Best Homebase alternatives for small hourly teams.

The best Homebase alternative for a 10 to 50 person team is ClockOut: a GPS time clock, employee scheduling, and payroll CSV exports in one plan, priced per person rather than per location, from $19 a month. It fits small teams, and any team working across more than one site, where Homebase’s per-location fee adds up faster than head count does. It is the wrong pick if you want payroll processed inside the tool, point-of-sale integrations, or a staff of 100 or more, and this page names the better option for each of those cases.

Why people leave Homebase

Homebase is a well-known scheduling and time clock app for restaurants and retail, with hiring and payroll bolted on. The reasons small teams look elsewhere are about the price model and the amount of product, not the quality of the schedule builder.

• Per-location pricing punishes multi-site teams. As of September 2026, paid plans start at $30 per location per month, and every extra site is another fee. A 15 person team spread across three small locations pays three times what a 15 person team at one address pays for the same features.
• The free plan is one location with limited features. It is a real free tier, but scheduling and time clock capabilities are capped, and the fuller feature set lives on the Essentials, Plus, and All-in-One tiers. Teams often outgrow it in the first month and find the jump to paid larger than expected.
• Tiers keep going up. Homebase has several paid tiers and add-ons (payroll, HR), and the features a small team wants are not always on the tier it started with. See our ClockOut vs Homebase comparison for the tier structure in detail.
• More product than a small team uses. Hiring, onboarding paperwork, payroll, and team messaging share the app with the schedule. A 12 person cleaning crew or a two-shift coffee bar mostly needs the clock and the week.

Six Homebase alternatives, one at a time

1. ClockOut (best for 10 to 50 person hourly teams)

ClockOut is a GPS time clock and employee scheduling app with payroll CSV exports, priced per active person. Free covers 2 employees. Starter is $19 a month for up to 5 people, then $3 per extra person, and includes geofence enforcement, recurring schedules, open shifts and swaps, availability, PTO, a shared tablet kiosk with PIN or QR badge clock-in, an exception inbox, tips tracking, job costing, and timesheet approval. Pro is $39 a month for up to 5, then $6 each, and adds multiple locations at no extra per-site fee, payroll runs, formatted exports for ADP, Gusto, and QuickBooks, a compliance pack with daily overtime rules, device and IP locks, and labor budgeting. Native iPhone and Android apps are on the App Store and Google Play, and the web app runs in any browser with no install.

Verdict: the best fit when per-location pricing is the problem, or when you want a focused clock and schedule. Not the fit if you need payroll processed, POS integrations, or the full app offline (only clock-in and clock-out punches queue offline). Read the head-to-head: ClockOut vs Homebase.

2. 7shifts (best for restaurants wanting POS and payroll)

7shifts is scheduling built specifically for restaurants, with labor-cost reporting, POS integrations, and its own payroll. Like Homebase it is priced around locations rather than people, and it offers a free tier for a single location with limits. Check the current pricing page for tier details.

Verdict: if you run a restaurant and the POS connection matters, 7shifts is the strongest vertical pick. See the best Homebase alternatives for restaurants and ClockOut vs 7shifts.

3. Sling (best free scheduler)

Sling is a scheduling-first app with messaging and a time clock on its paid tiers. It has a free plan for basic scheduling, and paid plans are per user. Time clock and labor features vary by plan, so check what the tier you would buy actually includes.

Verdict: good if you want a free schedule for a small team and can live with a lighter time clock.

4. When I Work (best for scheduling-first teams with its payroll)

When I Work is a long-running small-business scheduler with a time clock and its own payroll product. It is priced per user, and our dated comparison found no permanent free plan, with time clock features sold separately from scheduling on some tiers. Check the current pricing page for the exact structure.

Verdict: a solid choice if scheduling is the main job and you want the vendor’s own payroll. Read ClockOut vs When I Work.

5. Connecteam (best all-in-one bundle)

Connecteam is an all-in-one employee app: time clock, scheduling, chat, forms, training, and HR in one place. As of September 2026, it has a free plan for up to 10 users and paid plans from $35 a month flat for up to 30 users, then per-user tiers, with features split across product hubs.

Verdict: pick Connecteam if you have 30 or more workers and want the whole bundle. For a smaller team weighing it, see Connecteam alternatives.

6. Deputy (best for hospitality and healthcare scheduling)

Deputy is a scheduling and workforce management tool with GPS, geofencing, kiosk mode, and open shifts. It is priced per user with no free plan, and it is strongest in restaurants, hotels, and clinics that need deep rostering.

Verdict: choose Deputy if you need the deepest scheduling of the group and do not mind paying per user for it. Read ClockOut vs Deputy.

Side by side at 15 people

Prices are monthly for a 15 person team as of September 2026. Where we are not certain of a vendor’s current figure, the cell describes the structure instead of quoting a number. Confirm on each vendor’s pricing page.

Switching from Homebase in an afternoon

1. 01

   Export your staff list from Homebase

   Download your team as a spreadsheet from the Homebase admin. You need a name and an email for each person, plus an hourly rate if you want pay estimates on day one.

2. 02

   Import the CSV on the ClockOut Team page

   Upload the file, preview the parsed rows, and import. Up to 200 rows per import, duplicates are skipped, and the import works on every plan, including the trial.

3. 03

   Invite everyone by email or invite code

   Each imported employee with an email receives an account-setup link automatically. Anyone who prefers can join with the company invite code instead. Employees install the iPhone or Android app or open ClockOut in a browser.

4. 04

   Set locations and geofences

   Add each work site and its radius (10 to 10,000 meters). Geofence enforcement is on Starter and up, and multiple locations are on Pro with no extra per-site fee.

5. 05

   Build the first schedule

   Create the week, save it as a recurring template, and publish. Employees confirm shifts from their phone, pick up open shifts, and clock in from the same app.

What ClockOut costs at your team size

ClockOut is built for teams of 10 to 50 and billed per active person, never per location. Free covers up to 2 employees. Starter is $19 a month and includes 5 people, then $3 each. Pro is $39 a month and includes 5, then $6 each, and covers as many locations as you have. Annual billing is 20% off, and paid plans include a 14-day free trial.

Run the same numbers against a per-location fee for each site you operate. Full details on the pricing page.

Related pages

• ClockOut vs Homebase: the dated head-to-head on price and use case.
• Best Homebase alternatives for restaurants: the same question for front-of-house and kitchen teams.
• Best clock in clock out apps: seven apps ranked on free plans, GPS, kiosk, and scheduling.
• All ClockOut alternatives and Connecteam alternatives.
• Restaurant scheduling software if you are switching a restaurant team.
• Employee scheduling, pricing, and the iPhone and Android app.

Homebase alternatives FAQ