Homebase pricing: free plan, per-location costs, payroll add-on, and buyer questions

Homebase is one of the few scheduling and HR platforms that publishes pricing transparently — and it starts at free. The Basic plan gives you scheduling and time tracking for one location with unlimited employees at zero cost, no credit card required. Paid plans scale from $24.95 to $99.95 per location per month, with payroll available as a separate add-on. For single-location small businesses, the pricing math is straightforward and favorable.

Where the pricing gets complicated is at multiple locations and when payroll enters the picture. The per-location model that makes Homebase affordable for a single restaurant becomes expensive for a five-location franchise, and the payroll add-on that sounds reasonable at $39 per month plus $6 per employee adds meaningful cost to what the 'All-in-One' plan name implies is already all-inclusive. This pricing breakdown covers the real math for every scenario, verified against Homebase's public pricing page as of March 2026.

Written by Maya PatelFact-checked by ChandrasmitaLast updated Mar 22, 2026

Use this Homebase pricing page to understand what buyers actually pay, what changes the cost, and what to verify before procurement.

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Free Basic plan available; 14-day trial on paid plans. No commitment required.

Homebase pricing overview: what the free plan includes and where paid plans start

Homebase uses a per-location pricing model that is unique in the scheduling and HR software market. While competitors like When I Work and Deputy charge per user, Homebase charges per location regardless of how many employees work there. This structural difference makes Homebase exceptionally affordable for single-location businesses with large teams and increasingly expensive for multi-location businesses with smaller teams per site.

The free Basic plan covers scheduling and time tracking for one location with unlimited employees. This is not a trial — it is a permanent free tier with no credit card required and no time limit. For micro-businesses and startups with no software budget, the free plan replaces paper timesheets and spreadsheet schedules immediately. Over 100,000 businesses use Homebase according to the company's website, and many start here.

Paid plans unlock features in tiers: Essentials at $24.95 adds hiring tools and scheduling templates. Plus at $59.95 adds labor cost controls, budgets, and PTO tracking. All-in-One at $99.95 adds HR compliance, onboarding, and document management. The tier progression is logical — each step adds genuinely useful features — but the All-in-One name is misleading because payroll requires a separate add-on.

Homebase Payroll costs $39 per month base plus $6 per active employee per month. For a 25-employee business, payroll adds $189 per month. On the All-in-One plan, total monthly cost becomes $288.95 per location — still affordable for a single location, but the gap between the headline $99.95 price and the all-in $288.95 reality is worth understanding before you commit.

Basic (Free): Free (Scheduling, time clock, one location, unlimited employees, team messaging, POS integration)

Essentials: $24.95/location/month (Everything in Basic plus hiring, team communication upgrades, performance tracking, scheduling templates)

Plus: $59.95/location/month (Everything in Essentials plus labor cost controls, budgets, departments, time-off management, PTO tracking)

All-in-One: $99.95/location/month (Everything in Plus plus HR compliance, new hire onboarding, document management, employee happiness tracking)

Payroll Add-on: $39/mo + $6/employee/mo (Full-service payroll, direct deposit, tax filing, W-2s, integrates with Homebase time tracking)

Pricing source: official pricing page, verified 2026-03-17.

How to evaluate Homebase pricing before you talk to sales

Homebase pricing should be evaluated in the context of team size, operating complexity, and the commercial metric that makes cost rise over time.

Buyers should use this page to understand more than the headline price. The real decision usually depends on implementation scope, support level, add-on exposure, and whether the pricing model still makes sense once the team grows.

Clarify whether cost scales by employee count, recruiter seats, payroll runs, locations, or another metric.
Confirm what implementation, premium support, compliance, or service add-ons do to total spend.
Model pricing against the actual team size and operating complexity expected over the next 12 months.

Homebase plan breakdown: Basic vs Essentials vs Plus vs All-in-One

For single-location businesses with stable teams that rarely hire, the free Basic plan or Essentials at $24.95 per month covers scheduling and time tracking needs without overspending. Start on the free plan and upgrade only when you hit a specific feature limitation — the upgrade path is seamless with no data migration required.

For businesses that hire regularly and need to digitize onboarding paperwork, the All-in-One plan at $99.95 per location per month is the sweet spot. The hiring module, onboarding workflows, and compliance tools justify the premium over Plus for businesses processing 5 or more new hires per year. Add payroll only if the time-to-payroll integration saves more than the $189+ monthly cost compared to your current payroll provider.

Homebase Basic (Free) — what it includes and who it fits

Basic is Homebase's permanent free tier, covering scheduling, time clock (mobile and web), employee availability management, basic team messaging, and POS integration with Square, Clover, Toast, and others. It supports one location with unlimited employees. For a small business owner managing 5 to 50 hourly workers who currently uses paper timesheets or spreadsheets, the free plan is a complete scheduling and time tracking solution. The free plan runs out when you need hiring tools, scheduling templates, labor cost controls, or onboarding workflows — features that most growing businesses need within 3 to 6 months.

