Waitwhile alternative
Waitwhile Alternatives for Restaurants and Walk-In Businesses (2026)
Since June 2025, Waitwhile has charged for every text through prepaid credits, on top of per-location plans that cap monthly visits. For one walk-in line on monthly billing, TablesReady costs about half as much at 500 parties a month and less than half from 1,250 up to 5,000, with texts included and alerts before you reach the limit. You can start free tonight, then add a floor plan, online bookings and automatic guest replies when you move to Business. Stay with Waitwhile if you run several queues at once, or your security team needs the HIPAA BAA or SSO on its Enterprise plan.
By Mike Errecart · Updated · Waitwhile prices and features as of October 2026
We make TablesReady. This page also says when Waitwhile is the better choice.
Which fits your business: TablesReady or Waitwhile?
Pick TablesReady
You run one line for walk-ins
For example: a restaurant, a salon or a single service counter
Texts come with every plan (for US and Canadian numbers, 150 a month on Free and 1,000 on Starter; a tenth elsewhere), while Waitwhile Free comes with a $2 SMS credit to try it out and can't send messages after it runs out until you upgrade. On Business, guests can also pick a service and a staff member, and both show as columns on the one shared list. You can start on the free plan and set it up yourself.
Pick TablesReady
You want texting costs you can predict
Each TablesReady plan includes a monthly text allowance per location, with no overage fees. Texting pauses at your monthly limit. You get alerts at 80, 90 and 100%, and can add messages in one click. Waitwhile charges every text sent or received against prepaid credits, so its bill climbs with your volume. The table below shows the gap at each tier.
Pick TablesReady
You seat tables
For example: a full-service restaurant with a dining room and a patio
TablesReady Business (from $79/mo, or $69/mo billed annually) adds a drag-and-drop floor plan with live table status, table suggestions sized to each party and an online booking page. We found no floor plan in Waitwhile's public material, though it can list tables as resources.
Pick Waitwhile
You run several lines at once, each with its own wait
For example: a clinic with registration, lab and pharmacy, or service desks that call visitors up
Waitwhile gives each queue its own wait, moves a finished visitor to the next queue automatically, and calls each visitor to a counter or window on a lobby screen. TablesReady keeps one shared list with service and staff columns, and our live list can run on a lobby TV, without sound or counter calls. Waitwhile prices each queue as a location, so plan on at least one tier per line, and more if your visits pass the tier caps.
Pick Waitwhile
You need HIPAA, SSO or SOC 2 sign-off
For example: a hospital clinic or a credit union
Waitwhile signs a HIPAA BAA on Enterprise, which also adds SSO/SAML, an audit log and US-only data storage. Its home page shows SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 badges. TablesReady doesn't sign a BAA or hold SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification, so it isn't for protected health information.
Waitwhile pricing and setup vs. TablesReady
Waitwhile prices are from its pricing page.
What each plan covers
Compared with TablesReady Starter
| Guest parties a month* | TablesReady Starter, monthly (billed annually) | Waitwhile, cheapest plan at this level or above |
|---|---|---|
| 500 | $39 ($34)1,000 messages | Business: about $76 ($62)includes about $7 for outbound texts |
| 1,250 | $69 ($59)2,500 messages | Starter × 5: about $213 ($173)includes about $18 for outbound texts |
| 2,500 | $99 ($84)5,000 messages | Business × 5: about $381 ($311)includes about $36 for outbound texts |
| 5,000 | $159 ($129)10,000 messages | Business × 10: about $762 ($622)includes about $72 for outbound texts |
Its WaitIQ AI wait estimates start on Business.
Waitwhile: Texts come from prepaid credits: 0.717¢ per segment sent and 0.347¢ per segment received. Free includes a $2 SMS credit; once it runs out, a Free account can't send messages until it upgrades.
*Assumes 2 text messages per party, the median across TablesReady restaurants. TablesReady counts 160-character segments; Waitwhile counts visits and bills each 160-character segment. Each row shows the cheapest published option that covers that many parties, extra-use charges included.
Texting pauses at your monthly limit. You get alerts at 80, 90 and 100%, and can add messages in one click.
