The restaurant reservation market just went through the biggest shake-up in its history, and it changes how you should choose. American Express now owns both Resy and Tock, having bought them for $400 million in 2024, and DoorDash acquired SevenRooms for $1.2 billion in 2025. OpenTable, long the default, saw its US market share slide from 51 percent to 46 percent between 2022 and 2024, though it still leads in 13 of the 15 top US cities. In other words, the three systems are no longer just booking tools. They are front doors into three very different ecosystems, and picking one is partly picking whose world you want to live in.
Underneath the ownership drama, the products still solve the same core job differently. OpenTable is about reach. Resy is about the right kind of demand. SevenRooms is about owning the guest relationship. Here is how they actually compare, and how to choose based on your restaurant rather than the headlines.
Quick verdict: OpenTable is the best reservation system for maximum diner reach and remains the safe default in most major markets. Resy is the best fit for trendy, high-demand restaurants in major metros and Amex-heavy clientele. SevenRooms is the best for guest data and retention, now with a direct path into the DoorDash ecosystem.
OpenTable: Best for reach and filling seats.
Resy: Best for demand-driven, reputation-led restaurants.
SevenRooms: Best for owning guest data and driving repeat visits.
Faz says: Decide what you actually want the system to do before you weigh the ownership news. If your seats are not full, reach wins, and that is OpenTable’s whole pitch. If your seats fill themselves and your real problem is turning first-timers into regulars, then a booking network is the wrong lens entirely, and SevenRooms’ guest-data approach is a different and better tool. The Amex and DoorDash acquisitions matter at the margins, whether your diners live in those ecosystems, but they should not override the basic question of reach versus retention.
The Three Philosophies
OpenTable is a discovery network. Its value is the millions of diners already searching it, so it sends you bookings you would not otherwise get. You pay for that reach, historically up to around $6,000 a year for full service, and cover-based fees are part of the model.
Resy is a curated demand engine. It became the name among high-end and trendy restaurants, with a sleek interface, real-time availability, and strong data. It dominates in specific markets (it holds around 53 percent share in Brooklyn) and now sits inside American Express, which connects it to a premium cardholder base.
SevenRooms is a guest-experience CRM. It is built less around the booking and more around the relationship: acquiring, engaging, and retaining guests on and off premise. Now owned by DoorDash, it offers restaurants already in that ecosystem a seamless path to add reservations alongside delivery.
Comparison Table
| Factor | OpenTable | Resy | SevenRooms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core strength | Diner reach and discovery | Curated, high-demand markets | Guest data and retention |
| Owner | OpenTable (Booking Holdings) | American Express | DoorDash |
| Best for | Filling seats broadly | Trendy, reputation-led spots | Owning the guest relationship |
| Network effect | Largest, leads most top cities | Strong in major metros | CRM-first, less discovery |
| Cost model | Cover fees plus subscription | Subscription-led | Platform / quote-based |
| Ecosystem hook | Broad consumer network | Amex cardholders | DoorDash delivery |
Reach: OpenTable Still Leads
If the job is to put strangers in empty seats, OpenTable is still the strongest tool. It leads in 13 of the 15 largest US cities and carries the biggest diner network, so it generates discovery bookings the others cannot match. Its perception had slipped as marquee groups defected and operators balked at fees up to $6,000 a year, but it has been investing in the product and competitive pricing, and its reach advantage is real. For a restaurant that needs covers more than it needs a CRM, OpenTable is the default for a reason.
Best for: restaurants that need to fill seats and value the largest discovery network.
Demand and Reputation: Resy’s Lane
Resy won the trendy, high-demand end of the market with a sleek, modern experience that both diners and operators like, plus real-time availability and strong analytics. It is especially strong in major metros, and its place inside American Express connects it to a premium, high-frequency dining audience. If your restaurant runs on reputation and demand rather than discovery, and your guests skew toward the Amex world, Resy fits the brand as much as the operation.
Best for: high-demand, reputation-led restaurants in major metropolitan markets.
