Homebase vs When I Work: Which Fits Restaurants in 2027

Pick by how you pay, per location or per person

The cheaper tool depends on one question: are you paying for each location, or for each person on the schedule? Homebase prices by location, so a single-restaurant owner pays the same plan price whether 11 or 40 people are on the roster, as long as the team stays on an unlimited-employee plan. When I Work prices per user, so every person added to a schedule adds to the monthly bill. The feature gap between the two is real but smaller than the cost gap at most headcounts.

In this guide, employee scheduling software means a tool that builds the weekly shift roster, lets staff swap or pick up shifts, and records clock-ins so worked hours can be checked against the schedule.

Neither product appears renamed, merged or discontinued in the vendor material checked for this guide. Homebase's pricing page lists four plans, from Basic at $0 to All-in-One at $120 per location a month, according to Homebase (2026). Older third-party listings show different plan names and lower paid prices, so treat any figure that does not match the vendor page as stale. The Homebase pricing page carries a Pioneer Works, Inc. copyright line, so that is the company to ask about ownership. Ownership for When I Work is covered in its profile below.

TL;DR: For one restaurant with up to 10 people, Homebase's free Basic plan is the lowest-cost place to start. Once the team passes that cap, Homebase's Essentials plan is usually cheaper than per-user pricing for a single location. When I Work fits better when you need API access, which its pricing page places on the Premium tier, or custom reporting and labor sharing, and you accept a per-user bill.

Key Takeaways

• Homebase charges per location: the Essentials plan is $30 per location a month with unlimited employees, and the Basic plan is free for one location with up to 10 employees.

• When I Work charges per user: Essentials is $2.50 per user a month, Pro is $5 and Premium is $8. It has no free plan, only a 14-day trial.

• Payroll differs: Homebase sells a payroll add-on, while When I Work connects to third-party payroll providers.

• At 25 people on one location, Homebase's Essentials plan comes to $360 a year, against $750 a year on the Essentials tier of When I Work.

• Multi-location changes the math, because per-location pricing scales with each site and per-user pricing scales with each person.

• Get API, export and POS connection steps in writing before signing, because the public pages do not answer every integration question.

How we evaluated these two tools

This comparison weights six criteria for a single-restaurant owner choosing now. The weights are our judgment, not a market statistic. Each one is tied to a decision a restaurant schedule actually forces.

The pricing figures come from each vendor's pricing page, opened on October 29, 2026. The When I Work API steps come from its help center. Independent comparisons come from Schedules Made Simple, which ranks itself first in its own roundup, from CostBench, which lists some Homebase prices that conflict with the vendor page, and from TCB Magazine's 2021 report. Capterra and G2 pages returned errors when opened, so this guide does not use their ratings or review counts.

Who this is for

This guide is for an owner or operations lead at a restaurant with one location or a few, choosing between these two tools now. It assumes staff clock in on a POS or tablet, someone builds the weekly schedule, and payroll data should not be re-keyed by hand. A restaurant with 10 people on the week's schedule has a different answer from one with 25, and the sections below show where the line falls.

Red flags: you need built-in payroll today, you need a permanent free plan for more than one location, or you need API access without a plan that includes it.

The free tier is the first filter. Homebase free plan: one location, up to 10 employees according to Schedules Made Simple (2026). When I Work has no equivalent free option.

Feature matrix: what each product includes

The matrix normalizes the features each vendor's pricing page lists, plus one restaurant-fit note from a third-party review. "Not listed" means the page I opened did not describe the feature, not that the product lacks it.

Two gaps matter most for a restaurant. First, Homebase includes basic time tracking and POS clock-in on its free tier, while When I Work's time clock is an add-on whose cost its page does not state. Second, neither public page explains how a shift change flows into payroll in full, so those questions belong in writing with sales.

Pricing and total cost

Homebase's list prices in the table below come from its pricing page, according to Homebase (2026), which shows $30 per location a month for Essentials, $120 for All-in-One, and a payroll add-on at $49 a month plus $6 per paid employee.

When I Work's list prices come from its pricing page, which shows $2.50, $5 and $8 per user a month for Essentials, Pro and Premium, according to When I Work (2026), with a 14-day trial and no credit card required.

