Rotahr vs Homebase
Rotahr and Homebase both handle staff scheduling, but they solve different problems: Rotahr is one flat-priced app that also covers bookings, food safety records, stock and payroll for a single venue, while Homebase is a dedicated workforce platform priced per location and bolted to other tools for the rest.
US-focused team management app for hourly workforces — scheduling, time clock and hiring, sold per location with payroll as a separate add-on.
Below is a straight comparison, including the cases where Homebase is the better choice. If that's you, we'd rather you knew now than found out after paying us.
Short version
A strong, cheap starting point if you're a single US location and happy to add payroll separately. It isn't built around Irish or UK rules, and it stays staff-only — reservations and food safety stay in other tools.
What each one costs
Rotahr
€49/mo
Flat monthly, VAT included. Up to 15 staff; €89 up to 30. Hiring doesn't change the bill.
Homebase
per location
Published per location, per month, billed monthly or annually: Basic $0 (1 location, up to 10 employees), Essentials $30, Plus $70 (unlimited employees from Essentials up), All-in-One $120. Payroll is a separate add-on: $49/month base fee plus $6 per employee paid, or $29/month flat for teams up to 5.
Rough cost at 12 staff: $70/month on Plus for one location (unlimited employees), without payroll. Add payroll and it's $70 + $49 + $6×12 = $191/month.
Homebase pricing taken from their own pricing page, checked 2026-11-18. Vendors change prices — verify before you buy. We don't quote third-party aggregators because they're often years out of date.
Where Homebase is better
No point pretending otherwise.
- ✓A genuine free tier — Basic is $0 for one location with up to 10 employees, with basic scheduling and time tracking included.
- ✓Priced per location rather than per user on the paid tiers, so growing headcount within a venue doesn't move the bill.
- ✓Built-in hiring tools — job post boosts and a dedicated hiring assistant add-on, which Rotahr doesn't offer.
- ✓A large, well-reviewed US install base with POS integrations tuned to American point-of-sale systems.
- ✓Add-ons are itemised rather than bundled, so you can add just Tip Manager or just Task Manager without upgrading the whole plan.
Pick Homebase if…
You operate in the US, want a free or near-free starting tier, and are comfortable paying for payroll and hiring as separate add-ons.
Where Homebase leaves gaps for a small venue
- ✕Payroll is a bolt-on priced per employee paid ($6/employee on top of a $49 base fee), not included in the plan price the way Rotahr includes payroll preparation from Starter.
- ✕Nothing for front of house — no table bookings, floor plan or customer list.
- ✕No food safety / HACCP module.
- ✕Built and priced for the US market — scheduling rules, POS integrations and payroll are tuned to US employment law, not Irish or UK statutory breaks, VAT or Form 46G.
- ✕The useful features — AI scheduling assistant, PTO controls, labor cost management — sit on Plus and All-in-One, not Basic or Essentials.
The real difference
Most tools here do the rota well. The question is what happens to everything else — the temperature checks, the delivery notes, the bookings, the bag of receipts. Rotahr was built by a chef who was doing all of it by hand.
| Included as standard | Rotahr | Homebase |
|---|---|---|
| Staff rota & shift swaps | ✓ | ✓ |
| Clock in / out with break tracking | ✓ | ✓ |
| HACCP food safety records | ✓ | ✕ |
| Table bookings & floor plan | ✓ | ✕ |
| Receipt scanning & bookkeeping | ✓ | ✕ |
| Stock & recipe costing | ✓ | ✕ |
| Customer list & offers | ✓ | ✕ |
Based on each vendor's publicly marketed feature set as of 2026-11-18. Homebase may offer some of these through integrations or partners rather than natively.
Common questions
Is Rotahr cheaper than Homebase?
For a single Irish or UK venue, yes once payroll is in the picture — Homebase's Plus plan is $70/month and payroll adds a $49 base fee plus $6 per employee paid on top, while Rotahr Starter is €49/month including VAT with payroll preparation, HACCP, bookings and bookkeeping all in the one price.
Does Homebase work for Irish or UK hospitality businesses?
Homebase is built and marketed around US employment law, payroll and POS systems. It can be used outside the US for basic scheduling, but it doesn't carry Irish statutory break tracking, UK-specific rules, VAT handling or Form 46G the way Rotahr does.
What does Rotahr do that Homebase does not?
Table bookings with a floor plan, a customer list built from reservations, HACCP food safety records, receipt scanning and bookkeeping, and recipe costing. Homebase is a staff scheduling and time-tracking tool with hiring add-ons — those other areas stay in separate systems.