Written by Steven Dong· Co-founder of SuzzyTheFork alternative: move to 0 commission per cover with Suzzy in 2026
TheFork charges around €2 excl. VAT per cover on each reservation booked via the marketplace. At 1,000 covers per month, that is €24,000 a year drained from your margin. Here is the French flat-price commission-free alternative, built for restaurants that fill their dining room.
Why TheFork costs more and more as you fill up
The historical model of reservation marketplaces is commission per cover. TheFork (a TripAdvisor subsidiary) charges around €2 excl. VAT per cover served via its engine, on top of a monthly subscription. For a restaurant that receives 500 covers per month through the platform, that is already €12,000 excl. VAT per year in commissions alone.
The paradox is simple: the more you fill up, the more you pay. At 2,000 covers per month, the annual bill climbs to €48,000 excl. VAT, the equivalent of a full-time salary. Trade bodies like UMIH regularly remind operators of this: in a business where net margin usually sits between 5 and 10 percent, every commission per cover eats directly into the bottom line. And you stay dependent on the marketplace's visibility to keep filling up.
Suzzy takes the opposite approach: a single subscription at €89 excl. VAT/month, 0 commission per cover, your customer file 100 percent yours, and a reservation module installed on your own website, your Google listing and your social channels. This guide walks through what this changes at 500, 1,000 and 2,000 covers per month, and how to leave TheFork without losing your regulars.
Method: This comparison relies on public information from each vendor at the date of publication. Offers evolve: check current terms before committing.
The scale of the problem
TheFork commission at scale
The commission per cover stays bearable at low volume: a few dozen euros a month that get lost in the P&L. The problem appears when you fill up: the bill grows linearly with volume, while Suzzy stays at €89 excl. VAT/month whatever your covers. From a few hundred covers per month, the flat-price model becomes structurally profitable, and the annual gap runs into tens of thousands of euros.
| Monthly volume | Commission | TheFork annual cost | Suzzy annual cost | Annual gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 covers | ≈ €2 excl. VAT / cover | ≈ €12,000 excl. VAT | €1,068 excl. VAT | ≈ €10,900 |
| 1,000 covers | ≈ €2 excl. VAT / cover | ≈ €24,000 excl. VAT | €1,068 excl. VAT | ≈ €23,000 |
| 2,500 covers | ≈ €2 excl. VAT / cover | ≈ €60,000 excl. VAT | €1,068 excl. VAT | ≈ €59,000 |
| 5,000 covers | ≈ €2 excl. VAT / cover | ≈ €120,000 excl. VAT | €1,068 excl. VAT | ≈ €119,000 |
The TheFork commission applies to reservations booked via their platform. Simulate your exact case with the calculator below.
The real cost of TheFork at volume
TheFork bills both a subscription and a commission per cover (around €2 excl. VAT per cover on marketplace reservations). At Suzzy, it is a flat subscription: €89 or €139 excl. VAT/month regardless of volume. Here is the raw 12-month comparison based on monthly covers received via TheFork:
| Covers / month via marketplace | TheFork (estimated commissions) | Suzzy Essentiel |
|---|---|---|
| 500 covers / month | ≈ €1,000/month · €12,000/year | €89/month · €1,068/year |
| 1,000 covers / month | ≈ €2,000/month · €24,000/year | €89/month · €1,068/year |
| 2,000 covers / month | ≈ €4,000/month · €48,000/year | €139/month · €1,668/year (Premium) |
The more you fill up on TheFork, the higher the bill. On Suzzy, your subscription stays identical at 500, 1,000 or 2,000 covers.
Marketplace dependency
When most of your reservations come through TheFork, your visibility depends on its algorithm, your platform-internal reviews and the exposure it grants you. A ranking drop, an algorithm change or a penalty can slash your volume overnight. Suzzy makes you independent: reservations arrive directly from your website, your Google Business Profile and your social channels. You build your own channel, not someone else's.
Ownership of your customer file
On TheFork, the customer file is partly controlled by the platform: full contact details and detailed history are not always freely exportable, and marketing use is regulated. With Suzzy, your customer file is 100 percent yours: free CSV export at any time, no sharing with third parties, and reservations, reviews, loyalty points and click & collect orders are unified on a single customer profile.
