Homebase Review

Homebase is the scheduler a US hourly team should price before it agrees to a per-person bill. One cafe, shop, or clinic pays for the address, and the next hire on that address does not add a seat.

An owner or a people lead who still texts the rota has to defend that invoice.

This review sets Basic, Essentials, Plus, and All-in-One next to When I Work, Deputy, Connecteam, and 7shifts.

If pay already runs somewhere else, start with the Gusto review and the payroll roundup before you pay for a second engine.

Toolradar data: Homebase is one of 100 time-tracking tools in the September 2026 ranking we publish, and its directory page sits in that category.

Every dollar below was read on 24 September 2026 from the vendor page that prints it, and no vendor paid for a place here.

How we compared: a location price against a per-user price, what the free plan caps, and whether payroll is inside the sticker.

Homebase is scheduling, time clocks, and optional payroll for hourly teams, sold per address rather than per login. A restaurant, shop, salon, or clinic can add people at one site without the software line climbing.

On a seat tool, the fortieth hire is a new line even if you never open a second door.

Payroll is limited to US employers in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., so a company that is not a US employer cannot run pay in this product.

Basic is free: one location, up to 10 employees, basic scheduling, basic time tracking, and a POS connection, which is enough for one small crew. Essentials is the first paid plan and removes the headcount cap, which is the tier once that crew no longer fits the free start.

Plus adds an AI scheduling assistant, PTO controls, and departments. All-in-One adds onboarding, labor-cost tools, and HR compliance, but it is not a full HR system. Read the HR software guide if you need reviews, benefits, and an employee file.

The pricing page says there is no separate fee for time clocks, scheduling past 10 days, the mobile app, job posts, applicant tracking, POS connections, or payroll integrations, so those are not surprise products. If Rippling or Gusto already pays people, the pay run can stay there.

You start a 14-day look at All-in-One with no card. If no paid plan is picked, the account drops to Basic, and more than 10 people, or more than one location, cannot stay on Basic.

The free clock covers only basic time tracking, not a GPS or photo punch.

Location-based mobile clock-in, photo punches, and storage of 4+ years sit on advanced time tracking, the Essentials step up. Basic lists 90-day timesheet storage, and a wage claim for an old week is where that short history fails.

PTO balances and departments are Plus, so tracking time off means you have left Essentials. W-4, W-9, I-9, and direct deposit forms are on All-in-One, with HR advisors and a custom handbook, which is the reason to pay for that tier.

A plan change starts next cycle, not mid-month, so an upgrade this week still bills the old tier until the next invoice.

Payroll, if you add it, files taxes and pays by direct deposit or check. Setup is free, and Homebase says you can be running within a week, but payroll support is 7am to 7pm CT, which leaves an overnight closer waiting until morning.

Several sites share one pay run only with the same EIN and the same pay calendar, so different pay dates cannot share a batch.

Compare punches in the time clock roundup and hours tools in the time tracking roundup, and keep price notes in the HRpresso brief.

Read the annual card and the monthly card as two invoices. Budget the annual figure if you will keep the site for a year, because each paid tier shows a higher month-to-month number beside a lower annual number, plus a stated yearly save.

Basic stays free for one location and at most 10 employees. Person 11, or a second address, ends that plan and starts a paid invoice. The All-in-One trial is 14 days, needs no card, and is not a second free tier. When it ends you land on Basic, or on a paid plan if you no longer qualify.

Monthly Essentials is $30 per location, Plus month to month is $70 per location, and All-in-One month to month is $120 per location. The annual saves printed on the cards are $72, $168, and $288 a year, the discount for finishing the year.

One address on the annual Essentials rate does not move when headcount does, so a packed single site is where this price wins.

Two addresses at that rate are $48 a month, twice the printed location fee, and Homebase does not publish that two-site total.

Forty logins on the When I Work entry card come to $100 a month if you multiply the published per-user rate, while one Homebase address stays on the annual Essentials rate.

Payroll is the surprise after someone approves Essentials and assumes pay is inside it. The pricing FAQ states a $49 monthly base plus the per-employee fee, on every plan. You pay that fee only for people who are paid, so a seasonal employee with no paycheck that month should stay off the fee.

Fifteen people paid in a month add $90 to the base, $139 before the location plan. That total is the base plus those fees, not a bundle on the card.

A banner offers six months of Payroll and of Plus when you add Payroll. Terms apply, and Plus can show a zero during that window, while the ongoing Plus price is the card, not the promo.

Homebase's payroll page cites an average saving of $3,500, from a survey of 385 users in October 2024, which is the vendor's survey rather than your forecast. Toolradar data: the September 2026 payroll ranking evaluated 71 tools, which is the set to open if this pay engine is the wrong one.

Tip Manager is $25 per location per month, and Task Manager is $13 per location per month, so add both if the site pools tips and assigns closing work. Background checks are $30 each, and Hiring Assistant starts at $99 a month, which keeps hiring off the location price.

Set the table against Deputy and When I Work per person, Connecteam by hub, and 7shifts by restaurant location.

Deputy automation starts above the entry card, and the Deputy review covers the supervisor who is billed without working a shift.

7shifts Pro is labeled both 60 employees and unlimited on the same page, and Comp publishes no list price there, so resolve that label before a restaurant signs.

UK readers should use the Shiftie review, because this card is US dollars and will not price a UK rota. The startup HR guide covers the rest of the people stack.

Homebase fits one busy US address that will pay a location fee so headcount can grow. Buy Essentials, not Basic, once you pass 10 people or need the GPS clock.

Buy Plus for the scheduling assistant, PTO balances, or departments, and buy All-in-One when new-hire forms and labor cost have to sit next to the rota.

It is a weak fit for many small sites, because each street address is a new fee. It is also a weak fit if pay must be inside the sticker, since pay is a US-only add-on.

Price 7shifts for a restaurant, and do not assume Pro's headcount until the two caps on that page are resolved. A crew of 10 or fewer can start on Connecteam at no charge.

Do not make Homebase the only people system when you also need reviews, benefits, and an employee file. The AI for HR piece is the wider map.