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Bottom line: For under 50 employees, Homebase Payroll is the cheapest sane pick if you already use Homebase scheduling. SurePayroll fits a single unit with a bookkeeper who wants a simple standalone product. 7shifts Payroll wins when you already run 7shifts scheduling and want tips and hours in one system without an integration.
- The right test for restaurant payroll is not price per month. It is how many minutes a week your manager spends fixing tips, hours, and rate changes.
- Homebase Payroll rides on top of scheduling, so hours flow in clean. Best if turnover is high and you re-onboard staff monthly.
- SurePayroll is quiet and reliable. No scheduling, no fancy analytics, just checks and tax filings. Good for owner-operators who outsource books.
- 7shifts Payroll is worth it if you already pay for 7shifts. One database for schedules, tips, and pay removes an entire class of reconciliation errors.
- Ask for a live demo of tip pooling and tipped-minimum-wage credits with your actual state rules before you sign anything.
The “payroll bundled with the scheduler” pitch is one of the more attractive sales moves in restaurant tech, because it lets an operator drop a vendor from the stack and simplify the AP. It also, done wrong, means paying for a mediocre payroll product because it happens to sit inside a good scheduling app. This post is about picking correctly.
Homebase Payroll, SurePayroll, and 7shifts Payroll all pitch the same operator archetype: small-to-mid restaurant, wants scheduling and payroll under one roof, doesn’t want to pay Rippling money for it. Here’s how they actually compare.
Pricing at a glance (Aug 2026)
| Platform | Base | Per employee | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homebase Payroll | $39/mo | $6/emp | Add-on to any Homebase plan (including free) |
| SurePayroll | ~$30/mo | ~$5/emp | Standalone payroll, integrates with Homebase |
| 7shifts Payroll | Included with Pro / Premium plans | $6/emp | Requires 7shifts Pro ($36+/loc/mo) or Premium |
Verified against Homebase, SurePayroll, and 7shifts pricing pages, August 2026.
Feature grid
| Feature | Homebase Payroll | SurePayroll | 7shifts Payroll |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tip reporting / allocation | Yes | Yes | Yes, native from 7shifts data |
| Tipped minimum credit | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Same-day / next-day pay | Yes (add-on) | Next-day standard | Yes (add-on) |
| Integrated scheduling | Yes (Homebase) | No (integrates) | Yes (7shifts) |
| Multi-location | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Best for | Small restaurants on Homebase | Small restaurants, any scheduler | Restaurants already on 7shifts Pro |
Homebase Payroll: the natural add-on for Homebase users
Homebase Payroll is the obvious pick if you’re already on Homebase scheduling. Timesheets flow directly to payroll without export, tips are captured in the same place staff clock in and out, and the pricing ($39 per month plus $6 per employee) is honest for what you get. The payroll product itself is competent, not category-leading.
The catch: if you outgrow Homebase’s scheduling (which happens at 3+ locations for many operators), you’ll either stay on Homebase Payroll while switching schedulers (defeats the point) or migrate payroll too (annoying).
Our take: right choice for single-unit and 2-unit independents already on Homebase.
SurePayroll: the “just payroll” option
SurePayroll is a Paychex company that focuses on being a small-business payroll product without the HR platform ambitions. Pricing runs around $30 per month plus $5 per employee, next-day direct deposit is standard, and it integrates with Homebase and other schedulers.
Where SurePayroll fits is the operator who wants scheduling and payroll from different vendors on purpose (because the scheduling tool is category-leading and the payroll tool doesn’t need to be). That’s a defensible stack for restaurants that already have a scheduler they like.
Our take: solid choice when you don’t want scheduler-payroll bundling but do want a boring, cheap payroll tool.
7shifts Payroll: the Pro-plan bundle for 7shifts customers
7shifts Payroll is bundled into the 7shifts Pro plan (roughly $36 per location per month base) plus $6 per employee for the payroll piece. If you’re already on 7shifts Pro, the marginal cost is honest and the integration is native.
The trap is that 7shifts Payroll is only available on Pro and Premium, which pushes some operators up a plan tier they don’t otherwise need. Model that math before you commit.
Our take: default choice for operators already on 7shifts Pro. Don’t upgrade to 7shifts Pro just to get the payroll.
Who this is for
- 1-2 unit independent on Homebase: Homebase Payroll.
- 1-3 unit independent, wants to keep scheduler and payroll separate: SurePayroll plus whichever scheduler you already run.
- Already on 7shifts Pro: 7shifts Payroll bundle.
- Multi-unit 5+, restaurant-specific needs: reconsider Gusto or Toast Payroll depending on POS. See our Gusto vs Toast Payroll vs Rippling writeup.
The number to actually watch
Time from pay-period close to check delivery. Any of these three should get you inside 2 business days. If you’re outside that window, the software isn’t the bottleneck. It’s your GM’s punch approval workflow.
Next step
The RBL Toolkit has a payroll-and-benefits worksheet that helps size the full loaded cost, including the fees you’ll pay every month regardless of provider.
Related comparisons
Signed, The Pragmatic CFO
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