Pebb vs Homebase: Per-User Plans vs Per-Location Pricing

Homebase is a real schedule-and-punch tool for US hourly shops. The catch is how you buy it. Paid plans are per location, not per person. Open a second storefront, warehouse gate, or job trailer and you buy the product again. Tasks are an add-on. Payroll is another add-on. Messaging exists on paid tiers — it is not the same as an org-wide workplace with calls, a wiki, and Spaces.

Pebb is an all-in-one employee app for the floor and the office. You pay per person, not per door. Basic is $2.50 per user per month (https://pebb.io/pricing) for chat, shifts, clock-in, timesheets, and a directory. Premium is $4 and adds calls, a news feed, PTO, tasks, forms, a wiki, analytics, and SSO. Unlimited Spaces on both plans — a second site is another Space, not another subscription. Chat is org-wide. No free plan. Full trial, no card.

This comparison is for 11–80 person construction, field, security, warehouse, hospitality, and multi-location teams that outgrew “one shop, free for 10” and do not want the bill to duplicate every time a door opens. Keep Homebase if you are one café under 10 on Basic $0, or if native payroll and Tip Manager are why you opened the app. This page is for everyone using Homebase as a blunt “employee app” across sites.

Start full trial — no card (https://app.pebb.io/auth/sign-up) · Pebb pricing (https://pebb.io/pricing)

At a glance

Pick Pebb if you want chat, shifts, GPS clock-in, timesheets, and (on Premium) calls, PTO, tasks, forms, and a wiki billed per person. Spaces unlimited. Chat org-wide. Full trial, no card. No payroll, LMS, ATS, or live GPS breadcrumbs. Offline does not fully work.

Pick Homebase if you are one location — especially under 10 people on free Basic — or one packed site that only needs schedule + punches + light messaging, and you want Homebase Payroll or Tip Manager. Pebb does not replace those.

Pricing and plans

USD. Homebase figures from joinhomebase.com/pricing (https://www.joinhomebase.com/pricing) as of September 2026. Paid Homebase plans are per location, unlimited employees on paid tiers. Monthly list: Essentials $30, Plus $70, All-in-One $120 per location. Annual: $24 / $56 / $96. Basic is $0 for 1 location, up to 10 employees. Add-ons: Payroll $39/month + $6 per employee paid; Tip Manager $25/location; Task Manager $13/location.

Pebb: no free plan. Basic $2.50/user. Premium $4/user. Full trial, no card. See Pebb pricing (https://pebb.io/pricing). Shorter switch angle: Homebase alternative (/blog/homebase-alternative).

Ten people, one location

Homebase Basic is $0. Schedule, basic time tracking, POS connection. Stay there if that is the whole job.

Pebb Basic is $25. Chat, shifts, clock-in, timesheets, directory. Pebb Premium is $40. Adds calls, feed, PTO, tasks, forms, wiki, analytics, SSO.

Ten people on one door is Homebase’s home turf on free Basic. Do not switch for a slogan.

Twenty-five people, one location

Pebb Basic is $62.50. Pebb Premium is $100.

Homebase Plus is $70/month per location (or $56 annual). All-in-One is $120 ($96 annual). Plus + Task Manager is $83.

At one packed location with light communication needs, Homebase Plus can look cheaper than Pebb Premium. Say that out loud. The gap flips when you need tasks, wiki, calls, and org-wide chat without stacking add-ons — or when location two appears.

Twenty-five people, two or three locations

| Setup | Homebase (monthly list) | Pebb Premium |

|—-|—-|—-|

| 2 locations, Plus | $140 | $100 |

| 3 locations, Plus | $210 | $100 |

| 3 locations, All-in-One | $360 | $100 |

| + Task Manager × locations | +$13 each | Tasks included on Premium |

| + Payroll | +$39 + $6/employee paid | Pebb does not run payroll |

Same headcount. Homebase meters doors. Pebb meters seats. That is the comparison.

Pros and cons

Pebb

Pros

• One per-user price. A second warehouse is a Space, not a second invoice.

• - Unlimited Spaces on Basic and Premium. Managers space = feed + group chat + private files. Site space = shifts + clock-in + forms.

• - Chat is org-wide, outside Spaces. Time Off is org-wide on Premium.

