Homebase vs Shopify
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Homebase and Shopify.
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Verdict: Shopify wins
Shopify scores 4.6/5, edging out Homebase at 4.0/5. Anyone from solo sellers to scaling brands who wants a complete, hosted commerce stack — payments, inventory, POS, B2B and shipping — with AI tooling bundled rather than metered.
Homebase Personeelsplanning & payroll |  Shopify Complete ecommerce platform for online stores | |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.0 (1 review) | 4.6 (1 review) |
| Pricing Model | paid | freemium |
| Starting Price | Pricing varies | Free tier available |
| Best For | Best for US single-site or small multi-site businesses with hourly workers — restaurants, retail, salons, clinics — that want scheduling and time clocks free and payroll attached later. | Anyone from solo sellers to scaling brands who wants a complete, hosted commerce stack — payments, inventory, POS, B2B and shipping — with AI tooling bundled rather than metered. |
| Free Tier | ||
| API Access | ||
| Team Features | ||
| Open Source | ||
| Tags | — | team featuresmobile appfree tierapi access |
| Visit Shopify → |
Homebase
Pros
- + Free Basic plan genuinely covers a small shop — one location, up to 10 employees, scheduling and time tracking with POS integration (joinhomebase.com/pricing)
- + Deepest shift-rule customisation I have tested in this class: per-location break/overtime rules, no-show and overtime alerts, role-based scheduling (PCMag reached the same conclusion)
- + Per-location pricing with unlimited employees on paid tiers means adding staff never raises the bill
- + Mobile manager experience handles real tasks — fixing missed clock-outs, approving swaps, checking attendance — from a phone
- + Payroll add-on ($39/month + $6/employee) runs full-service tax filing from the same timesheets, closing the loop from clock-in to payday
Cons
- - Two-part pricing (core plan + payroll add-on) makes the payroll configuration more expensive than Gusto or OnPay for small teams, as PCMag also found
- - Vendor pages conflict on the free plan cap (10 employees on the pricing page, 20 on an older solutions page)
- - US-only: no international payroll, EOR or non-US tax handling
- - Payroll preview detail and custom reporting are thin until higher tiers; earnings columns need horizontal scrolling in the payroll worksheet
- - AI scheduling, PTO controls and departments are gated to Plus ($70/location), and HR/compliance tooling to All-in-One ($120/location)
Shopify
Pros
- + From empty account to live store with payments, theme and shipping took me under an hour — the defaults are the product
- + Sidekick and 'millions of tokens' of AI usage are bundled into every paid plan including Basic, not metered as an add-on (vendor pricing page, at time of writing)
- + Transparent, published rate card: third-party transaction fees fall 2%/1%/0.6%/0.2% across tiers, so upgrade decisions are calculable arithmetic
- + Yearly billing cuts every core plan roughly 25% ($29/$79/$299 per month vs $39/$105/$399), with no negotiation required
- + Every plan now carries 200+ real-time reports, 10 inventory locations, 3 B2B catalogs and unlimited products — the base feature floor is high
Cons
- - Basic includes no additional staff accounts and no third-party carrier-calculated shipping, walls that bite quickly once you have any help
- - Checkout customization is locked to Plus (from $2,300/month on a 3-year term) except for limited thank-you-page edits
- - Third-party payment providers add 2% on Basic — an invisible tax that changes the plan math entirely if Shopify Payments is unavailable in your market
- - Real store costs are driven by paid apps, which are unvetted in quality and can double the platform spend
- - Sidekick's custom-app generation was gated to Grow and above in April 2026, and the 'millions of tokens' allowance is a vendor claim with no published metering
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better, Homebase or Shopify?▼
Shopify scores higher at 4.6/5 vs 4.0/5 for Homebase, making it the better-rated option in our comparison.
What is the difference between Homebase and Shopify?▼
Homebase: Homebase handles scheduling, time clocks, hiring and payroll for small businesses with hourly staff. Shopify: Shopify is an all-in-one commerce platform for building and running an online store, with tools for payments, inventory, marketing, and an AI assistant called Sidekick.
Is Homebase or Shopify more affordable?▼
Homebase starts at €0/mo, Shopify starts at €0/mo. Check the comparison table above for current pricing.
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