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TableNest vs BookingNinja

BookingNinja publishes £42 a month and £75 a month, ex VAT, with every add-on module included and no per-cover fee. On top of that it takes a 1% transaction fee plus Stripe's own, on every payment it collects for you. TableNest starts at £29 GBP a month, also before VAT, and takes no percentage of a deposit at all. Same tax basis on both sides, so the gap is the gap. Figures from its own pricing page on 26 September 2026.

Register interest

TableNest is not open for UK signup yet, and BookingNinja is — its page offers a Free 7-Day Trial. Register interest and we will tell you when we can bill in GBP.

Not in the UK? See TableNest pricing →

On the part everyone worries about

“We moved to TableNest as our previous booking system was charging us a premium monthly charge for features that we didn’t need for our business. The transition was seamless and it offers everything our old booking system had for a fraction of the price.”

Alison Withers

Badger Creek Blueberry Winery & St Ronan’s Cider

FeatureTableNestBookingNinja
Entry priceFrom £29 GBP, before VAT£42 a month, ex VAT
Second tierBusiness at £49, Pro at £69Gold at £75 a month, ex VAT
Top of the published rangePro+ at £99 — every tier priced on the pageEnterprise — “Contact us for pricing”
Annual option2 months free, still no minimum term£416 a year on Starter, £750 on Gold
Tax basis statedYes — quoted before VATYes — quoted ex VAT
Minimum termNone — cancel at the end of a monthNone — “No contracts”
Per-cover chargeNone, at any volumeNone — “No per-cover fees”, customer fee “None”
Bookings includedUnlimited — we count text messages, not bookingsUnlimited on both paid tiers
Fee on a payment the platform collectsNone — no percentage on top of your processor's own fee1% plus Stripe's own fee, on both paid tiers
Feature tiersFour tiers — Square, Xero, deposits and vouchers start at BusinessAdd-on modules “£0 — all included” on both paid tiers
Something you can start this weekNot yet — TableNest is not open for UK signup“Start Your Free 7-Day Trial”, no credit card
Setup and migrationSelf-serve setup, email support“Free setup & migration”
Support hoursEmail supportLivechat on Starter; “Livechat & Weekend” on Gold
Group or multi-site pricingNo multi-site tier — each venue is its own subscriptionEnterprise tier for “groups, chains & franchises”, priced on request
Text confirmations120/mo on Starter, 240 on BusinessNot stated
Email confirmationsNever counted, never cappedNot stated
Square POS syncBusiness plans and upNot stated
Xero accounting syncBusiness plans and upNot stated
Deposits (Stripe or Square)Business plans and up, on your own accountStripe, with 1% on top
Gift cards scan at the Square tillBusiness plans and upNot stated
Visual floor planPro and Pro+Not stated
WaitlistYes — auto-notify on Pro+Not stated
REST API accessBusiness plans and upNot stated
Own your customer dataYes — CSV export on all plansNot stated

BookingNinja figures are taken from its own pricing page (bookingninja.io/price — bookingninja.io/pricing redirects there), read 26 September 2026: £42 a month on Starter and £75 a month on Gold, both ex VAT, with Enterprise quoted as "Contact us for pricing"; unlimited bookings, customer fee "None", add-on modules "£0 — all included", and a 1% transaction fee plus Stripe's own on both paid tiers. Paying annually is billed £416 and £750 a year; its page shows those as £35 and £62 a month, which is its own rounding rather than a price you can pay monthly (£416 over twelve months is £34.67). BookingNinja quotes ex VAT and our UK prices are quoted before VAT too, so every difference below is like-for-like and needs no tax adjustment. Where a row reads "Not stated", that means the figure or feature is not on that pricing page — which compares plans rather than listing every feature, and says its add-on modules are all included — so it is not evidence the product lacks it. Plans and terms change; confirm current terms with BookingNinja directly.

