Restaurant reservations changed more in the last year than in the previous decade. Here's how the major platforms actually differ, and which one to open first.
See the comparison ↓Booking a table used to mean one thing: OpenTable, or calling the restaurant directly. That's no longer true. In the past year, DoorDash spent $1.2 billion acquiring SevenRooms, a reservation platform built around direct bookings through a restaurant's own website, and Uber Eats launched a "Dine Out" feature that folds OpenTable's reservation system straight into its delivery app — complete with a ride to the restaurant booked in the same flow. Resy, owned by American Express, has spent the same stretch expanding its own reach by absorbing Tock.
None of this changes what a reservation actually is. It changes which app has your restaurant, which one gets you a better shot at a hard-to-book table, and which one is worth having open in the first place. This guide covers the real differences, not the marketing copy.
OpenTable is still the largest consumer reservation network, listing roughly 60,000 restaurants. It was built discovery-first — you search OpenTable to find somewhere to eat, and the reservation follows from that search — which makes it the strongest default for neighborhood spots, mid-range dining, and anywhere you don't already have a specific restaurant in mind. Visa Infinite cardholders get access to prime-time reservation slots at participating restaurants through a 2024 partnership, which is worth checking if you're carrying that card.
Resy built its reputation the opposite way — narrower coverage, concentrated on the restaurants that are genuinely difficult to get into in major dining cities, before expanding into a broader booking tool. It's owned by American Express, and Amex cardholders get access to exclusive tables through the Global Dining Access program, similar in spirit to what Visa now offers on OpenTable. If the restaurant you want is a well-known, hard-to-book name, check Resy before assuming it's not available anywhere.
Uber Eats now has a Dine Out section, built on OpenTable's underlying reservation system, where you can book a table, see deals, and schedule an Uber ride to the restaurant in the same flow — and get a ride discount afterward. Uber One members get some priority access to popular reservation windows. It doesn't expand which restaurants take reservations beyond what OpenTable already covers, but if you're already deciding between dinner out and delivery, it removes the app-switching.
DoorDash's $1.2 billion acquisition of SevenRooms is aimed more at restaurants than diners for now — SevenRooms focuses on direct bookings through a restaurant's own site rather than a big public discovery app, which is a genuinely different model from OpenTable and Resy. Expect DoorDash's role in reservations to become more diner-facing over time as the integration matures; for now, it's the one to watch rather than the one to open first.
Start with OpenTable for anything without a plan already in mind — broadest coverage wins the general search. If the restaurant is a well-known name that's hard to get into, check Resy next; that's exactly the segment it was built around, and it will often have availability OpenTable doesn't show for the same restaurant on other systems. If you're already ordering through Uber Eats and know you'll want a ride there, Dine Out saves a step. None of these require picking one permanently — a restaurant only takes reservations through whichever system it has actually set up, so which app "works" is decided restaurant by restaurant, not app by app.
Most people end up with two: whichever app the specific restaurant actually uses for booking (not optional — a restaurant only takes reservations through the systems it has set up), plus whichever app surfaces the best availability or perks for that reservation. Checking a second app before giving up on a fully-booked night is worth the extra thirty seconds.
Not harder to use — Resy tends to list the specific restaurants that are hardest to book in the first place, because it built its early reputation around dense coverage of in-demand, chef-driven restaurants in major cities. OpenTable's network is larger overall, so for most neighborhood and mid-range dining it's the one more likely to have your restaurant listed at all.
Standard reservations through OpenTable, Resy, or Uber Eats' Dine Out are free to the diner in the overwhelming majority of cases — the platforms charge the restaurant, not you. The exception is premium or hard-to-book experiences, where some restaurants require a deposit or a fee for prime-time slots regardless of which app you book through; that fee comes from the restaurant's own policy, not the platform.
Dine Out is Uber's integration of OpenTable's reservation system directly into the Uber Eats app, so you can book a table, see deals, and schedule a ride to the restaurant without switching apps. It's genuinely convenient if you already have Uber Eats open and know you'll want a ride there, and Uber One members get some priority access to popular reservation slots. If you don't already use Uber Eats regularly, it's not a reason on its own to install it.
The reservation landscape is consolidating around delivery apps in a way it wasn't two years ago, but the underlying advice hasn't changed much: use the biggest network for general search, use the specialist for the restaurants everyone's trying to get into, and don't install a new app just because it exists. We'll keep this updated as DoorDash's SevenRooms integration becomes more diner-facing.