Apicbase vs Crunchtime vs Fourth

Apicbase is a cloud back-of-house platform for large multi-site foodservice businesses. Crunchtime is a suite of restaurant operations software for multi-unit brands, covering inventory and food cost, AI sales forecasting, labour scheduling, operational checklists and food safety, staff training, and kitchen display screens. Fourth is a cloud suite for restaurant and hospitality operators covering workforce management, inventory and purchasing, payroll and HR, and analytics. All three are listed under Multi-Unit & Enterprise Restaurant Operations. The main differences are in audience, countries covered and integrations.

Key differences

  • audience

    Audience differs between the profiles. Listed by one product alone: Apicbase: Multi-unit restaurant groups; Crunchtime: Multi-unit restaurant chains; Fourth: Multi-location restaurant operators.

  • countries covered

    Apicbase names 5 countries, Crunchtime names 3 countries and Fourth names 4 countries. 2 countries appear in every list.

  • integrations

    Apicbase names 21 integrations, Crunchtime names 36 integrations and Fourth names 25 integrations. 4 partners appear in every list.

  • security and compliance

    The security and compliance details they list differ. Apicbase: GDPR, SOC 2 Type 2; Crunchtime: SOC 1 Type 2, SOC 2 Type 2; Fourth: ISO 9001.

  • company background

    Headquarters: Apicbase, Antwerp, Belgium; Crunchtime, Boston, United States; Fourth, Austin, United States.

Side by side

Apicbase vs Crunchtime vs Fourth: side-by-side comparison from published vendor information
FieldApicbaseCrunchtimeFourth
What it isApicbase is a cloud back-of-house platform for large multi-site foodservice businesses.Crunchtime is a suite of restaurant operations software for multi-unit brands, covering inventory and food cost, AI sales forecasting, labour scheduling, operational checklists and food safety, staff training, and kitchen display screens.Fourth is a cloud suite for restaurant and hospitality operators covering workforce management, inventory and purchasing, payroll and HR, and analytics.
Best forMulti-unit restaurant groups; Hotel chains and hotel F&B; Central kitchens and caterers; Ghost kitchen and meal-kit operatorsMulti-unit restaurant chains; Franchise brands and franchisees; Quick-service and casual-dining brands with busy kitchens; Operators focused on food cost controlMulti-location restaurant operators; Enterprise and quick-service chains; Hotels, bars and retail; Operators wanting workforce and inventory in one vendor
Pricing modelQuote onlyQuote onlyQuote only
Starting priceNot publishedNot publishedNot published
Free planNot publishedNot publishedNot published
Free trialNot publishedNot publishedNot published
ContractNot publishedNot publishedSet by the order form (initial term not stated in the terms)
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, iOS, Android
CountriesBelgium, Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom, United StatesMexico, United Kingdom, United StatesAustralia, Canada, United Kingdom, United States
LanguagesNot publishedNot publishedNot published
Number of integrations213625
CertificationsGDPR, SOC 2 Type 2SOC 1 Type 2, SOC 2 Type 2ISO 9001
Security practicesEncryption in transit and at rest, daily backups, Hosted on AWS, SSO, multi-factor authentication and role-based permissionsDisaster recovery with stated 15-minute RPO and 2-hour RTO, HTTPS, multi-factor authentication, encryption in transit and at restCloud hosting in US, EMEA and APAC data centres built to Tier 3 standards with zero-trust network design, Data processing agreement published
Founded2017Not publishedNot published
HeadquartersAntwerp, BelgiumBoston, United StatesAustin, United States
OwnerNot publishedMerged with QSR Automations, LLC (announced June 2025); both are backed by investment firm Battery VenturesMarlin Equity Partners (majority owner as of the 2019 acquisition; Insight Partners minority)
Last reviewed29 September 202629 September 202629 September 2026

Integrations

Named by all three

  • Revel
  • Sysco US
  • Toast
  • US Foods

Named only by Apicbase

  • Aloha Cloud by NCR Voyix
  • Bidfood UK
  • Brakes
  • Clover
  • Deliverect
  • Epos Now
  • Foodics
  • Goodtill
  • Lightspeed
  • Makro Netherlands
  • Oracle Micros
  • Sligro
and 3 more
  • Transgourmet Germany
  • Vectron
  • Vita Mojo

