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Free alternatives to Homebase

Homebase costs $30/mo on the Essentials plan, or $360 a year. Here are 5 free and open-source options, what each one does, and what you give up compared with paying.

Prices checked Aug 10, 2026Can AI replace it? Nah

01At a glance

AlternativeTypeWhere it runsWorks on
Sling FreeFreeHosted for youWeb, iPhone, Android
7shifts CompFreeHosted for youWeb, iPhone, Android
Connecteam Small Business PlanFreeHosted for youWeb, iPhone, Android
Horilla HROpen sourceYou host itWeb, Your server
Frappe HROpen sourceYou host itWeb, Your server

02Each alternative, in detail

Sling FreeFree

Shift scheduling, availability and swaps for 30 people; the time clock is where the upsell starts.

Versus paying: The free plan schedules up to thirty users but withholds the time clock and labor-cost tools that make Homebase useful to hourly teams.

Setup: Hosted signup, then invite employees by email or phone to the web, iOS and Android apps

getsling.com →
7shifts CompFree

Schedules, availability, time off and shift swaps for one 15-person location; restaurant branding comes free too.

Versus paying: It is limited to one fifteen-person restaurant location and keeps time-clock and more advanced operations features outside the free tier.

Setup: Hosted signup for one restaurant location, then invite staff to the web and mobile apps

7shifts.com →
Connecteam Small Business PlanFree

Scheduling, time off and shift changes for ten people; user eleven has a price tag.

Versus paying: The free plan ends at ten users, below many shift teams, and its broader operations suite is less scheduling-focused than Homebase.

Setup: Hosted signup, then invite staff to the web and mobile apps

connecteam.com →
Horilla HROpen source

Schedules, rotating shifts and leave in Docker; a whole HR suite comes along for the ride.

Versus paying: A whole self-hosted HR system is substantially harder to administer and less friendly to frontline schedulers than Homebase.

Setup: Clone the stable 2.0 branch and run docker-compose up -d; a manual Django setup is also documented

Watch for: Docker and production configuration: database credentials, secret key, allowed hosts, HTTPS, backups and mail remain the operator's job

1,400 GitHub stars (checked Aug 6, 2026)

horilla.com →
Frappe HROpen source

Schedules, shifts and leave in a full HR stack; running the stack is the unpaid role.

Versus paying: It can model shifts and leave, but the full Frappe stack is far more operational work than Homebase's managed scheduler.

Setup: Launch its Docker Compose stack, or install hrms and ERPNext into an existing Frappe Bench

Watch for: The full Frappe/ERPNext stack brings Docker, MariaDB, Redis, proxy/TLS and version-compatible app upgrades

8,500 GitHub stars (checked Aug 6, 2026)

frappe.io →

03What you give up by leaving Homebase

  • time clocks, payroll, messaging, labor-law tools, hiring, and support
  • payroll rails
  • tax and labor-law compliance
  • benefits integrations
  • identity checks and global employment infrastructure

People still pay for Homebase because HR platforms survive because mistakes affect pay, benefits, immigration, and legal obligations, not because forms are difficult to render. The recurring cost buys sensitive data, access, retention, audit, payroll calculations, filings, benefits, employment law, incident response, and support, not just the visible interface.

04Questions

Is there a free alternative to Homebase?

Yes. This page compares 5: Sling Free, 7shifts Comp, Connecteam Small Business Plan, Horilla HR and Frappe HR. 2 of them are open source, so you can run them yourself.

How much does Homebase cost?

$30/mo on the Essentials plan (monthly), which is $360 a year. Prices checked Aug 10, 2026.

What do you give up with a free alternative to Homebase?

Most often: time clocks, payroll, messaging, labor-law tools, hiring, and support, payroll rails, tax and labor-law compliance and benefits integrations. Each alternative on this page lists its own gap under “Versus paying.”

Can AI build me my own version of Homebase?

Nah. A consolation build is possible, but the paid product's decisive value sits outside a solo rebuild. For Homebase, build staff schedules and time-off workflows without payroll or hiring services. The hard boundary is time clocks, payroll, messaging, labor-law tools, hiring, and support, plus compliance, payroll, and regulated integrations.

Prices change; confirm on the vendor's site before you decide.