Zenchef is the largest of the European reservation systems and, since Formitable and Resengo were folded into it, the best known in the Netherlands too. If you used Formitable, you use Zenchef now.
What you will not find on their pricing page is a price. What you will find is more interesting than it sounds, and it is in the small print at the bottom.
What Zenchef does publish
Three plans, no amounts. The page names Reserve, Manage and Grow — Manage marked as the most popular — with a description of each and not a single monthly figure. In their place are buttons: set up an account, or book a demo.
€0 commission per cover. This is true, and it is their strongest point. Zenchef charges nothing per guest, on any channel. Anyone telling you Zenchef charges commission is confusing them with a marketplace.
The processing fees. And this is the part they do publish while most providers keep quiet about it — a mark in their favour, and at the same time the line that changes your monthly figure:
| Rate | |
|---|---|
| Card payments | 2–6%, depending on your plan |
| Amex | 3.5–6% |
| iDEAL | €0.29 – €3.29 |
| SMS | €0.05 – €0.12 per message |
In the Netherlands the overwhelming majority of payments go through iDEAL. That line is therefore not a footnote: if you use deposits to keep no-shows down, you pay it on every deposit.
A claim about saving. The page says customers save an average of €600 a month on marketplace commissions. That is their own figure, about the difference against a model like TheFork's — not about what Zenchef itself costs.
What is not there, and what third parties quote
There is no monthly figure, no setup fee and no contract term.
Independent Dutch comparisons put Zenchef at around €49 a month per location. That is a third-party figure we could not read on their own site, so treat it as what it is: an indication, not a tariff.
A price you have to ask for is not automatically a high price. But it is a price that can depend on your size, your negotiation and the moment. Ask for it in writing, and ask these alongside it:
- Is the figure per location or per account?
- Are there setup costs?
- What term, and what does stopping early cost?
- Which plan carries which processing rate? The difference between 2% and 6% is no detail on a busy weekend.
- Do I take my guest database with me if I leave?
What you get for it
Fair is fair: on several points Zenchef does more than we do.
They answer the phone. Zenchef is the only one of the major reservation systems with an AI that picks up. AI Call answers during and after service, books tables and answers questions, in several languages. Any comparison still saying Zenchef cannot take a call is out of date.
Reserve with Google and Instagram Reserve. Both shipped. With us Google Reserve is coming and Instagram is not.
Review management and guest marketing. They collect and answer reviews and run email campaigns to your guest list. We do neither.
Those are four real points, and if they sit at the top of your list, Zenchef is probably your system.
Where the call ends
The difference between us and Zenchef is not whether the phone gets answered. We both do that. It is what the call is allowed to become.
With Zenchef it ends in a table, or in an answer to a question. That is what a reservation platform can do, because there is nowhere else for the call to land.
With us the same call can end in a table, a takeaway order priced from your real menu, a deposit through a payment link, or a gift card — sold on the phone, at the counter or through your own page. For a business that only takes reservations, that difference is theoretical. For a business where people also ring in the evening to order, it is half the revenue coming down the line.
And WhatsApp: with us it runs today for confirmations, reminders, payments and gift cards. With Zenchef it is announced. Announced is not a feature.
Zenchef and Bubo side by side
| Zenchef | Bubo | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly figure | Not published (~€49, third party) | €49, first 6 months free |
| Commission per guest | None | None |
| Card processing | 2–6% + Amex 3.5–6% | Your own payment method's rate, nothing on top |
| iDEAL | €0.29 – €3.29 | The standard gateway rate |
| SMS / WhatsApp | €0.05–0.12 per SMS, WhatsApp announced | WhatsApp included, today |
| Answers the phone | Yes — tables and questions | Yes — tables, orders, deposits, gift cards |
| Google / Instagram Reserve | Both | Google coming, Instagram no |
| Reviews and guest marketing | Yes | No |
| Price published | No | Yes, on the pricing page |
Point by point in the Bubo vs. Zenchef comparison, and all four systems stand together in comparing reservation systems.
Frequently asked questions
What does Zenchef cost per month?
Zenchef publishes no monthly figure. The plans are called Reserve, Manage and Grow and the site asks you to set up an account or book a demo. Independent comparisons quote around €49 a month per location; that is a third-party figure.
Does Zenchef charge commission per cover?
No. Zenchef charges €0 per guest, and that is one of their strongest points against marketplaces like TheFork and OpenTable.
What does Zenchef charge, then?
The processing fees, which they publish themselves: 2–6% on card payments depending on your plan, 3.5–6% on Amex, €0.29 to €3.29 on iDEAL and €0.05 to €0.12 per SMS. In the Netherlands that iDEAL line is the one that counts.
Is Formitable now Zenchef?
Yes. Formitable and Resengo were folded into Zenchef. If you used Formitable, you are in Zenchef now, and older comparisons treating them as separate systems are out of date.
Does Zenchef answer the phone?
Yes, with AI Call — during and after service, multilingual, for tables and questions. That is real, and it is one of very few reservation systems that does it. The difference with us is what the call is then allowed to become: with us also an order, a deposit or a gift card.