Couvella or OpenTable?
OpenTable charges for each guest who finds you through its network, and in the UK does not publish its prices. Couvella has one published price and no per-guest fees.
| Couvella | OpenTable | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $99 a month per restaurant, all software features included, excl. taxes | UK: “Contact us for pricing” (Core, Pro). Germany: €99 (Core) or €199 (Pro) a month |
| Fees per guest | None, on any booking, wherever it comes from. Card guarantees: nothing to Couvella, only Stripe’s own fee. | A fee for each seated guest who found you on OpenTable or its partners: €1.50 in Germany; not published in the UK. Bookings from your own website are free. |
| Setup | None. Set up for free; your first month of taking bookings is free, with no card needed | UK: not stated. Germany: training and installation included (“Die Schulung und Installation der Produkte sind in den monatlichen Gebühren enthalten”) |
| Contract | Monthly, cancel any time | UK: “standard contract is one year”, renewing annually, 30 days’ notice before renewal. Germany: 12 months; the FAQ says it then renews monthly (“verlängert sich nach Ablauf monatlich”), the footnote yearly (“verlängert sich nach Ablauf jährlich”) |
| Also charged | Text messages, WhatsApp and telephone minutes beyond the 300 included, from prepaid credit; email included. Payment processing by your own Stripe or Paystack account, and taxes, extra. | Premium text messages £19 a month on Core (UK; on the Pro list). Germany, on Core: premium guest messages €19 and Google’s “Reserve a table” button €35 a month; 2.5% on prepaid experiences, plus Stripe’s processing. |
Included in Couvella’s one price
- A telephone assistant that answers the calls you miss and books the table, 300 minutes a month included
- Ask: move a booking to another table, add a walk-in or find a free slot, in plain words
- Reminders by email, SMS or WhatsApp, a confirmation the day before, and card guarantees through your own Stripe account
- A shared-iPad mode on your own iPad at the door, where each of your team signs in with their own PIN
- Your own booking page under your own name, on your own domain if you like
- Private reviews after each visit, gift vouchers, paid tables and a waiting list
- Five languages for you and your guests: English, French, German, Spanish and Italian
Moving across
Export your bookings from OpenTable as a spreadsheet and Couvella reads it in, suggesting which column is which for you to check before anything is imported. Set everything up for free before you move.
Set up your restaurantFree to set up. Your first month of taking bookings is free, with no card needed.