7shifts vs Homebase: Pricing, Hidden Costs, Better Fit

If you're comparing 7shifts vs Homebase, the real decision usually comes down to this:

• Do you want restaurant-specific tools like POS-linked labor forecasting?
• Do you want a free starting point that gets expensive once you add locations or features?
• Or do you just want scheduling + time tracking without per-location pricing games?

That is why this page focuses first on 7shifts vs Homebase and their real pricing trade-offs. Turnozo is here as a simpler benchmark for what the cost looks like when you do not use a tiered, per-location model.

I built Turnozo, so I'm biased. I'll be straightforward about where the others are better. You can verify everything here by checking each product's pricing page.

I reviewed each tool's live pricing, feature set, and public documentation to compare what you actually pay once you need scheduling, time tracking, and shift management. Here's what matters.

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Quick Comparison

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Pricing: What You Actually Pay

Turnozo: Essential €9.99/month up to 10 / Pro €2.99 from employee 11 or the second location (centro), whole workforce billed

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.

Homebase: Free to $120/location/month

Homebase charges per location, not per employee. This can work if you have one location with 40 employees. It gets harder if you have three locations with 5 employees each.

The pricing trap: PTO controls, departments, AI scheduling, and live support require Plus ($70/mo). Labor cost management, overtime alerts, auto clock-out, onboarding, HR/compliance, and API access require All-in-One ($120/mo).

Notice the per-location model: 20 employees and 50 employees pay the same once they are on a paid plan at one location. Basic stops at 10 employees. For multi-location businesses, costs double or triple.

Common complaint on Reddit: Homebase's cancellation process is frustrating. Multiple users report difficulty canceling subscriptions and unexpected charges after cancellation. Worth noting before you commit to a paid plan.

7shifts pricing in 2026: Free to $149.99/location/month

7shifts changed plan names in 2025. The current public lineup is Comp, Essentials, Pro, and Premium:

Important context: 7shifts laid off 19% of staff in January 2024. This raised questions about the company's financial trajectory. They're still operating and the product works well, but it's worth knowing if you're making a long-term commitment.

The real pricing comparison

For a 20-person team needing scheduling + time tracking + paid controls:

For a 20-person team across 2 locations:

Turnozo's per-employee model scales linearly. Location-based pricing doubles with two sites.

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Feature Deep Dive

Scheduling

7shifts ties scheduling to restaurant inputs. Its public materials focus on availability, labor targets, and sales forecasts. If you run a restaurant where Friday dinner needs 12 staff and Tuesday lunch needs 4, POS-linked labor data can matter. The current dossier does not verify which tier includes auto-scheduling, so do not assume it is available on a specific plan without checking the live table.

Homebase has scheduling with paid extras. AI scheduling, departments, and PTO controls sit on Plus. Labor cost management, overtime alerts, onboarding, HR/compliance, and API access sit on All-in-One. Homebase also sells payroll, tips, and task management as add-ons.

Turnozo is the fastest to build a schedule manually. Drag-and-drop with availability overlay and instant conflict detection. I built a full 2-week schedule for 15 people in about 8 minutes. No auto-scheduling, which means you have full control but also full responsibility. For managers who want to decide who works when (not an algorithm), this is a feature.

Time Tracking

Turnozo: One-tap GPS clock-in from mobile. Geofencing available. Automatic timesheets with overtime flagging. All included. Worked reliably on both iOS and Android in testing.

Homebase: Time clock included on all plans, but Basic is capped at one location, 10 employees, and 90-day timesheet history. Paid plans add more controls, while labor cost management and overtime alerts require All-in-One.

7shifts: GPS clock-in via mobile app or through POS terminal integration (employees clock in through Toast/Square at the register). Tip tracking built in. Break compliance tracking for jurisdictions that require it. The POS clock-in is a restaurant-specific advantage that no other tool matches.

Shift Management

Turnozo: Employee-initiated shift swaps with manager approval. Open shift broadcasting to qualified employees. First to accept gets the shift. Simple and effective.