These figures assume about two texts a party, and every gap is on monthly billing. At 500 parties, one Business tier costs less than two Starter tiers of 250 visits, so it's Waitwhile's cheapest option. That costs about $76 with texts, or about $62 billed annually. Our Starter costs $37 less. At 1,250 parties the cheapest mix is five Starter tiers, about $213 a month, and our Starter costs $144 less. At 2,500 it is five Business tiers, about $381, and ours costs $282 less. At 5,000 it is ten Business tiers, about $762, and ours costs $603 less. Waitwhile sells up to 10 tiers, each adding a location and 250 or 500 visits. Above that it's Enterprise, with custom pricing. Its Free plan comes with a $2 SMS credit to try it out. Guest email and push alerts are free, so a business that never texts pays only for its tiers.
Waitwhile
Free $0
1 location and 50 visits a month, counting cancelled and no-show visits. An SMS credit to try it out, with no auto-refill. Customer data is deleted after 365 days.
Starter $39/mo per location tier, or $31/mo billed annually
Each tier is 1 location and 250 visits a month, up to 10 tiers. Adds custom messages, surveys, basic multi-location analytics and weekday email support. Texts are extra.
Business $69/mo per location tier, or $55/mo billed annually
Each tier is 1 location and 500 visits a month, up to 10 tiers. Adds bookings merged into the waitlist, geofencing, occupancy tracking, custom roles, an API, Zapier, and import and export. Texts are extra.
Enterprise Quote only
More than 10 locations or 5,000 visits a month. Adds SSO, an audit log, US-only data storage, a HIPAA BAA, an SLA and phone support.
Text messages US: $0.00717 per segment sent, $0.00347 per segment received
Prepaid credits with auto-refill, needed for texts on every plan since June 2025. Guest email and staff push are free.
Visits are pooled across your tiers, and whichever limit you reach first applies. Every queue, department or counter counts as a location.
Getting started: Sign up yourself on Free, or buy Starter or Business by card, using a business email address (Gmail addresses are refused). The home page leads with Book a demo, and Enterprise is quoted through sales.
TablesReady
Free $0
The waitlist, guest self check-in by QR code or link, a website embed and basic reservations; the list stays in sync live on every device. Ready texts and automated voice calls, plus automatic confirmation and next-in-line texts. 150 messages a month (US and Canada; a tenth elsewhere) and up to 100 parties a month for each location, with up to two Free locations per account.
Unlimited users on every plan, each with their own login and an Admin, Manager or User role, or one shared login if your team prefers.
Starter from $39/mo, or from $34/mo billed annually
Everything in Free, plus two-way texting (US and Canadian numbers), AI-predicted wait times that learn overnight from your location's own history (turn them off if you'd rather quote waits yourself), and detailed analytics. From 1,000 messages and 2,000 parties a month, with higher tiers raising both; outside the US and Canada, messages are a tenth.
Business from $79/mo, or from $69/mo billed annually
Everything in Starter, plus online bookings, table management on a floor plan, Reserve with Google (bookings and waitlist joins), Square order sync, and Stripe deposits (2% fee plus Stripe's).
Custom properties to track VIPs, email addresses, allergies or anything else about a guest; saved replies for quick canned answers in chat; SMS automations (guests join by text, or reply with a keyword to cancel, confirm, check in or say they're running late); geofencing that limits check-in and booking to guests nearby; the to-go list, data exports, and an API and webhooks.
Enterprise Contact us
For groups: a dedicated account manager, custom terms, invoice billing, onboarding with set-up help and data migration, and phone support.
Texts are included in every plan, with no overage fees.
Getting started: Sign up yourself and start on the free plan, or try paid features free for 14 days with no credit card.
Why restaurants and walk-in businesses look for a Waitwhile alternative
Of the 110 reviews we read across Capterra, G2, the App Store, Google Play and Trustpilot, 47 praise how quickly staff and guests learn it and 22 praise its support (Capterra reviews). The reasons to look elsewhere cluster in four places.
Every text now costs extra. Since June 2025, Waitwhile has sold texts apart from its plans (plan and SMS changes), as prepaid credits at $0.00717 per US segment sent and $0.00347 per segment received (Waitwhile help center). When the credits run out, texting stops until you top up, and a Free account has no auto-refill. Its June 2025 cost article gives four tier examples, and three of them match no current price, so the table above uses its pricing page.
Visit caps and price steps. Seven reviews, all on Capterra and all from 2021 or earlier, found it expensive at low or seasonal volume, or wanted a tier between the plans (Capterra reviews). Today each location tier includes 250 visits on Starter or 500 on Business, and cancelled and no-show visits count toward the cap. One busy restaurant can need several tiers.