Pricing checked October 29, 2026. The annual column is list price times 12, using one location for Homebase and 25 users for When I Work.

Read the table with three caveats. Homebase's Plus plan appears at $0 with $70 struck through, a promotion tied to six months of free payroll and subject to terms. Homebase's annual toggle shows a "Save 20%" badge, but the page does not say which price it changes. When I Work's FAQ calls $2.50 the single-location rate and $5 the multi-location rate, which conflicts with its own plan table, so get the billing basis in writing before you budget.

Multi-location changes the math. Homebase range: $0 to $120 per location monthly according to CostBench (2026). CostBench's FAQ says per-location pricing "can become expensive for multi-location operators," and it argues When I Work is generally more cost-effective for several small locations. That is CostBench's view, not a vendor claim. Three locations on Homebase's Essentials plan come to 3 × $30 = $90 a month, while the When I Work bill depends on how many people work across all three sites.

Worked example: take one restaurant with 25 people on the weekly schedule. Homebase's Essentials plan for one location is $30 a month, or $360 a year. On When I Work, if all 25 people are billed on Essentials at $2.50 per user a month, according to When I Work (2026), the bill is 25 × $2.50 = $62.50 a month, or $750 a year; the Pro tier at $5 raises it to $125 a month, or $1,500 a year. At this size, When I Work's Essentials tier costs $390 a year more than Homebase's Essentials plan, and Homebase's Basic tier is out of reach because it caps at 10 employees. Before you plan an integration on either tool, note that When I Work's API requires an admin-level login and an eligible plan, and that its login request accepts show_pending, a query flag described in the When I Work API help article.

Vendor profiles: fit, limits and setup

Homebase: best fit, limits and setup

Best fit: a single restaurant that starts with up to 10 people on the free Basic plan, or a team of any size on Essentials, where unlimited employees come with one location at $30 a month. Basic includes basic scheduling, basic time tracking, clock-in on tablets, computers and POS devices, and POS integration. Essentials adds advanced scheduling and time tracking plus team communication. Plus adds an AI-powered Scheduling Assistant, PTO and time-off controls, and departments with permissions. All-in-One adds employee onboarding, labor cost management, and HR and compliance.

Limits: the per-location model scales with every site, and Basic stops at 10 employees. The Plus payroll offer is a limited-time promotion with terms, so ask whether it still applies on the day you sign. Its pricing page lists API access for custom integrations on All-in-One, but I did not open the API documentation, so confirm integration details with sales.

Implementation: the pricing page describes a 14-day All-in-One trial that reverts the account to Basic if no plan is selected, and it counts each physical business address as one location. Homebase's marketing describes a native Toast integration that syncs timecards and published schedules. I could not open Toast's partner listing for this guide, so confirm the connection steps for your POS before buying.

When I Work: best fit, limits and setup

Best fit: a team that wants scheduling-first software with auto scheduling, shift swapping, labor sharing and custom reporting, or several small sites that prefer per-user pricing over per-location pricing. Essentials gives unlimited users, auto scheduling, multi-week and multi-location scheduling, templates, forecast tools, OpenShifts and shift swapping, in-app messaging, and payroll and POS integrations. Pro adds advanced scheduling rules, role permissions, labor sharing, custom unit forecasting, custom reporting, and staff callout reporting within 24 hours. Premium adds API key access, webhooks and SAML/SSO.

Limits: When I Work has no free plan, only a 14-day trial. It has no built-in payroll, so payroll runs through a third-party provider. Its time tracking is an optional add-on whose cost is not stated on the page. Schedules Made Simple says When I Work "isn't restaurant-specific" and lacks shift-pooling and menu-linked labor forecasting, and its table gives a range of $2.50–$8.00 per user monthly, according to Schedules Made Simple (2026).

Ownership is the open question. TCB Magazine reported in 2021 that the company had secured private-equity backing from Bain Capital Tech Opportunities. The same article gives a user figure: Company-reported reach: more than 200,000 workforces according to TCB Magazine (2021). I did not find a 2026 primary source on current ownership, so ask the vendor before a multi-year commitment.

Implementation: the API is not self-serve. The help center says you must have admin-level access to obtain an API key, and the access request asks for your company name, the admin's name, a developer contact and the intended use. The key goes in a W-Key header at login, and later requests use a bearer token that must be refreshed before it expires. Plan for this to be a sales conversation, not a checkbox.

