Payroll · No reputation warning
Homebase Review
Scheduling, GPS time clock and team messaging for hourly crews, with a payroll add-on that runs from timesheets
Quick verdict
Who Homebase suits: Trades businesses with hourly crews that need scheduling and accurate time tracking, and want payroll run from the same timesheets. Pricing: Payroll add-on $49/month + $6 per employee paid; available on any plan, including the free Basic plan. Team-management plans per location per month (monthly billing): Basic free (1 location, up to 10 employees), Essentials $30, Plus $70, All-in-One $120, with unlimited employees on paid plans. Homebase says annual billing saves 20%. Payroll costs extra on top of the team-management plan, pricing is per location, and its pages do not mention job costing or certified payroll. For hourly-crew scheduling and time tracking with payroll in the same app, it is a practical fit.
About Homebase
Homebase is a team-management app for small businesses with hourly workers. It combines employee scheduling, a time clock, team messaging, hiring, onboarding, HR tools and payroll. Homebase says more than 100,000 small businesses use it. The company, legally Pioneer Works, Inc., lists a San Francisco mailing address and offices in Houston, Denver and Toronto, and was co-founded by John Waldmann and Rushi Patel.
The team-management plans are priced per location. Basic is free for one location with up to 10 employees; Essentials is $30, Plus $70 and All-in-One $120 per location per month on monthly billing, each with unlimited employees, and Homebase says annual billing saves 20%. Payroll is an add-on available on any plan, including Basic, at $49 a month plus $6 per employee paid. Homebase offers a 14-day free trial of All-in-One with no credit card.
For a crew, the useful part is the link between the clock and the paycheck. Workers clock in on a phone, tablet or POS device, with GPS and photo capture at clock-in, and Homebase tracks overtime and breaks. The payroll add-on runs payroll from those timesheets, with automated tax calculation, payments and filings, and Homebase says payroll is available to US businesses in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Shops that keep another payroll provider can sync hours to QuickBooks, Gusto, ADP, Paychex and others listed on its integrations page.
The trade-off: Homebase is built around hourly shift work, and its pages do not mention job costing or certified payroll. Payroll and several tools (tip management, task management, background checks, a hiring assistant) cost extra, and per-location pricing adds up for shops with several locations.
How it works
You set up your location, employees and schedules in Homebase. Employees clock in and out on a phone, tablet or POS device, with GPS and photo capture at clock-in, and hours land in timesheets with overtime and breaks tracked. The payroll add-on ($49/month plus $6 per employee paid) runs payroll from those timesheets, calculates, pays and files payroll taxes, and pays people by direct deposit or printable check. If you keep payroll elsewhere, Homebase can sync timesheets to outside payroll providers such as QuickBooks, Gusto, ADP and Paychex.
Pros & cons
What works
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Built for hourly crews
Scheduling, a time clock and team messaging are in one app designed for hourly workers.
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Free Basic plan
The Basic plan is free for one location with up to 10 employees, and paid plans are priced per location with unlimited employees.
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Timesheets flow into payroll
Homebase says you can run payroll directly from timesheets, so tracked hours do not need to be re-entered by hand.
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GPS time clock with photo capture
Crews clock in on a phone, tablet or POS device with GPS and photo capture at clock-in, with no extra hardware needed, per Homebase.
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Payroll in all 50 states
Homebase says its payroll add-on covers US businesses in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., with tax filing and unlimited payroll runs.
What doesn't
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Payroll is a paid add-on
Payroll costs $49 a month plus $6 per employee paid on top of your team-management plan, so add both when you compare it with a payroll-only service.
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Per-location pricing
Essentials, Plus and All-in-One are $30, $70 and $120 per location per month on monthly billing, so a shop with several locations pays for each one.
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No job costing mentioned
Homebase's pricing and time-clock pages do not mention job costing or certified payroll, which contractors on public or prevailing-wage jobs may need.
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HR tools on the top plan
Onboarding, labor cost management and HR and compliance tools are listed on the All-in-One plan, the most expensive tier.
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Extras cost more
Tip Manager ($25 per location per month), Task Manager ($13 per location per month), background checks ($30 each) and the Hiring Assistant (from $99 a month) are separate add-ons.
Pricing
Payroll add-on $49/month + $6 per employee paid; available on any plan, including the free Basic plan. Team-management plans per location per month (monthly billing): Basic free (1 location, up to 10 employees), Essentials $30, Plus $70, All-in-One $120, with unlimited employees on paid plans. Homebase says annual billing saves 20%.
Starting base: $49/mo + $6/employee
Affiliate disclosure: The link to Homebase on this page goes to its own site and is not an affiliate link.
Integrations
Reviews and complaints at the source
We do not copy third-party review scores onto this page: they change often and we could not verify them. Read Homebase's current reviews at the source.
Frequently asked
How much does Homebase cost?
Basic is free for one location with up to 10 employees. Essentials is $30, Plus $70 and All-in-One $120 per location per month on monthly billing, and Homebase says annual billing saves 20%. Payroll is an add-on on any plan at $49 a month plus $6 per employee paid.
Is Homebase a fit for trades crews?
It is built for hourly teams: scheduling, a GPS time clock with photo capture, team messaging and payroll run from timesheets. Its pages do not mention job costing or certified payroll, so construction shops that need those should confirm before buying.
Can I keep my current payroll provider?
Yes. Homebase's integrations page lists payroll connections including QuickBooks, Gusto, ADP, Paychex, Square Payroll, SurePayroll and Heartland, so you can use Homebase for scheduling and time tracking and send hours to your existing payroll.
Can I start Homebase for free?
Yes. The Basic plan is free for one location with up to 10 employees, and Homebase offers a 14-day free trial of All-in-One with no credit card required. Payroll is a paid add-on on any plan.
Other payroll services
Gusto
Tier SOnline payroll with automatic federal, state and local tax filing, contractor payments and published prices for every plan
OnPay
Tier SOne-plan online payroll at $49/mo plus $6 per person, with QuickBooks and Xero sync and optional pay-as-you-go workers' comp
Patriot Payroll
Tier SLow-cost online payroll from Canton, Ohio: $37/mo plus $5 per worker with full tax filing, or $17/mo plus $4 per worker if you file taxes yourself
Hourly.io
Tier SPayroll plus pay-as-you-go workers' comp in one app, with GPS time tracking and job costing on every plan
QuickBooks Payroll (plans branded QuickBooks Workforce)
Tier AIntuit's own payroll, now sold as QuickBooks Workforce: runs inside QuickBooks Online, from $50/mo plus $7 per employee payroll-only
Square Payroll
Tier ASquare's payroll for businesses already on Square: $35/mo plus $6 per person paid, or $6 per contractor with no base fee