Lots of settings to learn. Eight reviews, the newest from February 2025, mention a learning curve, including so many settings that customising it took support's help (Capterra reviews).
Bugs and updates that change things. Eleven reviews, the newest from September 2026, describe bugs or updates that changed things, such as moved links, reset settings or a lobby reopened after staff closed it (Capterra and G2 reviews).
Where Waitwhile does more than TablesReady
Waitwhile has been owned by Allegion plc since July 2025. Its home page pitches a queue platform for enterprises with 10 to 600 service points, and Free, Starter and Business are still sold with published prices. In several areas it goes further than we do:
- Rules move VIP or urgent visitors to the front, staff can message everyone waiting at once, and an in/out counter caps how many people are served. On TablesReady, with the list sorted by quoted time, a party moves up when you lower its quote. A custom property can flag VIPs (Business), and the list shows a real-time count of guests and covers waiting.
- Dashboards compare locations, and each staff member can get a daily or weekly performance email. TablesReady analytics are per location.
- Guests can get email, push alerts and iPhone App Clips with lock-screen status, in a language they choose from several. TablesReady reaches guests by text or an automated voice call, and you can rewrite almost every piece of guest-facing text in any one language.
- Enterprise adds SSO/SAML, an audit log and US-only data storage, and custom roles come with Business. TablesReady staff sign in with email or Google, there are three fixed roles, and data is hosted in the US.
Where TablesReady does more for restaurants
- Texts are part of the plan, with no overage fees. Texting pauses at your monthly limit. You get alerts at 80, 90 and 100%, and can add messages in one click. On Waitwhile, every text sent or received comes out of prepaid credits.
- One line, set up tonight. Sign up with any email address, start on the free plan and run a walk-in line the same evening. Waitwhile refuses Gmail addresses at sign-up and leads its home page with Book a demo.
- A floor plan and online bookings on Business, where bookings can also come from Google and carry a Stripe deposit. We found no floor plan or deposits in Waitwhile's public material; tables can be set up there as resources.
- A guest who replies that they're running late has their quoted time pushed back automatically (Business). Waitwhile's late reply adds a Delayed tag and leaves the visit as it was.
- Guests can join the list by texting the shared TablesReady number on Business. Waitwhile's text-to-join needs a dedicated number, which one of its help articles limits to Enterprise.
- Bookings can run longer for bigger parties, say 60 minutes for two and 90 for six, and availability and the timeline follow (Business). We didn't find durations by party size in Waitwhile's material; each service there has one duration.
- Square orders land on the list and can send the order-ready text when they're completed in Square (Business). Waitwhile names Square in one line on its integrations page, and we found no setup guide for it.
The details: TablesReady vs. Waitwhile
Key differences
| Feature | TablesReady | Waitwhile |
|---|---|---|
| Separate lines per service | One shared list, with service and staff columns (Business) | Yes: each queue, department or counter runs as its own location with its own wait, and a finished visitor can move to the next queue automatically (source) |
| How texts are billed | A monthly allowance in every plan, with no overage fees (150 on Free, 1,000 on the entry Starter and Business tiers, for US and Canadian numbers; a tenth elsewhere). Texting pauses at your monthly limit. You get alerts at 80, 90 and 100%, and can add messages in one click. | Prepaid SMS credits on top of the plan since June 2025, per 160-character segment (US: $0.00717 sent, $0.00347 received). Email and push are free. (source) |
| Floor plan | Yes, on Business: a drag-and-drop floor plan with live table status | Not listed on the Waitwhile website. Tables can be set up as resources. |
| HIPAA BAA | Not available | BAA on Enterprise (source) |
Waitlist and texting
| Feature | TablesReady | Waitwhile |
|---|---|---|
| Predicted wait times | AI-predicted from Starter, learned overnight from each location's own history (by party size, weekday and hour); you can turn it off and quote waits yourself. Free uses a default quote you set. | Yes: WaitIQ, an AI model trained across similar locations (Business), or a custom estimate from historical or set service durations, queue size and active resources, which can show a range (source) |
| Two-way texting | Yes, from Starter (US and Canada numbers) | Yes, from each visit's Messages tab; every text uses prepaid credits (source) |
| Saved replies | Business: canned replies picked from a list in the chat window, with merge fields such as the guest's name | Yes: named templates picked in the chat, with variables and Liquid logic (plan not stated) (source) |
