Comparison

Homebase vs Shiftbase

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

Head to head
About

Homebase

This app helps small business owners manage hourly teams by streamlining employee scheduling, time tracking, and payroll. It offers features like mobile time clocks, automated payroll calculations, and team communication tools to save time and ensure compliance.

Highlights
  • Employee scheduling and shift management
  • Mobile time clock and attendance tracking
  • Automated payroll and paycheck management
  • HR and hiring tools
  • Team communication and messaging
  • Labor cost and sales monitoring
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

Shiftbase

Streamline workforce management with online scheduling and time tracking. Easily create schedules, manage employee availability, and monitor labor costs. Employees can swap shifts and request time off, all accessible from anywhere.

Highlights
  • Online scheduling and time tracking
  • Employee shift exchange
  • Time off requests
  • Clock in/out with location/IP
  • Automated time tracking
  • News and discussion posts
Features
Read full description

ONLINE SCHEDULING AND TIME TRACKING To use this app a Shiftbase account is required. Shiftbase is an online application for scheduling and time tracking. With our application you can easily and quickly create a schedule with ease while keeping a tight control on labor costs. Because all data is stored online, users can log on from anywhere to view their information. Shiftbase is used by many different companies all around the world. Our app includes the following functions: SCHEDULING - Viewing and adjusting of the schedule. - Option for employees to exchange shifts (with approval of the manager). - Accepting or declining open shift invitations. - Manage availability. TIME TRACKING - Manual registration by employee or manager. - Clock in/out (based on location or IP address). - Automatically based on the schedule. EMPLOYEE MANAGEMENT - Time off requests. - View overtime. - Post news items and start a discussion. GENERAL - Manage settings for permissions, locations, absence types and others. - Public API available.

Screenshots

Homebase4 screens
Shiftbase4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Shiftbase at none against Homebase's 4. Shiftbase also leads on ads (none vs shown) and device support (3 vs 1). Homebase's advantage is review sentiment (75% vs 42%) and ratings volume (94K vs 13). On price and rating 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. Shiftbase 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 Shiftbase. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Homebase has 94K ratings behind it against 13, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 75% of Homebase's written reviews are positive against 42% of Shiftbase's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Homebase ships an update weekly, Shiftbase fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
Homebase versus Shiftbase: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHomebaseShiftbase
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (94K ratings) — better4.7 (13 ratings)
Positive reviews75.2% of reviews — better42.3% of reviews
Number of ratings94K — better13
Update frequencyWeekly — betterFortnightly
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#51 — better—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size189 MB81 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPioneer Works, Inc.Shiftbase B.V.

Customer experience

Homebase

All ratings93,723 ratings
Positive95.6%
Neutral2.3%
Negative2.1%
Written reviews1,381 reviews
Positive75.2%
Neutral5.7%
Negative19.1%

Shiftbase

All ratings13 ratings
Positive92.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative7.7%
Written reviews26 reviews
Positive42.3%
Neutral23.1%
Negative34.6%

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

Shiftbase

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

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

Shiftbase

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Homebase free?
Homebase is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Shiftbase free?
Shiftbase is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Homebase or Shiftbase?
Homebase is rated higher. Homebase averages 4.8 out of 5 from 94K ratings, while Shiftbase averages 4.7 from 13 ratings.
Do Homebase or Shiftbase have ads?
Homebase shows ads; Shiftbase does not.
Which is updated more often, Homebase or Shiftbase?
Homebase ships an update weekly, and Shiftbase fortnightly. Most recently, Homebase was updated on September 24, 2026 and Shiftbase on September 21, 2026.

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