Per cover fees vs flat monthly price, costed

Per cover fees vs flat monthly price is a choice that looks small when a venue signs up and large by the end of the first December. Booking software is sold in two broad ways. Some systems charge a low monthly subscription plus a fee for every guest booked. Others charge a single flat price each month, however many guests book. At the start, with a quiet month in view, the low subscription often looks cheaper. Over a year, with the busy months included, the answer is often very different.

The only way to know is to cost the same venue under both models, month by month, using its real covers. This guide does exactly that, with illustrative figures for a venue that books 20,000 covers a year, and shows where the break-even point sits, which months make the difference worst, and which kinds of venue each model suits.

It also covers the details that change the answer: which covers the fees apply to, whether no-shows and cancellations are charged, what else is included in each price, and how cover fees fit into the total cost of ownership of the venue's software. It ends with a short checklist for reading any software pricing page.

Under the per cover model, the venue pays a monthly subscription, often modest, plus a fee for each guest booked through the system. The fee might be the same for every booking, or higher for bookings that come through the supplier's marketplace and lower for bookings made on the venue's own page.

Under the flat model, the venue pays one price each month, usually per venue, and bookings carry no fee per guest. A busy month costs the same as a quiet one.

Booking software is used every day, for years. A difference of a few hundred a month becomes thousands a year, and tens of thousands over the life of a contract. The fee per guest also grows with success: the more guests the venue attracts, the more it pays. That can feel like a tax on the busiest, best weeks of the year.

The flat model removes that link. The cost is known in advance, and every extra booking is free. But it is not always cheaper, especially for small or very seasonal venues.

Cover fees are charges for each guest, or cover, booked through a system. A booking for four guests at a fee of 0.40 per cover costs 1.60. On their own, the numbers look tiny, which is why they are easy to underestimate.

Our guide to cover fees: what a booking really costs you explains how to find them on an invoice and add them up.

The example venue is a 70-seat restaurant that books 20,000 covers a year. Its trade is seasonal, with a quiet January and a busy December. The illustrative monthly booked covers are:

The figures are examples. Replace them with your own covers from last year.

Most booking systems and tills can show booked covers by month. If yours cannot, count them from last year's invoices, which usually list the covers charged. Separate the covers by source if you can: booked on the venue's own page, through a marketplace, by phone and as walk-ins. The fees often differ by source.

If the venue is new, estimate the covers from the number of seats, how often they turn, and how many of those guests are likely to book rather than walk in. Then cost a cautious and an optimistic version.

The two illustrative prices are:

Neither is any particular supplier's price. They are chosen to show how the models behave, and the method works with any figures.

Under the per cover model, each month costs 59 plus 0.40 times that month's covers:

Across the year, the subscription is 708 and the cover fees are 8,000, for a total of 8,708.

Under the flat model, every month costs 199, whatever the covers. Across the year, that is 2,388.

The difference between the two is 6,320 a year in this example. Over a three-year contract, it is almost 19,000.

The difference is worst in the busiest months. In December, the per cover model costs 1,099 against 199 for the flat model, a gap of 900 in a single month. November's gap is 660, and October's and May's are each around 580. In the quietest month, January, the gap is 300.

That matters for cash flow. The per cover model charges most exactly when the venue is busiest, which is also when it is spending most on staff and stock.

Every pair of prices has a break-even point: the number of covers a month at which the two models cost the same. In the example, the flat price is 140 a month more than the subscription, and each cover costs 0.40, so the break-even is 140 divided by 0.40, or 350 covers a month.

Below 350 booked covers a month, the per cover model is cheaper. Above it, the flat model is cheaper, and the gap widens with every extra cover. Work out the break-even for any two prices you are comparing.

Per cover pricing wins for venues that book very few covers: a small café that takes a handful of bookings a week, a venue that mainly serves walk-ins, or a seasonal venue that is closed or very quiet for much of the year. For them, a low subscription and small fees can cost less than a flat price.

It can also suit a new venue in its first months, while bookings build, if the contract allows a switch to a flat price later.

The flat price wins for any venue that books more covers than the break-even point most months. For a busy restaurant, the saving is usually large, and it grows with success. It also makes costs predictable, which helps budgeting.

For groups, the flat price per venue makes the total easy to forecast as the group grows.

Seasonal venues need the most careful sum. A beach restaurant that is packed for four months and quiet for the rest may book far above the break-even in summer and far below it in winter. Cost each month separately and add them up, rather than using an average.

Check too whether the supplier lets a seasonal venue pause or reduce its subscription in the closed months. A flat price that continues through months with no trade changes the sum; a per cover model that charges nothing when there are no bookings may suit a venue that closes for part of the year.

For a group, cost every venue separately and then add them up. A busy city-centre venue may be far above the break-even, while a small neighbourhood site is below it. Some suppliers let different venues sit on different plans; others require the same plan everywhere.

Look at the group's total over three years under each model, and at how the total would change if the group opened another venue.

Both models can change over time. A per cover fee that rises by a few cents can add more to the bill than a larger rise in a flat price, because it is multiplied by every cover. Ask each supplier how their prices have changed in recent years, whether prices are fixed for the contract, and how much notice they give before a rise.

Build a modest rise into the three-year sum for both models, so the comparison is realistic.