| Waitlist joins from Google | Yes, on Business (Reserve with Google) | Yes, from Google Maps, for restaurants and cafes only (with geofencing off and no required service) (source) |
| Geofencing | Business: limit check-in, the live waitlist page and booking to guests within a distance you set, with your own message for everyone else | Yes, on Business: a radius around the address or set coordinates, for joining or booking (source) |
Bookings and tables
| Feature | TablesReady | Waitwhile |
|---|---|---|
| Online bookings | Basic reservations on Free; an online booking page on Business | Yes, on every plan including Free: instant bookings, or requests that staff approve (source) |
| Bookings from Google | Yes, on Business (Reserve with Google) | A link to its booking page on your Google Business Profile. Booking inside Google with live availability is not listed. (source) |
| Deposits | Stripe deposits on Business (2% TablesReady fee plus Stripe's fees) | Not listed on the Waitwhile website |
Guest details
| Feature | TablesReady | Waitwhile |
|---|---|---|
| Custom guest fields and tags | Business: your own fields and tags on staff and guest forms (a VIP flag, email, allergies or anything else), shown as columns on the waitlist and reservations lists and, if you choose, kept on the guest's profile | Yes: custom input fields per location or service, shown on the visit and in the Visits table (plan not stated; its flow builder is basic on Free and advanced on Business) (source) |
Plans and pricing
| Feature | TablesReady | Waitwhile |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes: waitlist, self check-in and basic reservations, 150 messages a month for US and Canadian numbers (a tenth elsewhere) and up to 100 parties per location, up to two Free locations per account, unlimited users | Yes: 1 location and 50 visits a month, with a $2 SMS credit to try it out and no auto-refill; once the credit runs out, a Free account can't send messages until it upgrades. Customer data is deleted after 365 days. (source) |
| Lowest paid plan | Free plan; paid plans from $39/mo, or from $34/mo billed annually | Starter, $39/mo per location tier or $31/mo billed annually; each tier adds 250 visits a month (source) |
| Per-cover fees | None | None listed. Plans are priced per location tier with a monthly visit allowance. (source) |
Platform and support
| Feature | TablesReady | Waitwhile |
|---|---|---|
| POS integrations | Square on Business (syncs orders for order-ready texts). No Toast or Clover integration. | Square POS, in a one-line entry on its integrations page; we found no Square setup article in its help center (source) |
| Apps | iPhone and iPad app, plus any browser: runs in Chrome on Android tablets and phones. No native Android app. | iPhone, iPad and Android apps, plus any browser (source) |
| Multiple locations | Yes; each location needs its own subscription | Yes, up to 10 locations on Starter and Business, more on Enterprise. Each queue or counter counts as a location. (source) |
| Staff logins and access levels | Unlimited users on every plan, each with their own login (email or Google) and an Admin, Manager or User role per location; a shared login works too if you prefer. No SAML SSO. | Yes: no per-user fee on any plan, with a default ceiling of 1,000 users per location. Owner, Admin, Editor and Reader roles on every plan and custom roles on Business; Google sign-in comes only through SSO/SAML on Enterprise. (source) |
| Support | Email, Mon–Fri 9am–6pm ET; phone support on Enterprise | Chat and email, Monday to Friday 9am–6pm ET, in English (Free: chat for the first 30 days). Phone support comes with Enterprise premium support. (source) |
Ratings
| Feature | TablesReady | Waitwhile |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings (US) |
Waitwhile details come from its own website, help center and app store listings. Where we couldn't find a feature, the table says so rather than calling it missing. Capterra ratings checked October 2026; G2 ratings checked October 2026. See something out of date? Email support@tablesready.com.
Switching from Waitwhile
Most restaurants switch in an afternoon: import upcoming bookings by CSV, paste in your text wording, and run both side by side during the trial.
What carries over
- Upcoming bookings, if you're on Waitwhile Business. Export visits to CSV by date range, then load the upcoming ones through our reservation CSV import (date, time, name, party size, phone and notes). The import works on every plan, Free included.
- Your message wording. Paste each Waitwhile message into the matching TablesReady template, where there is one, and swap its variables for our ten merge fields.
What you set up again
- Your guest list. TablesReady has no customer import, so profiles build again from phone numbers as guests return. Waitwhile Business can export unique customers if you want a copy, and on Waitwhile Free, customer data is deleted after 365 days.
