Honest Homebase App Review: Features, Pricing & More

How I Tested Homebase

I used Homebase through its free trial. I created a company workspace for my cafe, added 5 users, including employees and 1 manager, and tested Homebase’s scheduling, time-tracking, and communication tools. 

I also tested real-world errors, such as shifts conflicting with time off, leaving the time clock running beyond work hours, and more, to see how the platform handled these cases. I’ve included screenshots and recordings to show my process and support my findings. 

Homebase Pricing

Homebase offers 4 plans for you to choose from.

As of June 2026. Prices refer to annual billing plans.

I liked that the plans are neatly divided, so you can consider your budget and pay for what you need. Additionally, while I was happy to see a 20% discount on annual plans, I found it confusing that payroll was available only as an add-on, including for the most expensive plan. It isn’t truly “all-in-one.” You can add payroll to any plan for a base fee of $39/month plus $6/employee/month. 

Homebase’s pricing works well for some businesses. It provides excellent value for businesses that have only 1 physical address. For example, a large tech company with a single location can pay $96/month for most features and use the app for unlimited employees. 

On the other hand, a retail business with multiple locations must pay separately for each physical address, even if they’re in the same city. Costs can add up quickly. 

To illustrate this, here’s a table comparing Homebase’s pricing to Sling’s and Connecteam’s. Each compared plan offers similar scheduling and time-tracking features.

Homebase offers a free 14-day trial, so you can explore the platform and all its features before picking a plan. I was also impressed to see a free plan, which is a great way to test an app’s user interface for an extended period before upgrading. But I wish its 10-user limit were less restrictive. Compare this to Clockify, which offers a free plan with similar features for unlimited employees.

Homebase Usability and Interface

In my experience, Homebase is pretty user-friendly. Let’s take a look.  

Setup

Signing up for Homebase’s free trial was straightforward and didn’t require credit card details. I completed 7 sign-up steps, including sharing my personal information and company details and choosing the features I was looking for. After this, my profile was ready, and I landed on Homebase’s “Quick Start Guide,” where admins can finish setting up payroll and invite team members. 

This is where I tested Homebase for the ease of setting up teams. In addition to inviting employees, Homebase let me bulk invite my team members, which was such a time-saver. I added their names, email addresses, roles, and permission levels in one go. My team members were instantly sent an email inviting them to join. 

The most impressive part of this process was that Homebase had already provided a dropdown of “roles” for my employees based on the type of business I mentioned while setting up. Since I’d set up a cafe, I could assign employees to roles like barista, waitstaff, etc., or add a title manually. 

Design and user experience

Homebase’s white and purple interface has a modern design, big font, and well-spaced-out text. 

The left sidebar lets you navigate Homebase’s key features, including timesheets, scheduling, payroll, benefits, and hiring. It also lets you update company information, view reports, and access your admin dashboard. 

However, it took me a minute to find the time tracking and team chat features, which sit at the top bar as small icons. I wish I could’ve found these more easily or had a search bar to use for help. 

Unfortunately, the platform lacks customization options for users with visual, hearing, or other impairments, so it’s not entirely inclusive. But, for everyone else, it’s easy to set up and has a gentle learning curve. 

Mobile app

Homebase has full-featured iOS and Android mobile apps. I downloaded and explored the iOS app and found it easy to use. However, while Homebase advertises offline mode on its website, this didn’t work for me. I tried clocking in on my iPhone without internet access, but the Homebase time clock didn’t work. This makes the platform difficult to use for businesses that often operate from remote areas without internet access. 

While I was impressed by the mobile app’s feature set, I encountered a glitch when setting up an employee’s account. After inputting the name, contact details, and date of birth, it showed an error message. I had to quit and restart the app to access the employee’s profile. 

Homebase Core Functionalities

Here are Homebase’s key features and functionalities. 

Time tracking and payroll

Here’s what I learned about Homebase’s time tracking and payroll tools. 

Time clock

Homebase’s time clock lets your employees clock in and out of almost any device, including smartphones, tablets, desktops, and even POS systems. As a manager, I liked that I could decide whether to allow employees to track hours on their phones or on a shared tablet using their personal PIN codes, both of which are relevant for different types of businesses. 

