SimpleERB is cheaper. Here is what Seatly gives you for the difference.
SimpleERB is the long-running international option, from £21 a month. Seatly starts at £59. We don't pretend to win on price — we win on a different product shape. On most websites (WordPress, Shopify, Squarespace on the Core plan or higher, custom), Seatly's widget renders directly inline inside your own page rather than inside an iframe. Beyond the embed, Seatly is built specifically for UK independents with a London-hosted booking database and ships on a current 2026 stack.
Around a 7-minute read.
The honest version up front
Most comparison pages on the internet exist to convince you that the page's owner is the best option for every reader. This one is not. SimpleERB has been operating for years and serves restaurants in the UK and internationally. The entry pricing speaks for itself — £21 per month is genuinely affordable, and for some venues that's the right choice.
Where Seatly is built differently is across four things, not one:
- 1. How the widget embeds. On most websites — WordPress, Shopify, Squarespace (Core plan or higher), custom HTML — Seatly installs as a single inline script tag and renders the booking flow directly inside your page's layout. SimpleERB uses an iframe that loads book.simpleerb.com on every platform. (On Wix specifically, both Seatly and SimpleERB fall back to iframes because Wix's free plan does not allow third-party JavaScript — but Seatly's iframe loads from your own Seatly-hosted page on cdn.seatly.uk rather than a SimpleERB-branded URL.)
- 2. UK-only versus international. Seatly is built specifically for UK independents — GBP only, booking database in London, UK GDPR by default, support hours on UK time. SimpleERB serves restaurants internationally and prices in £/$/€, which is a strength for some venues and a generic-product trade-off for others.
- 3. Product age and pace. Seatly is a 2026 build on a current web stack — mobile-first widget, real-time availability, active development. SimpleERB is the established option with a long operating history. Newness is a fair caution; pace of feature shipping is a fair benefit.
- 4. Contract shape. Both offer monthly billing. SimpleERB also offers a yearly plan that saves 10% — useful if you're certain you'll stay. Seatly only offers monthly rolling, no annual discount on the table, because we don't want you locked in if the fit turns out wrong.
Read the rest of this page for the side-by-side breakdown, then make the call that fits your venue rather than the one the comparison page is trying to push.
Side-by-side comparison
SimpleERB pricing verified live from simpleerb.com on 18 May 2026. Yearly billing on SimpleERB saves 10%. Always verify current pricing directly with the provider.
| Seatly | SimpleERB | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry tier (monthly) | £59 (Starter) | £21 (Starter) |
| Mid tier (monthly) | £89 (Professional) | £47 (Plus) |
| Higher tier (monthly) | £129 (Business) | £80 (Pro) |
| Per-cover fees | £0 at every tier | £0 at every tier |
| Where diners book | Your own website — your domain, your branding | book.simpleerb.com subdomain |
| How the widget embeds | Inline script tag on most platforms (WordPress, Shopify, Squarespace on the Core plan or higher, custom). iframe fallback on Wix. | iframe to book.simpleerb.com |
| Widget branding | White-label by default* | SimpleERB-hosted page with custom branding |
| Geographic focus | UK independents only | International — UK, Europe, beyond (prices in £/$/€) |
| Booking database | London, UK (Supabase eu-west-2) | Not publicly specified |
| Product age | Built 2026, active development | Established platform, long operating history |
| Contract term | Monthly rolling only — no annual lock-in offered | Monthly or yearly (yearly saves 10%) |
| Setup | Paste one line of code, live in minutes | Free trial, sign-up via SimpleERB |
| Target customer | UK independents wanting their own brand on the booking flow | UK independents prioritising lowest fixed cost |
The maths on a real restaurant
A 40-cover independent comparing SimpleERB Plus (the mid tier, the most common choice for a venue running a few hundred covers a month) against Seatly Starter, our entry tier. Both charge no per-cover fees, so the difference is entirely the monthly subscription.
SimpleERB Plus
£564
per year (£47 × 12)
£47/month flat
Bookings on book.simpleerb.com
Monthly or yearly billing (yearly saves 10%)
Seatly Starter
£708
per year (£59 × 12)
£59/month flat
Bookings on your own website
Monthly rolling, no notice period
Annual difference
£144
£12 a month more for diners to book on your domain instead of a SimpleERB subdomain.
Figures are illustrative. SimpleERB pricing verified live from simpleerb.com on 18 May 2026 — always verify current pricing directly with the provider before switching. Both platforms charge £0 per cover at this tier, so the comparison is purely the subscription difference.
What you keep by paying the extra
- 01. Your domain on the booking page. Diners click "Book" on your website and stay on your website. They never see a third-party URL, which matters more for venues that have invested in their brand and want the booking flow to feel like an extension of it.
- 02. A widget that's part of your page on most platforms. On WordPress, Shopify, Squarespace (Core plan or higher), and custom sites, Seatly embeds via a single inline script tag and renders the booking flow directly inside your page's layout — no fixed-dimension frame, no "third-party tool" feel. SimpleERB uses an iframe to book.simpleerb.com on every platform. (Wix is the exception for Seatly — Wix's free plan blocks third-party JS, so Seatly falls back to an iframe loading from cdn.seatly.uk. Still your hosted experience, not a SimpleERB-branded URL.)
- 03. A UK-only product. Seatly is built specifically for UK independents — GBP billing, booking database in London (Supabase eu-west-2), UK GDPR by default, support hours on UK time. SimpleERB serves restaurants internationally with multi-currency pricing in £/$/€ — broad appeal, but the product surface has to compromise across jurisdictions rather than optimising for any one of them.