- Services, staff and tables. Recreate your Waitwhile services and staff as TablesReady services and resources on Business, and draw the floor plan by hand.
- Your kiosk tablet, lobby TV and Google listing. Point the tablet at our check-in page, the TV at our live waitlist page, and turn on Reserve with Google (Business) in place of Waitwhile's Google Maps waitlist.
Help with the move
On Starter and Business, our email support helps you set up, but we don't import data for you; Enterprise adds set-up help and data migration. Start our 14-day trial (no card, up to 150 texts) shortly before your Waitwhile renewal and run the two side by side.
Other Waitwhile alternatives worth a look
These are the other tools we'd shortlist, and who each one suits.
NextMe
Event teams and walk-in businesses that send guests away while they wait and want branded wait pages, several queues and text or WhatsApp alerts.
Compare TablesReady with NextMeWaitly
Small US restaurants and shops on iPhones, iPads or Macs that want a low-cost waitlist with basic two-way texts, and two locations on its Professional plan.
- Capterra: No Capterra listing
- G2: Listed on G2 (no reviews yet)
Waitlist Me
Small restaurants, salons, clinics and shops that want a low-cost waitlist, with a Clover app, and a text or call when it's each guest's turn.
- Capterra: Listed on Capterra (no reviews yet)
- G2: 5/5 (1 review) One review, from 2019.
ScanQueue
Cafés, barbershops and event counters that want a free QR-code queue with WhatsApp or email alerts, from a startup founded in 2025.
- Capterra: Listed on Capterra (no reviews yet)
- G2: 5/5 (1 review) One review.
Waitwhile alternative FAQ
What is the best Waitwhile alternative?
It depends on how your line works. For a restaurant or walk-in business with one line that wants texts included in the plan, we'd pick TablesReady. Start free, or pay from $39/mo for two-way texting (US and Canada numbers) and predicted waits. For several queues at once, look at NextMe. We make TablesReady, so weigh our pick with that in mind.
Does Waitwhile include text messages in its plans?
Not since June 2025. Waitwhile sells texts as prepaid credits, charged per 160-character segment for every message sent or received, and texting stops when the credits run out. Its Free plan comes with a $2 SMS credit to try it out and has no auto-refill. Guest email and push are free. TablesReady includes a monthly text allowance in every plan, from 150 on Free to 1,000 and up on paid plans for US and Canadian numbers (a tenth of that elsewhere), with no overage fees. Texting pauses at your monthly limit. You get alerts at 80, 90 and 100%, and can add messages in one click.
Is there a free alternative to Waitwhile?
TablesReady Free includes the waitlist, self check-in, basic reservations and 150 texts a month (US and Canada; 15 elsewhere) for up to 100 parties, with unlimited users. One account can hold 2 free locations. Waitwhile Free covers 1 location and 50 visits a month with a $2 SMS credit to try it out, and deletes customer data after 365 days.
Does Waitwhile have a floor plan for restaurants?
We didn't find one in Waitwhile's public material. Tables can be set up as resources, and a resource overview lists each one's status, but we found no table map. TablesReady Business, from $79/mo, adds a drag-and-drop floor plan with live table status, table suggestions by party size and Stripe deposits.
Can guests join the waitlist or book from Google with either app?
Both apps let guests join the waitlist from Google Maps. On TablesReady that comes with Business; Waitwhile allows it for restaurants and cafes, with geofencing off and no required service. For bookings, Waitwhile lets you add a link to your booking page on your Google Business Profile. TablesReady Business takes the booking inside Google Search and Maps, using your schedules, services and tables.
Can a clinic use TablesReady instead of Waitwhile?
Only if no protected health information goes into guest names, notes or messages. TablesReady doesn't sign a HIPAA BAA and has no SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification. Waitwhile signs a BAA on Enterprise, so a clinic that needs one should stay with Waitwhile.
How do I switch from Waitwhile to TablesReady?
On Waitwhile Business, export your visits to CSV and import upcoming bookings into TablesReady on any plan; Waitwhile's Free and Starter plans don't include export. Guest profiles start fresh, because TablesReady has no customer import. Our email support helps with setup on Starter and Business, and Enterprise adds data migration. Start the 14-day trial (no card) before your Waitwhile renewal, since Waitwhile's pricing FAQ says it gives no refunds on cancellation.
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Run it next to Waitwhile before you switch. No credit card required.
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