MarginEdge vs OpenTable

by Gralio Feb 11, 2025

MarginEdge and OpenTable cater to different aspects of restaurant management. MarginEdge excels at controlling costs and streamlining back-office processes, while OpenTable focuses on reservations, table management, and customer engagement. Choose MarginEdge if you prioritize cost control and operational efficiency, and choose OpenTable if attracting new customers and optimizing table management are your primary concerns.

At Gralio.ai we help to simplify your decision-making process by offering detailed, side-by-side software comparisons like this one, to help you confidently choose the tool that aligns with your business goals.

This comparison was created by analysing 1520 reviews and 60 websites, saving 8 hours, 56 minutes of reading.

MarginEdge

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OpenTable

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About

MarginEdge is restaurant management software that provides real-time insight into food and labor costs. Its features simplify tasks like invoice processing, inventory management, and menu analysis. By integrating with POS and accounting systems, MarginEdge gives a comprehensive overview of your restaurant's financial health, helping you make informed decisions to improve profitability. It's designed by restaurant professionals for the specific needs of the industry.

OpenTable is a popular restaurant management platform used by over 55,000 restaurants globally. It offers a range of tools for restaurants to manage reservations, optimize seating, improve operations, and engage with customers. Key features include online reservations, table management, marketing tools, customer relationship management, integrations with point-of-sale systems, and data-driven insights. OpenTable aims to help restaurants streamline operations, attract more customers, and enhance their overall dining experience.

Summary

Main difference

MarginEdge is a restaurant management software specializing in cost control, inventory management, and back-office operations. OpenTable, on the other hand, focuses on front-of-house operations like reservations, table management, and customer engagement.

Relative strengths of MarginEdge (compared to OpenTable)

Stronger back-office features (inventory, recipe costing, invoice processing).
Real-time data and analytics for cost control.
Integrations with POS and accounting systems for streamlined financial management.

Relative weaknesses of MarginEdge (compared to OpenTable)

Limited front-of-house capabilities compared to OpenTable.
Mobile app functionality is weaker.
Less focus on marketing and customer engagement.

Who should use MarginEdge VS. OpenTable

MarginEdge is restaurant management software offering real-time food and labor cost insights. Users praise its user-friendly interface, seamless integrations, and accurate recipe costing. However, some have noted issues with the mobile app and occasional bugs. Perfect for small to medium-sized restaurants wanting to boost profits through detailed cost analysis and efficient operations.

OpenTable is a user-friendly restaurant management platform streamlining reservations, table management, and customer engagement. Users praise its intuitive interface and robust features, while some find the cost and backend navigation challenging. Best for restaurants of all sizes seeking improved operations and customer experiences.

Best for small to medium-sized restaurants.
Ideal for restaurants seeking real-time cost control and improved profitability.

Best fit for small, medium, and large businesses seeking a robust reservation and table management solution.
Ideal for restaurants, bars, wineries, hotels, and casinos in various sectors, including hospitality, retail, and entertainment.

MarginEdge and OpenTable features

Supported

Partially supported

Not supported

Type in the name of the feature or in your own words tell us what you need

POS integration

Unknown

Revel POS integration is not explicitly mentioned.

Unknown

OpenTable offers POS integrations but Revel POS is not explicitly mentioned.
Mobile app support

Supported

MarginEdge offers a mobile app for iOS devices.

Supported

OpenTable offers mobile apps for both restaurant owners and customers.
Online ordering

Not supported

MarginEdge does not offer online ordering for customers.

Supported

OpenTable supports online ordering for takeout and delivery through integrations.
Loyalty program

Not supported

MarginEdge does not directly support loyalty programs.

Not supported

OpenTable has tools to enhance customer loyalty, but not a dedicated loyalty program management platform.
Accounting integration

Unknown

MarginEdge integrates with various accounting systems, but Xero integration is not confirmed.

Partially supported

OpenTable does not directly integrate with Xero, but it can be done indirectly via POS systems like Square.
Shift Scheduling

Not supported

MarginEdge does not support employee shift scheduling.

Not supported

OpenTable manages shifts for reservations, not employee schedules.

Qualities

Value and Pricing Transparency

No data

-0.8

Strongly negative sentiment
Customer Service

No data

+0.71

Strongly positive sentiment
Ease of Use

No data

+0.81

Strongly positive sentiment
Reliability and Performance

No data

+0.51

Rather positive sentiment
Ease of Implementation

No data

+0.33

Rather positive sentiment
Scalability

No data

+0.69

Rather positive sentiment

MarginEdge and OpenTable Pricing

MarginEdge offers a flat, all-inclusive pricing model for its restaurant management system. There's a one-time setup fee per location. For 1-4 locations, it's $250, and for 5+ locations, custom onboarding packages are available. Toast users will incur a pass-through API fee and a $50 monthly fee for the Toast "Restaurant Management Suite" subscription. There are no cancellation fees.

Plans

See full Pricing page

OpenTable offers 3 restaurant management software plans: Basic, Core and Pro. The Basic plan costs $149 per month, Core costs $299 per month, and Pro costs $499 per month. All plans include a 30-day free trial. For reservations made on the OpenTable platform, there is a cover fee. For Basic, the fee is $1.50 per cover, while Core and Pro have a $1 per cover fee. Reservations made through the restaurant's website are free for Core and Pro, while Basic has a $0.25/cover or $49/month flat fee. The company also offers additional solutions such as Digital Marketing, Experiences and Private Dining. More information on custom pricing is available upon contacting sales.

