# OpenTable APIs vs TableCheck API

> TableCheck scores 57.1 (C) to OpenTable's 38.6 (E) for booking availability. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/opentable-vs-tablecheck
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/opentable-vs-tablecheck.md (~2,200 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/opentable-vs-tablecheck.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/opentable-vs-tablecheck.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-14

TableCheck API scores 57.1 (C) on agent readiness against OpenTable APIs's 38.6 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. OpenTable APIs leads on payments & pricing. Both do booking availability.

- OpenTable APIs: grade E, 38.6/100, rank #994 of 1076. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/opentable.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/opentable.json
- TableCheck API: grade C, 57.1/100, rank #661 of 1076. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/tablecheck.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/tablecheck.json
- Best restaurant reservation and local appointment APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/local-bookings/index.md
- All 36 bookings comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/local-bookings/index.md

## Which one, for what

### OpenTable APIs (E)

Good for: Approved affiliates, restaurant groups and voice AI vendors that need to book into OpenTable restaurants.

Ahead on:
- Payments & pricing, 5 against 0

Watch for: Access needs an application, review by the partnerships team and an agreement, with no self-serve credentials

### TableCheck API (C)

Good for: Restaurants and groups in Japan and Asia on TableCheck, and booking or concierge platforms wanting their inventory.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 80 against 35
- Schema & documentation, 77 against 61
- Security & auth, 46 against 33
- Maintenance & community, 35 against 5
- Transparency & trust, 66 against 42

Watch for: Access needs an emailed application, case-by-case approval and fees quoted privately


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | OpenTable APIs | TableCheck API | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 35 | 80 | TableCheck API +45 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 61 | 77 | TableCheck API +16 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 69 | 72 | TableCheck API +3 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 33 | 46 | TableCheck API +13 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 5 | 0 | OpenTable APIs +5 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 5 | 35 | TableCheck API +30 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 42 | 66 | TableCheck API +24 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **38.6 · E** | **57.1 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | OpenTable APIs | TableCheck API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | OpenTable | TableCheck Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://platform.opentable.com` | `https://api.tablecheck.com/api/` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth | API key |
| Pricing | Your plan | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under each partner's agreement with OpenTable and the Platform Policy published in the API documentation | Proprietary service under the TableCheck API Terms of Service |
| Tools exposed | none | 20 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | no | no |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | 2022-10-11 |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | 2016-12-14 |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | not found in the text |

## Verdicts

**OpenTable APIs.** The public documentation covers diner-side and venue-side booking in detail, with slot locks, policy endpoints, error tables and an X-Request-Id header for safe retries. Access needs partner approval and a contract, rate limits and prices are not published, and the status page and main website could not be read.

**TableCheck API.** TableCheck publishes OpenAPI specs for availability, booking, CRM and POS components and a merchant MCP server with read-only keys, idempotent writes and personal data hidden by default. Access is by email application with case-by-case approval and unpublished fees, the MCP server is still under development, and no audit log or dated changelog was found.

## Before you call either

### OpenTable APIs

1. Lock the slot before calling Make Reservation, since the lock and its reservation_token expire within 5 minutes
2. Send a unique X-Request-Id on every POST, PUT and PATCH so a retried booking is not duplicated
3. Fetch booking and cancellation policies before booking and show any deposit, hold or service fee to the diner
4. Use the Consumer API for diner bookings and the In-House Booking API only for a restaurant's own voice or phone channel
5. Ask the OpenTable representative for the rate limit of each endpoint before going live

### TableCheck API

1. Decide which side you act for. Distribution and Web Booking serve diner-facing platforms, while Booking, CRM, POS and the MCP serve the venue
2. Ask the operator for a read-only key before using the MCP, as TableCheck recommends, and avoid cancellations through it
3. Call `hold_table` (MCP) or POST /blockages (REST) before booking, since availability is a snapshot and a blockage expires in 5 minutes
4. Send dates as YYYY-MM-DD and convert the UTC times returned to the venue's time zone from `list_shops`
5. Stay under 10,000 requests per 5 minutes per component and wait for the next window after a 429

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, OpenTable APIs or TableCheck API?

TableCheck API scores 57.1 (C) on agent readiness against OpenTable APIs's 38.6 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. OpenTable APIs leads on payments & pricing.

### Do OpenTable APIs and TableCheck API need an API key?

OpenTable APIs uses an OAuth sign-in. TableCheck API needs an API key.

### Can an agent call OpenTable APIs and TableCheck API without installing anything?

Yes. OpenTable APIs has a hosted endpoint at https://platform.opentable.com and TableCheck API at https://api.tablecheck.com/api/.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/opentable-vs-tablecheck.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/opentable-vs-tablecheck.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "opentable", "b": "tablecheck"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare opentable tablecheck`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/opentable.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/tablecheck.json

## Other comparisons with OpenTable APIs or TableCheck API

- [Chope vs OpenTable APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chope-vs-opentable.md)
- [Chope vs TableCheck API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chope-vs-tablecheck.md)
- [Eat App Partner API vs OpenTable APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/eat-app-vs-opentable.md)
- [Eat App Partner API vs TableCheck API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/eat-app-vs-tablecheck.md)
- [OpenTable APIs vs Tock](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/opentable-vs-tock.md)
- [Resy vs TableCheck API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/resy-vs-tablecheck.md)
- [TableCheck API vs Tock](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/tablecheck-vs-tock.md)
- [OpenTable APIs vs Resy](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/opentable-vs-resy.md)
- [OpenTable APIs vs SevenRooms](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/opentable-vs-sevenrooms.md)
- [OpenTable APIs vs Square Appointments (Bookings API)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/opentable-vs-square-appointments.md)
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- [Square Appointments (Bookings API) vs TableCheck API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/square-appointments-vs-tablecheck.md)
- [TableCheck API vs TheFork B2B API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/tablecheck-vs-thefork.md)
- [SevenRooms vs TableCheck API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/sevenrooms-vs-tablecheck.md)