CompareEnterprise back office: rota, HR, payroll, inventory, analytics

Hangar vs Fourth

Fourth runs the back office for big hospitality estates: rota, HR, payroll, inventory and forecasting. It has no till, no bookings and no guest at all, so every forecast depends on pulling sales in from someone else's EPOS. Its UK contract needs 12 months' written notice, paid in full, and its API is partner-only with credentials that take two to four weeks. Its staff app scores 1.7. Hangar puts staff, stock, sales and guests on one database, with no minimum term and an API you switch on yourself.

Fourth
Hangar
Notice to leave
FourthThey need "at least 12 months' written notice", with charges "payable in full during the notice periods … without pro-ration"
HangarWe have no minimum term. Leave any month with no exit fee
Term (US standard)
FourthThey start US customers on "a period of three (3) years", and leaving early means paying "the total remaining Subscription Fees"
HangarWe bill monthly, everywhere
Price rises
FourthThey're "entitled to increase the Charges each year of the term"
HangarWe have no term, so you're never stuck with a price you didn't agree to. Leave any month
Guests
FourthThey don't cover the guest side: no EPOS, bookings, CRM, payments, marketing, wifi, loyalty or gift cards
HangarWe cover all of it on the same database as the staff
Sales data
FourthThey pull it from tills through a POS Gateway. Only Zonal and Toast are named EPOS partners
HangarWe run the EPOS in the same system, so labour against sales is live
API access
FourthThey're partner-only: "Partners must ask your mutual Fourth customers to request credentials", which "can take 2 to 4 weeks"
HangarWe let you issue your own API keys in the admin, limited to the venues and modules you choose
Webhooks
FourthThey document none on the API pages checked
HangarWe sign and send a webhook for any event
AI
FourthThey build AI into their own app, Fourth iQ. No outside AI access found
HangarWe include an MCP server, so Claude or any assistant can read and act with your permissions
Staff app
FourthThey score 1.7 on the UK App Store from 667 ratings: "Can't even load into the app half the time."
HangarWe design every screen so new staff use it on their first shift without being shown
Leaving with your data
FourthThey describe no export on exit in the UK agreement; on termination they "cease to make the Fourth Solution … available"
HangarWe let you export everything in standard formats any time
Extras
FourthThey draw this from an operator: "how many basic features are locked behind additional fees"
HangarWe'll publish one price for the platform and one for each module before launch
What their customers say
Trustpilot
outdated, overpriced, achingly complicated, user-unfriendly, software package
Jan 2025Read it
Trustpilot
with the most onerous 12 month notice period.
Jan 2025Read it
Trustpilot
We are locked into a multi year contract
Aug 2026Read it
Switching

We do the switch for you.

Export your guests, products, bookings and gift card balances, and our setup team brings them all into Hangar. It's done remotely, planned around the date your Fourth contract ends, and ready before your team's first shift.

Sources, checked October 2026
Glass doors at night with a queue of people waiting outside, a shaft of light on the floor.

The wait is nearly over.

Hangar launches in Q1 2027.

T-minus / Launch window Q1 2027
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