Crunchtime vs Fourth vs FranchiseBlast vs Gulf CSM

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. FranchiseBlast was a franchise audit and self-assessment product, acquired by FranConnect in January 2021. Gulf CSM (ガルフネットCSM) is a store management system from Japanese vendor Gulfnet for companies with many outlets. All four are listed under Multi-Unit & Enterprise Restaurant Operations. Where the profiles show a difference, it is in price, audience and platforms.

Key differences

  • price

    Gulf CSM publishes a starting price of JPY 100,000 per month. Crunchtime, Fourth and FranchiseBlast do not publish a starting price.

  • audience

    Audience differs between the profiles. Listed by one product alone: Crunchtime: Multi-unit restaurant chains; Fourth: Multi-location restaurant operators; FranchiseBlast: Restaurant franchise brands; Gulf CSM: Large restaurant and retail chains in Japan.

  • platforms

    Listed platforms: Crunchtime: Web, iOS, Android; Fourth: Web, iOS, Android; FranchiseBlast: Web; Gulf CSM: Web.

  • security and compliance

    Listed security and compliance items: Crunchtime: SOC 1 Type 2, SOC 2 Type 2; Fourth: ISO 9001; FranchiseBlast: ISO 27001; Gulf CSM: ISMS certification.

  • company background

    By headquarters, Crunchtime (Boston, United States), Fourth (Austin, United States), FranchiseBlast (Herndon, United States) and Gulf CSM (Tokyo, Japan). Parent companies: Crunchtime, Merged with QSR Automations, LLC (announced June 2025); both are backed by investment firm Battery Ventures; Fourth, Marlin Equity Partners (majority owner as of the 2019 acquisition; Insight Partners minority); FranchiseBlast, FranConnect (acquired FranchiseBlast on 2021-01-19); Gulf CSM, Group holding company SIG Global Pte. Ltd..

Side by side

Crunchtime vs Fourth vs FranchiseBlast vs Gulf CSM: side-by-side comparison from published vendor information
FieldCrunchtimeFourthFranchiseBlastGulf CSM
What it isCrunchtime 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.FranchiseBlast was a franchise audit and self-assessment product, acquired by FranConnect in January 2021.Gulf CSM (ガルフネットCSM) is a store management system from Japanese vendor Gulfnet for companies with many outlets.
Best forMulti-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 vendorRestaurant franchise brands; Franchisors running development and openings; Brands needing audits and food-safety quality controlLarge restaurant and retail chains in Japan; Chains that need custom features; Small and mid-size chains of 5 to 50 stores
Pricing modelQuote onlyQuote onlyQuote onlyQuote only, with a published entry plan
Starting priceNot publishedNot publishedNot publishedJPY 100,000 per month
Free planNot publishedNot publishedNot publishedNot published
Free trialNot publishedNot publishedNot publishedNot published
ContractNot publishedSet by the order form (initial term not stated in the terms)Not publishedNot published
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, iOS, AndroidWebWeb
CountriesMexico, United Kingdom, United StatesAustralia, Canada, United Kingdom, United StatesNot publishedJapan
LanguagesNot publishedNot publishedNot publishedEnglish, Japanese
Number of integrations3625Not published46
CertificationsSOC 1 Type 2, SOC 2 Type 2ISO 9001ISO 27001ISMS certification
Security practicesDisaster 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 publishedNot publishedSSL communication, access control and data encryption
FoundedNot publishedNot publishedNot published1994
HeadquartersBoston, United StatesAustin, United StatesHerndon, United StatesTokyo, Japan
OwnerMerged 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)FranConnect (acquired FranchiseBlast on 2021-01-19)Group holding company SIG Global Pte. Ltd.
Last reviewed29 September 202629 September 202629 September 202629 September 2026

Integrations

No partner appears in every list.

Named only by Crunchtime

  • ADP
  • Appetize
  • Baldor
  • Ben E. Keith
  • CBS Northstar
  • Ceridian
  • FranPOS
  • Gordon Food Service
  • Great Plains
  • Harri
  • InfoGenesis Cloud
  • JD Edwards
and 13 more
  • Lawson
  • NetSuite
  • PAR
  • Paychex
  • Paycom
  • Paycor
  • Paylocity
  • Performance Food Group
  • QuickBooks Online
  • Rippling
  • Square
  • 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

Named only by FranchiseBlast

FranchiseBlast does not name any integrations in the material we reviewed.

