My Connecteam vs Homebase Experience Compared

Last Updated on April 28, 2024 by Ewen Finser

Are you trying to figure out if Connecteam or Homebase is right for your “deskless” business, you are in the right place.

I went deep in my hands-on Connecteam review and then compared it directly to Deputy, but Homebase was next on my list. It’s one of the top field service management platforms and in many ways the (newer) Connecteam is taking on incumbents like them.

As with most of my reviews (beyond the truly terrible platforms), there are use cases for either platform.

I do have some preferences, but I’ll make it clear at the end who should go with either one so you have some clean takeaways and decision points.

Ok, let’s get started with some of the sharp differences between these two platforms. I find that’s the easiest place to start as it really gets at the essential concerns most businesses care about (rather than list of “features” – you can get that on their product pages…)

Main Differences Between Connecteam vs Homebase

Here’s how I see the key contrasting differences between these two platforms:

• I found that Connecteam offers more tools for development and people management, whereas Homebase focuses more on operations like scheduling and payroll.
• Connecteam also seemed to cater to a broader spectrum of businesses with a free plan for small businesses and an Enterprise plan for larger companies, whereas Homebase prioritizes small businesses that mostly need scheduling automation.
• Connecteam has a much broader and more flexible feature-set, including employee engagement tools, knowledge management, and real-time project management, whereas Homebase is more squarely focused on time management and team communication.
• Homebase includes a built-in payroll processing function, whereas Connecteam requires third-party integrations.
• Homebase has auto-scheduling already, whereas Connecteam requires more manual input (although they have auto-scheduling on the near-term roadmap).
• As the more established company, Homebase offers far more integrations compared to Connecteam (at the time of this writing), although Connecteam does have a open API for custom technical integrations.

What Exactly is Homebase Then?

I’d define Homebase very specifically as a shift management and payroll platform for in-the-field workforce management.

Whereas Connecteam has a fairly broad feature set, Homebase is more tightly focused on shift scheduling, time sheet management, and payroll processing, all in an easy to use interface for employees and employers.

What is Connecteam in a Nutshell?

In contrast, Connecteam does have the shift management features of Homebase, but goes way beyond this and can become a true “hub” or dashboard for day-to-day operations of deskless teams.

Connecteam offers a 3 module full spectrum deskless team manager with Operations, Communications, and HR & Skills products based on what you need for your business. Each module is an optional add-on and you don’t need to use one to use the others.

In other words, Connecteam aspires to be more like a “Hubspot” for any team that isn’t primarily tethered to an office desk or work computer.

Standout Features of Homebase I Liked

So here are the attributes that really stood out for me when trying out Homebase:

• Straightforward Focus on Scheduling: If you need a good timesheet and shift scheduling platform, Homebase is laser focused on this use case. Specifically, their auto-scheduling features stood out to me in contrast to Connecteam (currently – this is a feature forthcoming at some point).

• Intuitive & Easy to Use: Everything is clickable and modifiable in an easy and visually pleasing sort of way. They’ve clearly though a lot about UX/UI and it shows!
• Built-in Payroll: While both platforms offer third party integrations with popular providers, I like that Homebase can easily run payroll natively as well.
• POS Integrations: Homebase is more integration-friendly out of the box for retail and “main street” types of businesses, with extensive point-of-sale integrations with Square, Clover, Toast, and more.
• More Native Payroll Integrations: Similarly, as a more established platform, Homebase integrates with most of the major payroll providers (and some niche ones), including ADP, Gusto, Square Payroll, SurePayroll, Paychex, Rippling and more.

What Connecteam Features Stood Out

On the other hand, Connecteam did many of the core things Homebase does, BUT adds a whole other layer to deskless team management.

These are some of their key features that stood out for me with Connecteam:

• A True Operating System: I do think Homebase works well for a certain type of business, but I was immediately struck by how Connecteam is really a full spectrum work dashboard for understanding what’s going on in your company and for managing teams above and beyond (but including also) scheduling and shift management. Connectem integrates the deskless world in a similar way to how a monday.com integrates remote digital teams.
• Performance Management: While small businesses might be immediately focused on just covering shifts, long term retention is a HUGE cost that isn’t properly calculated. Keeping your current service techs and team members happy, motivated, and incentivized is where Connecteam stands out with their surveys, milestones, and advanced analytics reports.
• Free Tier for SMBs: Any business with up to 10 team members gets fully featured, fully functional access to the Connecteam platform. This is a perfect bridge for most growing small businesses that want to scale seamlessly, but may not have the initial budget to commit.

