Homebase

Build staff schedules and time-off workflows without payroll or hiring services

NOT REALLY · consider alternatives
price $30/mosubscription / year $360estimated build time closest consolation build: one sittingreplaced by 0 people

A consolation build is possible, but the paid product's decisive value sits outside a solo rebuild. For Homebase, build staff schedules and time-off workflows without payroll or hiring services. The hard boundary is time clocks, payroll, messaging, labor-law tools, hiring, and support, plus compliance, payroll, and regulated integrations.

Build verification: not recorded. How we judge buildability

What you give up

  • time clocks, payroll, messaging, labor-law tools, hiring, and support
  • payroll rails
  • tax and labor-law compliance
  • benefits integrations
  • identity checks and global employment infrastructure

Why people still pay

People still pay for Homebase because HR platforms survive because mistakes affect pay, benefits, immigration, and legal obligations, not because forms are difficult to render. The recurring cost buys sensitive data, access, retention, audit, payroll calculations, filings, benefits, employment law, incident response, and support, not just the visible interface.

Your build guide

The stack, security requirements, and agent rules for a focused replacement.

Before you start

  • PostgreSQL
  • private self-hosted deployment
  • strict admin access
  • documented retention policy
01
Use Next.js 15, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Drizzle ORM, and Docker Compose.
02
Model employees, leave requests, approval decisions, policy versions, and audit events; keep stable source IDs and timestamps.
03
Interface for this HR, recruiting, payroll and workforce operations workflow: a local web page with input, progress, review, and export views.
engineering roadmap

Implementation plan

1

Phase 1, architecture and data

Use Next.js 15, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Drizzle ORM, and Docker Compose. Model employees, leave requests, approval decisions, policy versions, and audit events; keep stable source IDs and timestamps.

2

Phase 2, implement

Implement employees, teams, roles, documents, leave requests, equipment, onboarding tasks, and acknowledgements.

3

Phase 3, implement

Add approval workflows, expiry reminders, export, retention, deletion holds, and encrypted backups.

4

Phase 4, review and output

Keep compensation fields optional and never calculate payroll, taxes, benefits, or statutory filings. Add approval workflows, expiry reminders, export, retention, deletion holds, and encrypted backups.

5

Phase 5, recovery and acceptance

Ship Docker Compose, health checks, disaster recovery, and an emergency-access procedure. Verify this invariant with a saved fixture: A rejected or withdrawn request cannot change the approved balance; a policy edit must not rewrite past decisions. State the practical limit: time clocks, payroll, messaging, labor-law tools, hiring, and support.

the pro prompt
Build me a focused HR, recruiting, payroll and workforce operations workflow for the personal core of Homebase. Requirements:

- Use Next.js 15, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Drizzle ORM, and Docker Compose. Model employees, leave requests, approval decisions, policy versions, and audit events; keep stable source IDs and timestamps.
- Paid product context: Build staff schedules and time-off workflows without payroll or hiring services. Build only this DIY scope: Build staff schedules and time-off workflows, maintain approvals and records, and export data without payroll calculation, hiring services, or employment decisions.
- Implement employees, teams, roles, documents, leave requests, equipment, onboarding tasks, and acknowledgements.
- Add approval workflows, expiry reminders, export, retention, deletion holds, and encrypted backups.
- Keep compensation fields optional and never calculate payroll, taxes, benefits, or statutory filings.
- Use a local web page with input, progress, review, and export views. Required input or access: private self-hosted deployment; strict admin access.
- Recovery: Ship Docker Compose, health checks, disaster recovery, and an emergency-access procedure.
- Acceptance: with one labelled sample, show the input, saved intermediate state, and exported result; verify this invariant: A rejected or withdrawn request cannot change the approved balance; a policy edit must not rewrite past decisions.
- Out of scope: time clocks, payroll, messaging, labor-law tools, hiring, and support; payroll rails. Keep this a personal, inspectable workflow.
- Include a README with setup, a sample input, required keys or permissions, data location, and the supported scope.