Plans

User sentiment

Strongly negative

-0.8

See full Pricing page

MarginEdge and OpenTable review insights

1500 reviews analysed from and

Users love

Real-time insight into food and labor costs, improving profitability.
User-friendly interface for invoice processing, inventory, and menu analysis.
Seamless integration with POS and accounting systems, especially QuickBooks.
Accurate recipe costing that updates with current prices.
Excellent and responsive customer support.

User-friendly interface for both restaurants and customers, making reservations easy to manage and book.
Robust table management features for optimizing seating, turn times, and floor plans.
Extensive network, attracting new customers and providing valuable marketing tools.
Excellent customer support, readily available through various channels.
Useful data-driven insights, reporting, and analytics for performance tracking.

Users dislike

The mobile app lacks functionality and requires logging into the website.
Recipe builder has bugs and can be difficult to use.
Invoice processing errors occur, such as credits being applied incorrectly.
Product mapping issues, with sales items not automatically mapping to recipes.
Occasional bugs and glitches in the system, particularly on the app.

High cost per cover, making it expensive for restaurants, especially smaller ones.
Managing and setting up ticketed events can be cumbersome and limiting.
Backend interface can be clunky and difficult to navigate, especially for availability planning and Experiences.
Inconsistent functionality across different devices (phone, tablet, and web).
Integration with some POS systems (like Stripe) and local banks for deposits can be problematic.

MarginEdge and OpenTable Ratings

G2

4.4/5

(22)
Capterra

4.6/5

(47)
Glassdoor

4.9/5

(115)

G2

4.3/5

(228)
Capterra

4.7/5

(1205)
TrustPilot

1.3/5

(20)

Company health

Employee growth

21% increase in the last year

4% increase in the last year

Web traffic

6% decrease in the last quarter

16% increase in the last quarter

Financing

September 2022 - $80M

June 2000 - $48M

How does OpenTable's table management compare to MarginEdge's inventory control features?

OpenTable focuses on table management, reservations, and customer engagement, while MarginEdge specializes in inventory control, food cost management, and invoice processing. They address different aspects of restaurant operations. OpenTable helps optimize seating and reservations, whereas MarginEdge helps control food costs and streamline back-of-house operations.

Which product best integrates with existing POS and accounting systems for restaurants?

MarginEdge is the better choice for integrating with existing POS and accounting systems for restaurants. Its product description explicitly emphasizes integration with these systems to provide a comprehensive financial overview. User reviews also highlight its seamless integration, especially with QuickBooks. While OpenTable integrates with POS systems, its primary focus is reservations and table management, with integrations playing a secondary role.

What are the advantages of MarginEdge?

MarginEdge focuses specifically on restaurant cost management, providing real-time insights into food and labor costs, which helps improve profitability. It streamlines invoice processing, inventory management, and menu analysis. It also integrates with POS and accounting systems for a comprehensive financial overview. Users praise its user-friendly interface and excellent customer support.

What are the disadvantages of MarginEdge?

MarginEdge suffers from a few notable drawbacks based on user reviews. Its mobile app lacks essential functionalities, forcing users to rely on the website. The recipe builder is reportedly buggy and difficult to navigate. Invoice processing can be unreliable, with errors like incorrect credit applications. Finally, users have mentioned issues with product mapping and occasional bugs and glitches within the system, especially on the mobile app.

Alternatives to MarginEdge and OpenTable

Supy

Supy is a software platform designed for restaurants with multiple locations to help them manage their inventory and save money. It uses real-time data to track food costs, reduce waste, and improve profits. Supy offers tools for managing inventory, procurement, invoices, menus, and recipes, along with comprehensive reporting and analytics. They also provide professional services like data entry and implementation support. Supy integrates with existing restaurant software like POS and accounting systems.

POS & POS

POS & POS by Loyverse helps small businesses like cafes, bars, and shops manage their daily operations. This point-of-sale system provides tools to track inventory, run loyalty programs, send digital receipts, and communicate with customers – all within a single platform.

Square Point of Sale

Square Point of Sale is a POS system designed to simplify business operations. It allows retailers to accept payments in person and online, manage inventory, track sales data, and gain insights into customer behavior. Square Point of Sale offers different plans to accommodate businesses of all sizes, each with varying features and processing rates. Its user-friendly interface and integrations with popular business tools make it a versatile solution for managing a modern retail business.

Fishbowl

Fishbowl offers tools to help restaurants make smarter business decisions. It provides data-driven insights and personalized marketing options to increase customer visits and sales. Fishbowl aims to improve brand preference and help you understand your customers better.

Zenput

Zenput, now part of Crunchtime, is a software platform that helps restaurants, especially large chains, make sure their operations run smoothly. Imagine a digital checklist for everything from food safety to how clean the dining area should be. Zenput lets managers create these checklists, send them out to employees, and track in real-time if tasks are done correctly and on time. This helps brands ensure consistent customer experience across all their locations.

ResyOS

ResyOS is a comprehensive restaurant management platform designed for full-service restaurants. It offers tools for reservations, waitlist management, table management, event ticketing, customer relationship management (CRM), and point of sale (POS) integration. ResyOS aims to improve profitability for restaurants and boasts a low no-show rate. It is used by over 4,000 restaurants.

Page co-authored by

Michal Kaczor

CEO at Gralio

Michal has worked at startups for many years and writes about topics relating to software selection and IT management. As a former consultant for Bain, a business advisory company, he also knows how to understand needs of any business and find solutions to its problems.

Tymon Terlikiewicz

CTO at Gralio

Tymon is a seasoned CTO who loves finding the perfect tools for any task. He recently headed up the tech department at Batmaid, a well-known Swiss company, where he managed about 60 software purchases, including CX, HR, Payroll, Marketing automation and various developer tools.

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