# Homebase Alternatives 2026: Options Outside the US and Without Payroll

> Seven Homebase alternatives for teams outside the US, multi-site businesses and anyone who does not need payroll, with monthly costs for 10, 25 and 50 people.

Published: 2026-10-19 · Reading time: 10 min · Language: English
Source: https://imroster.com/blog/homebase-alternatives-2026

Homebase is one of the easiest ways for a small US business to start scheduling: one location with up to 10 employees is free, and paid plans are a flat price per location rather than per person. Teams start looking elsewhere when they outgrow that shape: a second or third site means paying again per location, the AI Scheduling Assistant sits on the $70 Plus plan, and much of the value in the higher plans is US payroll, hiring and HR that a team in the UK, Europe, the Middle East or Turkey cannot use.

In short: the best Homebase alternative depends on why Homebase no longer fits. If you are outside the US, look at Planday or RotaCloud in Europe and the UK, or Deputy for compliance in Australia and the UK; if you want a free plan for a bigger team, Sling is free up to 30 users; if you run many small sites, per-user tools such as When I Work can cost less than paying per location; if you need GPS clock-in for field teams, look at Connecteam; and if you do not need payroll at all and want the roster drafted for you, imRoster builds it with AI for a per-account price.

Every price below was read on the vendor's official pricing page on 19 October 2026. Prices change often and differ by country, so confirm before you sign.

## What is Homebase best at?

Homebase is widely recommended for good reasons. As of October 2026:

- A genuinely free start: Basic is free for one location and up to 10 employees, with basic scheduling, basic time tracking and a POS integration.
- Flat pricing per location: Essentials $30, Plus $70 and All-in-One $120 per location per month, with unlimited employees, so a large team on one site pays the same as a small one.
- A time clock on tablets, computers and POS devices, with location-based mobile clock-in among the advanced features.
- Built-in US payroll as an add-on ($49 a month plus $6 per employee paid, or $29 a month for teams up to 5), plus hiring tools and, on All-in-One, HR advisors and compliance alerts.
- A 14-day trial of All-in-One with no credit card; accounts drop to the free Basic plan afterwards if no plan is chosen.

If you run one US location, want time tracking and payroll in the same place and like a predictable bill, Homebase is hard to beat on price. The alternatives below make sense when your business does not look like that.

## Why do teams look for Homebase alternatives?

### You are outside the US

Homebase's payroll, hiring and HR features are built around US rules and US payroll. A team in the UK, the EU, the Gulf or Turkey pays for plans whose upper tiers are largely about features it cannot use, and still has to handle local rest-time, night-work and holiday rules elsewhere.

### Every extra location is another subscription

Pricing is per location. A business with five small sites on Essentials pays five times $30, or $150 a month, even if each site has six people. Per-user and per-account tools can cost less for many small sites.

### AI scheduling starts at $70 per location

The AI-powered Scheduling Assistant is on Plus ($70 per location per month), alongside PTO controls, departments and permissions. On the day we checked, Plus was shown free for six months under a payroll promotion, which helps US teams that also take payroll but not teams that do not.

### Plan jumps

The steps between plans are steep: $0 to $30 the day you hire your eleventh person or open a second site, then $70 for the AI assistant and time-off controls, then $120 for labour cost management and HR.

## What does a 10, 25 or 50-person team pay per month?

The table compares list prices for one location with monthly billing, using each vendor's official pricing page on 19 October 2026.

| Tool and plan | How it is charged | 10 people | 25 people | 50 people |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Homebase Basic / Essentials | Per location: free for 1 location up to 10 employees, then $30 | $0 | $30 | $30 |
| Homebase Plus (AI Scheduling Assistant) | Per location, $70 | $70 | $70 | $70 |
| Sling Free / Premium | Free up to 30 users, then $2 per user | $0 | $0 | $100 |
| When I Work Essentials (no time tracking) | Per user, $2.50 | $25 | $62.50 | $125 |
| Connecteam Free / Basic | Free up to 10 users, then $35 flat for 30 users plus $1 per extra user | $0 | $35 | $55 |
| Deputy Lite | Per user, $5; $30 monthly minimum | $50 | $125 | $250 |
| Planday | Per user, from £2.99, minimum 5 users | £29.90 | £74.75 | £149.50 |
| imRoster Starter / Growth / Pro | Per account, credit-based, not per user | $5 to $50 | $5 to $50 | $5 to $50 |