Per cover pricing has a less obvious cost: it changes behaviour. A manager who knows that every booking carries a fee may hesitate before running a promotion, sending an email to fill a quiet night, or encouraging large parties. The fee makes success feel expensive.

Under a flat price, every extra booking is free, so the venue can market as hard as it likes. That freedom has a value that is hard to put a number on, but most managers feel it.

The details of per cover pricing change the answer. Check exactly which covers the fees apply to. Some systems charge for every booked cover; some only for covers booked through their marketplace; some charge a different rate for bookings made on the venue's own website. Some charge for walk-ins entered into the system; most do not.

Ask for a written list of every kind of booking and the fee for each.

Check whether fees are charged on bookings that do not happen. Some systems charge per booked cover, so a no-show still costs a fee. Some charge for cancelled bookings if they were cancelled late. Others charge only for seated covers.

For a venue with a high no-show rate, fees charged on booked covers add to the cost of every empty table.

Check how large parties and events are charged. A party of 40 booked through the system may carry 40 cover fees. If the venue takes large group bookings regularly, those fees can be significant.

Some venues take large parties by enquiry and enter them by hand to avoid the fees; others negotiate a cap. Ask what the supplier allows.

Compare what each price includes. A low subscription with cover fees may include fewer features: no waitlist, limited reminders, extra charges for the booking widget, or fees for additional users. A flat price may include everything, or may have its own extras.

List the features you need, and check that each price includes them. A cheaper price that leaves out something essential is not cheaper.

Some systems describe their bookings as commission free: no fee per cover on any booking. That is the flat model at its simplest. It also changes how the venue thinks about marketing: every extra booking, from a promotion, an email or a busy season, costs nothing extra in software fees.

Our guide to commission-free bookings: the arithmetic covers more examples, including bookings moved from a marketplace.

If the venue uses a booking marketplace, a platform where guests search and book, the fees on marketplace bookings are partly a marketing cost: they pay for guests the venue might not otherwise reach. They should be judged differently from fees on bookings made on the venue's own page, which pay for nothing new.

Our guide to booking platform vs your own booking page works through that sum separately.

The same pattern appears across restaurant software pricing. Some systems charge per order, per transaction, per screen, per user or per location; others charge a flat price per venue. Fees that grow with use are easy to miss on a pricing page and can become the largest part of the bill.

When reading any pricing page, look for every word that means "per": per cover, per order, per user, per device, per message. Each one is a line in the cost that grows as the venue does.

Cover fees are one part of the total cost of ownership of booking software: everything the venue spends to have it and keep it running. The rest includes set-up, training, hardware for the host stand, payment fees for any deposits, and the time spent managing the system.

Compare the two models on the full cost over three years. A flat price with a longer set-up may still cost far less overall than a low subscription with cover fees.

Check the contract. Can the venue switch from one model to the other as its trade changes? Are prices fixed for the contract term, or can they rise? Is there a minimum term? What happens to the venue's bookings and guest data if it leaves?

A model that suits the venue today may not suit it next year, so flexibility has value.

The sum above uses last year's covers. If the venue expects to grow, cost the next year with the expected covers too. Growth makes the per cover model more expensive each year, while the flat model stays the same.

Cost a bad year as well. If covers fell by a fifth, which model would cost less? For most busy venues, the flat model remains cheaper even in a weak year.

When reading any booking software pricing, check:

In the example, the venue books more than the break-even of 350 covers in every month of the year, so the flat model is cheaper every month, by 300 in January and 900 in December. Over a year, the flat model saves 6,320; over three years, almost 19,000. The decision is clear.

A small café booking 250 covers a month would see the opposite: the per cover model would cost 159 a month against 199 for the flat model. For the café, the per cover model is cheaper, unless it expects to grow past the break-even.

servearound is priced per venue, per month. Bookings carry no commission and no fee per cover, and there are no fees per order, per screen or per user, so a busy December costs the same as a quiet January and every extra booking is free. The booking page runs on its own link or embedded on the domains you allow, with reminders, a change or cancel link and the waitlist included.

See pricing for the current plans, and use the sum in this guide to compare them with what you pay today.

It depends on your covers. Work out the break-even point; above it, the flat price is cheaper.

The difference between the flat price and the subscription, divided by the fee per cover. It is the number of covers a month at which both models cost the same.

Because they grow with trade, so the busiest months cost the most.

Usually not, but check the contract. Some systems charge for any cover entered.

Some systems charge per booked cover, including no-shows. Ask before signing.

Bookings that carry no fee per guest, under a flat or subscription-only price.

Possibly, if it books fewer covers than the break-even most months. Check whether it can switch later.

Everything included in each price, the contract terms, and the total cost of ownership over three years.

Sometimes, especially for large volumes or a group of venues. Ask for a cap on monthly fees, or a lower rate for bookings made on your own page.

Once a year, or whenever covers change sharply, prices rise or a contract comes up for renewal. It takes less than an hour with last year's covers to hand.

Per cover fees vs flat monthly price can only be decided by costing the same venue under both models across a full year. In the example, a venue booking 20,000 covers a year paid 8,708 under per cover pricing and 2,388 under a flat price, with the gap widest in December. The break-even was 350 covers a month.

Work out your own break-even, cost your busiest months, and check which bookings carry cover fees, whether no-shows and large parties are charged, and what each price includes. Read software pricing for every fee that grows with use, value commission free bookings, compare total cost of ownership over three years, and keep the right to switch as your trade changes.