5-Out vs Lineup.ai

5-Out is a web-based restaurant forecasting and automation platform founded in 2013. It uses machine learning to forecast sales from historical sales and guest patterns, day-part trends, menu mix, weather, local events, and operational data. Forecasts are available hourly, daily, and weekly. The platform turns forecasts into automated prep lists, predictive Smart Pars, purchasing recommendations, inventory and recipe management, labor forecasting, and food-cost visibility. Restaurant operations tools include labor schedules and budgets, food budgets, purchase and prep lists, Smart Actions, forecasts, and custom reporting. Managers can adjust prep amounts, labor guidance, and purchasing recommendations for local events or promotions. 5-Out lists integrations including PAR Brink, Harri, MarketMan, Aloha, Square, Toast, 7shifts, SevenRooms, Craftable, MarginEdge, Micros, Restaurant365, Simphony, Tripleseat, and xtraCHEF. It supports restaurants from one location to 500 and connects to restaurant tools without manual setup or data entry. Pricing is on request, with a listed plan at $100 a month per location.

Lineup.ai provides restaurants with sales, labor, and menu-item forecasting alongside scheduling tools. Its sales forecasts use historical, weather, and local data to estimate demand by the hour; labor forecasts give staffing guidance for each location and shift. Managers can generate schedules automatically, use templates, or build them manually. Employees can view schedules, submit availability, request time off, and swap shifts in the mobile app. Reporting dashboards cover sales, labor demand compared with scheduled employees, and performance against labor targets. Restaurants can use forecasts without adopting the scheduling features. Listed integrations include Snowflake, Olo, Brink POS, Clover, Square, Toast, OpenTable, Tock, 7shifts, and UKG. Lineup.ai serves restaurant groups and operators including multi-location restaurants, franchises, quick-service restaurants, cafes, and coffee shops. The site says it is now part of the TimeForge suite of labor-management products. Forecasts cost $79 a month per location; forecasts plus scheduling cost $149 a month per location. There is no free plan, but a free trial is available.