How to read it, and what it leaves out:

- Figures are list prices for monthly billing, excluding tax, on one location. Annual billing saves about 20% at Homebase, 15% at Sling, roughly 18% at Connecteam and about 10% at Deputy.
- On one site Homebase is the cheapest paid option above 10 people. With several sites, multiply the Homebase rows by the number of locations; per-user and per-account rows do not change.
- Payroll add-ons are not included. When I Work's time tracking is a separate add-on not priced on its pricing page; Sling Free has no time clock.
- imRoster prices are limited-time launch prices (regular $12, $45 and $110). Plans differ by monthly credit allowance (100, 500 or 1,500), not by user or location count, and every plan has the same features.

## The best Homebase alternatives in 2026, by use case

### 1. Sling: best free plan for bigger small teams

- Best for: teams of up to 30 that need a shared schedule, time-off requests and messaging.
- Pricing model: per user. Free for up to 30 users; Premium $2 and Business $4 per user per month with monthly billing, billed only for active users (as of October 2026). Sling is now part of Toast.
- Better than Homebase at: a free plan that covers 30 people instead of 10, and no extra charge for a second location.
- What it lacks: the free plan has no time clock, shift swaps or unavailability; auto-assigning and payroll reports are only on Business.

### 2. When I Work: best for many small sites

- Best for: businesses with several small locations and simple shift patterns.
- Pricing model: per user. Essentials $2.50, Pro $5 and Premium $8 per user per month, 14-day free trial (as of October 2026).
- Better than Homebase at: cost when headcount is spread across many sites, and Auto Scheduling from the entry plan.
- What it lacks: time tracking and attendance is a separate add-on; its FAQ ties the $2.50 price to single-location teams; no built-in payroll.

### 3. Connecteam: best for field and deskless teams

- Best for: cleaning, construction, home care and other teams that work across sites.
- Pricing model: flat for the first 30 users, then per extra user. Free for up to 10 users; Basic $35, Advanced $59 and Expert $119 a month with monthly billing (as of October 2026).
- Better than Homebase at: GPS clock-in and geofencing on the entry plan, and one price across sites up to 30 users.
- What it lacks: automatic shift assignment only on Expert; per-user charges above 30 users; no built-in payroll.

### 4. Deputy: best for compliance outside the US

- Best for: multi-site teams in Australia, the UK and the US that need time, pay and compliance in one system.
- Pricing model: per user. Lite $5, Core $6.50 and Pro $9 per user per month, with a $30 minimum per monthly invoice (as of October 2026).
- Better than Homebase at: Australian award interpretation, demand forecasting and auto-scheduling on Core, biometric clocking and payroll integrations in several countries.
- What it lacks: it costs more for a large team on one site, where Homebase's flat fee wins.

### 5. Planday: best for UK and European hospitality

- Best for: hospitality and retail teams in the UK and the EU that want payroll-ready hours.
- Pricing model: per user, from £2.99 per user per month with a minimum of 5 users (as of October 2026).
- Better than Homebase at: European focus, pricing in local currency and payroll preparation for European payroll providers.
- What it lacks: no free plan; automatic scheduling is on the higher plan.

### 6. RotaCloud: best for UK small businesses

- Best for: UK teams that want a straightforward rota tool with leave management built in.
- Pricing model: priced by team size in pounds. Standard £10 and Pro £15 a month for 1 to 5 employees, with a 30-day trial and no payment details (as of October 2026).
- Better than Homebase at: UK holiday, time off in lieu and absence tracking on every plan.
- What it lacks: time and attendance is a paid add-on; no auto-scheduling is mentioned on its pricing page.

### 7. imRoster: best when you do not need payroll and want the roster drafted

- Best for: managers in any country and sector, including nurses, care homes, security, hospitality and factories, who build a weekly or monthly roster by hand and run payroll elsewhere.
- Pricing model: per account, credit-based. Starter $5, Growth $20 and Pro $50 a month at limited-time launch prices (regular $12, $45 and $110), with a 30-day free trial and no card (as of October 2026). Every plan has the same features.
- Better than Homebase at: drafting the whole roster from a plain-language description of your team, shifts, time off and rules, without paying $70 per location for AI; never scheduling past the rules you set, such as 11 hours of rest between shifts or night-shift limits; one price across all your sites; and seven app languages (English, Turkish, Spanish, Arabic, French, German and Russian).
- What it lacks: no payroll, hiring, HR or POS integrations, no biometric, QR or kiosk clocking (staff clock in from a phone or browser, with location checked against a geofence and flagged, not blocked), no labour-cost forecasting and no free-forever plan. It is also a younger product with far fewer third-party reviews than Homebase.