The 1% is the whole comparison

Most pages in this category have to argue about tax, because one vendor quotes inclusive and the other exclusive. Not this one. BookingNinja quotes ex VAT (BookingNinja's own pricing page, checked 26 September 2026); our UK prices are quoted before VAT as well. Both sides are ex-VAT, so you can put the two numbers side by side and the difference is the difference.

On subscription, TableNest's entry tier is £29 GBP a month against BookingNinja's £42 a month, and our Pro at £69 sits under their Gold at £75 a month. But the subscription is not the whole cost on their side: their plan table lists a 1% transaction fee plus Stripe's own on both paid tiers, on money the platform collects for you (BookingNinja's own pricing page, checked 26 September 2026). Collect £5,000 of deposits in a month and that is £50 gone before Stripe has taken its own cut. TableNest takes none of it — deposits are collected on your own connected account, and nothing is skimmed on the way past.

And here is the arithmetic that actually decides it, because their entry tier includes more than ours does. Their Starter is £7 a month cheaper than our Business, which is where our deposits, Square sync, Xero and vouchers begin. 1% of deposits reaches £7 at roughly £700 of deposits a month. Below that, BookingNinja Starter is the cheaper venue all-in. Above it, we are — and the gap widens every month you take more deposits. Both sides of that sum are their own published figures; only our price comes from us.

Weighing BookingNinja against Tablein as well? See TableNest vs Tablein →

Where BookingNinja is the better buy

A comparison page that finds nothing in the rival's favour is not a comparison. Five things on BookingNinja's own pricing page beat ours, and if any of them is your binding constraint you should buy BookingNinja.

  • You can start today. We are not open here yet. Its page offers a "Free 7-Day Trial" with no credit card. TableNest is not open for UK signup, so the most this page can offer a UK venue is a place in the queue. If you need to be taking bookings this week, that settles it on its own.
  • Nothing is gated. Both paid tiers list add-on modules at "£0 — all included", so a £42 a month subscription is the whole product. Our ladder does gate: Square POS sync, Xero, deposits and vouchers start at Business (£49 GBP), the floor plan at Pro. Their Starter costs less than our Business, so if you want everything switched on for the lowest subscription, that is theirs.
  • Someone sets it up and moves your data. Its page lists free setup and migration. TableNest is self-serve with email support and a CSV importer. If nobody on your team wants to own the changeover, that difference is worth paying for.
  • Weekend support. Starter carries livechat and Gold adds weekend cover. TableNest answers email, on weekdays. Hospitality happens at the weekend, and that is a fair hit.
  • Public reviews, at volume. Its page carries "4.9 on Trustpilot" and "98% 5-star". We publish one named customer, above. Third-party review volume is evidence we do not have yet, and pretending otherwise would be the kind of claim this page exists to avoid.

Where we are the better buy is narrower and easier to state: you take deposits or prepayments, and you would rather not hand over 1% of them every month. BookingNinja's own pricing page, checked 26 September 2026.

TableNest bookings dashboard showing today's overview, walk-in and booking actions, and upcoming reservations
The bookings dashboard you'd run your venue from.

