7shifts vs Homebase 2026: Restaurant Scheduling Costs per Location

Homebase is the better buy for most single restaurants in 2026: its Essentials plan costs $30 a location a month on monthly billing with unlimited employees, while 7shifts Essentials costs $44.99 and stops at 30 employees. 7shifts wins for restaurant groups that want labor forecasting, tip pooling and payroll bundled in one plan, which its Premium tier does at $149.99 a location.

Prices were read on October 21, 2026 on 7shifts' pricing page and Homebase's pricing page. Both print monthly and annual rates; the figures below use monthly billing unless noted, so the two products are compared like for like. 7shifts' annual rates are about 10% lower and Homebase's 20% lower.

Toolradar data: Toolradar, the software directory we run, tracks 109 food and restaurant tools as of October 20, 2026, and 7shifts appears in its food and restaurant ranking. Both products also have directory pages, 7shifts and Homebase, and a side-by-side comparison.

At a glance

Price: per location on both, but 7shifts caps headcount

Both products bill per location, which suits restaurants: a busy site with 40 staff costs no more per person than a quiet one with 12. The difference is that 7shifts ties each plan to a headcount ceiling and Homebase does not.

At 7shifts, Essentials covers up to 30 employees, Pro ($89.99) up to 60, and Premium ($149.99) has no cap. On annual billing those become $39.99, $79.99 and $134.99 a location. Homebase prints Essentials, Plus ($70) and All-in-One ($120), all with unlimited employees, or $24, $56 and $96 a location on annual billing.

The headcount cap is what moves most restaurants up a tier. A full-service location with 40 people on the roster cannot use 7shifts Essentials and starts at Pro, $89.99 a month. The same location fits Homebase Essentials at $30. Seasonal hiring makes this worse: summer staff count toward the 7shifts cap even when they work two shifts a week.

The free plans flip the advantage. 7shifts Comp allows 15 employees at one location, against 10 on Homebase Basic, so a small cafe with 11 to 15 staff stays free only on 7shifts. Comp includes basic scheduling, one-way announcements and availability and time-off requests; Homebase Basic includes basic scheduling, basic time tracking and a point-of-sale integration.

Scheduling and labor control: 7shifts goes deeper

7shifts is built only for restaurants and the plan list shows it. Pro adds labor compliance and labor cost tools, PTO accrual tracking, advanced time clocking and the Manager Log Book. Premium adds an advanced hourly labor forecast, labor recommendations and operational reporting, the features a multi-unit operator uses to schedule against projected sales.

Homebase spreads similar controls across its ladder. Essentials adds advanced scheduling, advanced time tracking and team messaging; Plus adds an AI scheduling assistant, PTO controls and departments with permissions; All-in-One adds labor cost management, HR and compliance tools and employee onboarding.

For a single site, Homebase gets you advanced scheduling for less. For a group that budgets labor as a percentage of forecast sales at every location, 7shifts' Premium forecasting is the reason to pay more. Our 7shifts review covers the forecasting features in detail, and the Homebase review walks through its full plan ladder.

Time clock

Homebase includes a time clock on every plan, free Basic included. On Essentials and above it adds location-based clock-in from the mobile app, team member photos at clock-in on tablets and POS devices, and timesheet storage for 4+ years, against 90 days on Basic.

7shifts includes basic time clocking from Essentials and advanced time clocking tools from Pro. Homebase Essentials already lets you set overtime and break preferences, while 7shifts keeps its labor compliance tools for Pro and Homebase its HR and compliance tools for All-in-One. For other time clock options, see our best time clock software ranking.

Payroll and tips: where the bundle math changes

Both sell payroll, and both charge $6 a month per employee paid. The base fee is where they differ. 7shifts Payroll is $39.99 per location a month, included at no base cost on Premium. Homebase Payroll is a $49 monthly base fee, with a $29 monthly price for teams of up to 5.

Tip pooling follows the same pattern. 7shifts Tip Management is a $49.99 per location add-on, also included on Premium along with Task Management ($12.99) and Employee Training. Homebase's Tip Manager is $25 a location a month and pulls tips from the POS into timesheets.

Both vendors were running payroll promotions in October 2026: Homebase offered six months free of Payroll and the Plus plan, and 7shifts offered the first three months of Payroll free to new customers. These are limited-time offers, so the costs below use the regular prices.

