Comparison

Homebase vs Square Team

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Homebase

Manage employee schedules, track time and attendance, and streamline payroll for your small business. This app helps owners save time on HR tasks, hiring, and team management, integrating with popular payroll providers.

Highlights
  • Employee scheduling and shift planning
  • Time clock and attendance tracking
  • Payroll management and paycheck processing
  • HR and hiring tools
  • Shift reminders and time-off requests
  • Integration with payroll providers
Features
Read full description

Homebase is the easy-to-use app for small business owners who need to build work schedules, set up a time clock, manage payroll, hire employees, manage HR and more. Join 150,000+ small businesses already using Homebase to run their hourly teams, and save 5+ hours every month! Homebase is more than just an employee scheduling app. With Homebase, you can manage payroll, track employee hours, let your team clock in and out, build schedules with our schedule planner, manage costs, and monitor sales — all in one place. Your team's hours are sent automatically to timesheets, so you can review them for payroll. Homebase payroll makes it easy to pay your team. Our payroll tools save you hours and include built-in compliance monitoring. Build and share employee schedules in minutes. Manage multiple teams, approve time off requests, & enable shift trades. Create schedule planner templates or use our AI scheduling assistant to save even more time. Trusted at scale: 1.3B+ hours tracked, 7M+ paychecks processed, and $5B+ in payroll run through Homebase. Homebase has been recognized for small business time clock, payroll, and employee management: Best Payroll Services 2026, Forbes Best Employee Time Clock Software Reviewed in 2026, People Managing People Best Employee Scheduling Software 2025, B2B Reviews Best Payroll Services for 2025, PC Mag Best workforce scheduling software for small businesses – Zendesk Best overall time clock for small business 2025 – Fit Small Business Best for Overall Experience, Best Employee Scheduling Software – Business.com “Best employee communication tool ever!” - Theresa Fouquette, Owner, Bliss Small Batch Creamery “I’m saving hundreds of hours.” – Primo Stropoli, owner of Tetta’s Market Employee scheduling for small businesses is easier with Homebase. Manage shifts, payroll, HR, hiring, timesheets, team attendance and more from your phone. Download Homebase today! HOMEBASE FEATURES EMPLOYEE PAYCHECK & PAYROLL MANAGEMENT - Payroll management made simple with automated calculations - Generate employee time clock sheets with our payroll app - Handle time clock sheets and paycheck processing right in the app -Payroll app that works with providers like Gusto, Intuit QuickBooks Online Payroll, or Square SMALL BUSINESS SHIFT SCHEDULING APP - Use templates to quickly build & share schedules - Send shift reminders through our schedule planner - Use an employee availability schedule tracker - Manage time-off requests for each employee EMPLOYEES CAN CLOCK IN & OUT WITH ATTENDANCE TRACKING - See employee scheduling, hours, breaks, overtime, clock-in, and clock-out time - Get time clock alerts when employees are approaching overtime - Clock in with top POS systems like Clover, Square, Toast, & more TEAM ATTENDANCE & SCHEDULE PLANNER - Payroll & scheduling that work together to get wages right - Clock in and clock out directly with Homebase small business scheduling tools - See shift notes, expected earnings, & employee scheduling in one place - See time clock data, time-off requests, & shift trades EMPLOYEE & TEAM COMMUNICATION - Create group chats & connect with the team - Message employees & coworkers across your company HOMEBASE PLANS - Basic plan free for up to 10 employees - Essentials $24.49/mo with advanced employee scheduling - Plus $59.99/mo with hiring & PTO tracking - All-in-One $99.95/mo with hiring, onboarding & HR - Payroll, Tip Manager, Task Manager, & more available to add to any plan Subscribe to a paid plan for more features. The Account charges payment upon confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Auto-renewal may be disabled at any time in your settings after purchase. For more info, see the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Get support via phone, email, & chat. Terms of use: https://app.joinhomebase.com/terms Privacy policy: https://app.joinhomebase.com/privacy

About

Square Team

This app streamlines team communication, scheduling, and timecard management for businesses using Square. Employees can clock in/out, view hours, and estimated pay, while employers can manage schedules and payroll. Real-time messaging keeps everyone informed.

Highlights
  • Clock in/out on mobile
  • View schedules and estimated pay
  • Real-time team messaging
  • Broadcast announcements
  • Manage shifts and time off
  • Integrated with Square Payroll
Currently charting
Read full description