• - Tasks, forms, wiki, analytics, and SSO included on Premium not a Task Manager SKU.

• - GPS clock-in with optional near-branch validation. Open shifts. Full trial, no card.

Cons

• No free plan. Ten people on Premium is $40, not $0.

• - No native payroll, Tip Manager, or hiring ATS like Homebase’s hiring stack.

• - GPS is a stamp on clock-in, with optional near-branch validation. Not live breadcrumb tracking.

• - Offline does not fully work. The mobile app needs a connection.

• - Not a POS-first tool. Homebase’s POS integrations are a real edge for single-site F&B.

Homebase

Pros

• Genuinely free Basic for 1 location, up to 10 employees.

• - Per-location flat rate with unlimited employees on paid tiers — great for one busy shop with a large roster.

• - Native payroll path, Tip Manager, hiring tools, and deep POS integrations.

• - AI-powered scheduling from Plus; PTO policies and accruals on Plus+.

Cons

• Location 2 = another full subscription. Multi-site operators feel this at renewal.

• - Tasks are a $13/location add-on. Payroll is $39 + $6/employee.

• - Communication is schedule-adjacent messaging — not calls, wiki, or Spaces as rooms.

• - Built around US hourly retail/hospitality patterns; construction/field/security multi-site often outgrows the meter.

Who each is for

Pebb is for

• 11–80 people, frontline plus a small office.

• - Construction crews, field techs, security, warehouses, multi-location ops, cafés and retail floors that opened location two.

• - Teams that live on phones, not email, and currently split WhatsApp / a schedule tool / a shared drive.

• - Operators who want “who’s on,” “clock in,” and “tell the team” in one login — without paying per door.

Homebase is for

• One location, especially under 10 on free Basic.

• - Single high-headcount shops that only need schedule, punches, light messaging, and POS sync.

• - Operators who bought Homebase for payroll, Tip Manager, or hiring workflows. Those are real products. Pebb does not replace them.

If hub pricing is the other quote, read the Connecteam alternative (/blog/connecteam-alternative) or Pebb vs Connecteam (/blog/pebb-vs-connecteam). If the other desk is a compliance scheduler, read the Deputy alternative (/blog/deputy-alternative) or Pebb vs Deputy (/blog/pebb-vs-deputy). For rooms without location tax, read What are Pebb Spaces? (/blog/what-are-pebb-spaces).

Feature by feature

Clock-in and GPS

Winner: Homebase if you need tablet/POS punch plus their mobile location clock on paid tiers as the primary time desk. Pebb if you need a punch next to chat across sites.

Homebase Basic clocks in on tablets, computers, and POS. Paid tiers add location-based mobile clock-in. That fits a single shop floor.

Pebb clock-in can GPS-stamp the punch and optionally require the person near a branch. It is not live tracking. It is not telematics. Most warehouses, job sites, and multi-gate ops need “they punched at the place,” not a map of the afternoon — and they need that in the same app as chat.

Shift scheduling

Winner: Homebase if AI scheduling and one-site labor tools are the hard problem. Pebb if the hard problem is people seeing the roster and talking about it across Spaces.

Homebase goes from basic scheduling on free to advanced and AI-powered on Plus+. Strong for a single busy location.

Pebb includes shift scheduling and open shifts on Basic and Premium. People pick up work in the same app they message the lead. We will not pretend Pebb is a POS-labor forecasting engine. We will say the closer who never saw the swap is usually a communication failure.

Chat and calls

Winner: Pebb.

Homebase paid plans include real-time messaging, shift notes, channels, and announcements. Useful. Not voice/video calls, not a wiki, not org-wide workplace rooms.

Pebb chat is on Basic, org-wide, outside Spaces. Premium adds voice and video calls and a news feed on the same plan. Not an add-on. Not a reason to keep WhatsApp as the real OS when you open site two.

PTO, tasks, forms, wiki

Winner: Pebb Premium for the bundle. Homebase if Plus+ PTO policies plus Task Manager add-on is already the desk you run.

Homebase: availability and time-off requests from Essentials; PTO policies/accruals from Plus. Tasks are $13/month per location. Forms/wiki are not the product center.