When NOT to use US Tech Automations: if you need a finished scheduling app with a time clock on day one and nobody to own workflow design, buy one of these two products and stop there. If you run one location and only need the Basic plan's scheduling and clock-in, a configured workflow adds cost without adding value. If you have no API access or no admin who can approve an integration, the workflows below cannot start.

Where the pain lives: shift changes and payroll exceptions

Many owners ask whether Zapier, Make or n8n can connect these tools cheaply. Those platforms can keep run histories, retries, error branches and audit logs once configured. The rest falls to the buyer: designing idempotency so a retried push does not double-book a shift, setting escalation paths, controlling who can read payroll data, and maintaining the flow when a vendor changes an endpoint. A self-built connection can work well, but it needs a named owner.

US Tech Automations would treat the two workflows below as configurable designs, not finished products. Each one is proposed, not deployed, and each has named prerequisites and a human approval point.

In a proposed shift-change flow, US Tech Automations would start from a trigger: a callout logged in the scheduling tool, or a manager marking a shift open. The action posts the open shift to staff whose roles match and records each reply. The output is a manager summary listing the shift, the responders and the time of each reply. Prerequisites on When I Work: an API key issued by an admin on an eligible plan, with webhooks available only on Premium. Prerequisites on Homebase: a confirmed export or API path, such as the API its pricing page lists on All-in-One, which this research did not verify in the docs. Human review: a manager approves every reassignment, and the flow never changes the published schedule on its own.

In a proposed payroll-exception flow, US Tech Automations would start when a pay period closes in the time tool. The action pulls hours and flags missing punches, overtime, and worked shifts with no matching schedule entry. The output is an exception list the owner reviews before anything moves toward payroll. Prerequisites: a timesheet export or read access from the time tool, and a payroll provider named in advance. Homebase's payroll add-on keeps this inside one vendor, while When I Work depends on a third-party link. Human review: the owner signs off on each exception, and the flow does not submit payroll.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Comparing sticker prices without using the same headcount and location count in both.

• Treating Homebase's free Basic plan as a long-term option for a team that will grow past 10 employees.

• Assuming When I Work's time clock is included at the Essentials price, when its page shows an optional add-on with no stated cost.

• Ignoring the payroll path: Homebase's payroll add-on carries a per-employee fee, and When I Work needs a third-party payroll link.

• Using third-party listings with older or conflicting prices instead of the vendor pages.

Decision checklist

• Count the people on your busiest week's schedule, not the full roster.

• Count your sites, and note whether each one needs its own schedule.

• Decide whether payroll should sit in the same vendor as scheduling.

• Ask When I Work which basis its $2.50 rate applies to, single-location or multi-location.

• Ask both vendors in writing about API, export and POS connection steps.

Questions buyers ask

Is Homebase free for a restaurant?

Yes, for one location with up to 10 employees: the Basic plan is listed at $0 in the pricing table above, and it includes clock-in on POS devices.

Does When I Work have a free plan?

No. Its pricing page lists a 14-day trial with no credit card required and no free plan.

Which tool includes payroll?

Homebase offers a payroll add-on at $49 a month plus $6 per paid employee. When I Work does not include built-in payroll and connects to third-party providers instead.

Can I get API access without the top tier?

Not on the plans shown: When I Work lists API key access on Premium, and its help center says API access requires admin-level access and an eligible plan. Homebase's pricing page lists an API on All-in-One, so confirm the details with its sales team.

Which should a single restaurant start with?

Start with Homebase if you will stay at 10 or fewer people on the free plan, or if you want payroll in the same vendor. Start with When I Work if you need custom reporting, labor sharing or API access on Premium and can accept a per-user bill.

Bottom line

Pick Homebase when your cost should follow locations, you want a free tier to start, and payroll should sit with scheduling. Pick When I Work when your cost should follow headcount and you need its Pro or Premium features or an API. Either way, the number that decides the choice is the size of your busiest week's schedule, so recheck both pricing pages on the day you sign. If a configured review layer for shift changes and payroll exceptions appeals to you, see how US Tech Automations configures this as a proposed design before you commit to either tool.