Comparison

Homebase vs MakeShift Live

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

MakeShift Live

Manage your staff on the go with this mobile tool. See who's working, assign shifts, and handle requests like time off and late arrivals. Requires a company MakeShift account to use.

Highlights
  • View current and scheduled staff
  • Create and assign shifts
  • Approve time off and shift requests
  • Receive late clock-in notifications
  • Manage timesheets
  • Employee profile and availability viewing
Features
Read full description

MakeShift Live brings all of MakeShift’s web features for managers to your iPhone and iPad. It’s the easiest way to manage your staff on the fly, letting you see who’s working, see who’s available, create and assign available shifts, get notified when employees are late, approve time off requests and more. Please note: in order to use MakeShift Live, your company must be a MakeShift customer. Your company will send you an email with an invite to activate your account. This app is only for administrators and managers. If you’re looking for the MakeShift app for employees, please search the AppStore for "MakeShift - People First Scheduling." Features • Quickly see who’s currently working and who’s scheduled to work on any given day • View employee profiles, schedules and availability • Create and assign available shifts • Get notified when employees clock in late • View and edit timesheets • Approve time off, shift exchanges and available shift requests • Use “Time Clock Mode” to let employees clock in and out • So much more

Screenshots

Homebase4 screens
MakeShift Live4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Homebase at 75% against MakeShift Live's 0%. Homebase also leads on rating (4.8 vs 2.4) and update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months). MakeShift Live's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and ads (none vs shown). On price, device support and iOS requirement 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. MakeShift Live asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Homebase holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 2.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Homebase has 94K ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 75% of Homebase's written reviews are positive against 0% of MakeShift Live's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Homebase ships an update weekly, MakeShift Live every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Homebase versus MakeShift Live: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHomebaseMakeShift Live
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (94K ratings) — better2.4 (7 ratings)
Positive reviews75.2% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings94K — better7
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 3 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#41 — better—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size189 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPioneer Works, Inc.AppColony Inc.

Customer experience

Homebase

All ratings93,723 ratings
Positive95.6%
Neutral2.3%
Negative2.1%
Written reviews1,393 reviews
Positive75.2%
Neutral5.7%
Negative19.1%

MakeShift Live

All ratings7 ratings
Positive28.6%
Neutral0.0%
Negative71.4%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

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

MakeShift Live

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

MakeShift Live

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Homebase free?
Homebase is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is MakeShift Live free?
MakeShift Live is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Homebase or MakeShift Live?
Homebase is rated higher. Homebase averages 4.8 out of 5 from 94K ratings, while MakeShift Live averages 2.4 from 7 ratings.
Do Homebase or MakeShift Live have ads?
Homebase shows ads; MakeShift Live does not.
Which is updated more often, Homebase or MakeShift Live?
Homebase ships an update weekly, and MakeShift Live every 3 months. Most recently, Homebase was updated on September 26, 2026 and MakeShift Live on September 2, 2026.

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