WaitQ vs Eat App for restaurant queues and bookings
WaitQ runs your queue, bookings and tables on one flat monthly rate. Guests book ahead or check themselves in by QR code at the door, and get called by push notification, SMS, WhatsApp or email when their table is ready.
Unlimited visits, queues and bookings · No cover fees · Live in minutes
By Bruno B.Updated
Eat App is a booking, table management and guest CRM platform for restaurants, hotels and bars. Eat App's plans center on bookings: online bookings through Google and your website, guest profiles, marketing campaigns, and deposits on the Pro plan. Every paid plan includes a waitlist, and no plan charges cover fees. WaitQ is a queue, booking and table platform for restaurants that take both walk-ins and bookings. Guests book a table ahead, or scan a QR code to join the restaurant queue on their own phone and step away until they're called. Bookings and the queue share one floor plan, with unlimited visits and bookings on every plan. In research on restaurants that adopted virtual queues, complaints about the wait before seating fell by 24.7%.
What are the main differences between WaitQ and Eat App?
WaitQ lets guests check themselves in by QR code on every plan and calls them by push notification, SMS, WhatsApp or email. On Eat App's Lite and Core plans, hosts add each walk-in to the waitlist by hand, and QR and online joining start on Pro at $389 a month. Eat App goes further on bookings, guest CRM, marketing and deposits.
- Guest self check-in
- ✓ Every plan
- Calling guests
- ✓ Push, SMS, WhatsApp and email
- Free plan
- No, 7-day free trial
- Guest self check-in
- Pro and Enterprise plans
- Calling guests
- WhatsApp, SMS and email
- Free plan
- ✓ Yes, up to 100 guests/month
How do WaitQ and Eat App compare in features?
WaitQ includes guest self check-in, live position, wait estimates and alerts on four channels on every plan. Eat App includes a staff-run waitlist, table management and WhatsApp on every paid plan, and adds QR and online joining on Pro. Eat App also covers Google bookings, guest CRM and deposits, which WaitQ doesn't offer yet.
| Feature | WaitQ | Eat App |
|---|---|---|
| Walk-ins | ||
| Walk-in queue | ✓All plans | ✓Paid plans, staff-added |
| Guest self check-in by QR code | ✓All plans | Pro and Enterprise (Partial) |
| Join the queue online from a link | ✓All plans | Pro and Enterprise (Partial) |
| Live position on the guest's phone | ✓All plans | Pro (Partial) |
| Estimated wait times | ✓Automatic | Quoted by staff (Partial) |
| No app download for guests | ✓ | ✓ |
| Queue display on a TV | ✓ | ✕No queue screen |
| Calling guests | ||
| Push notifications | ✓Free, no credits used | ✕SMS, Whats |
| SMS | ✓100 to 1,000 credits/ | ✓Volume quoted by sales |
| ✓Shares the SMS credits | ✓200 to 1,500/ | |
| ✓ | ✓ | |
| Bookings and tables | ||
| Online bookings | ✓All plans | ✓All plans |
| Bookings through Google | ✕ | ✓ |
| Floor plans and table management | ✓Grow and Business | ✓All paid plans |
| Deposits and prepayments | ✕ | Pro and Enterprise (Partial) |
| Guest data and integrations | ||
| Guest CRM and marketing campaigns | ✕ | ✓Core and up |
| POS integration | Odoo POS on Business (Partial) | Add-on on Core, Pro (Partial) |
| Zapier and API | ✓Business | API on Enterprise (Partial) |
| Plans | ||
| Free plan | ✕7-day trial | ✓Up to 100 guests/ |
| Visit or cover cap on paid plans | ✓None | ✓None |
How does WaitQ and Eat App pricing compare?
Guest self check-in costs $27 a month on WaitQ Starter and $299 a month on Eat App Pro, both billed annually. Floor plans start at $49 a month on WaitQ Grow and $69 a month on Eat App Lite. Neither tool charges per cover. Prices come from both vendors' pricing pages, checked November 2026.
WaitQ
Flat monthly price per plan, with unlimited visits, queues and bookings on every plan.
- Starter$27/monthBilled annually, 1 location
- Grow$49/month2 locations, floor plans
- Business$119/month5 locations, integrations
- Free trial7 days
- ✓ Extra locations at $20 a month
Eat App
Monthly plan per venue, described by venue size. No per-cover fees.
- Free$0Up to 100 guests/month
- Lite$69/monthBilled annually, staff-run waitlist
- Core$159/monthMarketing suite
- Pro$299/monthQR waitlist, deposits, POS
- EnterpriseQuoted8 or more venues
- Free trial14 days
- Second venue price not listed
Should you choose WaitQ or Eat App?
Choose WaitQ if you take walk-ins and bookings and want guests to check themselves in without moving to a top plan. Choose Eat App if your restaurant is booking-led and needs deposits, bookings through Google or a guest marketing suite.
| Your business | What to look for | Best fit |
|---|---|---|
| Most covers walk in | A queue guests join by QR code. WaitQ includes it on every plan; Eat App starts it on Pro. | WaitQ |
| Booking-led dining with deposits | Deposits and prepayments to protect bookings. Eat App includes them on Pro. | Eat App |
| Long waits at peak times | Live position and wait estimates on the guest's phone, so guests can step away and come back when called. | WaitQ |
| More than one location | Published per-location pricing. WaitQ lists locations per plan; Eat App quotes groups of 8 or more venues. | WaitQ |
| Let guests self check-in | Let guests scan a QR code and join a queue with their phone camera. Available on all WaitQ plans. | WaitQ |
| Bookings from your website or Instagram | A booking link you can add to your profile. Both tools offer one. | WaitQorEat App |
| Bookings through Google | Reserve with Google. Eat App supports it; WaitQ doesn't yet. | Eat App |
| Mix of walk-ins and bookings | The queue and bookings on one screen and one floor plan. WaitQ adds guest self check-in on every plan; Eat App adds it on Pro. | WaitQ |
| Guest CRM and marketing | Guest profiles, segments and campaigns. Eat App includes them from Core. | Eat App |
| Free plan | Eat App has a free plan with a limit of 100 guests a month. | Eat App |