Frequently asked questions

Both are flat monthly subscriptions, both publish a price, and neither charges the diner a booking fee — so the comparison is unusually clean. Two things differ. The first is what happens when you take money: BookingNinja's own plan table lists a 1% transaction fee plus Stripe's own on both paid tiers, so a percentage of every deposit you collect goes to the platform. TableNest takes none — the Checkout Session is created on your own connected Stripe account and nothing is skimmed on the way past. The second is the shape of the offer: BookingNinja sells two published tiers at £42 a month and £75 a month with its add-on modules "£0 — all included"; TableNest sells a ladder — Starter at £29, Business at £49 and Pro at £69 GBP a month — where Square POS sync, Xero invoicing, deposits and vouchers start at Business. On a small venue that never takes a deposit, their everything-included Starter is the simpler buy. On a venue taking deposits every week, the 1% decides it. BookingNinja figures are taken from its own pricing page (bookingninja.io/price — bookingninja.io/pricing redirects there), read 26 September 2026: £42 a month on Starter and £75 a month on Gold, both ex VAT, with Enterprise quoted as "Contact us for pricing"; unlimited bookings, customer fee "None", add-on modules "£0 — all included", and a 1% transaction fee plus Stripe's own on both paid tiers. Paying annually is billed £416 and £750 a year; its page shows those as £35 and £62 a month, which is its own rounding rather than a price you can pay monthly (£416 over twelve months is £34.67). BookingNinja quotes ex VAT and our UK prices are quoted before VAT too, so every difference below is like-for-like and needs no tax adjustment. Where a row reads "Not stated", that means the figure or feature is not on that pricing page — which compares plans rather than listing every feature, and says its add-on modules are all included — so it is not evidence the product lacks it. Plans and terms change; confirm current terms with BookingNinja directly.
BookingNinja publishes £42 a month for Starter and £75 a month for Gold, both ex VAT, with Enterprise quoted on request. TableNest's UK ladder is Starter at £29, Business at £49 and Pro at £69 GBP a month, also before VAT, so those numbers are directly comparable with no tax adjustment. Our entry tier is the cheaper subscription and our Pro sits under their Gold. The honest complication is what each entry tier contains: their Starter includes every module, ours does not — deposits, Square, Xero and vouchers begin at Business, which is dearer than their Starter. So if you need those things, compare our Business against their Starter, and then add their 1%. BookingNinja figures are taken from its own pricing page (bookingninja.io/price — bookingninja.io/pricing redirects there), read 26 September 2026: £42 a month on Starter and £75 a month on Gold, both ex VAT, with Enterprise quoted as "Contact us for pricing"; unlimited bookings, customer fee "None", add-on modules "£0 — all included", and a 1% transaction fee plus Stripe's own on both paid tiers. Paying annually is billed £416 and £750 a year; its page shows those as £35 and £62 a month, which is its own rounding rather than a price you can pay monthly (£416 over twelve months is £34.67). BookingNinja quotes ex VAT and our UK prices are quoted before VAT too, so every difference below is like-for-like and needs no tax adjustment. Where a row reads "Not stated", that means the figure or feature is not on that pricing page — which compares plans rather than listing every feature, and says its add-on modules are all included — so it is not evidence the product lacks it. Plans and terms change; confirm current terms with BookingNinja directly.
No, and its page is explicit about it: "No per-cover fees", customer fee "None", and unlimited bookings on both paid tiers. A diner booking through BookingNinja pays nothing, and the venue pays nothing per cover. TableNest has no per-cover charge either, at any volume, and does not count covers at all — what our tiers count is text messages, and bookings confirmed by email are never counted or capped. So on commission this is a genuine tie, and it is the row most of this category fails. The charge that is NOT zero on their side is the transaction fee, covered in the next answer. BookingNinja figures are taken from its own pricing page (bookingninja.io/price — bookingninja.io/pricing redirects there), read 26 September 2026: £42 a month on Starter and £75 a month on Gold, both ex VAT, with Enterprise quoted as "Contact us for pricing"; unlimited bookings, customer fee "None", add-on modules "£0 — all included", and a 1% transaction fee plus Stripe's own on both paid tiers. Paying annually is billed £416 and £750 a year; its page shows those as £35 and £62 a month, which is its own rounding rather than a price you can pay monthly (£416 over twelve months is £34.67). BookingNinja quotes ex VAT and our UK prices are quoted before VAT too, so every difference below is like-for-like and needs no tax adjustment. Where a row reads "Not stated", that means the figure or feature is not on that pricing page — which compares plans rather than listing every feature, and says its add-on modules are all included — so it is not evidence the product lacks it. Plans and terms change; confirm current terms with BookingNinja directly.
