A compare, not a teardown.
HotSchedules is Fourth's workforce product. It is usually a conversation with sales, often beside payroll and the rest of the suite, not a price on a card.
HotSchedules is good at what it is built for.
Fourth has a long restaurant-ops history. HotSchedules is built for scheduling a real service, with forecasting and labor tooling in the suite, and it is used by multi-unit houses that do not want a lightweight SMB clock. That depth is real. If you need it on day one, stay.
It is sold as a platform. The public product page asks you to book a demo. We are not going to fill in the blank with a rumor from a review site.
Official page: HotSchedules by Fourth · Fourth page that states iQ add-on fees
Publish the week. Then coverage, clock, and tips.
Publish the week, coverage and open shifts, the clock, and tips as records. Managers on the Cut the Shift web app. Crew on Heard.
SMS and payroll are parked. Fourth will talk to you about payroll. We will not pretend we run it.
After beta, one price per location. No per-seat philosophy, and no unpublished CTS rate on this page.
Structure, not a feature contest.
We will not call HotSchedules per-seat. The product page does not publish a billing unit or a base dollar price. Guessing one would break the rule on this page.
https://www.fourth.com/product/hotschedules showed no list price and no pricing table on 2026-09-22. The call to action is a demo.
The only official dollar amounts we will cite are on https://www.fourth.com/feature/hs-x-payroll. Advanced iQ is an additional $15 per location. Expert iQ is an additional $20 per location. Both sit on top of a HotSchedules workforce contract. They are add-on fees, not the price of HotSchedules.
That same page advertises 12 months of HotSchedules workforce management only with a longer HotSchedules contract and a Fourth Payroll contract. Eligibility is theirs. It is not a list price.
Structural compare with HotSchedules
| Axis | HotSchedules | Cut the Shift |
|---|---|---|
| How the bill is built | Not published. No public base list price, and no stated per-seat or per-location rate for the core subscription. Do not trust a blog that fills that in. | Public beta is free, with no card. After beta, one price per location, not per seat. Post-beta list prices are on /pricing. No private numbers on this page. |
| What happens when you hire | We cannot say. Fourth has not published whether headcount changes the HotSchedules bill. | Hiring another busser should not raise the software bill. That is the philosophy, not a quote. |
| How you start | Demo or quote. The iQ add-ons above are the only public dollars we found, and they assume a contract. | Self-serve free public beta, no card, at /get-started. Multi-unit, a DPA, or a hands-on setup goes through /contact. |
How the bill is built
HotSchedulesNot published. No public base list price, and no stated per-seat or per-location rate for the core subscription. Do not trust a blog that fills that in.
Cut the ShiftPublic beta is free, with no card. After beta, one price per location, not per seat. Post-beta list prices are on /pricing. No private numbers on this page.
What happens when you hire
HotSchedulesWe cannot say. Fourth has not published whether headcount changes the HotSchedules bill.
Cut the ShiftHiring another busser should not raise the software bill. That is the philosophy, not a quote.
How you start
HotSchedulesDemo or quote. The iQ add-ons above are the only public dollars we found, and they assume a contract.
Cut the ShiftSelf-serve free public beta, no card, at /get-started. Multi-unit, a DPA, or a hands-on setup goes through /contact.
HotSchedules public pages as of 2026-09-22 (America/New_York): https://www.fourth.com/product/hotschedules publishes no list price. Add-on fees of $15 and $20 per location are from https://www.fourth.com/feature/hs-x-payroll. We re-check when we update this page. We do not invent competitor prices.
No card required. Free public beta, not a free trial and not a subscription. Paid per-location plans come later. Cancel via the contact page. No partial refunds unless required by law.
What is actually in the beta.
Short on purpose. A yes on their side is not a concession. A parked row on ours is not a roadmap promise.
Floor-tool compare
| Need | HotSchedules | Cut the Shift (beta) |
|---|---|---|
| Publish the week | Yes — scheduling is the product | Yes |
| Coverage / open shifts | Shift management is part of the suite. We are not scoring an open-shift matrix. | Yes |
| Clock | Yes — workforce suite | Yes |
| Tips as records | In the broader Fourth suite. No public list price. | Yes — records, not payroll |
| SMS | Not a published list-price line. No gap claimed. | Parked |
| Payroll | Fourth Payroll, contracted separately | Parked |
| Crew phone | Their apps | Heard (crew only) |
Publish the week
HotSchedulesYes — scheduling is the product
Cut the Shift (beta)Yes
Coverage / open shifts
HotSchedulesShift management is part of the suite. We are not scoring an open-shift matrix.
Cut the Shift (beta)Yes
Clock
HotSchedulesYes — workforce suite
Cut the Shift (beta)Yes
Tips as records
HotSchedulesIn the broader Fourth suite. No public list price.
Cut the Shift (beta)Yes — records, not payroll
SMS
HotSchedulesNot a published list-price line. No gap claimed.
Cut the Shift (beta)Parked
Payroll
HotSchedulesFourth Payroll, contracted separately
Cut the Shift (beta)Parked
Crew phone
HotSchedulesTheir apps
Cut the Shift (beta)Heard (crew only)
When to stay on HotSchedules
- You want enterprise forecasting, multi-unit labor control, and a suite quote. That is what Fourth sells.
- You are already on HotSchedules or Fourth payroll and the switching cost dominates a beta.
- You need compliance tooling and implementation we do not claim.
When to try Cut the Shift
- You want to publish the week without waiting on a quote.
- You will start free, with no card, and tell us what breaks.
- You can live without their forecasting suite and without payroll. Both SMS and payroll are parked in this beta.
Start free
No card required. Free public beta, not a free trial and not a subscription. Paid per-location plans come later. Cancel via the contact page. No partial refunds unless required by law.
Also on this site
Cut the Shift is the company and the manager web app. Heard is the crew app only. No held-for-close prices on this page, and no partnership claims.