Named only by Crunchtime

  • ADP
  • Appetize
  • Baldor
  • Ben E. Keith
  • CBS Northstar
  • Ceridian
  • FranPOS
  • Great Plains
  • Harri
  • InfoGenesis Cloud
  • JD Edwards
  • Lawson
and 11 more
  • NetSuite
  • PAR
  • Paychex
  • Paycom
  • Paycor
  • Paylocity
  • Performance Food Group
  • QuickBooks Online
  • Rippling
  • Ultipro
  • Workday

Named only by Fourth

  • BlueCats
  • CareerBuilder
  • Cooper-Atkins
  • Digital Dining
  • Focus
  • HungerRush
  • Indeed
  • ITD Food Safety
  • Monster
  • PAR POS (formerly Brink)
  • Restaurant Manager
  • Snagajob
and 2 more
  • Lightspeed U Series (formerly Upserve)
  • Xenial IRIS

Which to choose

Apicbase

Choose Apicbase if you are in one of these groups: Multi-unit restaurant groups; Hotel chains and hotel F&B; Central kitchens and caterers.

Our profile lists a weaker fit: Single-site or very small businesses. The entry Growth plan is described as starting from 5 outlets, and the vendor positions the product for large and enterprise food businesses.

Crunchtime

Choose Crunchtime if your business matches one of the audiences it is listed for: Multi-unit restaurant chains; Franchise brands and franchisees; Quick-service and casual-dining brands with busy kitchens.

Our profile lists a weaker fit: Single-site independents. The vendor describes its customers as multi-unit restaurant brands, publishes no small-business plan, and sells only through demos.

Fourth

Choose Fourth if you are in one of these groups: Multi-location restaurant operators; Enterprise and quick-service chains; Hotels, bars and retail.

What we could not confirm

Apicbase

  • Any price or per-outlet fee (quote only)
  • Contract length and renewal terms
  • Free trial or free plan
  • Official list of countries where it is sold and supported
  • Interface languages of the product (site is in English, Dutch, French, German)
  • Employee count and registration number
  • Funding after the 2021 Series A
  • Names of the 9 financial and accounting integrations (none found on the vendor's site)
  • Names of the native mobile apps in the app stores

Crunchtime

  • Any price, plan tier or free trial (demo only)
  • Contract length and renewal terms
  • Founding year (not stated on the vendor's site)
  • Employee count and funding
  • Official list of supported countries and languages
  • Whether the integrations page shows every integration, and which POS work with which product
  • Names of the mobile apps in the app stores beyond Teamworx

Fourth

  • Any price; conditions of the free year of HotSchedules promotion
  • Legal entity name and registration (several Fourth companies appear in the terms)
  • Current ownership (the latest ownership event stated is the 2019 Marlin acquisition)
  • Initial contract term and minimum length
  • Interface languages and the full list of countries served
  • Fourth iQ app platforms and availability dates
  • Employee count
  • Accounting integrations
  • Customer counts differ between pages (120,000 locations on the homepage; 15,000 customers across 100,000 sites on the about page)

Go further

Apicbase profileCrunchtime profileFourth profile

Other comparisons with these products

Sources

Facts on this page come from the pages below. Prices and features change, so confirm with each vendor before you buy.

