Best Homebase Alternatives: 7 Better Options

Homebase is one of the most popular scheduling tools for small businesses. The free plan is genuinely useful, and for a single location with under 10 employees, it's hard to beat. (I cover pricing, cancellation issues, and feature gaps in my full Homebase review.)

But a lot of teams hit a wall.

Maybe you grew past 10 employees and the jump to $30/month per location ($24 on annual billing) caught you off guard. Maybe you've been trying to cancel for three months and keep getting billed. (There are entire Reddit threads about this.) Maybe the scheduling features on the free plan just aren't cutting it anymore, and you need something with more flexibility.

Whatever brought you here, this is an honest look at 7 alternatives. I run Turnozo so I'm obviously biased, but I'll call out where each competitor is stronger than us. You'll find the right tool faster that way.

What to look for in a Homebase alternative

Before comparing tools, figure out what actually matters for your team. The three questions that separate a good fit from a bad one:

How do you pay? Homebase charges per location with unlimited employees. Most alternatives charge per employee. If you have 5 employees at one location, per-employee pricing is usually cheaper. At 50 employees across one location, per-location pricing wins. Do the math for your specific situation.

What features do you actually use? If you only need scheduling and time tracking, don't pay for HR modules, onboarding tools, and compliance features you'll never open. Most teams overpay because they pick the tool with the longest feature list instead of the one that does the basics well.

How important is the mobile experience? Your team lives on their phones. If the app is clunky or slow, they won't check their schedule, won't clock in on time, and you're back to texting. Test the mobile app before you commit.

For a deeper dive on feature evaluation, check our guide on what to look for in scheduling software.

1. Turnozo

Best for: Small teams (5-50 employees) who want scheduling + time tracking without the bloat.

Pricing: Essential is €9.99/month for up to 10 employees and one location (centro), with every feature included. Pro is €2.99/employee/month from employee 11 or the second location (centro), billed across the whole workforce. No per-location fees.

Turnozo is the tool I built, so take this with appropriate skepticism. The short version: it does scheduling, time tracking, availability management, and timesheets. That's it. No HR modules, no hiring tools, no payroll. Just the stuff you need to get people in the right place at the right time.

What makes it different from Homebase:

• Per-employee pricing instead of per-location. A 15-person team across two locations pays about €44.85/month. On Homebase Essentials, that's $48-$60/month depending on annual vs monthly billing.
• Clear Essential/Pro split. Essential is €9.99/month for up to 10 employees and one location (centro), with every feature included. Pro is €2.99/employee/month from employee 11 or the second location (centro), billed across the whole workforce.
• Mobile-first design. Your team manages availability, views schedules, and clocks in from their phone.
• Open shifts notify available, qualified employees automatically. First to accept gets it.

Where Homebase is better: Homebase has built-in hiring tools, payroll integration, and POS integrations that Turnozo doesn't offer. If you need an all-in-one HR platform, Homebase does more.

For a detailed head-to-head, see our Turnozo vs Homebase comparison.

2. When I Work

Best for: Mid-size teams (20-100+) who need mature scheduling features.

Pricing: $2.50/user/month for scheduling. $4/user for Essentials with time tracking.

When I Work has been around since 2010 and it shows in a good way. The scheduling interface is polished, shift swaps work smoothly, and the mobile app is solid. It's probably the most mature scheduling tool on this list.

The catch: the $2.50/user price is scheduling-only. With time tracking, Essentials becomes $4/user/month. Seats are billed in bundles of 5 or 10.

Where it beats Homebase: More reliable app, better shift swap workflow, stronger for teams over 20 people.

Where Homebase wins: Free plan, built-in time tracking on all paid plans, POS integration.

We wrote a full breakdown: Homebase vs When I Work.

3. Connecteam

Best for: Small teams under 10 who want a free all-in-one platform.

Pricing: Free for up to 10 users. Paid plans start at $29/month for up to 30 users.

Connecteam positions itself as an employee management app, not just scheduling. You get task management, forms, training modules, and communication tools alongside the scheduling features. For a team under 10, the free plan is surprisingly complete.

