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Software · head to head

Lightspeed Restaurant vs OpenTable

Lightspeed Restaurant logo

Lightspeed Restaurant

Software

One restaurant POS to power it all

From
$69/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
OpenTable logo

OpenTable

Software

Restaurant reservation and management platform

From
$39/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Lightspeed Restaurant starts at $69 a month for Starter, rising to $189 for Essential and $399 for Premium; OpenTable openTable for Restaurants charges a subscription fee on top of per-cover network fees: Basic is $149/month with covers free for the first 30 days then $1.50 per network cover, Core is $299/month at $1 per network cover, and Pro is $499/month also at $1 per network cover, so cost scales with both plan tier and diner volume rather than a flat seat price (archived plans page, 5 November 2025)
  • They diverge on capability: Lightspeed Restaurant covers Floor plan management, OpenTable covers Online reservations.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Lightspeed Restaurant and OpenTable actually diverge.

Attributes where Lightspeed Restaurant and OpenTable differ
AttributeLightspeed RestaurantOpenTable
Starting price$69/month$39/month
Founded20051998

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), platforms (Web, Ios, Android), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Lightspeed Restaurant

  • Floor plan management
  • Tableside ordering
  • Menu management
  • Staff management
  • Delivery integration
  • Advanced reporting
  • Uber Eats
  • DoorDash

Only in OpenTable

  • Online reservations
  • Table management
  • Guest profiles
  • Waitlist
  • Marketing tools
  • Reviews
  • Toast
  • Square

Both cover

  • Web support
  • Ios support
  • Android support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Lightspeed Restaurant

  • Point of Sale
  • Order Management
  • Inventory Control
  • Staff Scheduling

OpenTable

  • Point of Sale
  • Order Management
  • Inventory Control
  • Staff Scheduling

Both are used for point of sale, order management, inventory control, staff scheduling, on those jobs the choice comes down to price and fit rather than capability.

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Lightspeed Restaurant

  • Starts at $69 a month for Starter, rising to $189 for Essential and $399 for Premium
  • The kitchen display system is charged separately at $30 per screen per month
  • Lightspeed Reservations, reservation integrations and Lightspeed Tasks are add-ons on every tier below Enterprise rather than included features
  • Integrated payments are fixed to a default configuration on Starter, with custom configuration only from Essential upwards
  • Card processing rates and hardware costs are not published, and the vendor notes prices vary by business and industry

OpenTable

  • OpenTable for Restaurants charges a subscription fee on top of per-cover network fees: Basic is $149/month with covers free for the first 30 days then $1.50 per network cover, Core is $299/month at $1 per network cover, and Pro is $499/month also at $1 per network cover, so cost scales with both plan tier and diner volume rather than a flat seat price (archived plans page, 5 November 2025)
  • On the Basic plan, reservations booked through the restaurant's own website are not free: they cost $0.25 per cover or a $49/month flat fee, a charge that is waived only on the higher Core and Pro tiers (archived plans page, 5 November 2025)

Pricing, plan by plan

Lightspeed Restaurant

$69/month
  • Starter$69/month
    • POS
    • Menu management
    • Payments
  • Essential$189/month
    • Online ordering
    • Delivery
    • Advanced reporting
  • Premium$399/month
    • Multiple locations
    • API access

OpenTable

$39/month
  • Basic$39/month
    • Reservations
    • Table management
  • Core$249/month
    • Guest profiles
    • Marketing
  • Pro$449/month
    • Full features
    • Premium support

Which should you pick?

Choose Lightspeed Restaurant if

  • You need floor plan management.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want tableside ordering.
Lightspeed Restaurant review

Choose OpenTable if

  • You need online reservations.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want table management.
OpenTable review

Questions people ask

Is Lightspeed Restaurant or OpenTable better?
Neither clearly leads. Lightspeed Restaurant starts at $69/month and OpenTable at $39/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Lightspeed Restaurant or OpenTable?
Lightspeed Restaurant starts at $69/month and OpenTable at $39/month.
Does Lightspeed Restaurant or OpenTable run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, Ios, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is Lightspeed Restaurant best used for?
Lightspeed Restaurant is most often used for point of sale, order management, inventory control, staff scheduling.
What can Lightspeed Restaurant do that OpenTable cannot?
Lightspeed Restaurant covers Floor plan management, Tableside ordering, Menu management, Staff management. OpenTable covers Online reservations, Table management, Guest profiles, Waitlist. Both handle Web support, Ios support, Android support.
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