Homebase

Homebase is a team management app built for the hourly workforce of small businesses: it combines employee scheduling, a time clock, hiring, team messaging and an optional payroll add-on in one mobile-first product. The company positions it as the one app that replaces the paper schedule, the punch clock and the group text, and it reports that more than 150,000 small businesses use it.

Scheduling and time tracking are the core. Managers build and publish weekly schedules, employees see shifts on their phones, and shift trades, covers and open-shift claims happen inside the app with manager approval. The time clock supports tablet, POS and phone clock-ins with photo capture on tablets, and the app flags overtime risk and can block early clock-ins on higher tiers. Homebase says managers save 20 hours per month on average with scheduling, time tracking and payroll in one place; treat that as the vendor’s figure, but the consolidation itself is real.

Beyond the schedule, Homebase pushes into the full hourly-employment workflow: job posts and applicant tracking, W-4/W-9/I-9 paperwork automation, HR policy reviews on the top plan, and a payroll add-on priced at a $49 monthly base fee plus $6 per employee paid. Integrations on the official list cover the POS and payroll systems small businesses already run, including Square, Clover, Toast, Shopify, Lightspeed, ADP, Gusto and QuickBooks. A read-only API exists but is limited to the All-in-One plan, per Homebase’s own support documentation.

Pricing is per location rather than per employee, which changes the math versus rivals. The Basic plan is genuinely free for one location with up to 10 employees and includes basic scheduling and time tracking. Essentials runs $30 per location per month, Plus $70, and All-in-One $120. A 14-day free trial of All-in-One requires no credit card. For a single-location shop, free-to-$30 entry pricing is among the most accessible in this category.

Where it falls short: per-location pricing scales with every site you add, so multi-location operators should price the full footprint. Payroll, tip management and task management are paid add-ons that raise the real monthly cost. The API is read-only and gated behind the most expensive plan, and support on lower tiers leans on AI chat and the help center rather than a published support email or phone line.

Overall, Homebase is a strong first shortlist for any small hourly business that wants scheduling and time tracking with a real free tier and room to grow into payroll and HR. Restaurants, retail, health and beauty and service businesses get the most from it.