Fourth vs Gulf CSM

Fourth is a cloud suite for restaurant and hospitality operators covering workforce management, inventory and purchasing, payroll and HR, and analytics. Gulf CSM (ガルフネットCSM) is a store management system from Japanese vendor Gulfnet for companies with many outlets. Both 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. Fourth does not publish a starting price.

  • audience

    Not every audience is shared. Entries that only one product lists: Fourth: Multi-location restaurant operators; Gulf CSM: Large restaurant and retail chains in Japan.

  • platforms

    Platform support differs. Fourth: Web, iOS, Android; Gulf CSM: Web.

  • countries covered

    Country coverage differs. Fourth names 4 countries and Gulf CSM names 1 country. No country appears in every list.

  • integrations

    On integrations, Fourth names 25 integrations and Gulf CSM names 46 integrations. No partner appears in every list.

  • security and compliance

    The security and compliance details they list differ. Fourth: ISO 9001; Gulf CSM: ISMS certification.

  • company background

    By headquarters, Fourth (Austin, United States) and Gulf CSM (Tokyo, Japan). Parent companies: Fourth, Marlin Equity Partners (majority owner as of the 2019 acquisition; Insight Partners minority); Gulf CSM, Group holding company SIG Global Pte. Ltd..

Side by side

Fourth vs Gulf CSM: side-by-side comparison from published vendor information
FieldFourthGulf CSM
What it isFourth is a cloud suite for restaurant and hospitality operators covering workforce management, inventory and purchasing, payroll and HR, and analytics.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-location restaurant operators; Enterprise and quick-service chains; Hotels, bars and retail; Operators wanting workforce and inventory in one vendorLarge restaurant and retail chains in Japan; Chains that need custom features; Small and mid-size chains of 5 to 50 stores
Pricing modelQuote onlyQuote only, with a published entry plan
Starting priceNot publishedJPY 100,000 per month
Free planNot publishedNot published
Free trialNot publishedNot published
ContractSet by the order form (initial term not stated in the terms)Not published
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb
CountriesAustralia, Canada, United Kingdom, United StatesJapan
LanguagesNot publishedEnglish, Japanese
Number of integrations2546
CertificationsISO 9001ISMS certification
Security practicesCloud hosting in US, EMEA and APAC data centres built to Tier 3 standards with zero-trust network design, Data processing agreement publishedSSL communication, access control and data encryption
FoundedNot published1994
HeadquartersAustin, United StatesTokyo, Japan
OwnerMarlin Equity Partners (majority owner as of the 2019 acquisition; Insight Partners minority)Group holding company SIG Global Pte. Ltd.
Last reviewed29 September 202629 September 2026

Integrations

No partner appears in every list.

Named only by Fourth

  • Aloha (NCR)
  • BlueCats
  • CareerBuilder
  • Cooper-Atkins
  • Digital Dining
  • Focus
  • HungerRush
  • Indeed
  • ITD Food Safety
  • Oracle Micros 3700
  • Monster
  • PAR POS (formerly Brink)
and 13 more
  • POSitouch
  • QU
  • Restaurant Manager
  • Revel
  • Oracle Simphony
  • Snagajob
  • Squirrel
  • Sysco
  • Toast
  • Lightspeed U Series (formerly Upserve)
  • US Foods
  • Xenial IRIS
  • Xpient

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

Fourth

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

Gulf CSM

Choose Gulf CSM if your business matches one of the audiences it is listed for: 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

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)

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

Fourth 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.

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

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