Homebase Essentials — what changes and why it matters

Essentials at $24.95 per location per month adds the hiring module (job posting to Indeed and ZipRecruiter, applicant tracking, offer letters), team communication upgrades, performance tracking, and scheduling templates. This is the right tier for businesses that hire occasionally — 2 to 10 new employees per year — and want to consolidate job posting and applicant management alongside scheduling. The hiring module alone can replace Craigslist postings and email-based applicant tracking, saving hours per hiring cycle.

Homebase Plus — labor cost controls for margin-conscious businesses

Plus at $59.95 per location per month adds labor cost controls with budget alerts, overtime tracking, departments and role-based permissions, time-off management, and PTO tracking. For restaurants, retail stores, and service businesses where labor cost directly impacts profitability, the budgeting and cost tracking features provide visibility that Basic and Essentials do not offer. The $35 premium over Essentials is justified for any business where labor cost exceeds 25 percent of revenue.

Homebase All-in-One — onboarding and compliance for growing teams

All-in-One at $99.95 per location per month adds HR compliance tools (labor law alerts, document management), new hire onboarding (digital W-4, I-9, custom documents with e-signatures), and employee happiness tracking. For businesses that hire 5 or more people per year, the digital onboarding alone saves 30 to 60 minutes per new hire and ensures compliance documents are completed properly. The compliance tools provide labor law alerts and document storage — helpful but not a substitute for legal counsel on complex employment matters.

Homebase hidden costs: payroll add-on and multi-location pricing math

Homebase Payroll is not included in the All-in-One plan despite the name

The most significant pricing surprise in Homebase is that payroll is a separate add-on at $39 per month base plus $6 per active employee per month — even on the 'All-in-One' plan. For a 25-employee business on All-in-One, the true all-in cost with payroll is $288.95 per month, not $99.95. The payroll add-on is competitively priced against Gusto ($40 base plus $6 per employee) and its integration with Homebase time tracking eliminates manual timesheet reconciliation. But the naming creates a misleading impression of what is included at each tier.

Multi-location costs add up fast without volume discounts

Homebase does not offer volume discounts for multiple locations. Each location is billed at the full plan price. A 3-location business on All-in-One pays $299.85 per month. A 5-location business pays $499.75. A 10-location franchise pays $999.50 — approaching the cost of enterprise platforms like ADP or Paylocity that offer significantly more capability. Before committing to Homebase for multiple locations, calculate the total per-location cost and compare against per-user alternatives. The crossover point where per-user pricing becomes cheaper depends on your employee-to-location ratio, but multi-location businesses with fewer than 15 employees per site should always run the comparison.

How Homebase pricing compares to When I Work, Deputy, and Gusto

Homebase vs When I Work on price

When I Work charges per user: $2.50 per user per month on the Standard plan and $6 per user per month on the Advanced plan. For a single-location restaurant with 40 employees, Homebase All-in-One costs $99.95 per month while When I Work Advanced costs $240 per month — Homebase saves $140 per month. But for a 5-location business with 10 employees per site (50 total), Homebase All-in-One costs $499.75 per month while When I Work Advanced costs $300 per month — When I Work saves $199.75 per month. The pricing model you choose should match your business structure.

Homebase vs Deputy on price

Deputy charges $6 per user per month on the Premium plan with more advanced scheduling features including auto-scheduling, demand-based schedule generation, and break compliance tools. For a 40-employee single-location business, Homebase All-in-One at $99.95 beats Deputy Premium at $240. But Deputy's scheduling depth — auto-scheduling, labor cost forecasting, and compliance tools — significantly exceeds what Homebase offers. Businesses that need scheduling sophistication may find Deputy's per-user model delivers more value per dollar despite the higher total cost.

Homebase vs Gusto for small business payroll

Homebase Payroll ($39 base plus $6 per employee) and Gusto ($40 base plus $6 per employee on Simple) are priced almost identically. The difference is focus. Homebase Payroll's advantage is integrated time-to-payroll workflow — timesheets flow directly into payroll without data transfer. Gusto's advantage is payroll and benefits depth — contractor payments, health insurance administration, 401(k) management, and multi-state compliance with broader jurisdictional coverage. If scheduling is your primary need with payroll as an add-on, Homebase delivers better integration. If payroll and benefits are primary, Gusto is the more capable platform.

