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An alternative to the portals. And to their end-of-month bills.
Booking portals fill your tables and present the bill: a commission on every cover, forever, and the customers become theirs. Restomatix works the other way round: a fixed subscription, direct bookings, customers that are yours. Let's see the difference, with the numbers in hand.
The model
What's the real difference between Restomatix and a commission-based booking portal?
The difference is in the model. Booking portals work as intermediaries: they bring you customers and keep a commission on every cover booked, and the customer stays in their database. Restomatix is your direct platform: you pay a fixed subscription, bookings come from your website and your Google Business Profile with no commission, and the customer data is yours. One rents you your customers; the other lets you own them.
It's not a matter of "the good guys versus the bad guys": the portals offer a service, and at the start they can give you visibility. The point is what happens next: when the customers you've won carry on costing you a commission every time they come back, even when they come back for you.
Side by side
Restomatix and the portals, side by side
1 Check the current commission level on the portal's public rate card before publishing.
The comparison isn't between two booking systems: it's between renting your customers and owning them. Restomatix costs a subscription; a portal costs a percentage that grows with your success.
The real bill
How much does a portal really cost you in a year?
Take the covers you book each month through a portal and multiply them by the per-person commission: that's the figure leaving your restaurant every year, to bring you customers who often already knew you. With that budget you can often pay for your Restomatix subscription, your website, your visibility on Google and your campaigns, with money to spare.
per month
set your portal's real value
per month (set the plan you're considering)
Illustrative figures: you set the values. The calculation attributes commission to no specific portal.
Portal commission, over a year
€10.800
The other alternative
And compared with doing it with several suppliers?
The other common alternative is piecing it together: an agency for the website, one for SEO, a tool for newsletters, a portal for bookings. It works, but at a hidden price: costs that add up, tools that don't talk to each other, and no one answerable for the overall result. Restomatix unifies it all in a single platform, with one point of contact and one goal: your floor full.
Honesty
Are portals always to be avoided?
No, and being honest is in everyone's interest. A portal can make sense for an initial visibility boost in an area where nobody knows you, or for evenings you need to fill at all costs. The problem arises when it becomes your main, permanent channel: that's when you pay commission on customers who are, by now, yours.
The best strategy is often to use them in moderation while you build, with Restomatix, your independence. The goal isn't to forbid you the portals: it's to no longer need them.
The proof
Those who've moved to direct
Several restaurants have reduced their dependence on portals by shifting bookings and customers onto a direct channel.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about the comparison
Does Restomatix replace a booking portal completely?
It can replace it as a booking channel: bookings come direct from your website and your Google Business Profile, with no commission. Many restaurants keep a portal ticking over at low intensity purely for the initial visibility and move the bulk of bookings, and all their regulars, onto Restomatix.
Do I lose the reviews and customers I already have on the portal?
Reviews on the portal stay on the portal, but from then on you build your own, on Google and on your own system, which are the ones that weigh most in search. Customers who book through Restomatix enter your database, yours forever.
Does the subscription really work out better than commission?
It depends on your volumes: the more covers you book, the more commission weighs on you and the more a fixed subscription pays off. The sum is simple and we do it with you on your own real numbers, with no arm-twisting: if it didn't add up, we'd tell you.
Is switching complicated?
No: you can run Restomatix alongside what you have and move bookings across at your own pace. We import your data and guide you through the change, with no gaps in service. No hostages: your data stays exportable at all times.
Why should I trust your comparison?
Because it's verifiable: data on the portals is public and your own numbers you know yourself. We're not asking you to take our word for it, we're asking you to do the sum. And we also tell you when a portal makes sense, we've no interest in spinning you a story.
Do the sum. Then decide.
We'll prepare the comparison on your own numbers, free of charge: what you spend today on commission, what you'd spend with Restomatix, and what more you'd get, website, visibility, customers that are yours. No commitment, just clarity.
Request the comparison on your case