It is 1% of money the platform collects for you, listed on both paid tiers alongside Stripe's own processing fee — so it is not a fee the diner sees, it is a slice of your deposits and prepayments. A venue that collected £5,000 of deposits in a month pays £50 of it to BookingNinja on top of the subscription, and Stripe's processing charge on top of that. A venue that never takes a deposit never meets it. TableNest takes no percentage at all: deposits run through your own connected Stripe or Square account, so the processor's fee is between you and them. That is also what settles the tier question above: their Starter is £7 a month cheaper than our Business, and 1% of deposits reaches £7 at about £700 of deposits a month — below that they are cheaper all-in, above it we are. BookingNinja figures are taken from its own pricing page (bookingninja.io/price — bookingninja.io/pricing redirects there), read 26 September 2026: £42 a month on Starter and £75 a month on Gold, both ex VAT, with Enterprise quoted as "Contact us for pricing"; unlimited bookings, customer fee "None", add-on modules "£0 — all included", and a 1% transaction fee plus Stripe's own on both paid tiers. Paying annually is billed £416 and £750 a year; its page shows those as £35 and £62 a month, which is its own rounding rather than a price you can pay monthly (£416 over twelve months is £34.67). BookingNinja quotes ex VAT and our UK prices are quoted before VAT too, so every difference below is like-for-like and needs no tax adjustment. Where a row reads "Not stated", that means the figure or feature is not on that pricing page — which compares plans rather than listing every feature, and says its add-on modules are all included — so it is not evidence the product lacks it. Plans and terms change; confirm current terms with BookingNinja directly.
BookingNinja's page offers a "Start Your Free 7-Day Trial" with "No credit card · Cancel anytime", so a UK venue can start with them today. TableNest cannot say the same yet: we are not open for UK signup, so the button on this page is a register-interest form rather than a trial. That is a real advantage of theirs and this page is not going to dress it up — if you want to be taking bookings this week, they can do that and we cannot. What we can do is tell you the day GBP billing opens, and the comparison above will still be here.
Its page says "No contracts", and TableNest has no minimum term either — you cancel at the end of a month and that is the end of it. So this is a tie on the monthly option. The annual option is a commitment on both sides in the ordinary way: BookingNinja bills £416 a year on Starter and £750 on Gold, up front. Read the annual figures as the yearly totals they are — its page also presents them as £35 and £62 a month, but that is its own rounding, not a monthly price you can pay (£416 over twelve months is £34.67). BookingNinja figures are taken from its own pricing page (bookingninja.io/price — bookingninja.io/pricing redirects there), read 26 September 2026: £42 a month on Starter and £75 a month on Gold, both ex VAT, with Enterprise quoted as "Contact us for pricing"; unlimited bookings, customer fee "None", add-on modules "£0 — all included", and a 1% transaction fee plus Stripe's own on both paid tiers. Paying annually is billed £416 and £750 a year; its page shows those as £35 and £62 a month, which is its own rounding rather than a price you can pay monthly (£416 over twelve months is £34.67). BookingNinja quotes ex VAT and our UK prices are quoted before VAT too, so every difference below is like-for-like and needs no tax adjustment. Where a row reads "Not stated", that means the figure or feature is not on that pricing page — which compares plans rather than listing every feature, and says its add-on modules are all included — so it is not evidence the product lacks it. Plans and terms change; confirm current terms with BookingNinja directly.
Not yet in the UK, and it would be dishonest to imply otherwise — GBP billing is not open, so the honest step today is to register interest. When it is: export your customers and upcoming bookings as CSV and TableNest's import maps the columns by header name — name, email, phone, visit count, notes and dietary preferences — so it does not depend on any one vendor's export layout. Existing customers matched on email or phone are updated rather than duplicated, and the widget swap is a single embed-code line on your website. If you are on BookingNinja's annual option, check where you are in the year before you move.

One flat fee, no minimum term, and no cut of your deposits

Bookings, CRM, Square POS sync, Xero invoicing, deposits and vouchers on the ladder from £49 GBP. No per-cover charge at any volume, and no percentage of the money you collect.

Register interestNot in the UK? See TableNest pricing →