Comparison

Bubo vs. Zenchef

Both of them answer your phone. The difference is what the call is allowed to become once it has been picked up.

Reservation platform with AI Call

Zenchef

From about €49 / month (third-party figure — Zenchef publishes no price) · €0 commission per cover

  • Booking widget, Google Reserve and Instagram Reserve
  • AI Call answers during service and after hours, books tables and answers questions
  • Table management, waitlist, reviews and guest marketing

It books the table and answers the question. Ask what happens when the caller wants to order dinner, pay a deposit or buy a gift card.

Reservations, orders, payment and gift cards — first 6 months free

Bubo

€49 / month

  • Booking widget on your website, plus your own booking page and QR code
  • Answers the phone in 70+ languages, and takes orders priced from your real menu
  • Payment links, deposits and gift cards over WhatsApp — shipped, not announced

One call can end in a table, an order, a payment or a gift card. And when money moves, nothing of ours comes off the top.

1 call, 4 endings A table, an order, a deposit or a gift card — on the phone. Zenchef’s call ends in a table.
2–6% Zenchef’s published card processing rate. Ours is whatever your payment method charges, and nothing on top.
€49 Published, not quoted — and free for your first six months
Every one of them has your number. The question is what happens after you pick up.
Every one of them has your number. The question is what happens after you pick up.

Side by side

What it does
Bubo
Zenchef
Why it matters on a Friday night

Once the phone is answered

Answers the phone
Yes — 70+ languages, day and night
Yes — AI Call, during service and after hours, multilingual
Both of them pick up. This row is the one most comparison pages get wrong, so it is the first one here.
Takes an order on the call
Yes — takeaway and delivery, priced from your real menu, paid on WhatsApp
No — reservations and questions
If part of your evening is people phoning to order, that is revenue a reservation platform has nowhere to put.
Sells a gift card on the call
Yes — on the phone, on your own page, or at the counter
Online only, through the widget — not on the call
Money in today for a visit months away, from a caller who was going to hang up with nothing.
Takes a deposit or a payment
A secure link over WhatsApp, straight after the call
Payments through the booking flow
A deposit asked for while the guest is still on the phone is a deposit that gets paid.
When it does not know
Says so, logs the question and sends it to you — never invents an answer
—
One invented opening time undoes every correct answer that came before it.
Afterwards
Every call recorded and summarised
Call Assist shows who is calling and their history
Different things: one tells you who rang, the other tells you what was said.

What it costs when money moves

Commission on a booking
None
None — €0 per cover, and they are right to say so
Neither of us charges for the guest. This is the row where a marketplace loses and both of these win.
Card processing
Your payment method’s own rate, nothing of ours on top
2–6% by plan, Amex 3.5–6%, published
On a €90 table that range is the difference between a coffee and a round of drinks — every time.
iDEAL
The standard gateway rate
€0.29–3.29 by plan, published
In the Netherlands most people pay by iDEAL, so this line is not a footnote.
Text messages
WhatsApp, included in your plan
€0.05–0.12 per SMS, published
A reminder per booking, on every booking, adds up quietly.

Beyond the dining room

Who it is built for
Six verticals — restaurants, salons and clinics, trades, property, retail, rentals
Restaurants and hospitality
If you run more than a restaurant, one of these follows you and one does not.
WhatsApp
Confirmations, reminders, payments and gift cards — today
Announced as coming
A WhatsApp message is read. An email can sit unopened in a promotions tab.
Fake numbers
Verified by text before the table is held
—
An open form on a busy Saturday is an invitation. A booking that was never real still blocks one that is.

Zenchef’s features and processing fees are as published on zenchef.com in September 2026. Its plan prices are not published there at all — the figure above comes from a third-party comparison, and it is the only number on this page we could not read on their own site.

Everything else, at a glance

Bubo
Zenchef
AI answers the phone
✓ Yes
✓ Yes
Takeaway and delivery orders on the call
✓ Yes
– No
Gift cards online
✓ Yes
✓ Yes
Gift cards sold on the phone and at the counter
✓ Yes
– No
Payment link or deposit after the call
✓ Yes
In the booking flow, not on the call
Spoken languages
70+
Multilingual
Booking widget on your own website
✓ Yes
✓ Yes
Your own booking page and QR code
✓ Yes
—
Google Reserve
Coming
✓ Yes
Instagram Reserve
– No
✓ Yes
WhatsApp confirmations and reminders
✓ Yes
Coming
Waitlist management
✓ Yes
✓ Yes
Review management and replies
– No
✓ Yes
Guest marketing and email campaigns
– No
✓ Yes
Caller recognised from their number
✓ Yes
✓ Yes
Every call recorded and summarised
✓ Yes
—
Number verified before a table is held
✓ Yes
—
Commission per cover
– No
– No
Plan price published on their own site
✓ Yes
– No
Industries served
Six
Hospitality

Zenchef’s column is from their own site in September 2026. A dash means we could not confirm it either way, not that it is missing. Anything marked coming is in build — on both sides.

Both pick up. One of them is a pawn and one of them is a queen.
Both pick up. One of them is a pawn and one of them is a queen.

What each one costs

Neither of us charges for the guest. The difference shows up when the guest pays.

Bubo
Zenchef
Online bookings and the diary
€49 / monthFirst 6 months free
Not publishedAbout €49 / month per location, third-party figure
Commission per cover
None
None€0 per cover, as they state
Card processing
Your payment method’s own rateNothing of ours on top
2–6% by planAmex 3.5–6% · iDEAL €0.29–3.29 · SMS €0.05–0.12
AI on the phone
From €59 / month150 minutes — tables, orders, deposits, gift cards
AI CallPrice not published — ask them
Setup, one time
€149Bubo trained on your menu, hours and rules
Not published

Bubo’s figures are on our own pricing page. Zenchef’s processing fees and feature list were read on zenchef.com in September 2026; its plan prices are not published there, so the monthly figure is a third-party estimate. Ask them for theirs in writing before you compare.

Hear it before you believe it

Let Bubo call you.

Give us your number and the phone rings in seconds — the same call your guests would get, ending in a table, an order or a gift card. Or book fifteen minutes and we will set it up around your own menu and hours.

Book a demo

Your mobile number with the country code — spaces are fine. We call it once. Privacy.

Bubo will call you in a moment.