HomebaseHomebase is the strongest fit for brick-and-mortar small businesses…

Pricing

Overview

Picture a café owner juggling five part-timers across weekend brunch shifts. Someone calls out sick at 7 a.m., and she needs to find a replacement, notify the team, and update the schedule—all before the first customer walks in. Homebase was built for exactly that moment. It puts scheduling, time clocks, team messaging, and payroll under one roof so that fixing a schedule crisis doesn't require three separate apps and a spreadsheet. At its core, Homebase lets managers build and publish employee schedules from a web browser or mobile app, and employees can view shifts, request swaps, and clock in and out from their phones. The time clock integrates with compatible point-of-sale systems, which means hours are tracked automatically as employees tap in at the register rather than on a paper sheet or a separate tablet. Paid plans layer on labor cost forecasting, PTO tracking, and compliance alerts for overtime—tools that give owners visibility into wage costs before they spiral. Three roles benefit in distinct ways. An owner reviewing weekly labor costs can pull up the labor vs. sales dashboard and spot at a glance whether Saturday's staffing level matched the revenue it generated. A shift supervisor can message the whole team through the built-in chat without needing everyone's personal phone number. An HR-averse solo operator can run payroll directly through Homebase's add-on module, which auto-calculates wages from tracked hours and files payroll taxes—eliminating the manual re-entry that causes costly errors. Onboarding is genuinely low-friction. The free plan requires no credit card and supports one location with up to 10 employees, so a new business can validate the workflow before committing a dollar. Importing employees is straightforward, and the mobile app is polished enough that staff with minimal tech comfort pick it up quickly. Connecting to POS hardware takes more setup and may require vendor support, so budget an afternoon for that step. Homebase is less suited for businesses with salaried professional teams, project-based work, or complex multi-department org structures. Companies needing robust HR documentation, performance reviews, or advanced benefits administration will hit a ceiling here—those workflows belong to a full HRIS platform. If your workforce doesn't run on hourly shifts, most of what Homebase does well simply won't apply.

Features

• Drag-and-drop shift scheduling with automatic conflict detection for all staff
• Mobile time clock with GPS verification to prevent buddy punching
• Built-in team messaging keeps shift communication off personal texting apps
• Labor cost forecasting compares scheduled hours against projected sales
• PTO and availability tracking reduces back-and-forth schedule negotiation
• Payroll add-on auto-calculates wages and handles tax filings end-to-end
• Free plan supports one location and up to 10 employees with no credit card

Best for

Homebase is the strongest fit for brick-and-mortar small businesses that schedule hourly employees week to week—restaurants, cafés, retail shops, salons, fitness studios, and similar service businesses with 2 to 100 staff at one or a handful of locations. It works especially well when the owner or a single manager handles both scheduling and payroll without a dedicated HR person. Multi-location operators on the paid tiers get consolidated oversight across sites, making it useful for small chains or franchisees managing up to a dozen locations. Businesses already using compatible POS systems like Square or Clover will find the integration reduces duplicate data entry significantly.

Limitations

The free plan's 10-employee cap means fast-growing teams will hit a paywall quickly, and the jump to paid tiers at $30 per location per month can feel steep for very thin-margin businesses. Payroll is an add-on, not included in base plans, adding $39 per month plus $6 per employee—costs that accumulate for larger rosters. Multi-location pricing compounds per site, so a business with four locations pays four times the monthly base. Homebase has limited project management or task-tracking features, and its HR documentation capabilities are basic. Businesses operating outside the U.S. should verify availability, as core payroll functionality is U.S.-focused.

Frequently asked questions

What is Homebase?

Scheduling, time tracking, and payroll built specifically for small businesses that run on hourly workers. Picture a café owner juggling five part-timers across weekend brunch shifts. Someone calls out sick at 7 a.m., and she needs to find a replacement, notify the team, and update the schedule—all before the first customer walks in. Homebase was built for exactly that moment. It puts scheduling, time clocks, team messaging, and payroll under one roof so that fixing a schedule crisis doesn't require…

Who is Homebase best for?

Homebase is the strongest fit for brick-and-mortar small businesses that schedule hourly employees week to week—restaurants, cafés, retail shops, salons, fitness studios, and similar service businesses with 2 to 100 staff at one or a handful of locations. It works especially well when the owner or a single manager handles both scheduling and payroll without a dedicated HR person. Multi-location operators on the paid tiers get consolidated oversight across sites, making it useful for small chains or franchisees managing up to a dozen locations. Businesses already using compatible POS systems like Square or Clover will find the integration reduces duplicate data entry significantly.

What are the main limitations of Homebase?

The free plan's 10-employee cap means fast-growing teams will hit a paywall quickly, and the jump to paid tiers at $30 per location per month can feel steep for very thin-margin businesses. Payroll is an add-on, not included in base plans, adding $39 per month plus $6 per employee—costs that accumulate for larger rosters. Multi-location pricing compounds per site, so a business with four locations pays four times the monthly base. Homebase has limited project management or task-tracking features, and its HR documentation capabilities are basic. Businesses operating outside the U.S. should verify availability, as core payroll functionality is U.S.-focused.

Why does AIStackForSMB rate Homebase 8/10 for SMBs?

Homebase scores well across the SMB criteria that matter most to hourly-workforce operators. Time-to-value is high: the free plan is live within an hour, and most teams are scheduling and clocking in within a day—no professional implementation required. Cost predictability is solid on lower headcounts but becomes less linear once payroll is added and locations multiply, which nudges the score down slightly. Support burden is low for day-to-day operations because the mobile-first design reduces manager intervention; employees self-serve swaps and availability updates. Admin overhead drops meaningfully when payroll pulls directly from tracked hours, eliminating manual re-entry. The one point of friction is that the platform's value is tightly scoped to hourly shift work—any SMB with mixed workforce types or complex HR needs will find gaps. For its intended audience, though, Homebase delivers a rare combination of accessibility, depth, and vertical focus that generic workforce tools rarely match at this price point.

How does pricing work for Homebase?

Offers a free tier or free trial. Paid plans from about $20/mo (verify on the vendor site). Basic: $0/month (1 location, up to 10 employees). Essentials: $30/month per location (monthly) or $24/month (annual). Plus: $70/month per location (monthly) or $56/month (annual). All-in-One: $120/month per location (monthly) or $96/month (annual). Payroll add-on: $39/month plus $6/month per employee paid. Tip Manager: $25/month per location. Task Manager: $13/month per location. Background checks: $30 each. Hiring Assistant: starting at $30/post. Job post boosts: starting at $79/post. Per-location subscription tiers plus optional add-ons. Payroll is a separate add-on priced per employee. Annual billing available at 20% discount. No credit card required for free Basic plan. 14-day free trial of All-in-One plan available. Annual billing saves 20%. Payroll add-on available on all plans.