Pebb Time Off, tasks, forms, and wiki sit on Premium at $4. Time Off is org-wide. You do not buy a per-location Task Manager to assign a walkthrough checklist.

Payroll, hiring, tips

Winner: Homebase if those are load-bearing. Neither as “Pebb payroll.”

Pebb does not run payroll. Timesheets leave the building. Your payroll system still runs payroll. Premium includes HRIS/AD sync and integrations — not a paycheck engine.

Homebase Payroll ($39 + $6/employee), Tip Manager ($25/location), job posts and hiring tools are real reasons to stay. Do not migrate and then hunt for tips and tax filing you just turned off.

Spaces vs locations

Winner: Pebb for multi-site structure. Homebase for one-door flat pricing with unlimited heads.

A Homebase location is a bill. A Pebb Space is a container you turn tools on for — not an extra subscription. Chat and Time Off are org-wide, not trapped inside a site. More detail: What are Pebb Spaces? (/blog/what-are-pebb-spaces).

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What a week looks like on Pebb

Monday the GM drops next week’s roster in each site Space; open shifts sit there for pickup. Tuesday a lead clocks in with a GPS stamp and optional near-branch check. Wednesday a checklist form lands in the site Space — photos, submit, no Task Manager SKU. Thursday Time Off on Premium shows against the roster. Friday timesheets close; chat never left the app, and a Premium DM can call from the thread instead of WhatsApp. Location three never minted a third invoice.

Setup and switching

Create a workspace. Invite with a link. Make a Space per site or crew. Shifts and clock-in on the floor Spaces; a Managers Space for people who should see everything. Chat is already org-wide.

Run one week in parallel if you want a clean cutover. Leave historical timesheets where they are. Keep Homebase if payroll or Tip Manager still own that desk — move the daily work. Stop paying a second location fee so people can message each other. Trial is the full product. No credit card.

Who should stay put

Stay at one location under 10 — Homebase Basic is free, better than Pebb’s $25–$40.

Stay if you are one packed location and Plus at $70 already covers schedule + punches + light messaging, and you do not need wiki/calls/forms.

Stay if Homebase Payroll, Tip Manager, or hiring pipelines are why you opened the app. Pebb has no payroll, no Tip Manager, no ATS.

Stay if POS-native clock-in on the register is non-negotiable and you only have one door.

Everyone else who bought Homebase as “the employee app” and then discovered location two was another bill — this is the per-user version of that job. Switch angle: Homebase alternative (/blog/homebase-alternative).

FAQ

Is Pebb cheaper than Homebase?

Depends on locations. One site on Homebase Plus can beat Pebb Premium on sticker price. Two or three sites usually flips: Pebb Premium stays $100 at 25 people; Homebase Plus becomes $140–$210. Re-check Homebase pricing (https://www.joinhomebase.com/pricing) before you sign.

Does Pebb have a free plan like Homebase Basic?

No. Basic $2.50/user/month. Premium $4/user/month. Full trial, no card.

Can we keep Homebase for payroll and Pebb for chat?

You can. Most teams that do that ignore one of them. The point of Pebb is one daily app. Keep Homebase Payroll if pay is load-bearing; do not keep paying per door just so people can talk.

Do we need Premium?

Basic covers chat, shifts, clock-in, timesheets, and a directory. Premium adds calls, feed, PTO, tasks, forms, wiki, analytics, and SSO.

Does Pebb track people live?

No. GPS stamp plus optional near-branch. Not breadcrumbs.

Does Pebb work offline?

Not fully. Mobile needs a connection.

Does Pebb do payroll or tips?

No. Homebase does via add-ons. Timesheets leave Pebb; payroll stays in payroll.

How are Spaces different from Homebase locations?

Spaces are unlimited rooms on Basic and Premium — not billed storefronts. A Homebase location is a subscription meter. See What are Pebb Spaces? (/blog/what-are-pebb-spaces).

How fast can we switch?

Invite link, Spaces per site, run a week in parallel. See pricing (https://pebb.io/pricing), then Start full trial — no card (https://app.pebb.io/auth/sign-up).

One app. Not one invoice per door.

Twenty-five people. Three sites. One seat price.

Start full trial — no card (https://app.pebb.io/auth/sign-up) · See pricing (https://pebb.io/pricing)