Fourth

Name: Fourth
Brand: Fourth Enterprises LLC

Fourth is a restaurant and hospitality operations software suite that integrates workforce management (scheduling, time & attendance, labor forecasting, onboarding), inventory and cost-control (COGS/stock/purchasing), and recruiting/talent modules to reduce operational leakage and standardize processes across multi-unit operations.

Est 1999|Valuation $68.2M|Raised $365M|52 Ref Customers

LinkedIn 29K|Web traffic 1.5M|FTEs 832|HQ Austin, Texas, US

MarketsHuman Resource Information Systems (HRIS)Time, Attendance, & Leave Management

Published Sep 30, 2026

01Common complaints

- Scheduling-only needs for a small, single-location operation: lighter tools (for example, 7shifts entry tiers or When I Work) may be simpler and less expensive. - If support responsiveness is mission-critical and the organization cannot tolerate ticket delays: multiple reviews cite extended support response times. - If the organization prioritizes a modern UX with minimal training: some reviews and community commentary indicate usability friction in parts of the suite. - If the buyer requires fully published pricing and short-term contracts: Fourth’s enterprise suite is often sold via quote; contract terms should be negotiated and validated. - If the mobile experience must be flawless for frontline staff: community reports of login and reliability issues warrant a pilot on representative devices.

Deal disqualifiers (poor fit)

Requirement for a very lightweight scheduler that can be configured in a day
Limited internal admin capacity combined with a need for highly responsive live support
Need for transparent, month-to-month published pricing and minimal contract constraints

Known issues referenced by users

Reports of schedule visibility problems ("blank schedule") and app unreliability appear in multiple public review sources and community discussions.
Support responsiveness is a recurring negative theme in several reviews.

Vendor-acknowledged limitations / troubleshooting

HotSchedules help articles document configuration-related causes for blank schedules (for example, schedules not posted, no shifts assigned, or incorrect store selection) and mention synchronization issues that may require administrative resolution.

Roadmap notes (public)

Vendor press material from early 2024 described a planned pipeline of AI platform enhancements for subsequent releases; buyers should request the current public roadmap and planned delivery timelines.

02Why they buy

Differentiators supported by evidence

Broad installed base within the restaurant industry: HotSchedules is widely used in restaurant operations and many managers have prior experience with it.
Integrated suite breadth: the combination of workforce management, inventory/COGS control, and recruiting under a single vendor can reduce the need for multiple point solutions and integrations.

Claims requiring validation

Forecasting and AI performance claims published by the vendor (for example, accuracy and labor savings metrics) lack publicly disclosed methodology; buyers should validate vendor claims through proofs of value using their own data.

Areas where competitors may be stronger

Ease of adoption and pricing transparency: certain competitors offer more transparent, published pricing and faster time-to-value for scheduling-only deployments.
Modern UX perception: some teams report that other newer tools feel more intuitive for end users.

Why customers chose it (themes)

Based on reviews and vendor positioning:

Familiarity: HotSchedules has a broad presence in the industry and many managers have prior exposure.
Scheduling workflows: features such as shift swaps, shift release/pickup, and availability management are commonly cited as operationally useful.
Operational communication: in-product logbook and manager communication features are noted in positive feedback.

03Field reports

Review landscape caveat (brand ambiguity)

The term “Fourth” can refer to distinct offerings in some review platforms; in this report, "Fourth" refers to the restaurant/hospitality workforce and back-office suite.

When evaluating reviews, prioritize those that explicitly reference HotSchedules, Fourth workforce tools, or hospitality use cases.

Review platforms: Capterra (HotSchedules)

Capterra shows an aggregate rating for HotSchedules based on multiple reviews. Representative feedback summarized from Capterra: - Positive themes: users reported the scheduling interface was familiar and helped them manage shifts effectively; reviewers noted scheduling and projection workflows were straightforward in their experience. - Critical themes: some reviewers reported that employees were required to pay for the mobile app access in certain circumstances, and some flagged slow performance or usability friction. A subset of reviewers reported account or configuration issues that affected schedule visibility.

Review platforms: Trustpilot (fourth.com)

Trustpilot listings for fourth.com include critical reviews focused on usability, reported bugs, and support responsiveness.

Representative feedback summarized from Trustpilot:

Reviewers reported difficulties viewing schedules or experiencing blank schedule screens.
Several reviewers described dissatisfaction with perceived complexity, bugs, and post-training support quality.
A reviewer referenced contract or notice-period concerns.

Community/social: Reddit

Selected community comments highlighted reliability and login issues in specific threads; examples included reports of intermittent login failures and the need to reinstall the mobile app to resolve client-side issues.

