Scheduling, time clocks, and team chat for hourly crews, with a free tier that is actually usable.
Reviewed by Tom · Founder & lead reviewerHomebase is workforce management for hourly teams. Managers drag shifts onto a weekly schedule, publish it, and every employee gets it on their phone instantly. Staff clock in and out via a tablet at the counter or their own phones, with GPS and PIN options to keep buddy-punching in check. The time clock feeds timesheets that account for breaks and overtime, ready for payroll export - or for Homebase Payroll if you want it all in one place. Built-in messaging replaces the group text nobody can mute, and shift trades, availability changes, and time-off requests all run through the app with manager approval. Higher tiers add labor cost tracking against sales, hiring tools, and HR compliance resources. It is squarely aimed at restaurants, retail, and service businesses.
The free Basic plan covers a single location with unlimited employees, including scheduling, time clock, and messaging - a real operating tier, not a demo. Paid plans start around $24.95 per month per location and climb through Essentials, Plus, and All-in-One, layering on advanced scheduling, geofencing, labor cost controls, and HR features. Note the pricing unit: per location, not per employee. That is a bargain for a busy single site with twenty staff, and less of one for an operator with six small sites. Payroll is a separate add-on with a base fee plus per-employee pricing. The honest math: most single-location businesses can run free or on Essentials for a long time, and the upsell pressure to higher tiers is real but resistible.
If you schedule hourly workers and are still doing it in a spreadsheet or a group text, Homebase is one of the easiest quality-of-life upgrades available, and the free tier means trying it costs nothing but an afternoon of setup. Single-location restaurants, cafes, and shops are the sweet spot. Multi-location operators should compare against per-employee-priced rivals like When I Work or Sling and model their actual cost, because per-location pricing cuts both ways. Skip it entirely if your team is salaried, remote, or project-based - this is a tool for shifts, clocks, and floors, not for knowledge work. And if labor compliance is a live risk in your state, budget for the higher tiers where those guardrails actually live.
Restaurants, retail shops, and other single- or few-location businesses scheduling hourly staff who live on their phones.
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