YYelp Host

Yelp Host answered more than one million restaurant calls in its first nine months, and Yelp says call volume grew an average of 38% a month from its October 2025 launch through June 2026. It is Yelp’s AI phone agent for restaurants. It answers every call, books, changes and cancels reservations in Yelp Guest Manager or OpenTable, adds parties to the waitlist and, since July 2026, takes pickup orders that go straight into Toast, Square or Clover.

It is best for independent restaurants and small groups that lose bookings and orders when the phone rings during service. It starts at $249 a month, or $199 for Yelp Guest Manager customers. Two points to note: the price has risen from $149 at launch, and the product lives inside Yelp for Business. We rate it 8.7/10 on our scale. We have not used Yelp Host; this review is based on Yelp’s announcements, trade coverage and Capterra reviews of Yelp Guest Manager.

Formal Releases Tracing Yelp Host’s Short History

Yelp, a public company, has announced Yelp Host’s milestones and price changes in formal releases, which makes its short history easy to trace.

The growth rate is the number to notice. Call volume rising 38% a month on average means restaurants are adding Yelp Host quickly and routing more of their calls to it once it is on. The one million calls also give Yelp a large pool of real conversations to tune against, which matters for a voice agent dealing with noisy dining rooms and varied accents.

The price history matters as much. Yelp raised the standard price by about two-thirds and doubled the Guest Manager rate in nine months, while adding OpenTable, ordering and languages. Buyers should expect the product and its price to keep moving, and should negotiate with that in mind.

A Voice Agent That Already Knows Your Yelp Page

Yelp Host answers a restaurant’s calls with a voice agent that already knows the business from its Yelp page. Yelp’s chief product officer said at the 2025 announcement that the tools had already resolved customer inquiries without staff.

Answering Calls

• Answer: the agent picks up, handles many calls at once and answers questions about hours, menu, location and policies using Yelp business data and the owner’s custom answers.
• Clarify: it asks follow-up questions, takes and summarizes messages and screens out spam calls.
• Route: calls about events, catering, vendors or anything complex go to the right person through multiple handoff numbers.
• Report: after each call the owner gets a summary, transcript and recording, plus analytics on call evaluations, after-hours calls, reservation conversion, food order volume and concurrent calls.

Reservations and Waitlists

With Yelp Guest Manager, Yelp Host books reservations from both in-house and online availability, adds parties to the waitlist, shares wait times and sends SMS follow-ups. Guest Manager itself handles floor plans, table assignments and seating, and accepts bookings from Yelp and other channels. In the US and Canada, Yelp Host also handles OpenTable calls: guests can book, change and cancel, and changes sync instantly with OpenTable.

Pickup Orders

Since July 2026, Yelp Host takes pickup orders for counter-service, quick-service, fast-casual and takeout-focused restaurants. Orders go directly to the kitchen through Toast, Square or Clover via the Stream integration platform, and Yelp charges no commission on them. Yelp said food upselling and expanded payment settings were planned for summer 2026.

Voices and Languages

The July 2026 update added 16 languages, with the agent answering in each caller’s detected language, eight new voice options and fully custom brand voices. Under the hood, Yelp told TechCrunch in April 2025 that it used OpenAI’s Realtime API for end-to-end calling, augmented by its own knowledge graph; by launch it described a proprietary multi-provider voice stack.

Signing Up Through Yelp for Business

• Sign up: open the Yelp Host tab in your Yelp for Business account.
• Check your Yelp data: hours, menu and policies on your Yelp page feed the agent’s answers, so update them first.
• Customize: set greetings, voice, pronunciation, custom answers and handoff numbers.
• Connect bookings and orders: link Yelp Guest Manager or OpenTable for reservations, and Toast, Square or Clover through Stream for pickup orders.
• Forward calls: route your restaurant line to Yelp Host, all day or for busy and after-hours periods.

Catering, Events and Complex Calls Go to Staff

Staff take transferred calls for events, catering, vendors and complex requests, and anyone who asks for a person. Owners also need to keep Yelp business data and menus current, review transcripts and watch reservation conversion reports for calls the agent fumbles.

$249 a Month Now, Up From $149 at Launch

Prices below are from Yelp’s July 2026 announcement, with the launch prices from October 2025 for comparison.

One Independent Restaurant’s Monthly Bill

These scenarios use Yelp’s published prices. The Guest Manager price is Capterra’s listed Basic plan, and staff wages are our own assumption.

• One independent restaurant on OpenTable: $249 a month, or $2,988 a year. If the agent saves even a fraction of the 80 staff hours a week The Butter Milk Ranch reported, the math is easy: 80 hours at $16 an hour is $1,280 a week, or about $5,547 a month.
• A restaurant that also wants Yelp’s table management: Guest Manager’s Basic plan is listed on Capterra at $99 a month, and Yelp Host drops to $199, for $298 a month or $3,576 a year.
• A five-location group, if billed per location: 5 times $249 is $1,245 a month. Ask Yelp about multi-location terms, since the published price is for a single restaurant.