• GPS Based Time Clock: This is an important distinction that any service based or field work company can immediately appreciate… Connecteam has Geo-fencing and GPS based time clocks to track when team members are actually onsite. Huge efficiency booster and keeps service techs focusing on the job, not reporting back to dispatch.
• Training & Onboarding: It’s clear to be that Connecteam also really thought through the experience for new team members. It’s a truly interactive system that is more automated and has better quality control features than most deskless companies traditionally have.
• Document Management: Connecteam offers a secure hub for important documents with a true knowledge base, team directories, and basically a place for all of your SOPs and important docs in one spot.
• Task Management: This is another feature I really liked that would otherwise live in a completely different app. Connecteam has a task management workflow nested within the dashboard, ideal for project coordination and tracking.

Who Has The Better Integrations?

This one was a fairly easy one for me. Homebase has many more integrations available out of the box.

These are the top integrations I could find that are natively integrated with Homebase:

• Square
• Clover
• Toast
• Shopify
• PayAnywhere
• GoDaddy
• Talech
• Lightspeed
• Revel Systems
• Wells Fargo
• Paychex
• Rippling
• ADP
• Gusto
• Intuit QuickBooks
• Bank of America
• Heartland
• Square Payroll
• Millennium Payroll Solutions
• SurePayroll
• Restaurant365
• Tiphaus
• Indeed
• Google
• ZipRecruiter
• Craigslist
• Glassdoor

As you can see, Homebase really stands out with their POS (point-of-sale) integrations, likely as a big customer group for them is restaurants, cafes, bars, and similar food and beverage and retail shops.

That said, Connecteam also does more with their three different feature modules and has an API that’s fairly easy to work with.

Right now, Connecteam’s core native integrations are:

• Gusto (my go-to payroll option)
• Intuit QuickBooks
• Paychex
• Xero

I’ve also documented a bit more detail on Connecteam’s integrations here & included my dream wish list for future integrations.

Homebase and Connecteam Compared to Alternatives

These are clearly not the only platforms of their kind. I’ve been doing a deep dive on the entire sub-niche of deskless management apps, so here are some other names to keep in mind (on my list):

• Deputy: Deputy is another leading deskless management app with many similar features to Homebase and Connecteam. Deputy seems MOST similar to Homebase in it’s more narrow focus on fixed retail locations and food & beverage use cases. You can see how Deputy compares to Connecteam for more details on their contrasting points.
• When I Work: Similar to Deputy in it’s focus on timesheets, schedules and shift management. It also offers a built in payroll processing function (and integrates with third parties). It’s a good option for classic retail settings and restaurants with typical shift work (not ideal for field service). See how When I Work compares directly to Connecteam here.
• monday.com: If you prefer a completely open-ended work management system, monday.com has all sorts of possibilities. It’s a digital native, originally built for online white collar teams, but today it has modules and templates for pretty much any kind of business.
• Clockify: If time tracking is your core need, Clockify is laser focused on this use case and might be more cost effective.

Who Should Use Homebase?

I really did like my trial run with Homebase. It was intuitive to use (reminded me of early Hubspot days with every field being clickable and interactive) and the schedule visualizations are really well thought out.

I know they have a variety of different users, but I think these are the best types of businesses to leverage Homebase:

• Food Service Retail Locations: This was exactly the type of small business I had in mind when using Homebase, some sort of cafe, bar, restaurant, or other food service location. If this is you, I’d lean towards Homebase here.
• Beauty & Wellness Retail: Every time I go to my local hair cut spot, I think about how they manage the schedules… I can imagine any type of spa, hair salon, beauty, massage, skincare really benefitting from Homebase. If this is you, go with Homebase.

Pretty much any business where time clocks and shift schedules are critical to day-to-day operations can make use of Homebase’s core features, but once you needs expand beyond these core functions, I think it’s time for Connecteam (regardless of business type).

Who Should Use Connecteam?

Connecteam does have all the scheduling attributes of Homebase, but offers more comprehensive HR features to fill a much larger lifecycle of business needs.

Specifically, I think these types of businesses would benefit from going with Connecteam:

• Home Services Businesses: Any business where field techs are going INTO the home at variable schedules and with more open-ended projects are a GREAT fit for Connecteam. If this is you, go with Connecteam.
• High Skill Trades: Similarly, any business with highly valuable trades (plumbing, electrician, etc..) can also benefit from the retention and employee engagement tools offered by Connecteam. If this is you, Connecteam is a great value.

There you have it! Let me know in the comments if you have experiences with either of these platforms.