Apicbase, reviewed 29 September 2026

  1. Homepage: positioning, modules, AI, security summaryhttps://get.apicbase.com
  2. Plans, add-onshttps://get.apicbase.com/pricing-plans/
  3. Company: Belgium headquartershttps://get.apicbase.com/about/
  4. Offices in Antwerp and New Yorkhttps://get.apicbase.com/contact/
  5. Customer segments and exampleshttps://get.apicbase.com/customers/
  6. Case studies and countrieshttps://get.apicbase.com/cases/
  7. Security, SOC 2, apps, APIhttps://get.apicbase.com/trust-security-compliance/
  8. Allergen, HACCP, traceabilityhttps://get.apicbase.com/food-safety-and-compliance/
  9. Production planninghttps://get.apicbase.com/production-planning/
  10. Internal orderinghttps://get.apicbase.com/internal-ordering/
  11. Menu planninghttps://get.apicbase.com/menu-planning/
  12. Demand forecastinghttps://get.apicbase.com/demand-forecasting-software-restaurant/
  13. Carbon trackinghttps://get.apicbase.com/carbon-footprint-tracking-software/
  14. MCP / AI assistantshttps://get.apicbase.com/mcp/
  15. Mobile counting app, offlinehttps://get.apicbase.com/mobile-counting/
  16. POS integration directoryhttps://partners.apicbase.com/integrations/pos
  17. Supplier integration directoryhttps://partners.apicbase.com/integrations/suppliers
  18. Page discoveryhttps://get.apicbase.com/sitemap_index.xml
  19. Series A, founders, founding year, early customershttps://tech.eu/2021/05/19/antwerp-based-hospitality-tech-apicbase-cooks-up-e4-million-in-series-a-round/

Crunchtime, reviewed 29 September 2026

  1. Homepage: suite and navigationhttps://www.crunchtime.com
  2. Suite overviewhttps://www.crunchtime.com/suite-overview
  3. Company, offices, leadership, customershttps://www.crunchtime.com/about-us
  4. Inventory featureshttps://www.crunchtime.com/inventory-management
  5. Labour featureshttps://www.crunchtime.com/labor-and-scheduling
  6. Compliance ruleshttps://www.crunchtime.com/labor-and-scheduling/labor-law-compliance
  7. Teamworx apphttps://www.crunchtime.com/labor-and-scheduling/employee-scheduling-app
  8. Ops executionhttps://www.crunchtime.com/operations-execution
  9. Temperature monitoringhttps://www.crunchtime.com/ops-execution/temp-monitoring
  10. Kitchen displayhttps://www.crunchtime.com/kitchen
  11. Kitchen hardwarehttps://www.crunchtime.com/kitchen/hardware
  12. Host producthttps://www.crunchtime.com/host
  13. Insightshttps://www.crunchtime.com/crunchtime-insights
  14. Learning managementhttps://www.crunchtime.com/learning-and-development
  15. Integration listhttps://www.crunchtime.com/integrations
  16. Security and auditshttps://www.crunchtime.com/security
  17. Customershttps://www.crunchtime.com/our-customers
  18. Newshttps://www.crunchtime.com/press
  19. Merger with QSR Automationshttps://www.crunchtime.com/press/qsr-automations-agrees-to-merge-with-crunchtime
  20. Battery Ventures backing (press)https://www.builtinboston.com/articles/crunchtime-qsr-automations-merger-20250618
  21. Support hourshttps://www.crunchtime.com/support-policy
  22. Services and onboardinghttps://www.crunchtime.com/services

Fourth, reviewed 29 September 2026

  1. Homepage: positioning, 120,000 locations claimhttps://www.fourth.com/
  2. Company overview, customer claimshttps://www.fourth.com/company/about
  3. Offices and support numbershttps://www.fourth.com/company/contact
  4. HotSchedules features, apps, promotionhttps://www.fourth.com/product/hotschedules
  5. MacromatiXhttps://www.fourth.com/product/macromatix
  6. Workforce management featureshttps://www.fourth.com/solution/workforce-management-software
  7. Inventory featureshttps://www.fourth.com/solution/inventory-management
  8. Fourth iQ and named customershttps://www.fourth.com/solution/ai-intro
  9. Integration partnershttps://www.fourth.com/partner/integrations
  10. Renewal, fee changes, Fuego serviceshttps://www.fourth.com/legal/general-terms-and-conditions
  11. Hosting and securityhttps://www.fourth.com/legal/fourth-hosting-data-security
  12. Press releases: ISO 9001https://www.fourth.com/company/press-room
  13. 2019 acquisition, founding year, officeshttps://www.marlinequity.com/news/marlin-completes-the-acquisition-of-hotschedules-and-fourth/
  14. Data processing agreement (listed in sitemap)https://www.fourth.com/legal/data-processing-agreement
  15. System requirements page (listed in sitemap, not read)https://www.fourth.com/legal/minimum-system-requirements-for-all-systems