I tested the time clock via my mobile app and desktop, and both worked well. I could even log breaks and successfully clocked out at the end of my shift. 

Unfortunately, time was only tracked to the nearest minute. Other time clocks—like Connecteam’s time clock—track to the nearest second. There’s more room for accuracy here. 

Timesheets and verification

Homebase uses time entries to generate employee time cards. I could view, edit, and update time cards, which contained detailed information about workers’ time entries, breaks, overtime, wages, and more. 

Impressively, Homebase captures workers’ GPS locations or photos when they clock in, which I could see in the time cards, making it easier to verify clock-ins and prevent time theft. I could set geofences to prevent workers from logging time when they’re not at their job sites and to disallow clock-ins outside scheduled shifts. I tested to check that both of these work (and they did). Disappointingly, the photo ID feature is available only on Homebase’s tablet and POS software, so I couldn’t test this out. 

Homebase is designed to alert you to early and late clock-ins or overtime so you can track productivity and avoid unnecessary labor costs. To test this out, I clocked out late and left the timer running in overtime on an employee profile. Unfortunately, I received no alerts as a manager, and it didn’t flag as an issue in timesheets either. 

Payroll

While I couldn’t test the payroll feature, I could get timecards payroll-ready. In theory, I would next run payroll either via Homebase’s built-in payroll solution or one of its payroll partners, such as Paychex, Gusto, and more. 

Homebase also saves historical time cards. I find this super helpful for complying with Fair Labor Standards Act record-keeping rules.

From a payroll POV, another big benefit I found is that Homebase lets employees “cash out” or access up to $400 of their wages in advance. And get this—Homebase takes on the liability, so you don’t need to worry. This is such a great way to empower your workers without taking on additional risk or expense. 

Time off and team availability 

With Homebase, you can set policies for time off (including black-out periods and PTO), breaks, and overtime to comply with labor laws. Unfortunately, you can do this only on the Plus and All-in-One plans. Compare this to Deputy, which offers PTO and break management even on its cheapest plan. 

I created a “pet sick leave” policy to test the feature out and was happy to learn how straightforward the process was. I could name my policy, set an accrual method, determine the time off, and even decide how frequently this leave type would kick in. 

I was also happy with the level of admin controls. I could establish rules around leave carryover, negative balances, and more, all from the time off dashboard. 

What’s more, employees can request leave on the app, and as a manager, I could view and approve (or deny) requests easily from “Requests” in my app. One complaint, though, was that I couldn’t see a pop-up sign or symbol under “Requests” to show that I had a pending request. I opened it only because I knew to check, which isn’t reassuring, since managers might easily miss time-off requests in the real world. 

Finally, Homebase lets workers indicate their availability and share shift preferences, so you can plan ahead when creating schedules. 

Unfortunately, I experienced a glitch when testing this. I set a preference for Mondays between 9.00 am and 6.00 pm, but it didn’t update immediately, and even after saving it still showed my preference for Monday as “all day.” 

Scheduling 

This platform made it a breeze for me to build schedules from scratch, copy previous schedules, and even create templates for recurring shifts. I could also create open shifts for employees to choose from and smoothly drag-and-drop shifts around the weekly calendar to make changes. 

I could view estimated hours and labor costs at the bottom of the scheduler and make adjustments as needed before publishing. I thought this was a fantastic way to stay compliant and keep costs in control.  

What I found most helpful, though, was that Homebase flagged any errors and conflicts in my schedule before I published. I deliberately created a schedule that:

• Assigned a shift to a worker who was off sick 
• Assigned a shift to a worker who has indicated no availability on that day 
• Scheduled an employee for more than 6 days in a row 

 I was delighted that the system caught and flagged all of the above. 

I was also excited to test the auto-scheduling tool, which supposedly creates optimal schedules based on sales forecasts, labor targets, and workers’ availability. Unfortunately, despite my back-and-forth with Homebase’s support and following all the troubleshooting steps, I couldn’t access this tool, which was pretty disappointing.

