Guide · 2026
Taking table bookings on your own website (and keeping the commission you'd pay OpenTable)
A pub online booking system on your own website lets diners tap a "Book a table" button and reserve directly, so you pay nothing per cover — unlike OpenTable or DesignMyNight, which typically charge around £0.50–£2 per head on marketplace bookings plus a monthly fee. A gastropub taking 400 covers a month at £1 each keeps roughly £4,800 a year by booking direct, and owns the diner's email and phone for repeat business.
- A direct 'Book a table' button on a site you own costs £0 per cover, versus roughly £0.50–£2 per head on marketplace diaries like OpenTable and DesignMyNight/Collins.
- A food-led pub taking 400 network covers a month at £1 each loses about £4,800 a year in per-cover fees alone, before the monthly subscription.
- Even OpenTable's widget on your own website can still cost around £0.25 per cover — a plain booking form on a site you own charges nothing per head.
- Direct bookings hand you the diner's email and phone, so you can fill quiet midweek tables without paying to reach your own regulars.
- —A direct 'Book a table' button on a site you own costs £0 per cover, versus roughly £0.50–£2 per head on marketplace diaries like OpenTable and DesignMyNight/Collins.
- —A food-led pub taking 400 network covers a month at £1 each loses about £4,800 a year in per-cover fees alone, before the monthly subscription.
- —Even OpenTable's widget on your own website can still cost around £0.25 per cover — a plain booking form on a site you own charges nothing per head.
- —Direct bookings hand you the diner's email and phone, so you can fill quiet midweek tables without paying to reach your own regulars.
- —A fixed-price £500 Brightray site with WhatsApp click-to-chat built in goes live in about 7 days and pays for itself in a few months of saved cover fees.
The problem: you're renting your own tables back
Marketplace booking platforms are useful for reach. But they turn your busiest, most loyal covers into a rental cost.
Here is the sting. When a regular who already knows your pub taps "book" on OpenTable or DesignMyNight, you can still pay a per-cover fee for that reservation — even though you did the work to win that customer in the first place.
Over a year, those small fees add up to real money. And you never get the customer's details, so you have to keep paying to reach the same faces again.
The fix is simple. Put a "Book a table" button on a website you own, take the reservation directly, and keep both the fee and the data.
What the platforms actually charge in 2026
Pricing changes, so always confirm current terms with each provider. As a rough 2026 guide for UK gastropubs:
| Booking route | Typical per-cover cost | Monthly fee | You own the data? |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenTable (marketplace network) | ~£1+ per cover | ~£99–£339/mo | No |
| OpenTable (widget on your own site) | ~£0.25 per cover | Included in plan | Partly |
| DesignMyNight / Collins (marketplace) | ~£0.50–£2 per cover | Monthly software fee | No |
| Direct button on your own website | £0 per cover | £0 ongoing | Yes |
The pattern is clear. The marketplace charges most for the covers you least need help getting — your regulars and your Google-search bookers who were coming anyway.
What the fee costs a real pub
Let's put numbers on it. Say a busy gastropub takes 400 covers a month through the marketplace network at £1 per cover.
- Per month: 400 × £1 = £400
- Per year: £4,800 in per-cover fees alone
That is before any monthly subscription, and before any commission on deposits or pre-orders.
Now imagine even half of those bookers would happily book direct — the regulars, the locals who found you on Google, the diners clicking through from your Instagram. Move 200 covers a month onto your own free button and you keep roughly £2,400 a year. Move them all and you keep the lot.
You will still want a marketplace presence to catch brand-new diners browsing the app. That is fine. The goal is not to switch everything off overnight. It is to stop paying per head for the covers you already earned.
How a direct booking button actually works
You do not need a complicated live diary to start. Most gastropubs do well with one of two setups.
Option 1 — the booking form (simplest). A "Book a table" button opens a short form: name, date, time, party size, phone. When someone submits it, the request emails straight to the floor manager or lands in the kitchen inbox. You confirm by text or a quick call. Zero per-cover cost, and it takes minutes to build.