Variable costs to plan for: future price changes, any payment processing once phone payments arrive, and your POS and Stream setup for ordering.

Yelp Host Compared With Slang AI, Loman AI, Popmenu AI Answering and Goodcall

Restaurant phone agents range from reservation-focused hosts to ordering agents and general receptionists. Yelp Host now spans the first two.

Yelp Host sits in the middle on price and near the top on actions for an independent restaurant: it books in OpenTable and takes orders into three major POS systems. Slang is the choice for full-service groups that need event and private dining handling. Loman leans further into ordering and phone payments. Popmenu and Goodcall are cheaper paths if you only need calls answered and links sent. Compare more on our restaurant agents and voice agents pages.

OpenTable and Guest Manager Restaurants

• Restaurants on OpenTable or Yelp Guest Manager: the agent books, changes and cancels in both, and Guest Manager customers get a $50 monthly discount.
• Counter-service and takeout spots on Toast, Square or Clover: pickup orders go straight to the kitchen with zero commission.
• Busy dining rooms where nobody can answer: The Butter Milk Ranch said it saved 80 staff hours a week.
• Restaurants with multilingual callers: 16 added languages with automatic detection cover many guests in their own language.
• Owners who want quick setup: sign-up happens in Yelp for Business and the agent starts from your Yelp data.

Drive-Thru Chains and Other Reservation Systems

• Chains with drive-thrus: Yelp Host is a phone agent; drive-thru ordering needs a platform such as SoundHound or ConverseNow.
• Restaurants on other reservation systems: Yelp Host’s booking actions cover Yelp Guest Manager and OpenTable.
• Restaurants on a POS outside Toast, Square and Clover that want phone orders: ordering runs through Stream to those three systems.
• Budget-first owners who only need messages taken: Goodcall starts at $79 a month.

Price Changes and Features Still Planned

• Price changes: Yelp Host went from $149 to $249 a month in nine months. Ask how long your rate is guaranteed.
• Planned versus live features: food upselling and expanded payment settings were announced as coming in summer 2026; confirm they are live before you rely on them.
• Yelp data: the agent runs inside Yelp for Business and learns from your Yelp page, so keeping that page accurate keeps phone answers accurate.
• Integration chain: pickup orders pass through the Stream platform to your POS, which adds a link worth monitoring.
• Review data covers Guest Manager: Capterra reviewers rate Yelp Guest Manager highly, and some mention cost and support; those reviews do not rate the phone agent itself.

OpenTable Bookings and 16 Languages Added in July 2026

• July 28, 2026: Yelp announced Yelp Host had handled more than one million calls, added OpenTable reservations, pickup ordering, 16 languages and new voices, and set pricing at $249 a month, or $199 for Guest Manager customers.
• June 30, 2026: Restaurant Technology News profiled Yelp for Restaurants ahead of the National Restaurant Association Show, describing Yelp Host as able to book reservations, share wait times and block spam using Guest Manager data.
• October 21, 2025: Yelp launched Yelp Host for table-service restaurants at $149 a month, alongside Yelp Receptionist for other local businesses.
• April 29, 2025: Yelp first announced AI voice agents for restaurants and service businesses, built on OpenAI’s Realtime API.

Independents Losing Calls Should Sign Up

For an independent restaurant that loses reservations and takeout orders to unanswered calls, yes. Yelp Host does more than take messages: it books and changes reservations in OpenTable or Guest Manager, takes pickup orders into Toast, Square or Clover, and hands off what it cannot handle. At $249 a month with no order commission, it needs to save only a few staff hours a week or recover a handful of orders to pay for itself.

It scores 8.7/10 on our scale. Setup and pricing clarity are strengths, and its actions are real. It scores lower on the recent price rise, its reliance on Yelp, and the fact that public ratings so far cover Guest Manager rather than Yelp Host itself. Forward your calls to it during your two busiest services for a month, then compare missed calls, bookings and order volume against the month before.

Yelp Host Pricing and Features, Common Sticking Points

How Much Does Yelp Host Cost?

Yelp Host starts at $249 a month, or $199 a month if you also use Yelp Guest Manager, as of July 2026. It launched at $149 and $99 in October 2025. Yelp charges no commission on food orders it takes.

Does Yelp Host Work With OpenTable?

Yes, for restaurants in the US and Canada. Callers can book, modify and cancel OpenTable reservations, and changes sync instantly. It also works with Yelp Guest Manager for reservations and waitlists.

Can Yelp Host Take Food Orders?

Yes. Since July 2026 it takes pickup orders and sends them to Toast, Square or Clover through the Stream integration platform. Yelp said upselling and expanded payment settings were planned.

What Languages Does Yelp Host Speak?

Yelp added 16 languages in July 2026, and the agent answers in each caller’s detected language automatically. The same update added eight voice options and fully custom brand voices.

Does Yelp Host Record Calls?

Yes. Owners receive a recording, transcript and summary of each call, along with analytics such as reservation conversion and after-hours call reports.