$ open in your agent (prompt prefilled, you press enter), copy the prompt or copy AGENTS.md · generated from this app's build plan

share on X ↗

Alternatives to building your own

Frappe HRSchedules, shifts and leave in a full HR stack; running the stack is the unpaid role.8.5kaug 2026open source↗Horilla HRSchedules, rotating shifts and leave in Docker; a whole HR suite comes along for the ride.1.4kjul 2026open source↗Sling FreeShift scheduling, availability and swaps for 30 people; the time clock is where the upsell starts.$0free↗

all 5 free alternatives to Homebase →· no votes, no pay-to-list · just what's real

Homebase pricing

planmonthlyannual (per mo)what you get
basic$0/workspace$0/workspace1 location; up to 10 employees; 90 days of timesheet history
essentials$30/workspace$24/workspacePer location; unlimited employees; 4+ years of timesheet history; scheduling, time tracking, and team communication
plus$70/workspace$56/workspacePer location; unlimited employees; adds labor-cost controls, time-off/PTO, and permissions
all-in-one$120/workspace$96/workspacePer location; unlimited employees; adds onboarding, HR/compliance tools, and advanced controls

free tier1 location; 10 employees; 90 days of timesheet history

billingfree + monthly/annual paid plans (annual rates are 20% lower); 14-day All-in-One trial

hidden costsPricing is per location, not per company. Add-ons include Payroll $39/month+$6 per paid employee, Tip Manager $25/location/month, background checks $30, Task Manager $13/location/month, job boosts $79/post, and Hiring Assistant $30/post.

pricing sources checked 2026-08-10 · pricing source ↗

Questions about Homebase

Can you build your own Homebase with AI?

A full replacement is not the recommended project. A consolation build is possible, but the paid product's decisive value sits outside a solo rebuild. For Homebase, build staff schedules and time-off workflows without payroll or hiring services. The hard boundary is time clocks, payroll, messaging, labor-law tools, hiring, and support, plus compliance, payroll, and regulated integrations.

What does the Homebase build prompt cover?

The prompt starts with this scope: Build staff schedules and time-off workflows, maintain approvals and records, and export data without payroll calculation, hiring services, or employment decisions. Full-product capabilities excluded from the comparison include: time clocks, payroll, messaging, labor-law tools, hiring, and support; payroll rails; tax and labor-law compliance. Follow the implementation plan and its prerequisites before expanding the build.

How do I use the prompt, AGENTS.md and agent skills?

Start with the Homebase prerequisites and stack, then copy the prompt into your coding agent. Save the project rules as AGENTS.md in the project root. Linked skills are optional packages or source instructions for specific tasks; review their current contents and install only those matching the chosen stack. A skill does not supply API credentials or verify the finished app.

How long will this Homebase project take?

The catalogue estimate is closest consolation build: one sitting for the limited scope. Setup, integration approvals, debugging, deployment and ongoing maintenance can add time. This is an estimate, not a delivery guarantee.

What would I give up by replacing Homebase?

time clocks, payroll, messaging, labor-law tools, hiring, and support; payroll rails; tax and labor-law compliance; benefits integrations; identity checks and global employment infrastructure. People still pay for Homebase because HR platforms survive because mistakes affect pay, benefits, immigration, and legal obligations, not because forms are difficult to render. The recurring cost buys sensitive data, access, retention, audit, payroll calculations, filings, benefits, employment law, incident response, and support, not just the visible interface.

What price is this guide comparing against?

The recorded Essentials plan is $30/mo (monthly), checked 2026-08-10. Check the linked pricing source before buying. Building your own also has hosting, API and maintenance costs; the recorded amount is not a guaranteed saving.

What can I use instead of building Homebase?

Frappe HR: Schedules, shifts and leave in a full HR stack; running the stack is the unpaid role. Horilla HR: Schedules, rotating shifts and leave in Docker; a whole HR suite comes along for the ride. Sling Free: Shift scheduling, availability and swaps for 30 people; the time clock is where the upsell starts. Compare all listed options at https://howtovibecodeit.dev/homebase/alternatives. Check each option's license, hosting needs and feature limits.

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