Square Team app is the one place for your team to communicate, manage schedules, access timecards, and stay in sync — all on the go. It also allows them to see their hours worked, breaks, overtime, and estimated pay. Built for businesses using Square, the app enables employees to clock in and out on their phones instead of at the POS, which saves time and eliminates the need for team members to crowd around the POS to clock in. Employers can manage teams more easily, adjust schedules, and empower their employees by putting critical shift information at their fingertips. Employers using Square Payroll can easily pay their team, automatically importing timecards, tips, and commissions. Your whole team can chat using real-time messaging and employers can send out important updates and announcements so the whole team stays in the know. Team members can see when and where they’re scheduled to work, pick up open hours, and make sure their work schedule fits with their personal one. It also allows them to see their hours worked, breaks, overtime, and estimated pay. And if team members are paid through Square Payroll, they have access to their pay stubs and tax forms right on their mobile phones. Home Screen • Clock-in: Team members can clock in for an upcoming shift directly through Team app • Weekly Snapshot: Team members can get a quick snapshot of when and where they’re scheduled to work • Estimated pay: Team members can also see hours worked, breaks, overtime, tips and estimated pay Messages and Announcements • Messaging: Real-time messaging for the whole team, eliminating the need to share phone numbers. • Announcements: Easily broadcast important announcements, news, and updates to everyone on the team. Shifts • Team-initiated scheduling: Empower your team to request time off, swap shifts, and claim open shifts directly from the Square Team app. • Timecards, schedules and estimated pay: Team members can view timecards, scheduled hours, and view estimated pay. • Clock in and out: Enable team members to clock in and out, take breaks, and get notifications. Payroll • Owners using Square Payroll can easily pay W2 employees and 1099 contractors, automatically importing timecards, tips, and commissions • Our team of specialists will take care of the rest—we pay your team, file your payroll taxes, and send your tax payments to federal and state tax agencies. My Pay • If team members get paid through Square Payroll, they can: • See estimated earnings, even before they get paid • Get paid faster via Cash App • Download tax forms • Update their bank account or personal details • And all staff information is stored securely Team Management • Quickly see all of the team members at your location, edit team member information directly in the app, or resend invites to the team. More • Team members can update personal and account settings on the go. Download the Square Team app and invite your team members now.

Screenshots

Homebase4 screens
Square Team4 screens

Verdict

The call

Homebase and Square Team both sit at 4.8 stars, but that hides the real split: 76% of Homebase's written reviews are positive against 23% of Square Team's. Square Team's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and ads (none vs shown). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Homebase sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $30.00 per month. Square Team asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Homebase against 4.7 for Square Team. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 97K and 42K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 76% of Homebase's written reviews are positive against 23% of Square Team's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. Both last shipped on November 5, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Homebase versus Square Team: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHomebaseSquare Team
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (97K ratings) — better4.7 (42K ratings)
Positive reviews75.9% of reviews — better23.1% of reviews
Number of ratings97K — better42K
Update frequencyWeeklyWeekly
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#50 — better#85
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS17.0 — better17.1
Further details — not scored
Size188 MB128 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperPioneer Works, Inc.Block, Inc.

Customer experience

Homebase

All ratings96,768 ratings
Positive95.6%
Neutral2.3%
Negative2.1%
Written reviews1,513 reviews
Positive75.9%
Neutral5.8%
Negative18.4%

Square Team

All ratings41,470 ratings
Positive93.2%
Neutral2.1%
Negative4.8%
Written reviews324 reviews
Positive23.1%
Neutral13.0%
Negative63.9%

User reviews

Homebase

From 97K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Convenient features
  • 💰 Helpful cash out option
  • 📅 Useful scheduling and shift management
  • 💬 Good communication tools

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Glitches and bugs
  • 🔁 Inconsistent performance
  • 🔒 Location access issues
  • 💬 Notification problems
  • 🗓️ Limited calendar/schedule view options

Square Team

From 42K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Intuitive and easy to use
  • 📊 Clear timecard and payroll information
  • 💰 Helpful for managing tips and earnings
  • 👥 Good for team communication

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
  • ⏱️ Slow loading times and performance issues
  • 🔒 Login and authentication problems
  • 🔄 Constant need to re-login and reset preferences
  • 🗓️ Difficult to manage schedules and time off requests

Bugs and requests

Homebase

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Inconsistent location access
  • Unresolved message notification issues
  • Freezing/crashing on login or clock-in
  • Delayed app updates and sync issues

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improved calendar/schedule view options
  • Direct message reply functionality
  • Ability to delete chat threads
  • Automatic read notification clearing
  • Shift-level details in shift trading

Square Team

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • App crashing or freezing during use
  • Inability to log in or access account information
  • Incorrect or missing timecard and payroll data
  • Scheduling and time off requests not functioning properly
  • Inconsistent behavior across different devices and OS versions

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to save login information and use biometric authentication
  • More robust scheduling and time off management tools
  • In-app messaging and team communication features
  • Improved calendar integration and visibility of schedules
  • Better customization and personalization options

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Homebase

Subscriptions4
  • Homebase Essentials Plan$30.001 Month
  • Homebase Plus Plan$70.001 Month
  • Homebase Essentials Annual$289.001 Year
Show 1 more
  • Homebase Plus Plan Annual$669.991 Year
None

Square Team

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Homebase free?
Homebase is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Square Team free?
Square Team is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Homebase or Square Team?
Homebase is rated higher. Homebase averages 4.8 out of 5 from 97K ratings, while Square Team averages 4.7 from 42K ratings.
Do Homebase or Square Team have ads?
Homebase shows ads; Square Team does not.
Which is updated more often, Homebase or Square Team?
Homebase ships an update weekly, and Square Team weekly. Most recently, Homebase was updated on November 5, 2026 and Square Team on November 5, 2026.
Which is more popular, Homebase or Square Team?
Homebase currently peaks at #50 in the App Store charts, and Square Team at #85. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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