Finally, when testing from my employee profile, I could also request a shift cover or trade from my dashboard. In the off chance there’s a conflict or last-minute problem, this takes the pain out of the process, ensures coverage, and reduces conflicts and errors. 

Team communication

Homebase is one of a few solutions with an in-app messenger. I simply clicked on the message icon to send my workers a one-on-one message, create a group chat, or send company-wide announcements. I could even attach files or build polls to gather quick opinions from my employees. The messenger has no built-in emojis, and while this isn’t a deal-breaker, it would have been a nice touch. 

In addition, some of Homebase’s other features have built-in tools for better communication. For instance, I could add detailed notes when publishing shifts so everyone knows what they must do. 

Unfortunately, the team communication tool was limited to text only. Sometimes, providing instructions through images, audio, and video is more effective, but Homebase doesn’t support these formats. If you’re a worrier like me, Homebase also indicates how many team members have read an announcement that required acknowledgment. It’s pretty reassuring to know they haven’t missed important updates. 

I tested this tool out by sending an announcement for an upcoming fire drill. While the functionality works, I was disappointed that employees couldn’t immediately see my important announcement through a bell icon or similar on their apps. It was hiding halfway through their homepage dashboard, which is so easy to miss in real life. 

At the end of a shift, Homebase supposedly lets your staff members rate their shifts and recognize coworkers. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see this when I clocked out from the mobile app at the end of my shift, so I’m unsure if this feature exists as advertised. 

Finally, I could add notes about workers’ performance, attendance, and more within their time cards after their shifts. Homebase also offers a manager log book, where I could save extra notes, collaborate on any topic with other managers, log injuries, and more, which I really appreciated. 

Hiring and onboarding

Homebase takes things up a notch by offering hiring and onboarding tools. I really appreciate the effort to provide an end-to-end solution, especially since hiring tools are not typical for team management solutions. 

I was super excited to test the AI tools within Homebase’s hiring feature. With just a brief outline of what I was looking for, Homebase wrote an entire job description that I could customize and make my own. 

I could also add custom screening questions, set my calendar/interview availability, and add my business details before posting to Indeed, ZipRecruiter, and other popular job boards. I didn’t like that I had to re-enter all my business details, though, especially since Homebase already had access to this information, so I’d have expected it to auto-fill. 

Candidate applications feed straight through to your dashboard, and you can also log offline candidates in the same place. 

The applicant tracking system allows you to message candidates and schedule interviews using Homebase’s AI assistant. Moreover, the platform offers support with background checks, which is very helpful (though I couldn’t test these services myself). Once candidates are hired, you can send them a welcome pack with your handbook and other information and have them e-sign their W-4s, W-9s, and I-9s—all from the app. 

Overall, I think Homebase makes hiring and onboarding much easier. Plus, it’s priceless to give new joiners a smooth onboarding experience. However, I didn’t like that you can’t post roles on LinkedIn, as it’s widely used by today’s candidates. 

Homebase Security Features

Homebase’s security program is based on the NIST CSF (Cybersecurity Framework), designed to protect personal and confidential information. 

Here’s how Homebase keeps your data safe. 

• All data is encrypted in transit and at rest. 
• Homebase partners with trusted security firms to regularly find and report vulnerabilities in their systems.
• Homebase also regularly audits web security and permission controls.
• Homebase’s employees receive security awareness and privacy training.

You can set role-based permissions and access controls to ensure data is accessed by authorized users only. You can also set up 2-factor authentication to keep your accounts safe from intrusion. 

While Homebase provides some security and specifies CCPA compliance, I didn’t see any mention of HIPAA and GDPR compliance. So for some companies—for instance, healthcare companies—I recommend HIPAA-compliant platforms like Connecteam instead of Homebase. 

Homebase Reporting & Analytics

Homebase offers a fixed set of reports to provide you with insights into employee hours, labor costs, attendance, and more. While some appear as charts, others can be exported as CSVs in a line-by-line format. Let’s take a closer look. 