Homebase: PTO controls, departments, AI scheduling, and live support require the Plus plan ($70/mo). Labor cost management and overtime alerts require All-in-One ($120/mo). That matters if the free plan looked sufficient but your workflow needs paid controls.

7shifts: Current public pricing uses Comp, Essentials, Pro, and Premium tiers. Verify shift-trade rules against the live plan table before buying, because the old restaurant-plan names are retired.

Beyond Scheduling

Homebase is the broadest platform. Hiring tools (job posts, applicant tracking, offer letters), HR features (document storage, employee onboarding), and payroll processing. If you're currently using separate tools for hiring, scheduling, and payroll, Homebase consolidates them.

7shifts goes deep on restaurant operations. POS integration, tip pooling, labor cost vs. sales reporting, manager logbook for shift-to-shift communication. These aren't scheduling features, but they're indispensable for restaurant managers.

Turnozo stays focused. Scheduling, time tracking, timesheets, availability. That's the product. If you need hiring tools, use a hiring tool. If you need payroll, use a payroll tool. Turnozo does scheduling well and doesn't try to be everything.

Mobile Experience

7shifts has separate manager and employee apps. The employee app is clean and simple. The manager app is feature-dense with labor reports, schedule editing, and approval workflows. Splitting them was a smart design decision.

Homebase puts everything in one app: scheduling, time clock, messaging, hiring. It works but can feel crowded. Employees see job listings alongside their shifts, which doesn't always make sense.

Turnozo is mobile-first. The app is the primary interface. Schedule, clock-in, availability, shift swaps. all in a clean interface. GPS clock-in worked reliably every time in testing.

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Pros and Cons Summary

Turnozo

Pros:

• Cheapest option for multi-location teams
• Essential is €9.99/month for up to 10 employees and one location (centro), with every feature included
• Fastest setup (scheduling in 15 minutes)
• Simple and clean interface
• Reliable GPS clock-in with geofencing

Cons:

• No built-in team messaging
• No payroll integrations (yet)
• No auto-scheduling or demand forecasting
• No hiring or HR tools
• Newer product, smaller user community

Homebase

Pros:

• Genuinely useful free plan
• Hiring + scheduling + payroll in one platform
• Strong ecosystem for single-location businesses
• Good onboarding experience
• Large user community

Cons:

• PTO controls, departments, and AI scheduling locked behind the $70/mo Plus plan
• Multi-location pricing stacks quickly
• Free plan deliberately limited to push upgrades
• Cancellation process is frustrating (documented Reddit complaints)
• Basic keeps timesheets only 90 days

7shifts

Pros:

• Best-in-class restaurant scheduling
• POS integration with labor forecasting
• Tip pooling and compliance tracking
• Auto-scheduling based on sales data
• Separate manager/employee apps

Cons:

• Overbuilt and overpriced for non-restaurant businesses
• Key features locked behind $77-150/mo tiers
• 19% staff layoff in Jan 2024 raises trajectory concerns
• Free plan extremely limited (basic scheduling only)
• Per-location pricing expensive for multi-site operations

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The Bottom Line

If you run a restaurant: 7shifts. Nothing else understands the restaurant workflow as well. The POS integration and labor-vs-sales forecasting genuinely save money.

If you want free-to-start with hiring tools: Homebase can work when one location stays at 10 employees or fewer. Just know that Plus is $70/month per location and All-in-One is $120/month per location.

If you want simple scheduling + time tracking at a fair price: Turnozo. Essential includes every feature for up to 10 employees and one location (centro) at €9.99/month. Pro keeps the same feature set for larger teams. We don't try to replace your chat app, your hiring tool, or your payroll system. We just make scheduling fast and painless.

Try all three. Turnozo has Essential at €9.99/month, while Homebase and 7shifts have free plans. Make the decision with real usage, not marketing pages.

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Related reading

Turn this page into a shortlist builder, not the end of the research.

• 7 Best Homebase Alternatives if you want more low-cost options
• 7 Best When I Work Alternatives if you are comparing the safer legacy picks
• Homebase vs. When I Work: Head-to-Head for the simpler two-tool comparison
• What Scheduling Software Really Costs if budget is the main filter
• Best Employee Scheduling Software Compared for the wider market view