Homebase Launches Homebase Assistant, Supercharging Hourly Teams Across Main Street America

Built for the small businesses running hourly teams without a back office, Homebase Assistant addresses Main Street's most common problems

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Homebase, which more than 150,000 businesses use to hire, manage, and pay their teams, today announced Homebase Assistant. Homebase Assistant takes action to cover call-outs, manage labor costs, interview and schedule candidates, all with the owner making the final call.

Most owners didn't open their doors to build schedules, run payroll, or read applications. But someone has to. Someone covers the call-outs, scrolls through the group texts, fixes the time cards, and runs payroll on a Sunday night. For most owners, that falls on them after a full day on the floor. Homebase Assistant takes that work off their plate, so they can spend their hours on the business and the community that made them want to open it.

With Homebase Assistant, small business owners can:

• Save time on the jobs that never end. Homebase Assistant cuts time-consuming tasks, from building a schedule to writing job posts and screening high-quality candidates, down from hours to minutes, all within the owner’s guardrails.
• Keep shifts covered when plans change unexpectedly. When someone calls out at the eleventh hour, Homebase Assistant identifies available employees who can cover, reaches out to replacements with the owners’ preferences and historical context in mind, and automatically gets the shift filled.
• Run payroll without the last-minute cleanup. Homebase Assistant flags missing punches and other timecard issues early. This gives owners the ability to resolve issues in one pass before payroll, helping employees get paid correctly and on time.
• Make labor cost decisions with confidence. Homebase Assistant proactively flags overtime trends and gaps between scheduled and worked hours, so owners can adjust staffing issues before they become costly surprises.

"Every business owner I’ve met has had the same 6 a.m. moment: the wake-up to a text that someone is calling out sick. Their plans for the day are derailed by a bunch of calls to find a replacement," said John Waldmann, Founder and CEO of Homebase. "Most AI tools would just tell you the shift is uncovered. Homebase Assistant finds someone who can cover it and gets the owner back to work. That’s one headache gone. We are building Homebase to do the work and eliminate the daily headaches."

Homebase Assistant builds on the impact Homebase has already delivered for over 150,000 local businesses. Since 2025, Homebase has handled over 4.7 million administrative tasks on an owners’ behalf, saving them over 50 million hours. Homebase was also named a 2026 Inc. Power Partner honoree, a recognition of how these time savings help Main Street’s owners, hourly employees, and the communities these businesses serve.

“Anyone who’s opened a business knows that there are a thousand decisions that need to be made at any given time,” said Reuben Pressman, Founder & Managing Partner of St. Pete Athletic. “Homebase gives us time back to make those decisions, especially at times when we have no time at all. Take hiring: with Homebase, we sorted through over 3,000 job applications, saving over 1,000 hours with AI-powered screening while still finding the absolute best talent for our team.”

Homebase Assistant is available now to a limited number of businesses. To learn more and see if a business qualifies to be among the first to try, please visit http://joinhomebase.com/assistant.

About Homebase

Our mission is to make small business teams unstoppable.

Homebase is the leading management platform for hourly teams, with employee scheduling, time clocks, payroll, hiring, communication, HR, and more. More than 150,000 small businesses rely on Homebase to make work radically easy and give their teams superpowers. Since 2025, Homebase’s AI-powered products have handled more than 4.7 million administrative tasks for small businesses across Main Street. Homebase was named a 2026 Inc Power Partner, a 2025 Webby Award winner, and a 2025 Fast Company’s Most Innovative Workplaces North America winner.

Homebase is based in San Francisco, Houston, Denver, and Toronto, and is backed by leading venture investors L Catterton Growth, Emerson Collective, Notable Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Baseline Ventures, Cowboy Ventures, Bedrock Capital, and PLUS Capital.