DinnerElite vs Resy Notify
Resy Notify is Resy's free, built-in waitlist: tap the bell on a sold-out date and Resy alerts you if a table opens. DinnerElite is an independent watcher that monitors 224 NYC restaurants on Resy and OpenTable continuously and emails you the moment a table matching your dates, times, and party size opens.
In short: keep Notify on, it's free. Add DinnerElite when the restaurants you care about are the ones where the free alert keeps losing the race, or when they book through OpenTable, which Notify doesn't cover. Last updated July 14, 2026.
DinnerElite vs Resy Notify at a glance
| DinnerElite | Resy Notify | |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | Monitors availability continuously and emails you the instant a table matching your dates, times, and party size opens. | You set Notify on a specific restaurant and date with no availability; Resy sends a push or email if a table opens in your time range (per Resy's help docs, July 2026). |
| Platforms covered | Resy and OpenTable, one watchlist. | Resy only. |
| Price | Free (1 watched restaurant). Premium $10/month or $100/year, unlimited. No per-table fees. | Free, built into every Resy account. |
| Who hears first | Every alert goes to you; no priority tiers between DinnerElite users watching different preferences. | Amex Global Dining Access members get Priority Notify and are in the first group notified (per Resy, July 2026). Everyone else races them. |
| Setup effort | One watch covers a date range, time range, and party size; add as many restaurants as your plan allows. | Set per restaurant and per date; a two-week window means setting it repeatedly. |
| Drop-time data | Publishes when each of 224 NYC restaurants releases tables and how far ahead it books, so you can book at the release instead of waiting on cancellations. | None. Notify reacts to openings only. |
| Books for you? | No on Free and Premium: you book the table yourself from the alert. The Expert tier adds a human concierge. | No. You book in the app when the alert lands. |
| Best for | Diners chasing several hard tables at once, OpenTable restaurants, or anyone who keeps losing the Notify race. | Any Resy diner, any restaurant on Resy. It's free; there is no reason not to set it. |
Resy Notify behavior verified from Resy's help center and blog in July 2026. Check resy.com for current details.
What is Resy Notify and how does it work?
Resy Notify is a free virtual waitlist built into the Resy app and website. When a restaurant shows no tables for the date you want, the Book Now button gives way to a Notify bell: tap it, pick your time range, and Resy alerts you by push notification or email if a matching table opens up, usually because another diner cancelled. You then open the app and book it like any other reservation. It costs nothing and works at any restaurant that takes reservations through Resy. Two structural limits matter. Notify is set one restaurant and one date at a time, so flexible diners end up setting it over and over. And Resy layers priority on top of it: American Express Global Dining Access members get Priority Notify, which Resy says places them in the first group notified when tables open, ahead of standard users waiting on the same table.
Why isn't Resy Notify getting me a table?
At NYC's hardest books the math works against any single Notify user. A cancelled four-top at Don Angie has one winner, and the alert that announces it reaches many phones. Priority Notify means some of those phones buzz before yours, and whoever taps through first takes the table. None of that makes Notify useless: at most restaurants, on most dates, it works exactly as designed. But for the short list of rooms where demand swamps supply, reacting to cancellations is the weakest position. The stronger one is knowing the release schedule. Most hard-to-book NYC restaurants release their calendar on a fixed cycle (Carbone opens 30 days out on Resy, for example, per DinnerElite's drop-time tracking), and booking at the drop beats waiting for a cancellation every time. DinnerElite publishes that schedule for each of its 224 tracked restaurants and watches continuously for the cancellations too.
How is DinnerElite different from Resy Notify?
DinnerElite is an independent monitor rather than a feature of one booking platform. It watches 224 NYC restaurants across both Resy and OpenTable, and a single watch covers your whole date range, time window, and party size instead of one date at a time. When a matching table opens, you get an email immediately and book on the platform yourself, so nothing about your Resy or OpenTable account changes. It also publishes the data layer Notify lacks: when each restaurant drops its tables, which platform it books on, and how far ahead it sells out. The trade-off is price and placement. Notify is free and lives inside the app you already book with; DinnerElite is free for one watched restaurant and $10/month (or $100/year) for unlimited. The two also stack cleanly: set Notify in Resy and a DinnerElite watch on the same restaurant, and act on whichever alert arrives first.
Which should you use: DinnerElite or Resy Notify?
Start with Notify, always. It's free, native, and at the typical restaurant it does the job. Add DinnerElite when one of three things is true. You keep losing the race at a specific hard-to-book room, where continuous monitoring and drop-time data give you a second, earlier way in. The restaurant books through OpenTable, which Notify can't see. Or you're juggling several restaurants and flexible dates, where setting Notify date by date stops scaling and one DinnerElite watchlist replaces dozens of taps. The free plan covers one restaurant, so the sensible test costs nothing: put your hardest target on DinnerElite, keep Notify on in the app, and see which alert wins you the table.
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DinnerElite vs Resy Notify: FAQ
Is Resy Notify free?
Yes. Notify is built into the Resy app and website at no charge: when a restaurant shows no availability for your date, you tap the Notify bell instead of Book Now and Resy alerts you if a table opens for that date and time range. DinnerElite's free plan is also free (watch one restaurant with open-table alerts); Premium at $10/month or $100/year adds an unlimited watchlist across 224 NYC restaurants on Resy and OpenTable.
Why do tables disappear before I can book my Resy Notify alert?
Two reasons. First, at popular restaurants many diners set Notify for the same date, and the table goes to whoever books first after the alert lands. Second, Resy tells some diners before you: American Express Global Dining Access members receive Priority Notify, which Resy says puts them in the first group notified when tables open. A separate always-on watcher like DinnerElite checks availability continuously and emails you the moment a matching table appears, which shortens the gap between a cancellation and your alert.
Does Resy Notify work for OpenTable restaurants?
No. Notify only covers restaurants that take reservations through Resy. If the restaurant books through OpenTable, you need OpenTable's own availability alerts or a third-party watcher. DinnerElite covers both platforms from one watchlist: of the 224 NYC restaurants it tracks as of July 2026, most book through Resy and the rest through OpenTable, and the alert works the same way for both.
What is the best alternative to Resy Notify?
It depends on what Notify isn't doing for you. If you lose the race after each alert, an always-on monitor like DinnerElite (free for one restaurant, $10/month unlimited) watches continuously and adds drop-time data showing when each restaurant releases tables, so you can book at the release instead of waiting for cancellations. If you want the booking done for you, TablePass auto-books on your Resy or OpenTable account for a per-booking fee, and DinnerElite's Expert tier adds a human concierge. Keeping Notify on alongside any of these costs nothing.
Keep researching
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