Usually no. Most reservations on Resy, OpenTable, and SevenRooms are free and take no money up front, and you pay only when you dine. The exceptions are a minority of in-demand restaurants that attach a credit-card hold or a per-person deposit, plus a smaller group that sells prepaid tickets you buy outright when you book.
A reservation deposit is a per-person amount a restaurant attaches to each seat when you book, meant to discourage no-shows. It is authorized or collected at the time you reserve, and if you keep the reservation it is usually applied to your final bill or refunded. Each restaurant sets its own amount and its own rules.
A no-show fee is what a restaurant charges when you hold a booking with a card and then do not appear, or cancel too late. It is charged per person, and the exact amount is set by each restaurant. The booking platform only collects it on the restaurant's behalf, so any dispute goes to the restaurant.
It depends on the restaurant. Tock prepaid tickets are often non-refundable, because a ticket is a purchase rather than a placeholder. Many restaurants do let you resell or exchange a ticket you cannot use, sometimes through Tock's own transfer tools. Benu, Lazy Bear, and State Bird Provisions each set their own policy, so check it before you buy.
At restaurants that take a card, the cancellation window is commonly somewhere around 24 to 48 hours before the booking. Cancel before that window closes and a hold is released or a deposit refunded with no charge. Cancel inside the window, or fail to show, and the restaurant can charge its fee. Note the deadline when you book.
No. A card hold saves your card on file without charging it, and the money only moves if you break the cancellation policy. If you keep the reservation and dine, the hold is simply released. A deposit works a little differently, since it may be authorized or collected up front and then credited to your bill or refunded.
No. SnagRes is free to use, never takes a deposit, and never books or pays on your behalf. It only emails or texts you when a hard-to-book table opens. You complete the booking yourself on the restaurant's own platform, where any deposit, hold, or ticket rule is theirs, not ours.
Most standard reservations cost nothing. On Resy, OpenTable, and SevenRooms, the ordinary booking is free and takes no money up front. You pick a date, a party size, and a time, you confirm, and you pay only when you eat. The reservation itself is not a purchase, so no card is charged and nothing is held in advance for the vast majority of tables.
The exceptions are the hardest tables. A minority of in-demand restaurants attach a credit-card hold or a per-person deposit to protect their most valuable seats, and a smaller group sells prepaid tickets you buy outright. These rules are set by each restaurant, not by the booking platform, so the same app can host a free table at one venue and a paid ticket at another. That is why the answer to whether a reservation costs money is always specific to the restaurant, and knowing which model it uses before you book saves both surprise charges and cancelled plans.
A card hold and a deposit are two ways a restaurant asks for a card when you book. A hold saves your card on file without charging it, and the money only moves if you break the cancellation policy. A per-person deposit is a set amount attached to each seat in your party, and it is either authorized or collected when you reserve, then credited or released depending on what happens next.
In both cases the card requirement exists to discourage no-shows, not to charge you for showing up. If you keep the reservation and dine, a deposit is usually applied to your final bill or refunded, and a hold is simply released. The exact amount and the exact mechanics are decided by the restaurant, so read the policy shown at checkout on Resy, OpenTable, or SevenRooms before you confirm the booking.
Cancellation windows are the thing to watch. Restaurants that take a card commonly set a window somewhere around 24 to 48 hours before the booking. Cancel outside that window, before it closes, and a hold is released or a deposit refunded with no charge. Cancel inside the window, or fail to appear at all, and the restaurant can charge the fee its policy describes.
No-show and late-cancellation fees are charged per person at venues that require a card, and each restaurant sets its own amount. The platform is only collecting on the restaurant's behalf, so a dispute goes to the restaurant, not to Resy or OpenTable. The safe habit is simple. Note the cancellation deadline when you book, and cancel through the same app the moment you know you cannot make it, which frees the table for someone else and protects your card. A late cancellation and a no-show are usually treated the same way, so telling the restaurant you cannot come does not help once the window has closed.
Check the booking screen for a card requirement or deposit amount before you confirm, so nothing is a surprise later.
Note the cancellation deadline the moment you book, since it is often somewhere around 24 to 48 hours before the reservation.
Cancel through the same platform you booked on as soon as your plans change, so a hold is released or a deposit refunded in time.
If your seat is a prepaid ticket, look for a resell or exchange option rather than assuming the money is simply gone.
Some restaurants skip holds entirely and sell tickets instead. Tock frequently runs this model for tasting menus, where you pay the full price up front when you book, the same way you buy a ticket to a show. The seat is yours once the ticket is purchased, and there is no separate bill for the meal itself at the end, though tax, service, and drinks may be handled differently depending on the restaurant.
Refund and transfer rules for prepaid tickets are set per restaurant. Prepaid tickets are often non-refundable, but many restaurants let you resell or exchange a ticket you cannot use, sometimes through the platform's own transfer tools. Benu, Lazy Bear, and State Bird Provisions all book through Tock, and each publishes its own policy on what happens if your plans change. Always check that policy before you buy, because a ticket is a purchase, not a placeholder.
SnagRes is free to use, never takes a deposit, and never books or pays on your behalf. It is an availability tracker and alert service. It watches hard-to-book restaurants and emails or texts you the moment a table opens, and that is the entire product. There is no card on file with us and no fee for a table you catch through an alert.
When an alert arrives, you complete the booking yourself on the restaurant's own platform, whether that is Resy, OpenTable, SevenRooms, or Tock. Any deposit, hold, cancellation window, or ticket rule you meet at that step belongs to the restaurant, not to SnagRes. We simply make sure you see the opening while the seat is still there, so you can decide whether its terms are worth it.
Most restaurant reservations are free, but some need a deposit, card hold, or prepaid ticket. How holds, no-show fees, and refunds actually work.
How reservation deposits, credit-card holds, no-show fees, and prepaid tickets work across Resy, OpenTable, SevenRooms, and Tock.
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