OpenTable vs Resy: which gets a restaurant found

Patio season is here, and so is the question restaurant owners bring us every June while they plan the summer: should reservations run through OpenTable or through Resy? It usually gets framed as a software decision. We think it is just as much a visibility decision, because each platform is also a place where diners go to decide where to eat.

That matters more this summer than last. Google opened AI Mode to all searchers here at I/O on May 20, and “where should we eat tonight” is exactly the kind of question people now ask in full sentences. In the early answers we have looked at, the restaurants that get named tend to be the ones whose details are clear and consistent everywhere: on the Business Profile, on the website and on the booking platform.

What decides this

• Who your diners are. A neighborhood family place and a chef-driven tasting counter attract people who book in different apps.
• How much discovery you need. A new opening needs to be found. An established room mostly needs its regulars to book easily.
• What happens to your guest data. Your guest list is one of the most valuable things the restaurant owns. Know what you can take with you.
• How your floor runs. Table management, waitlists and notes for the host stand are daily tools, not brochure features.

OpenTable: reach across a broad diner network

OpenTable’s main argument is reach. It runs a large diner network across many cities and restaurant types, from casual chains to fine dining, and diners can search it by neighborhood, time, party size and cuisine. A points program gives regular users a reason to keep booking through it. Reservations can also come in through partner channels, which for many restaurants includes a booking button on Google, so ask which channels your listing would appear on.

On the restaurant side, it covers the host stand: table management, guest profiles and notes, waitlist tools and email marketing to past guests, with plans differing in which of these they include. For a restaurant that wants to be findable by a wide mix of diners, including visitors who already have the app on their phones, OpenTable is the conventional choice for sound reasons.

Resy: a curated app with a food-focused audience

Resy has built its name with food-focused diners in larger cities. Its app is curated rather than exhaustive, and it publishes editorial guides to where to eat, written for people who plan evenings around restaurants. Diners can ask to be alerted when a table opens at a fully booked spot, which suits places where demand runs ahead of seats.

Resy is owned by American Express, and card members see some perks there, including access to certain reservations at some restaurants. What that means for your dining room depends on your market, so ask about it directly. For operators, Resy provides table management, guest notes and waitlist tools built for busy service.

Comparing them for visibility

	OpenTable	Resy
Diner audience	Broad, across many cities and styles of restaurant	Food-focused diners, strongest in larger cities
Discovery in the app	Search by area, time and cuisine; points for regular bookers	Curated listings and editorial guides; alerts when tables open
Booking outside the app	Partner channels and a website widget; ask which apply	A website widget and partner channels; ask which apply
Host stand tools	Table management, guest notes, waitlist, guest email	Table management, guest notes, waitlist
Guest data	Ask what you can export and how guests may be contacted	Ask what leaves with you and how guests may be contacted
Fits best	Restaurants wanting wide reach and steady bookings	Destination restaurants where demand outruns seats

The upside and the downside of each

OpenTable

• Upside: reach across a big, broad diner base.
• Upside: familiar to visitors and business travelers who already use it.
• Upside: a full set of host stand and guest marketing tools.
• Downside: a large network means your restaurant sits among many options in each search.
• Downside: a guest who found you in the app may go back to the app next time, so keep building your own guest list alongside it.

Resy

• Upside: a food-focused audience that plans meals around restaurants.
• Upside: curation and editorial attention can lift a restaurant that fits.
• Upside: table alerts help rooms where demand runs ahead of seats.
• Downside: its presence is thinner in some smaller markets, so check how many diners in your town use it.
• Downside: less of a fit for a casual, walk-in-heavy restaurant.

Picking for your restaurant

A family Italian place in the suburbs. OpenTable, for reach with diners already in your area and a Google booking button that works.

A chef-driven spot in a big city with a waitlist most nights. Resy fits the audience you already attract, and table alerts help turn cancellations into covers.

A new opening that needs to be discovered. Find out which app your target diners actually use in your city. Asking a handful of people who eat out in your neighborhood is a better survey than any sales deck.

A counter-service taco shop. Possibly neither. A simple waitlist tool and a strong Business Profile with photos, hours and a menu may do more for you.

Where Beyaoshy comes in

We do not sell reservations, and we work with whichever platform the restaurant picks. Our job is making sure the diner who searches can find you and book: a Business Profile with the right hours, menu and booking link, a website that loads quickly on a phone with the reservation button where thumbs expect it, and ads when there are seats to fill on a Tuesday. Local businesses have been our focus since 2015, and one team handles the profile, the site, the ads and the reviews together.

Everything we set up stays in the restaurant’s name. Our reports count reservations, orders and calls rather than impressions, and we keep our fees affordable for a single-location restaurant running on restaurant margins.

Next step

Test your own booking path this week: search for your restaurant on your phone, tap the booking button and see where it goes. If anything along the way is wrong, see how we help restaurants, starting with the Business Profile, or read about our work with local businesses.