HR · head to head
Homebase vs Humaans
Humaans
HR
API-first HRIS for fast-growing companies that treat employee data as a system of record other tools read from
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Homebase has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Homebase free Basic plan is capped at 10 employees and a single location; Humaans there is no payroll engine anywhere in the product, so every country you employ in still needs its own payroll vendor and a synchronisation that someone owns when it breaks.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Homebase and Humaans actually diverge.
Identical on both: platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (HR).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Homebase
Nothing recorded that Humaans does not also cover.
Only in Humaans
- Employee records
- Workflows
- Time off
- Open API and webhooks
- Onboarding
- Reporting
- App directory
- Self service
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Homebase
- Managing shift schedules across restaurant locationsnot Humaans
- Automating tip pool calculations and distributionnot Humaans
- Processing payroll directly from time trackingnot Humaans
- Onboarding and verifying hourly employeesnot Humaans
Humaans
- A 150 person technology company that wants employee data clean enough to drive access provisioning automaticallynot Homebase
- An operations team that will build against an API rather than wait for a vendor integrationnot Homebase
- A company replacing spreadsheets and Google Drive folders in weeks rather than running a six month HRIS projectnot Homebase
- A multi-country employer that already has payroll handled per country and needs one consolidated employee recordnot Homebase
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Homebase
- Free Basic plan is capped at 10 employees and a single location
- Paid plans are billed per location per month ($30, $70 or $120), so a multi-location business pays the rate again for each site
- Payroll is a separate add-on at $39 per month plus $6 per month per employee paid
- Tip Manager and Task Manager are further add-ons billed per location per month on top of the base plan
Humaans
- There is no payroll engine anywhere in the product, so every country you employ in still needs its own payroll vendor and a synchronisation that someone owns when it breaks.
- Applicant tracking, learning and benefits administration are absent, meaning a company wanting a single supplier will buy three or four contracts to match what a suite sells as one.
- Acquisition by Employment Hero in 2024 puts an independent, integration-first product inside a vendor that sells a bundled employment platform, and buyers should ask directly how long the standalone product will be sold on its own terms.
- Per employee per month pricing with tiered features means the cost rises with headcount growth at exactly the point a scale-up is least willing to renegotiate, and useful features such as workflows sit above the entry tier.
- Country-specific compliance depth is limited, so statutory leave rules, local document requirements and reporting obligations often need configuring by hand rather than arriving as a maintained country pack.
Pricing, plan by plan
Homebase
Free- BasicFree
- Up to 10 employees per location
- Basic scheduling
- Time tracking
- Essentials$24/month
- Unlimited employees per location
- Advanced scheduling
- Time tracking
- Plus$56/month
- Unlimited employees per location
- AI-powered scheduling
- PTO controls
- All-in-One$96/month
- Unlimited employees per location
- Employee onboarding
- Labor cost management
Humaans
On request- Humaans$undefined/year
- Priced per employee per month with tiered feature sets
- Employee records, time off and documents
- Workflows and reporting on higher tiers
Which should you pick?
Questions people ask
- Is Homebase or Humaans better?
- Neither clearly leads. Homebase starts at Free and Humaans at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Homebase or Humaans?
- Homebase has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Homebase and On request for Humaans.
- Does Homebase or Humaans run on more platforms?
- Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- Can I use Homebase for free?
- Yes. Homebase has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Humaans starts at On request.
- What is Homebase best used for?
- Homebase is most often used for managing shift schedules across restaurant locations, automating tip pool calculations and distribution, processing payroll directly from time tracking, onboarding and verifying hourly employees. Of those, managing shift schedules across restaurant locations and automating tip pool calculations and distribution are not what Humaans is typically brought in for.
- What can Homebase do that Humaans cannot?
- Humaans covers Employee records, Workflows, Time off, Open API and webhooks.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Homebase: Does Homebase offer annual billing discounts?
Yes, Homebase annual billing offers savings: Essentials saves $72/year, Plus saves $168/year, All-in-One saves $288/year compared to monthly billing.
SourceHumaans: Does Humaans run payroll?
No. It holds the employee record and pushes data to payroll providers. You buy payroll separately in each country.
Homebase: Is there a free trial for Homebase?
Homebase offers a free 14-day trial of the All-in-One plan with no credit card required.
SourceHumaans: Who owns it now?
Employment Hero acquired Humaans in 2024. It continues to be sold, but the parent company also sells a bundled employment platform.
Homebase: What does Homebase Payroll cost?
Homebase Payroll costs $39 per month base plus $6 per employee per month, with add-ons available for Tip Manager ($25/month) and Background Checks ($30 each).
SourceHumaans: Is the API genuinely complete?
Yes. It is the design centre of the product rather than an afterthought, with documented REST endpoints and webhooks across the core objects.
Humaans: How long does implementation take?
Typically weeks. There is no configuration consultancy requirement, which is a large part of why teams choose it over a mid-market suite.
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