Suzzy vs TheFork on the criteria that matter
Here is a side-by-side comparison of Suzzy and TheFork on the cost, independence and functional coverage criteria that weigh on your margin.
| Criterion | Suzzy | TheFork |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | €89/mo excl. VAT (all included) | Subscription + commission per cover |
| Commission per cover | €0 | ≈ €2 excl. VAT/cover (marketplace) |
| Reservation module on your site | Included (WordPress, Wix, Webflow, custom) | Marketplace widget, TheFork brand |
| Reservation via Google (listing + Maps) | Included, centralised bookings | Via marketplace integration |
| Free customer file export | Free CSV at any time | Partial, framed by the platform |
| No-show management | SMS/email reminders included | Card imprint available |
| Loyalty (Apple/Google Wallet) | Included | Yums (platform programme) |
| Support | French, 7/7 | Multilingual, standardised |
| Commitment | Monthly, no commitment | Common annual contract |
The tipping point is clear: as soon as you go beyond around 45 covers per month via the marketplace, Suzzy comes out cheaper than the equivalent TheFork commission. Calculate yours with the simulator below.
Simulator: what TheFork really costs you
Adjust your monthly volume and average commission, and see in real time what you could save by switching to Suzzy.
Estimate the covers that go through TheFork today.
Based on around €2 excl. VAT/cover: 500 covers ≈ €1,000, 1,000 covers ≈ €2,000, 2,000 covers ≈ €4,000. Adjust to your latest invoice.
Your savings with Suzzy
€1,812
savings per year
i.e. €151 saved every month
TheFork cost / year
€2,880
Suzzy cost / year
€1,068
Over 3 years, you would save €5,436
At your volume, you are already past the Suzzy break-even.
Book my Suzzy demoEstimate for information only. Prices excl. VAT, no commitment.
How to leave TheFork without losing your customers
Leaving the marketplace does not mean losing your database or interrupting service. Migration happens in 4 steps, usually completed within 24 to 48 hours.
- 1
Export your database from TheFork Manager
From TheFork Manager, retrieve the exportable customer file (names, emails, phones when available) and your reservation history. Note your regulars and their preferences to recreate them cleanly in Suzzy.
- 2
Turn off marketplace exposure
You progressively cut TheFork marketplace exposure to avoid duplicate bookings during the switchover. Depending on your contract, you respect the notice period to stop the subscription at term.
- 3
File import and Suzzy onboarding
The Suzzy team imports your database; segments, tags, known no-shows and preferences are preserved. A 90-minute training is enough to master the interface, from floor plan to loyalty.
- 4
Redirect bookings to your direct channels
The Suzzy module is installed on your website (WordPress, Wix, Webflow, custom), your Google Business Profile and your social channels. Reservations arrive directly, no marketplace in between, no commission per cover.
Our honest position
We are the publisher of a competing solution and we own it. If you are in a low local-visibility area and starting without name recognition, TheFork can play an accelerator role early on: the marketplace brings volume to restaurants that are still little known. Where the model becomes hard to defend is when you are already full: every extra cover costs €2, and your regulars rebooking through the platform are billed as if they came from the marketplace. Suzzy is more relevant when you want to take back control of your direct channels and stop paying for your own customers.
What it changes concretely
Le Bouillon Ducale, a Parisian brasserie, uses Suzzy for reservations and Google reviews.
« Les avis Google montent tout seuls et la carte de fidélité digitale fait revenir nos clients toutes les semaines. On voit la différence en caisse. »
- avis Google
- +500
- de clients récurrents
- +40%
FAQ on the TheFork alternative
Hesitating between Suzzy and TheFork, or wondering about the per-cover commission, the migration or customer file ownership? Here are the answers to the 10 most common questions from restaurateurs in 2026.
Take back control of your reservations
You are looking for a TheFork alternative because the per-cover commission eats into your margin the more you fill up. Move to a flat French subscription with no commission, that captures your reservations directly from your website, your Google listing and your social channels.
Calculate my real cost