HR · head to head
Homebase vs Sesame HR
Sesame HR
HR
Spanish HR and time recording platform built around the legal obligation to record daily working hours
- 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; Sesame HR there is no payroll calculation, so the payroll relationship stays with an external gestoria or payroll system and Sesame is only feeding it data.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Homebase and Sesame HR actually diverge.
Identical on both: 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 Sesame HR does not also cover.
Only in Sesame HR
- Time and attendance
- Legal time reports
- Shift planning
- Absence management
- Document management
- Expenses
- Performance
- Payroll export
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Homebase
- Managing shift schedules across restaurant locationsnot Sesame HR
- Automating tip pool calculations and distributionnot Sesame HR
- Processing payroll directly from time trackingnot Sesame HR
- Onboarding and verifying hourly employeesnot Sesame HR
Sesame HR
- A Spanish employer that must produce daily working time records for a labour inspectionnot Homebase
- A company with shift workers across several sites that needs rota planning and real clock-in data in one placenot Homebase
- A business whose gestoria wants clean hours and absence data each month instead of emailed spreadsheetsnot Homebase
- A Latin American subsidiary of a Spanish group standardising on the same attendance systemnot 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
Sesame HR
- There is no payroll calculation, so the payroll relationship stays with an external gestoria or payroll system and Sesame is only feeding it data.
- The product is built around Spanish and Latin American regulation, so a buyer employing in northern Europe gets attendance tracking without the local statutory logic that made the product valuable in the first place.
- Modules beyond time and attendance are noticeably shallower, and companies expecting the performance or recruitment features to replace dedicated tools are usually disappointed.
- Support, documentation and legal templates are Spanish-first, and English-language material lags behind, which slows adoption in mixed-language organisations.
- Pricing is per employee per month across module tiers, so a company that only wants compliant time recording still pays a headcount-scaled fee for a suite it uses a fraction of.
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$96/month
- Unlimited employees per location
- Employee onboarding
- Labor cost management
Sesame HR
On request- Sesame HR$undefined/year
- Priced per employee per month with module-based tiers
- Time and attendance in the base tier
- Shift planning, performance and expenses as higher tiers or add-ons
Which should you pick?
Choose Sesame HR if
- You need time and attendance.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want legal time reports.
Questions people ask
- Is Homebase or Sesame HR better?
- Neither clearly leads. Homebase starts at Free and Sesame HR at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Homebase or Sesame HR?
- Homebase has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Homebase and On request for Sesame HR.
- Does Homebase or Sesame HR run on more platforms?
- Homebase runs on Web. Sesame HR runs on Web, iOS, Android.
- Can I use Homebase for free?
- Yes. Homebase has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Sesame HR 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 Sesame HR is typically brought in for.
- What can Homebase do that Sesame HR cannot?
- Sesame HR covers Time and attendance, Legal time reports, Shift planning, Absence management.
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.
SourceSesame HR: Why is time recording mandatory in Spain?
Royal Decree-Law 8/2019 requires every employer to record daily start and finish times for all employees and to retain those records for four years for labour inspection.
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.
SourceSesame HR: Does Sesame HR run payroll?
No. It exports hours, absences and variable pay to a gestoria or payroll system such as A3 or Sage.
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).
SourceSesame HR: Does it work outside Spain?
It is used across Latin America and Portugal. Outside those markets you get the tooling without the country-specific legal logic.
Sesame HR: Can it handle shift workers across multiple sites?
Yes. Kiosk and QR clock-in with geolocation is designed for exactly that, and rota planning sits on top of the same data.
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