Guest Data and Retention: SevenRooms
SevenRooms plays a different game. It is a guest-experience and retention platform first, built to help operators acquire, engage, and retain guests across both on-premise and off-premise touchpoints. That makes it less about discovery and more about owning the relationship: knowing your regulars, their preferences, and their history, then using that to drive repeat visits. Now that DoorDash owns it, restaurants already using DoorDash for delivery have a natural path to unify reservations and delivery in one ecosystem.
Best for: restaurants whose priority is guest data, personalization, and repeat business.
How the Acquisitions Should Factor In
The ownership changes are real, but weigh them as tiebreakers, not headlines. If your clientele is heavily American Express, Resy’s place in that ecosystem is a genuine plus. If you already run DoorDash for delivery, SevenRooms lets you add reservations inside a system you use, which reduces vendor sprawl. OpenTable’s independence keeps it neutral across those worlds, which some operators prefer. None of this should override the core reach-versus-retention decision; it should break the tie once you have made it.
Which Should You Choose?
Choose OpenTable if filling seats is your priority, you operate in a major market where its network is strongest, and you want the largest pool of discovery diners. It is the safe default when reach matters most.
Choose Resy if you run a trendy, high-demand, reputation-led restaurant in a major metro, your guests skew premium and Amex-heavy, and you want a sleek, modern system that fits your brand.
Choose SevenRooms if your seats already fill and your real goal is owning guest data, personalizing the experience, and driving repeat visits, especially if you are already in the DoorDash ecosystem.
Reservations are one layer of the restaurant stack. For how they sit alongside phone, ordering, and cost tools, see our best AI tools for restaurants pillar, and for the systems that answer the phone and take the booking when no one picks up, our best AI phone answering services for restaurants guide.
FAQ
What is the best restaurant reservation system in 2026?
It depends on the job. OpenTable is best for diner reach and remains the default in most major cities. Resy is best for trendy, high-demand restaurants and Amex-heavy clientele. SevenRooms is best for guest data and retention, especially for restaurants in the DoorDash ecosystem.
Who owns Resy and SevenRooms now?
American Express owns Resy (and Tock), having acquired them for $400 million in 2024. DoorDash acquired SevenRooms for $1.2 billion in 2025. OpenTable remains part of Booking Holdings and is independent of both.
Is OpenTable losing to Resy and SevenRooms?
Its US market share slipped from 51 percent to 46 percent between 2022 and 2024, and it lost some marquee groups, but it still leads in 13 of the 15 largest US cities and has been investing in product and pricing. It is more accurate to say the market got competitive than to say OpenTable lost.
Which reservation system is cheapest?
Cost varies by market and cover volume. OpenTable’s cover-based fees and subscription historically ran up to around $6,000 a year for full service, while Resy is more subscription-led. SevenRooms is a platform priced by quote. Compare total cost against your booking volume, not the headline subscription alone.
What is the difference between a reservation system and a guest CRM?
A reservation system manages bookings and, in OpenTable’s case, discovery. A guest CRM like SevenRooms is built around the relationship: guest profiles, preferences, history, and retention across visits and channels. Some restaurants need reach, some need a CRM, and larger operations increasingly want both.
Should trendy restaurants use Resy or OpenTable?
Resy is the more natural fit for trendy, high-demand, reputation-led restaurants, thanks to its brand, sleek experience, and strength in major metros. OpenTable still makes sense if you also want its discovery reach, and some restaurants list on more than one platform to balance reach and brand.
Verdict
There is no single winner, because these three solve different problems. OpenTable wins for reach and is the safe default when seats need filling. Resy wins for trendy, high-demand restaurants in major markets and Amex-heavy rooms. SevenRooms wins for guest data and retention, now with a direct line into DoorDash. Decide whether your problem is reach or retention first, then let the Amex and DoorDash ecosystems break the tie.
For where reservations fit in the wider stack, see our best AI tools for restaurants pillar.
Managing labor costs too? See our hands-on 7shifts review of the restaurant scheduling platform.
Written by
FazFaz is the founder of AIToolsBakery. Every tool on this site is personally tested with real-world writing tasks before a single word gets published. No sponsored rankings, no recycled press releases.
Read more about how we test →
