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.
Around a 6-minute read.
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 get card terminals through your booking provider, paid for monthly, 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. Bookings sync into Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, Outlook, Notion, Airtable, or any tool that accepts an iCal URL.
- 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 to buy or rent card hardware. 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 | Dojo resellers list it at £149/month + VAT |
| Hardware | None — software only | Card terminal £179 + VAT to purchase or £15/month to rent; card payments at Dojo's published 1.2% blended rate (under £100k card turnover); Essential plan free |
| Contract term | Monthly rolling, cancel anytime | Booking module: not published. Dojo's general FAQ says its contracts run 12 months, then monthly rolling, for businesses under £1m card turnover, without saying which products that covers — ask Dojo in writing |
| 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 | No public webhook API | Payment webhooks only; booking webhook events not documented. Bookings API is for EPOS partner vendors, not restaurants |
| Reserve with Google | Not currently offered | 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 comparison on the booking software line only — before any card terminal fees, hardware or EPOS subscription is added on top of Dojo. Card deposits need Seatly Business at £129 + VAT a month, which is £20 a month (£240 a year) less than Dojo resellers' £149 + VAT.
Dojo Bookings
£149
per month + VAT (reseller-listed)
Booking software subscription
+ contract term not published
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 + VAT on Seatly Professional, before card terminal fees.
The £149 is reseller-listed. Two Dojo partner resellers list Dojo Bookings at £149/month. Card fees (Dojo publishes a 1.2% blended rate on card transactions for restaurants under £100,000 card turnover) are separate from Dojo Bookings and billed independently. Always confirm your own quote with Dojo. Dojo publishes no contract term for Dojo Bookings. Its general FAQ says its contracts run 12 months, then monthly rolling, for businesses under £1m card turnover, without saying which products that covers, so ask Dojo in writing.
Want to model your own scenario? The TCO calculator on the homepage covers per-cover platforms. Dojo resellers list Dojo Bookings at a fixed monthly price with no per-cover charge, 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 when you next review your card terminals and EPOS. 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 switch when they next review their card terminals and EPOS, moving booking and payments independently, rather than running two booking systems in parallel.
- 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.
- 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's widget 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 resellers list Dojo Bookings at £149 per month + VAT, and Dojo does not publish a contract term for the booking module itself. Seatly Professional is £89 per month flat with monthly rolling. Across a year at the £149 listing, that is £1,788 + VAT on Dojo Bookings versus £1,068 + VAT on Seatly Professional, before Dojo's card fees (its published rate for venues under £100,000 card turnover is a 1.2% blended rate on every card transaction, billed separately) and the terms of any Dojo contract alongside it. Dojo's general FAQ says its contracts run 12 months, then monthly rolling, for businesses under £1m card turnover, without saying which products that covers, so ask Dojo in writing. Seatly does not need a card terminal or EPOS contract to work, so the booking line is the whole booking line. Dojo's booking price comes from resellers, not Dojo, so get a written quote and compare on your own numbers. Card deposits need Seatly Business at £129 + VAT a month, still £20 a month less than the £149 listing.
- 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 when you next review your card terminals and EPOS. 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.
Weighing Dojo against ResDiary specifically rather than against Seatly? Our ResDiary vs Dojo page holds the two against each other directly, with Seatly disclosed but not the focus.
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. It is OFF by default on every tier, including Starter — nothing carries Seatly branding unless you switch it on. When you do, you receive a tier-matched discount on your subscription (£5/month on Starter, £10/month on Professional, £15/month on Business). You can turn it on at any time; switching it back off ends the discount at your next invoice and locks the toggle for 30 days, so the discount cannot be claimed and immediately reversed.
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