Homebase pricing buyer checklist: what to verify before committing

Start with the free plan and test before upgrading

The free Basic plan is functional enough to evaluate Homebase thoroughly. Build your schedule for the upcoming week, have employees download the app and clock in for at least one full pay period, and determine whether the free plan covers your needs. Many single-location businesses find the free plan sufficient for months before needing paid features. Do not skip straight to a paid plan — the free tier removes all evaluation risk.

Calculate multi-location total cost before committing

If you have multiple locations, calculate the total monthly cost across all locations on each plan tier. Compare this total against When I Work and Deputy using your total employee count. For 4 or more locations, the per-location model may be more expensive than per-user alternatives. Run the math before signing up — the per-location pricing that saves money at one location can cost you significantly more at five.

Compare Homebase Payroll against your current provider before adding it

Calculate the Homebase Payroll cost ($39 base plus $6 per employee) against your current payroll provider. Factor in the time savings from integrated time-to-payroll workflow — if you currently spend 2 to 4 hours per pay period reconciling timesheets, the integration may justify a slightly higher subscription cost. Test with a parallel payroll run for at least one pay period before switching.

Test the hiring module during a real hiring cycle

If you are considering Essentials or higher for the hiring features, post an actual job listing and let applications flow in during your evaluation period. The hiring module's value is best assessed with real applicants to screen, not test data. Compare the experience against your current hiring process — typically Craigslist plus email — to quantify the time savings.

Verify POS integration with your specific system

Homebase integrates with Square, Clover, Toast, Shopify, and other POS systems, but integration depth varies by provider. Verify that your specific POS integration supports the features you need — time clock through the register, sales data for labor cost tracking — before relying on it as part of your workflow. Test the integration during the free plan period.

Frequently asked questions about Homebase pricing

Homebase pricing is genuinely affordable for single-location small businesses, with a free plan that works and paid plans that scale logically. The per-location model makes it one of the cheapest options for businesses with large teams at few locations. Where the pricing breaks down is at multiple locations — the lack of volume discounts means per-location costs compound quickly and can exceed per-user competitors like When I Work and Deputy at 4+ locations. The payroll add-on is competitively priced but the All-in-One plan name misleads buyers who assume payroll is included. For single-location restaurants, retail shops, and service businesses, Homebase is the most practical all-in-one platform at this price point. For multi-location operations, run the math before committing.

Frequently asked questions

Question 1

Is the Homebase free plan really free?

Yes, the Homebase Basic plan is genuinely free with no credit card required, no time limit, and no hidden fees. It includes scheduling and time tracking for one location with unlimited employees, plus basic team messaging and POS integration. The free plan has feature limitations — no hiring tools, no scheduling templates, no labor cost controls, no onboarding, and no HR compliance features — but the core scheduling and time tracking functionality works indefinitely at no cost.

Question 2

How much does Homebase cost per month?

Homebase pricing is per location per month: Basic is free, Essentials is $24.95, Plus is $59.95, and All-in-One is $99.95. These prices are per location regardless of how many employees work there. Homebase Payroll is a separate add-on at $39 per month base plus $6 per active employee per month. For a single-location business with 25 employees on the All-in-One plan with payroll, the total monthly cost is $288.95.

Question 3

Does Homebase payroll cost extra?

Yes. Homebase Payroll is a separate add-on not included in any base plan. It costs $39 per month base plus $6 per active employee per month. For a 25-employee business, payroll adds $189 per month on top of your plan cost. The payroll integrates directly with Homebase time tracking, so approved timesheets flow into payroll without manual data entry — but the 'All-in-One' plan name is somewhat misleading since payroll is not included.

Question 4

Is Homebase per-location pricing cheaper than per-user competitors?

It depends on your employee-to-location ratio. For single-location businesses with many employees, Homebase is significantly cheaper. A 40-person restaurant on the All-in-One plan pays $99.95 per month; the same team on When I Work Advanced would pay $240 per month. But for multi-location businesses with few employees per site, per-user pricing wins. A 5-location business with 10 employees each pays $499.75 on Homebase All-in-One versus $300 on When I Work Advanced.

Question 5

Does Homebase offer discounts for multiple locations?

No. Homebase does not offer volume discounts for multiple locations. Each location is billed at the full plan price. A business with 5 locations on the All-in-One plan pays $499.75 per month — five times the single-location rate. Multi-location businesses should calculate the total per-location cost and compare against per-user alternatives like When I Work or Deputy before committing.

Question 6

What is the difference between Homebase Plus and All-in-One?

Plus at $59.95 per location per month adds labor cost controls, budgets, overtime alerts, departments, permissions, time-off management, and PTO tracking. All-in-One at $99.95 adds HR compliance tools, labor law alerts, document management, new hire onboarding with digital W-4 and I-9 completion, and employee happiness tracking. The $40 per month difference buys onboarding and compliance. If you hire frequently and need to digitize paperwork, All-in-One pays for itself in time savings.

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