The downside: the interface tries to do everything, which means it takes longer to learn and longer to do simple things. If you just want to build a schedule and track hours, you'll wade through features you don't need.

Where it beats Homebase: Free plan for small teams is more generous. Communication tools are built in.

Where Homebase wins: Simpler interface for pure scheduling. Better POS integrations for retail and food service.

We did a deeper comparison in our Connecteam alternatives guide if that's the direction you're considering.

4. 7shifts

Best for: Restaurants specifically.

Pricing: Free for one location up to 15 employees. Paid plans from $44.99/location/month.

If you run a restaurant, 7shifts is worth a serious look. It has labor forecasting that pulls from your POS sales data, tip pooling, and compliance features that are specific to food service. The scheduling interface understands restaurant concepts like sections, stations, and split shifts.

The downside: it's restaurant-only by design. If you run a retail shop, a gym, or a warehouse, the features won't fit. And the company laid off 19% of staff in early 2024, which raised some questions about their runway.

Where it differs from Homebase: Restaurant-specific features, POS-linked labor cost forecasting, and a free Comp plan for up to 15 employees at one location.

Where Homebase wins: Works for any industry, not just restaurants.

5. Sling

Best for: Budget-conscious teams who want free scheduling with no employee limits.

Pricing: Free for unlimited employees (scheduling only). Premium at $2/user/month. Business at $4/user/month.

Sling's free plan is the most generous on this list: unlimited employees, unlimited locations, basic scheduling. If your budget is literally zero and you just need to put names on a calendar, Sling works.

The free version is limited though. You don't get time tracking, shift swaps require manual approval, and there's no overtime alerts. The paid plans add those features at competitive prices.

Where it beats Homebase: Free plan with no employee cap. Lower paid pricing.

Where Homebase wins: Better time tracking, POS integrations, hiring tools.

For more context on Sling: Turnozo vs Deputy vs Sling.

6. Deputy

Best for: Larger teams (50+) who need demand-based scheduling and compliance features.

Pricing: Lite $5/user/month annual or $5.50 monthly. Core $6.50 annual or $7.25 monthly. Pro $9 annual or $10 monthly.

Deputy is built for businesses that schedule based on demand. Think retail stores that adjust staffing based on foot traffic, or warehouses that scale crews for seasonal peaks. The auto-scheduling feature actually works reasonably well, and the compliance tools handle complex labor laws.

The downside: it's the most expensive option on this list, and the interface has a learning curve. For a 10-person team, Core costs $65/month on annual billing before add-ons.

Where it beats Homebase: Demand-based scheduling, better compliance tools, stronger reporting.

Where Homebase wins: Lower cost, simpler interface, better for small teams.

7. Planday

Best for: European teams who need GDPR compliance and EU labor law support.

Pricing: From €2.49/user/month (Starter). HR plan at €4.49/user/month.

Planday is a Danish company that understands European labor regulations. If you operate in the EU and care about GDPR compliance, working time directives, and local labor law support, Planday does this better than any US-based competitor.

The downside: the interface feels dated compared to newer tools, and the lower-tier plans lock out features like shift swaps and availability management.

Where it beats Homebase: European compliance, GDPR-native, local payment support.

Where Homebase wins: US market support, POS integrations, hiring tools.

Full comparison: Turnozo vs Planday.

Quick comparison table

How to actually make the switch

Switching scheduling tools sounds more painful than it is. For most small teams, you can be up and running in under an hour:

1. Export your employee list from Homebase (Settings > Team > Export)
2. Sign up for the new tool and import your team via CSV
3. Build next week's schedule in the new tool (don't try to migrate history)
4. Tell your team where to download the new app
5. Run both tools in parallel for one week if you're nervous

The hardest part is usually getting employees to download a new app. Send a direct message with the download link. Don't just post it on a board.

The bottom line

Homebase is a solid tool that works well for single-location businesses under 10 employees. If that's you and you're happy, there's no reason to switch.

But if you've outgrown the free plan, if you're dealing with cancellation headaches, or if you need something that scales with your team without per-location pricing, the alternatives are real.

My recommendation (bias acknowledged): try 2-3 tools for a week each. Most offer free trials. The right scheduling tool is the one your team actually uses.