Two paths for restaurant bookings. Pick the one that matches how you run.
Dojo bundles card terminals, EPOS, and bookings into a single sales relationship. Seatly is the booking and guest management platform on your own website — a white-label booking widget for diners and a full staff-facing admin tool for your team. Both are real options. One is probably better for you.
Dojo is the right choice if…
- 01. You want one bill, one sales rep, one bundle. The all-in-one model genuinely reduces the number of vendors you have to think about, and Dojo's sales team shows up to onboard you.
- 02. You operate a single site and do not plan to grow beyond it. The bundle works best when there is one location, one terminal, one diary.
- 03. You would rather have card terminals on lease through your booking provider than sign separately with a payments processor. Bundling payments and bookings is convenient if you do not have strong views on either independently.
- 04. You are not particularly bothered about the customer-facing booking flow being on your own website. Diners book through Dojo's interface at web.dojo.app, not your own domain.
Seatly is the right choice if…
- 01. You want diners to book on your own website without being redirected to a third-party booking page. Seatly's widget embeds inline, fully styled in your colours, fonts, and restaurant name. The customer never leaves your domain.
- 02. You already have a payments processor you like — or you want the flexibility to change processors later without your booking system caring. Seatly is software-only and works with whatever till and card setup you have.
- 03. You value open integrations. Seatly offers iCal feeds for any calendar, with Reserve with Google and outbound webhooks rolling out in 2026. Bookings can wire into Zapier, Notion, Airtable, or any tool that accepts an iCal URL or HTTP webhook.
- 04. You operate or plan to operate multiple sites. Seatly's Business tier includes up to 3 sites under one organisation, with shared admin login, pooled text allowance, and one bill. Additional sites are £49/month each.
- 05. You do not want hardware on a lease. Seatly is software-only — £59 to £129 per month, no per-cover fees, monthly rolling, cancel anytime.
What is actually different in practice
Dojo facts are drawn from public product documentation (docs.dojo.tech, dojo.tech), Dojo Partner Provider reseller guides, third-party reviews, and from observations on UK restaurant websites running Dojo's booking module (verified May–June 2026). Always confirm with Dojo directly for your current quote.
| Seatly | Dojo | |
|---|---|---|
| Product scope | Booking widget + staff-facing admin tool | Card terminals + EPOS + booking bundle |
| Booking pricing | £59 to £129/month flat, no per-cover fees | Reseller-listed from £149/month + VAT; some resellers quote £99/month |
| Hardware | None — software only | Card terminal £179 + VAT to purchase or £15/month to rent; payments plan from £39.99/month (under £100k turnover) |
| Contract term | Monthly rolling, cancel anytime | 12 months minimum then monthly rolling; early termination billed at remaining contract value |
| Customer-facing branding | Your brand, on your domain* | Dojo branded; widget redirects to web.dojo.app |
| iCal feed export | Yes — sync to any calendar | Not documented in developer or support docs |
| Public API / webhooks | Webhooks rolling out 2026 | Payment webhooks only; booking webhook events not documented. Bookings API is for EPOS partner vendors, not restaurants |
| Reserve with Google | Partner application in progress | Yes — live via Dojo |
| Multi-site | Up to 3 sites included on Business; £49/month per additional site; shared admin login and pooled text reminders | Multi-site pricing not publicly listed — quote on request |
| Customer data ownership | Restaurant owns it; export any time | No self-serve export documented in support or developer docs |
| Setup | Paste one line of code | Sales process + hardware install |
The maths on the booking line
A like-for-like comparison on the booking software line only — before any card terminal fees, hardware lease, EPOS subscription, or early-exit liability is added on top of Dojo.
Dojo Bookings
£149
per month + VAT (reseller-listed)
Booking software subscription
+ 12-month minimum contract
Seatly Professional
£89
per month flat
Booking software subscription
+ £0 setup for founding members
+ Monthly rolling, cancel anytime
Annual booking line difference
£720
Roughly £1,788 + VAT on Dojo Bookings versus £1,068 on Seatly Professional, before card terminal fees or exit liability.
Figures are reseller-listed. Dojo's £149/month is cited across multiple Dojo Partner Provider reseller guides; some resellers quote £99/month (likely bundled or promotional). Card terminal fees (Fix plan £39.99/month for restaurants under £100k turnover, plus transaction rates) are separate from Dojo Bookings and billed independently. Always confirm your own quote with Dojo. The above does not factor early-termination liability, which would equal the remaining months of the 12-month minimum if you exit the booking contract early.
