you new bookings. DineKit manages reservations on your own site brilliantly, but it’s own-channel by design — it isn’t a discovery marketplace.
You rely on automated diner self-service. ResDiary supports diner-side cancel/modify and no-show charging. DineKit now sends booking confirmations and automatic text reminders through your own Twilio account (beta), but there’s no add-to-calendar (.ics) or diner self-service cancel, and no no-show auto-charge — staff manage changes from the diary.
You take deposits in a non-GBP currency. DineKit’s menus price in your own currency, but Stripe deposit capture is GBP today — so overseas venues can run bookings, just not yet charge deposits in local currency.

The honest recommendation: if you run a high-volume or multi-site operation and need mature yield/capacity tools, a diner network, or no-show charging, ResDiary still earns its keep. For everyone else, DineKit now gives you menus, allergens and a full reservations toolkit — free, live, on your own site, and yours.

How to switch from ResDiary to DineKit

Moving off a hosted booking platform sounds daunting, but there is no data export deadline and no downtime — you can run both side by side until you are confident.

Install DineKit free on your WordPress site and open the reservations toolkit. Nothing to buy, no contract to sign.
Rebuild your floor in the drag-and-drop floor plan — tables, covers and any join rules for large parties. It takes minutes, and it is a one-off.
Set your availability — services, slot lengths, covers-per-hour pacing, deposits and any booking rules. This is where the availability engine takes over the job ResDiary was doing.
Point your “Book a table” button at your own DineKit booking page instead of the ResDiary widget. Bookings now land in your own diary, on your own site.
Run both for a week if you want a safety net, then cancel ResDiary once the new bookings are flowing. Your guest history lives in DineKit’s CRM from day one and stays yours — it never leaves your server.

There is no lock-in on either side of the move: DineKit is open-source and self-hosted, so if it is not right for you, you are free to leave just as easily. That is the whole point of owning the system rather than renting it.

Common questions

Can DineKit take table bookings like ResDiary?

Yes — DineKit ships a full reservations toolkit, live and free today: an availability engine with smart slots and best-fit table assignment, a drag-and-drop floor plan, a timeline service diary with a one-click edit panel, table joins for large parties, walk-ins, deposits via your own Stripe, a waitlist and bulk booking management — with no per-cover fees. What it doesn’t yet match is ResDiary’s advanced yield/capacity management or diner discovery network — if you run a high-volume, multi-site operation and need that depth, ResDiary is still the safer choice. (Text reminders themselves are covered: DineKit sends them through your own Twilio account, in beta.)

Does DineKit work outside the UK?

Yes — DineKit is used by restaurants worldwide. Menus and pricing display in your own currency and are localised across dozens of countries, and every string is translation-ready. The one caveat today is that Stripe deposit capture is GBP, so overseas venues can run bookings but can’t yet charge deposits in local currency.

Is DineKit really free, or is there a catch?

Genuinely free and open-source. There’s no monthly fee, no per-cover charge and no contract. It runs on your own WordPress site, so you’re not renting access to your own menus or your diner data — and built-in support is a click away inside the app.

Should I cancel ResDiary and switch today?

For most independent restaurants, yes — DineKit now covers menus, allergens and a full reservations toolkit free, with no per-cover fees and no contract. If you run a high-volume or multi-site group and rely on ResDiary’s mature yield management or diner network, it’s worth keeping ResDiary (or trialling DineKit alongside it) until you’re confident it fits.

How do I switch from ResDiary to DineKit?

Install DineKit, rebuild your floor plan and availability rules (a few minutes’ setup), then point your “Book a table” button at your DineKit booking page. You can run both systems side by side for a week before cancelling ResDiary, so there is no downtime and no risk of a missed booking during the move. Your guest data lives in your own database throughout.

Will I lose my guest history if I move off ResDiary?

Your DineKit guest CRM starts building from your first booking and lives on your own server, so from the day you switch you own the guest list outright — visit counts, allergies, no-shows and notes included. Historic data held inside ResDiary stays on their platform; export what you can from their dashboard before you cancel if you want to keep a record of it.