Named only by Gulf CSM

  • ADPS
  • apseeds
  • camel
  • COMPANY
  • conetto
  • Dr.Sum
  • Galileopt
  • GLOVIA
  • JOBPAY
  • OBIC7
  • PCA会計
  • PCA給与
and 34 more
  • POSITIVE
  • PROACTIVE
  • SmartHR
  • SMILEシリーズ
  • StaffBrain
  • SuperStream
  • TKC
  • ほぼ日払い君
  • ららPayプラス
  • インフォマート
  • エコミック
  • カシオ計算機株式会社
  • シャープ株式会社
  • ステアリテール株式会社
  • ピットタッチ
  • ペイロール
  • ポスタス株式会社
  • 勘定奉行
  • 弥生会計
  • 弥生給与
  • 日本電気株式会社
  • 東和レジスター販売株式会社
  • 東芝テック株式会社
  • 株式会社USEN
  • 株式会社スマレジ
  • 株式会社ダイニー
  • 株式会社ユビレジ
  • 株式会社寺岡精工
  • 給与大将
  • 給与奉行
  • 給与応援
  • 給料王
  • 財務大将
  • 財務応援

Which to choose

Crunchtime

Choose Crunchtime if you fit its listed audience: 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 your business matches one of the audiences it is listed for: Multi-location restaurant operators; Enterprise and quick-service chains; Hotels, bars and retail.

FranchiseBlast

Choose FranchiseBlast if your business matches one of the audiences it is listed for: Restaurant franchise brands; Franchisors running development and openings; Brands needing audits and food-safety quality control.

Gulf CSM

Choose Gulf CSM if you are in one of these groups: Large restaurant and retail chains in Japan; Chains that need custom features; Small and mid-size chains of 5 to 50 stores.

What we could not confirm

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)

FranchiseBlast

  • Whether the standalone FranchiseBlast product is still sold or has been folded into FranConnect Operations
  • Any price
  • Named integrations
  • Founding year of FranConnect, funding, employee count
  • Countries and interface languages
  • Native mobile apps and hardware
  • Contract terms

Gulf CSM

  • Prices for the two larger plans
  • Contract term and renewal
  • Which platforms the staff apps run on
  • Whether Gulf CSM is sold outside Japan
  • Funding history
  • Independent verification of the 1,200 companies and 70,000 stores claim

Go further

Crunchtime profileFourth profileFranchiseBlast profileGulf CSM 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.

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

FranchiseBlast, reviewed 29 September 2026

  1. Homepage: platform, AI agents, customers, ISO 27001 badgehttps://www.franconnect.com/
  2. Old FranchiseBlast address; redirects to the homepagehttps://www.franconnect.com/franchiseblast/
  3. Acquisition press release, 2021-01-19https://www.franconnect.com/franconnect-acquires-franchise-management-software-provider-franchiseblast/
  4. Platform moduleshttps://www.franconnect.com/platform-overview/
  5. Sales CRMhttps://www.franconnect.com/platform-overview/sales/
  6. Quality managementhttps://www.franconnect.com/platform-overview/quality-management/
  7. Traininghttps://www.franconnect.com/platform-overview/training-and-development/
  8. Royaltieshttps://www.franconnect.com/platform-overview/royalty-manager/
  9. Restaurant fit and customershttps://www.franconnect.com/industries/restaurants/
  10. Pricing: no public pricehttps://www.franconnect.com/franconnect-implementation-and-pricing/
  11. Headquarters, scalehttps://www.franconnect.com/company/about-us/

Gulf CSM, reviewed 29 September 2026

  1. Product overview, AI features, apps, customershttps://www.gulfnet.co.jp/csm/
  2. Feature listhttps://www.gulfnet.co.jp/csm/function.html
  3. Plans and prices, optionshttps://www.gulfnet.co.jp/csm/price.html
  4. POS, payroll and accounting linkshttps://www.gulfnet.co.jp/csm/pos_ticket.html
  5. Implementation steps and help deskhttps://www.gulfnet.co.jp/csm/support.html
  6. FAQ: go-live time, API, securityhttps://www.gulfnet.co.jp/csm/faq.html
  7. Company profilehttps://www.gulfnet.co.jp/company/aboutus.html