Why some customers leave / churn drivers (themes)

Common themes cited in reviews and public commentary include:

Support responsiveness and ticket resolution timeframes
Usability concerns and perceived outdated user interface in some areas
Mobile experience friction (including some reports of required mobile access fees in specific setups)
Onboarding and implementation rigidity in some customer accounts

Vendor-published success stories and claims

- The vendor publishes customer success stories and quantified impact statements such as profit-margin improvements and forecasting accuracy claims in marketing materials. - Press summaries include customer quotes referencing improved scheduling outcomes. Critical evaluation: - These materials are vendor-published and do not disclose detailed methodologies, baselines, sample sizes, or controls. Reported improvements and accuracy metrics should be validated via a pilot that uses the customer’s historical POS and labor data, with clearly defined accuracy metrics and baseline comparisons.

04Best fit

Company sizes

Inferred best fit (based on positioning and common deployments):
- Multi-location restaurant groups and chains with multiple sites and distributed management structures
- Organizations that require labor optimization and standardized scheduling across many locations

Industries/verticals

Restaurants (quick-service and full-service)
Hospitality
Retail and leisure operations where integrated labor and inventory controls are relevant

Roles/personas

Decision makers: COO, VP of Operations, CIO/IT, HR/payroll leadership, Finance
Power users: regional managers, general managers, workforce analysts
End users: hourly employees using scheduling and mobile features

Qualification criteria (good fit)

Need for enterprise scheduling with labor forecasting integrated with POS data
Desire for integrated inventory/COGS control combined with workforce management and operational analytics
Capacity to invest in implementation and change management

05The pitch

What the product does (objective core value proposition)

Fourth is a restaurant and hospitality operations software vendor that provides an integrated suite covering workforce management (scheduling, time & attendance, labor forecasting, onboarding), inventory and cost control, and related back-office tools. The suite is presented as an integrated offering intended to help multi-unit operators reduce labor and COGS leakage, standardize processes, and improve manager productivity across locations. Fourth’s portfolio is commonly encountered through the HotSchedules brand (employee scheduling/workforce management), and other products referenced by Fourth such as MacromatiX (inventory/COGS/cost control) and PeopleMatter (talent acquisition/recruiting). Fourth also markets features under the Fourth iQ / Fourth AI Platform that are embedded into these products.

Target market and market positioning

- **Primary verticals:** restaurants, hospitality, retail/leisure (vendor-stated) - **Typical buyer:** multi-unit operators and enterprise chains (and some SMBs for specific modules), particularly organizations seeking integrated labor forecasting, scheduling, and back-office cost controls. - **Positioning:** positioned as an enterprise-oriented integrated suite (compared with scheduling-only point solutions). Fourth reports a large installed base and provides AI-based forecasting capabilities.

Get a comprehensive analysis of Fourth including market position, competitive landscape, adoption trends, and peer benchmarks.

Download full report →

Published Sep 30, 2026

01Common complaints

Scheduling-only needs for a small, single-location operation: lighter tools (for example, 7shifts entry tiers or When I Work) may be simpler and less expensive.
If support responsiveness is mission-critical and the organization cannot tolerate ticket delays: multiple reviews cite extended support response times.
If the organization prioritizes a modern UX with minimal training: some reviews and community commentary indicate usability friction in parts of the suite.
If the buyer requires fully published pricing and short-term contracts: Fourth’s enterprise suite is often sold via quote; contract terms should be negotiated and validated.
If the mobile experience must be flawless for frontline staff: community reports of login and reliability issues warrant a pilot on representative devices.

Deal disqualifiers (poor fit)

Requirement for a very lightweight scheduler that can be configured in a day
Limited internal admin capacity combined with a need for highly responsive live support
Need for transparent, month-to-month published pricing and minimal contract constraints

Known issues referenced by users

Reports of schedule visibility problems ("blank schedule") and app unreliability appear in multiple public review sources and community discussions.
Support responsiveness is a recurring negative theme in several reviews.

Vendor-acknowledged limitations / troubleshooting

HotSchedules help articles document configuration-related causes for blank schedules (for example, schedules not posted, no shifts assigned, or incorrect store selection) and mention synchronization issues that may require administrative resolution.

Roadmap notes (public)

Vendor press material from early 2024 described a planned pipeline of AI platform enhancements for subsequent releases; buyers should request the current public roadmap and planned delivery timelines.

02Why they buy

Differentiators supported by evidence

Broad installed base within the restaurant industry: HotSchedules is widely used in restaurant operations and many managers have prior experience with it.
Integrated suite breadth: the combination of workforce management, inventory/COGS control, and recruiting under a single vendor can reduce the need for multiple point solutions and integrations.