Option 2 — a flat-fee table diary. If you want a live, real-time diary that shows open slots and stops double-bookings, choose a table-management tool that charges a flat monthly fee rather than a fee per head. You embed it on your own site so the booking still feels like yours, and you keep control of the customer data.
Either way, the button lives on a website you control — not inside someone else's app.
Don't forget WhatsApp — a lot of diners prefer it
Not everyone wants to fill in a form. Many diners, especially for a quick "have you got a table for 4 tonight?", would rather just message.
Every Brightray site has WhatsApp for Business click-to-chat built in as standard. A tap on the phone opens WhatsApp with your pub pre-filled, so the booking lands in a chat your team already checks. It is fast, it feels personal, and it costs nothing per booking.
Pairing a "Book a table" button with a WhatsApp button covers both the planners and the last-minute crowd.
Cutting no-shows on peak nights
The one genuine advantage the big platforms sell is deposit-taking to reduce no-shows. You can do this direct too.
On Fridays, Saturdays and big-table bookings, take a small card deposit or a "hold" against the reservation through the form or diary tool. Redeem it against the bill. No-shows drop, and you still avoid paying per cover to the marketplace.
For most midweek and small bookings, a simple confirmation text the day before does the same job for free.
A 7-day plan to go direct
You do not need a big project. Here is the fast route.
- Get a website you own. A fixed-price £500 Brightray site goes live in about 7 days, with a "Book a table" button and WhatsApp chat built in.
- Add the booking button. Start with a simple form that emails the kitchen, or embed a flat-fee diary if you want a live table plan.
- Point everything at it. Put the button on your homepage, your Google Business Profile, your Instagram bio and your menu page.
- Take deposits on peak nights only. Keep it light for midweek.
- Keep the marketplace for discovery — for now. Let your own button soak up the regulars, then review the per-cover spend in a couple of months.
Why owning the booking wins long term
A marketplace booking is rented. You pay for it once, the diner disappears back into the app, and you pay again next time.
A direct booking is owned. You get the email and phone, so you can text a quiet-Tuesday offer to 300 past diners for free instead of paying to reach your own regulars. Every booking you take direct makes the next one cheaper.
You already do the hard part — the food, the welcome, the reason people come back. A booking button on a site you own just stops you paying commission on loyalty you already earned.
See how it fits together on our gastropub website page, and the same owned-asset logic applies whether you run a pub, a restaurant or a professional practice.
Asked and answered.
How much does OpenTable charge per cover in the UK in 2026?+
As a rough 2026 guide, OpenTable typically charges around £1 or more per cover for bookings that come through its marketplace network, and roughly £0.25 per cover for reservations made through the widget on your own website, on top of a monthly subscription commonly ranging from about £99 to £339. A booking form on a website you own charges nothing per cover. Always confirm OpenTable's current pricing directly, as plans change.
Can I take table bookings without any booking platform at all?+
Yes. Many gastropubs run a simple 'Book a table' form on their own website that emails the request straight to the floor manager or kitchen — free per cover. You confirm by text or a quick call. If you want a live diary that prevents double-bookings, choose a table-management tool that charges a flat monthly fee rather than a fee per head, and embed it on your own site.
How do I stop no-shows if I take bookings direct?+
Take a small card deposit or hold on peak nights and large tables, redeemed against the bill — the same approach the big platforms use, but without the per-cover fee. For midweek and small bookings, a confirmation text the day before usually does the job for free. Because you hold the diner's phone number, sending that reminder costs you nothing.
Should I stop using OpenTable or DesignMyNight completely?+
Not necessarily, and not overnight. Marketplaces are good at putting you in front of brand-new diners browsing the app. The smart move is to add a direct booking button so your regulars and Google-search bookers reserve for free, then review your per-cover spend after a couple of months. Many pubs keep a lighter marketplace presence for discovery while taking the bulk of covers direct.
How quickly can I get a website with a booking button?+
A fixed-price £500 Brightray site typically goes live in about 7 days, with a 'Book a table' button and WhatsApp for Business click-to-chat built in as standard. Given a busy food-led pub can lose around £4,800 a year in per-cover marketplace fees, a one-off site usually pays for itself within a few months of bookings moved direct.