## imRoster vs Homebase at a glance

|  | Homebase | imRoster |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Core job | Scheduling, time clock, US payroll, hiring and HR for small businesses | AI-drafted shift and duty rosters with rules and fair distribution, plus clock-in and attendance |
| How the schedule is built | Manual and templates; AI Scheduling Assistant on Plus | You describe the team and rules in a sentence; the AI drafts the whole roster for you to review, edit and publish |
| Pricing | Per location: free (1 location, 10 employees), $30, $70 or $120 a month | Per account: $5, $20 or $50 a month (launch prices), credit-based, any number of sites |
| Time clock | Tablets, computers and POS devices; location-based mobile clock-in on advanced plans | Phone or browser; location checked against a geofence and flagged, not blocked; attendance report (late, missed, left early, overtime) in XLSX or PDF |
| Payroll | US payroll add-on | No |
| Free option | Free plan for 1 location and up to 10 employees; 14-day All-in-One trial | 30-day free trial, no card; no free plan |

Put simply: Homebase is the better choice for a single US location that wants time tracking and payroll together. imRoster is the better fit when building a fair, rule-safe roster is the hard part, you are outside the US or already run payroll elsewhere, and you do not want to pay per location.

## How to choose a Homebase alternative

| If your priority is | Look at | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| A free plan for up to 30 people | Sling | Free up to 30 users, any number of sites |
| Many small sites with simple shifts | When I Work | Per-user pricing does not multiply by location |
| GPS clock-in for field teams | Connecteam | GPS time clock on the entry plan |
| Compliance and payroll outside the US | Deputy | Award interpretation and multi-country payroll integrations |
| UK or EU hospitality | Planday or RotaCloud | Local currency, local leave and payroll preparation |
| An AI-drafted fair roster without payroll or per-location fees | imRoster | Describe your rules once; one price for every site |

Whichever way you lean, test with a real month. Build next month's schedule for every site, approve a leave request, process a swap and check whether the tool would have caught a missed rest period. If the roster itself is what eats your time, you can try imRoster free for 30 days without a card: describe your team and rules in one sentence and compare the AI's first draft with what you build today.

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the best alternative to Homebase?

It depends on why Homebase no longer fits. Sling has a free plan for up to 30 users, When I Work suits many small sites, Connecteam suits field teams that need GPS clock-in, Deputy suits compliance-heavy teams outside the US, Planday and RotaCloud suit the UK and Europe, and imRoster suits managers who want AI to draft a fair roster without payroll or per-location fees.

### How many employees can use Homebase for free?

As of October 2026, Homebase's free Basic plan covers one location and up to 10 employees, with basic scheduling, basic time tracking and a POS integration. Larger teams or a second location need a paid plan from $30 per location per month.

### Is Homebase available outside the US?

Its scheduling and time clock work for teams elsewhere, but its payroll, hiring and HR features are built for the US. Teams in the UK, Europe or other regions often look at tools priced in their currency and built around local rules, such as Planday, RotaCloud or Deputy, or at scheduling-only tools such as imRoster.

### Which plan includes Homebase's AI Scheduling Assistant?

As of October 2026, the AI-powered Scheduling Assistant is on the Plus plan, listed at $70 per location per month. On the day we checked, Plus was offered free for six months to customers who add Homebase payroll.

### Is there a Homebase alternative without payroll?

Yes. Sling, When I Work and imRoster focus on scheduling and do not sell payroll; they connect to or sit next to the payroll you already use. imRoster adds AI roster drafting, clock-in with a geofence check and an attendance report you can export to XLSX or PDF for your payroll provider.

### imRoster vs Homebase: which should I choose?

Choose Homebase if you run one US location and want time tracking, payroll and hiring in one place. Choose imRoster if building a fair, rule-safe roster is your main problem, you are outside the US or already have payroll, and you want one price for every site instead of a fee per location.