Want to model your own scenario? The TCO calculator on the homepage covers per-cover platforms; Dojo is a flat-fee model so the comparison above is the simpler one.
Can I run Seatly alongside Dojo?
Honestly, not really — and we would rather say so than promise something operationally messy. Seatly is the booking widget AND the staff-facing admin tool. If your team already runs the floor through Dojo's diary, layering Seatly on top means running two booking systems in parallel and reconciling them by hand. That is not what either product is designed for.
Where Seatly genuinely makes sense for a restaurant currently on Dojo is at hardware renewal — when the terminal lease and EPOS bundle are open for renegotiation. At that point, the booking flow can move to Seatly, payments can move to a separate processor (or stay with Dojo if you like the terminals), and the till can be independently chosen.
Common questions
- Is Seatly a direct Dojo replacement?
- Seatly replaces the booking part of what Dojo offers. It does not replace card terminals or the EPOS — those are payments and till hardware, which Seatly is not in the business of. Restaurants currently on Dojo who want their own branded booking flow on their website typically wait until hardware renewal to switch booking and payments independently.
- Does Dojo offer an iCal feed, public API, or webhook export?
- We have not found public documentation of an iCal feed, public API, or webhook export from Dojo's booking module. If you have found one, please tell us — we will update this page. Seatly offers iCal feeds for any tenant who wants to sync bookings into Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, Outlook, or any other iCal consumer. Outbound webhooks for Zapier, Make, and custom integrations are on the 2026 roadmap.
- My restaurant has multiple sites. How does multi-site compare?
- Dojo's multi-site pricing is not publicly listed — you would need to request a quote directly from their sales team. Seatly's Business tier includes up to 3 sites under one organisation, with one shared admin login, one bill, and pooled text allowance across the sites. Additional sites are £49/month each.
- What does the diner see during the booking flow?
- Dojo's booking widget redirects diners from the restaurant's own website to web.dojo.app to complete the booking. We have observed this pattern on multiple UK restaurant sites including ones in Southampton. Seatly stays on your website — the diner never leaves your domain, sees your colours, fonts, and restaurant name throughout. White-label by default.
- Is Seatly cheaper than Dojo?
- On the booking module alone, yes — meaningfully. Dojo Bookings is £149 per month + VAT with a 12-month minimum (reseller-confirmed list price; some resellers quote £99). Seatly Professional is £89 per month flat with monthly rolling. Across a year that is roughly £1,788 + VAT on Dojo Bookings versus £1,068 on Seatly Professional, before you account for Dojo's card terminal fees (Fix plan £39.99/month for restaurants under £100k turnover, separate billing) or its 12-month early-termination liability (remaining contract value). Seatly does not need a card terminal or EPOS contract to work, so the booking line is the whole booking line. Worth doing the comparison on your own quote.
- Can I run Seatly alongside my existing Dojo setup?
- Honestly, not really. Seatly is the booking widget AND the staff-facing admin tool — there is no widget-only mode. If your team already runs the floor through Dojo's diary, layering Seatly on top means running two booking systems in parallel and reconciling them by hand. Where Seatly genuinely makes sense for a restaurant currently on Dojo is at hardware renewal, when the terminal lease and EPOS bundle are open for renegotiation. At that point, bookings can move to Seatly and payments can be chosen independently.
Comparing more than just these two? Our guide to choosing a UK restaurant booking system walks through 10 alternatives across EPOS-bundled, marketplace, and standalone booking categories.
Want your own branded booking flow on your own website?
We are onboarding UK independents into the first cohort right now. If you are looking at Dojo or already on Dojo and weighing options at renewal, tell us about your venue and we will walk you through how Seatly would fit.
* A note on Seatly branding. Seatly branding is optional and entirely your choice. A single toggle in your admin Settings controls whether a small "Powered by Seatly" line appears on your booking widget AND in confirmation, reminder, and cancellation emails. When enabled, you receive a tier-matched discount on your subscription (£5/month on Starter, £10/month on Professional, £15/month on Business). The toggle defaults to ON for Starter accounts and OFF for Professional and Business — you can change it whenever you like.