What one location costs each month

Our arithmetic on list prices, monthly billing, for a restaurant with 25 employees, all paid through the scheduling vendor's payroll.

The ranking flips once you need compliance as well as payroll and tips. For basic scheduling, payroll and tips, Homebase is $45.99 a month cheaper at one location. Add labor compliance and 7shifts Premium becomes $44.01 cheaper, because its bundle includes payroll, tips and compliance while Homebase charges for All-in-One plus add-ons. On 7shifts, Pro plus separate payroll and tip add-ons would cost $329.97 at 25 employees, so Premium is the better route there too.

What three locations cost

Scale the same restaurant to three sites with 25 employees each, 75 paid in total, on monthly billing. 7shifts Premium costs $449.97 for the three locations plus $450 in per-employee payroll fees, $899.97 a month. Homebase Essentials with payroll and Tip Manager costs $90 for the locations, the $49 payroll base, $450 in per-employee fees and $75 for tips, $664 a month, assuming one payroll account for the group as Homebase prints a single base fee. With All-in-One instead of Essentials, Homebase comes to $934.

That is our arithmetic, and it shows the trade: Homebase stays cheaper as long as the group does not need its top plan, while 7shifts charges more per site but includes forecasting, tips and payroll in one line. Our homebase pricing and 7shifts pricing breakdowns cover every tier and add-on.

Who should choose which

Choose Homebase if you run one or two locations, your roster swings above 30 people in busy seasons, or you want the lowest monthly bill for scheduling, a time clock and payroll. Its free Basic plan also covers a very small team, and a 14-day All-in-One trial needs no card.

Choose 7shifts if you run several locations and budget labor against forecast sales, you want tip pooling and payroll included in one plan, or your team of 11 to 15 people wants a free plan. Its restaurant-only focus shows in the Manager Log Book, task lists and training tools.

Consider a third option if your staff work across many sites with few people at each, where per-user pricing can beat per-location pricing. Our Homebase vs Deputy and Homebase vs When I Work comparisons model that case, and the best HR software for restaurants ranking covers hiring and onboarding tools as well. For a wider shortlist, our best shift scheduling software ranking adds the per-user tools. Owners pricing payroll on its own can start with what payroll costs a small business.

How we compared them

We read both vendors' pricing pages on October 21, 2026 and compared the plans a restaurant would buy at one and three locations, on monthly billing so the two are like for like. Monthly totals are our arithmetic on printed list prices and exclude limited-time offers. Feature descriptions come from the vendors' own plan lists, not from trials of the software.

FAQ

Is 7shifts or Homebase cheaper in 2026?

For scheduling alone, Homebase is cheaper: Essentials is $30 a location a month on monthly billing with unlimited employees, against $44.99 for 7shifts Essentials, which caps at 30 employees. With payroll, tips and labor compliance together, 7shifts Premium at $149.99 a location can cost less than Homebase All-in-One plus add-ons, by our arithmetic.

Does 7shifts or Homebase have a free plan?

Both do. 7shifts Comp is free for one location with up to 15 employees and includes basic scheduling and time-off requests. Homebase Basic is free for one location with up to 10 employees and includes basic scheduling, basic time tracking and a POS integration.

How much does payroll cost on 7shifts and Homebase?

7shifts Payroll is $39.99 per location a month plus $6 per employee paid, and the base fee is included on the Premium plan. Homebase Payroll is a $49 monthly base fee plus $6 per employee paid, with a $29 monthly price for teams of up to 5. Both promoted free months of payroll in October 2026.

Which is better for a multi-location restaurant group?

7shifts, if the group budgets labor against forecast sales: Premium includes an advanced hourly labor forecast, labor recommendations, tip management and payroll for $149.99 a location. Homebase stays cheaper per site on Essentials, but labor cost management sits on All-in-One at $120 a location.

Do 7shifts and Homebase charge per employee?

Neither charges per employee for scheduling; both price per location. 7shifts caps employees by plan (15 on Comp, 30 on Essentials, 60 on Pro), while Homebase's paid plans allow unlimited employees. Both add the same per-employee fee if you run payroll through them.

Cite this: HRpresso, "7shifts vs Homebase 2026: Restaurant Scheduling Costs per Location", November 2026.

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