Claims requiring validation

Forecasting and AI performance claims published by the vendor (for example, accuracy and labor savings metrics) lack publicly disclosed methodology; buyers should validate vendor claims through proofs of value using their own data.

Areas where competitors may be stronger

Ease of adoption and pricing transparency: certain competitors offer more transparent, published pricing and faster time-to-value for scheduling-only deployments.
Modern UX perception: some teams report that other newer tools feel more intuitive for end users.

Why customers chose it (themes)

Based on reviews and vendor positioning:

Familiarity: HotSchedules has a broad presence in the industry and many managers have prior exposure.
Scheduling workflows: features such as shift swaps, shift release/pickup, and availability management are commonly cited as operationally useful.
Operational communication: in-product logbook and manager communication features are noted in positive feedback.

03Field reports

Review landscape caveat (brand ambiguity)

The term “Fourth” can refer to distinct offerings in some review platforms; in this report, "Fourth" refers to the restaurant/hospitality workforce and back-office suite.

When evaluating reviews, prioritize those that explicitly reference HotSchedules, Fourth workforce tools, or hospitality use cases.

Review platforms: Capterra (HotSchedules)

Capterra shows an aggregate rating for HotSchedules based on multiple reviews.

Representative feedback summarized from Capterra:

Positive themes: users reported the scheduling interface was familiar and helped them manage shifts effectively; reviewers noted scheduling and projection workflows were straightforward in their experience.
Critical themes: some reviewers reported that employees were required to pay for the mobile app access in certain circumstances, and some flagged slow performance or usability friction. A subset of reviewers reported account or configuration issues that affected schedule visibility.

Review platforms: Trustpilot (fourth.com)

Trustpilot listings for fourth.com include critical reviews focused on usability, reported bugs, and support responsiveness.

Representative feedback summarized from Trustpilot:

Reviewers reported difficulties viewing schedules or experiencing blank schedule screens.
Several reviewers described dissatisfaction with perceived complexity, bugs, and post-training support quality.
A reviewer referenced contract or notice-period concerns.

Community/social: Reddit

Why some customers leave / churn drivers (themes)

Common themes cited in reviews and public commentary include:

Support responsiveness and ticket resolution timeframes
Usability concerns and perceived outdated user interface in some areas
Mobile experience friction (including some reports of required mobile access fees in specific setups)
Onboarding and implementation rigidity in some customer accounts

Vendor-published success stories and claims

The vendor publishes customer success stories and quantified impact statements such as profit-margin improvements and forecasting accuracy claims in marketing materials.
Press summaries include customer quotes referencing improved scheduling outcomes.

Critical evaluation:

These materials are vendor-published and do not disclose detailed methodologies, baselines, sample sizes, or controls. Reported improvements and accuracy metrics should be validated via a pilot that uses the customer’s historical POS and labor data, with clearly defined accuracy metrics and baseline comparisons.

04Best fit

Company sizes

Inferred best fit (based on positioning and common deployments):
- Multi-location restaurant groups and chains with multiple sites and distributed management structures
- Organizations that require labor optimization and standardized scheduling across many locations

Industries/verticals

Restaurants (quick-service and full-service)
Hospitality
Retail and leisure operations where integrated labor and inventory controls are relevant

Roles/personas

Decision makers: COO, VP of Operations, CIO/IT, HR/payroll leadership, Finance
Power users: regional managers, general managers, workforce analysts
End users: hourly employees using scheduling and mobile features

Qualification criteria (good fit)

Need for enterprise scheduling with labor forecasting integrated with POS data
Desire for integrated inventory/COGS control combined with workforce management and operational analytics
Capacity to invest in implementation and change management

05The pitch

What the product does (objective core value proposition)

Fourth’s portfolio is commonly encountered through the HotSchedules brand (employee scheduling/workforce management), and other products referenced by Fourth such as MacromatiX (inventory/COGS/cost control) and PeopleMatter (talent acquisition/recruiting). Fourth also markets features under the Fourth iQ / Fourth AI Platform that are embedded into these products.

Target market and market positioning

Primary verticals: restaurants, hospitality, retail/leisure (vendor-stated)
Typical buyer: multi-unit operators and enterprise chains (and some SMBs for specific modules), particularly organizations seeking integrated labor forecasting, scheduling, and back-office cost controls.
Positioning: positioned as an enterprise-oriented integrated suite (compared with scheduling-only point solutions). Fourth reports a large installed base and provides AI-based forecasting capabilities.

Get a comprehensive analysis of Fourth including market position, competitive landscape, adoption trends, and peer benchmarks.

Download full report →