Head to head · Restaurant reservations · October 2026 research run
TableCheck API vs Tock
TableCheck API scores 57.1 (C) on agent readiness against Tock's 12.4 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do restaurant reservations.
Best restaurant reservation and local appointment APIs for AI agents · All 36 bookings comparisons
Which one, for what
Best for Restaurants and groups in Japan and Asia on TableCheck, and booking or concierge platforms wanting their inventory.
Ahead on
- Reliability, 80 against 25
- Schema & documentation, 77 against 5
- Agent ergonomics, 72 against 0
- Security & auth, 46 against 0
- Maintenance & community, 35 against 23
- Transparency & trust, 66 against 52
Also in its favour
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install
Watch for
Access needs an emailed application, case-by-case approval and fees quoted privately
Tock F
Best for Restaurants and wineries taking reservations and experience bookings, and for diners booking in person.
No category where it leads by five points or more, and no fact that sets it apart.
Watch for
No public API or MCP server an outside agent can call. The docs index reads "Docs coming soon"
Score by category
| Category | Weight this run | TableCheck API | Tock | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | 16%20 | 80 | 25 | TableCheck API +55 |
| Performance | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13%16.2 | 77 | 5 | TableCheck API +72 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13%16.2 | 72 | 0 | TableCheck API +72 |
| Security & auth | 14%17.5 | 46 | 0 | TableCheck API +46 |
| Payments & pricing | 10%12.5 | 0 | 0 | even |
| Task success | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7%8.8 | 35 | 23 | TableCheck API +12 |
| Transparency & trust | 7%8.8 | 66 | 52 | TableCheck API +14 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | C 57.1/100 | F 12.4/100 |
Facts side by side
| Fact | TableCheck API | Tock |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | HTTP API | Platform |
| Vendor | TableCheck Inc. | Tock (American Express) |
| Hosted endpoint | https://api.tablecheck.com/api/ | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under the TableCheck API Terms of Service | Proprietary service under the Tock Terms of Use (effective 12 February 2026) and merchant terms |
| Tools exposed | 20 | none |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | no | no |
| Terms last updated | 2022-10-11 | 2026-02-12 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2016-12-14 | 2025-11-24 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | yes |
Verdicts
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.
Tock
Tock takes reservations and experience bookings for restaurants and wineries and now feeds its venues into Resy. There is no public API or MCP server an outside agent can call today. api.exploretock.com publishes reservation data models without endpoints, and the Terms of Use forbid automated access to the site.
Before you call either
TableCheck API
- Decide which side you act for. Distribution and Web Booking serve diner-facing platforms, while Booking, CRM, POS and the MCP serve the venue
- Ask the operator for a read-only key before using the MCP, as TableCheck recommends, and avoid cancellations through it
- Call
hold_table(MCP) or POST /blockages (REST) before booking, since availability is a snapshot and a blockage expires in 5 minutes - Send dates as YYYY-MM-DD and convert the UTC times returned to the venue's time zone from
list_shops - Stay under 10,000 requests per 5 minutes per component and wait for the next window after a 429
Tock
- Don't plan to call Tock from another agent. Hand the booking to the person on exploretock.com or in the Resy app
- Do not script the Tock website, which the Terms of Use forbid. A venue wanting data should ask Tock through its dashboard account
Questions
Which is better for AI agents, TableCheck API or Tock?
TableCheck API scores 57.1 (C) on agent readiness against Tock's 12.4 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.
Can an agent call TableCheck API and Tock without installing anything?
TableCheck API has a hosted endpoint at https://api.tablecheck.com/api/. No hosted endpoint is listed for Tock.
Other comparisons with TableCheck API or Tock
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- Resy vs TableCheck API
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- SevenRooms vs TableCheck API
- SevenRooms vs Tock
- Square Appointments (Bookings API) vs Tock
Machine-readable
- This page as Markdown
/compare/tablecheck-vs-tock.md· slim.min.md· JSON.json(or sendAccept: text/markdown) - Each listing in full
/api/v1/tools/tablecheck.json·/api/v1/tools/tock.json - From a terminal
anchor compare tablecheck tock(the CLI) - Over MCP
compare_tools {"a": "tablecheck", "b": "tock"}at/mcp, no key