- 04. A modern widget on a current stack. Seatly is a 2026 build — mobile-first, real-time availability via Supabase Realtime, TypeScript strict throughout, sub-200 KB gzipped. SimpleERB is the long-running option with a longer operating history. New is not always better, but new-and-actively-shipped does mean faster fixes and improvements.
- 05. No annual lock-in offered. Both platforms allow monthly billing. SimpleERB also offers a yearly plan that saves 10% — useful if you're certain you'll stay, a pressure point if you aren't. Seatly never offers an annual discount because we'd rather you stay because the product earns it, not because you're paying ahead.
When SimpleERB is the better choice
We are not the right answer for every venue. Pick SimpleERB if these apply:
Price is the deciding factor. At £21 for Starter or £47 for Plus, SimpleERB is the cheapest established option in the UK independent segment. If your venue genuinely needs the cheapest fixed cost it can find, Seatly is not it.
A SimpleERB-hosted booking page doesn't bother you. Some independents have informal brand presentation — old WordPress site, hand-painted sign over the door, charm rather than polish — and the URL on the booking page is not part of the experience. For those venues, the £144-a-year saving is real money.
You value a long operating history. SimpleERB has been running for years and has a customer base that has stuck with it. Seatly is newer. If the longer track record is a meaningful comfort signal for your decision, that is a fair reason to pick SimpleERB.
The honest version — SimpleERB is a reasonable product. The reason Seatly exists is a different product shape — fully on your domain, modern widget, built for the UK independent segment specifically — and a different price point. Which matters more depends on your venue.
How to switch from SimpleERB to Seatly
- 01.
Check your billing cycle
If you are on SimpleERB's yearly plan, find your renewal date and any notice period. If you are on monthly, you can leave whenever. Either way, the switch is not blocked by a long contract — both platforms allow monthly billing.
- 02.
Run Seatly in parallel
Add the Seatly widget to your website while SimpleERB is still active. You take new direct bookings on Seatly while existing SimpleERB bookings continue to work. Most restaurants give this 2 to 4 weeks before fully moving over.
- 03.
Export your customer data
Request a customer and booking export from SimpleERB and keep it for your own records: Seatly does not import past bookings or customer lists, so your Seatly customer database starts from your first booking. Under UK GDPR, you have a right to your own customer records — request this before cancelling.
- 04.
Cancel SimpleERB
Once Seatly is taking your live bookings and customer data is across, cancel SimpleERB. Remove or replace any old book.simpleerb.com links on your website with the Seatly widget script tag.
Common questions
- Is Seatly cheaper than SimpleERB?
- Not at the entry tiers. SimpleERB Starter is £21 per month and SimpleERB Plus is £47 per month, both lower than Seatly Starter at £59. SimpleERB is the cheapest established UK option in the segment and we do not compete with them on price. Where Seatly wins for most UK independents is full white-label embedding (your widget runs on your own domain rather than a book.simpleerb.com subdomain), a more modern booking widget, and monthly rolling at every tier. Whether the extra £12 to £38 per month is worth it depends on how important your brand presentation and a modern widget experience are to your venue.
- What's the main difference between Seatly and SimpleERB?
- Four things, not one. (1) How the widget embeds — on WordPress, Shopify, Squarespace (Core plan or higher) and custom HTML sites, Seatly is an inline script tag that renders directly in your page, while SimpleERB always uses an iframe loading book.simpleerb.com. On Wix both use iframes, because Wix's free plan blocks third-party JavaScript, but Seatly's iframe loads from cdn.seatly.uk rather than a SimpleERB-branded URL. (2) Geographic focus — Seatly is UK-only, with a London-hosted booking database, UK GDPR by default and GBP billing; SimpleERB serves restaurants internationally and prices in £, $ and €. (3) Product age and pace — Seatly is a 2026 build on a current stack with active development; SimpleERB is the long-established option with a longer operating history. (4) Contract shape — both offer monthly billing, but SimpleERB also has a yearly plan that saves 10%, while Seatly is monthly rolling only.
- Does SimpleERB charge per-cover fees?
- No. SimpleERB charges a flat monthly subscription with no per-cover fees, the same model as Seatly. Where SimpleERB differs from Seatly on commercial terms is the entry-tier price (lower) and the booking subdomain (their widget runs on book.simpleerb.com rather than your own domain).
- Is SimpleERB white-label?
- Partially. SimpleERB allows some branding customisation on its booking page, but the page itself is hosted on book.simpleerb.com — a SimpleERB-owned subdomain. Diners see a URL that includes "simpleerb" rather than your restaurant's domain. Seatly's widget embeds directly into your own website at your own URL, and no Seatly branding appears in the booking flow unless you switch it on.
- When is SimpleERB the right choice?
- If price is the deciding factor and you are happy for bookings to complete on a SimpleERB-hosted page, SimpleERB Starter at £21 per month is hard to beat in the UK market. SimpleERB has also been operating for years, which some operators value as a stability signal. If your brand presentation is informal enough that a third-party booking URL does not bother you — or if you are just getting started and want to minimise fixed costs — SimpleERB is a reasonable pick.
Comparing more than just Seatly and SimpleERB? Our buyer's guide to UK restaurant booking systems walks through 10 platforms against the same six criteria — pricing, contracts, data ownership, embedding, GDPR, and feature fit.
Want the booking page on your domain?
We're onboarding UK independents into the first cohort. If a SimpleERB-hosted booking URL has bothered you for a while, this is the swap that fixes it.
* 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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