• Overview dashboard: See summarized charts and graphs on real vs. scheduled hours, labor costs as a percentage of sales, time and attendance metrics, employees’ shift ratings, and more. 
• Real vs. scheduled hours: View charts and tables showing hours worked and how this compares to their scheduled hours. 
• On-time arrival: Check how early or late employees clocked into their shifts and gain insights into their on-time arrival rates. 
• Shift feedback: See your workers’ average shift feedback scores to check your team’s pulse. 
• Labor costs: To aid decision-making, view your total scheduled labor costs and paid labor costs, as well as labor costs by role, by department, and as a percentage of sales. 
• Certificates: See all your employees’ certifications, including expiration dates, so you can stay compliant. 

All the above reports and charts provide valuable insights into your company’s operations. But overall, I wasn’t happy with the level of customization. I couldn’t build my own reports to reflect what I was looking for (for instance, assessing which employees have had repeat early clock-ins). I found this limiting.

Homebase Customer Support

Homebase’s approach to customer support is very different from some of the other platforms I’ve reviewed before. Homebase used to offer support via phone, email, and an online contact form, but has recently replaced all this with an AI chatbot. 

I used the AI chatbot on several occasions while I was testing the platform, and was genuinely impressed. It answered almost all of my questions, asked follow-up questions, and even requested screenshots to help me find solutions. 

For things I needed further support with, Homebase does offer human customer support. But you can only access this by asking the AI chatbot to connect you with a human agent. There’s no other way to contact a real person in the desktop or mobile apps, or via Homebase’s website. 

Human agents are only available between 7.00 am and 7.00 pm CST, from Monday to Sunday. I initiated contact at around 7.00 am on a Wednesday, and it said I would be connected in 30 minutes, but I never heard back.

With AI developing so quickly, I can see why Homebase has switched to mostly AI-assisted service, but I imagine not all businesses are ready for such a radical change, and some might opt for a different platform because of this. On the plus side, I did find a link to Homebase’s guides and FAQs, which are great when you need step-by-step guidance on straightforward topics. 

What Are Homebase’s Review Ratings From Review Sites?

(As of June 2026)

Homebase App Review

Homebase is great for small businesses looking for a good scheduling, time tracking, and payroll app. It’s even better for those looking for a fully integrated solution with hiring tools. Overall, it was easy to learn and use—but I faced a few problems with setting up on the mobile app, updating shift preferences, and connecting with a live (human) support agent, which I hope Homebase will fix soon. 

With a per-location pricing model, Homebase works best for companies with few locations. Those who run multi-location businesses or need cheaper options might want to look at other platforms.

Connecteam: The Better Homebase Alternative

While Homebase offers a solid platform for employee scheduling and time tracking, Connecteam stands out as a superior alternative, particularly for businesses with frontline and deskless workers.

Effortless remote task management

Connecteam’s task management feature gives you control over setting up specific tasks for employees during their shifts. The app notifies team members, allows them to check off assignments as they complete them, and alerts managers of each completed task. This reduces micromanagement, empowers workers, and ensures high-priority tasks are accomplished efficiently. 

Importantly, Connecteam offers task management as part of the same suite of products as scheduling. Homebase charges more for its task management feature.

Easy schedule customization

Connecteam’s drag-and-drop scheduling tool makes it easy to create and share schedules instantly with your deskless employees. It tracks breaks and overtime for labor law compliance and allows employees to swap shifts. It also highlights scheduling conflicts, ensures even shift distribution, and prevents overlapping shifts. Plus, its geolocation feature lets you track live employee locations (something Homebase lacks).

Simple communication across the company

Connecteam facilitates communication across your entire organization. You can create project-specific, team-based, or job-site chats, which can be prioritized by importance. While Homebase only supports file sharing, Connecteam lets you share files, images, videos, and audio notes, and enables company-wide notifications to recognize employee achievements and assign rewards.

Simple and accurate attendance tracking

Connecteam’s advanced time tracking minimizes payroll errors. Employees can easily access the time clock with a few taps on their phones, avoiding misunderstandings or mistakes. The platform allows you to optimize labor costs, calculate wages and hours, and comply with labor laws effortlessly.

And that’s not all, Connecteam also includes tools like onboarding, employee training, forms and checklists, and a centralized knowledge base, making it a more well-rounded workforce management solution.

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