Fourth vs Loaded

Fourth is a cloud suite for restaurant and hospitality operators covering workforce management, inventory and purchasing, payroll and HR, and analytics. Loaded is a cloud back-office platform for hospitality venues that pulls sales from the venue's POS and combines revenue reporting, stock and recipe costing, AI invoice processing, rosters, timesheets and award-rate wage costs. Both are listed under Multi-Unit & Enterprise Restaurant Operations. They differ in price, audience and platforms.

Key differences

  • price

    The only starting price published is Loaded's: USD 119 per venue 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; Loaded: Multi-site hospitality groups.

  • platforms

    Platform support differs. Fourth: Web, iOS, Android; Loaded: Web.

  • countries covered

    Country coverage differs. Fourth names 4 countries and Loaded names 2 countries. 1 country appears in every list.

  • integrations

    The integration lists differ. Fourth names 25 integrations and Loaded names 28 integrations. 1 partner appears in every list.

  • company background

    Fourth is based in Austin, United States and Loaded in Queenstown, New Zealand.

Side by side

Fourth vs Loaded: side-by-side comparison from published vendor information
FieldFourthLoaded
What it isFourth is a cloud suite for restaurant and hospitality operators covering workforce management, inventory and purchasing, payroll and HR, and analytics.Loaded is a cloud back-office platform for hospitality venues that pulls sales from the venue's POS and combines revenue reporting, stock and recipe costing, AI invoice processing, rosters, timesheets and award-rate wage costs.
Best forMulti-location restaurant operators; Enterprise and quick-service chains; Hotels, bars and retail; Operators wanting workforce and inventory in one vendorMulti-site hospitality groups; Franchise operators; Independent cafes, bars, restaurants and pubs in Australia and New Zealand
Pricing modelQuote onlySubscription per venue
Starting priceNot publishedUSD 119 per venue per month
Free planNot publishedNot published
Free trialNot publishedYes
ContractSet by the order form (initial term not stated in the terms)Not published
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb
CountriesAustralia, Canada, United Kingdom, United StatesAustralia, New Zealand
LanguagesNot publishedNot published
Number of integrations2528
CertificationsISO 9001Not published
Security practicesCloud hosting in US, EMEA and APAC data centres built to Tier 3 standards with zero-trust network design, Data processing agreement publishedNot published
FoundedNot publishedNot published
HeadquartersAustin, United StatesQueenstown, New Zealand
OwnerMarlin Equity Partners (majority owner as of the 2019 acquisition; Insight Partners minority)Not published
Last reviewed29 September 202629 September 2026

Integrations

Named by both

  • Revel

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 12 more
  • POSitouch
  • QU
  • Restaurant Manager
  • Oracle Simphony
  • Snagajob
  • Squirrel
  • Sysco
  • Toast
  • Lightspeed U Series (formerly Upserve)
  • US Foods
  • Xenial IRIS
  • Xpient

Named only by Loaded

  • Abacus
  • Bepoz
  • Bustle
  • Crystal Payroll
  • Dnero
  • Epos
  • Ezypay
  • Fedelta
  • H + L
  • Idealpos
  • Impos
  • Info Genesis
and 15 more
  • iPayroll
  • Lightspeed (K-Series)
  • Lightspeed (O-Series)
  • MYOB
  • Aloha
  • Onetap
  • Ordermate
  • PayHero
  • Pay Sauce
  • Posbiz
  • Redcat
  • Square
  • Swiftpos
  • Tevalis
  • Xero

Which to choose

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.

Loaded

Choose Loaded if your business matches one of the audiences it is listed for: Multi-site hospitality groups; Franchise operators; Independent cafes, bars, restaurants and pubs in Australia and New Zealand.

Less suited to: Venues wanting a POS as well: Loaded connects to an existing POS. Its award and wage compliance features are built for Australia.

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)

Loaded

  • Contract minimum term and renewal
  • Founding year, employee count, funding
  • App store listings and platforms for the team and timeclock apps
  • Security certifications and hosting
  • Interface languages

Go further

Fourth profileLoaded 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