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Workforce scheduling · September 2026 Edition

Homebase vs Sling

Zero of twelve models named Homebase first on the direct prompt; zero named Sling. Both were named by all twelve models and Homebase carries 25 labels and Sling 18, so the shares are not directly comparable.

Homebase

accepted challenger

Named in eleven categories this edition.

Sling

accepted challenger

Named in four categories this edition.

First-choice share15%15%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate12%6%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#2#3A position in a field of 9; printed, not drawn.
Labels2518A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Homebase reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Deputy was named alongside these two in eight of the twelve direct answers. Deputy vs Homebase · Deputy vs Sling

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all twelve models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the workforce scheduling page.

By framing

How many of the twelve models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
HomebaseFirst choices, of twelve modelsSling
Direct001 against Homebase
Paraphrase101 against Homebase · 1 against Sling
Comparative10
Budget-constrained671 against Homebase
Scale-constrained00
Negative00
Bars are first choices, 0 to 12 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to twelve.

The direct prompt

The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Homebase and Sling stood in it.

Neither was the first choice, one was named

2 of 12 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.
Claude Haiku 4.5Paycor alternatives: Buddy Punch, Sling, UKG Pro
GPT-5.4 miniRippling alternatives: Connecteam, Homebase, When I Work

Neither was named

10 of 12 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.
Gemini 3.5 FlashAssembled alternatives: Calendly, Chili Piper, Deputy, Float, RevenueHero, Rippling, Runn
Perplexity SonarDeputy alternatives: Rippling, Workforce.com
Grok 4.1 FastADP Workforce Now, Rippling alternatives: Connecteam, Deputy
Mistral SmallPaycor, TimeTrex alternatives: 7shifts, Buddy Punch, Connecteam
DeepSeek V4 FlashDeputy alternatives: ADP Workforce Now, Connecteam, Jobber, When I Work, Workforce.com
Llama 4 MaverickTimeTrex
Qwen 3.7 FlashDeputy alternatives: Humanity, Rippling, TimeTrex
Kimi K2Deputy alternatives: Humanity, When I Work
GLM 4.7 FlashXDeputy alternatives: Connecteam, Humanity, TimeTrex, When I Work, Workforce.com, Zoho People
MiniMax M2.5TimeTrex alternatives: Deputy, Humanity, ScheduleAnywhere, When I Work

Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Homebase leads by thirty-one points.
Homebase43%#1 of 7
Sling12%#3 of 7
The full small business standing →
Mid-marketThe figures above
Level: the same share of first choices.
Homebase15%#2 of 9
Sling15%#3 of 9
The full mid-market standing →
Enterprise
Level: the same share of first choices.
Homebase0%#– of 8
Sling0%#– of 8
The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about Homebase

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Three of three in this category shown.

“Sling or Homebase (note: these cap out quickly at mid-scale)” Qwen 3.7 Flash · paraphrase prompt · soft negative
“Recommendation: Start with Homebase if you have one location and want time tracking included for free—it's the most balanced for limited budgets” Grok 4.1 Fast · budget prompt · first choice
“When I Work or Homebase are excellent starting points due to their balance of features, ease of use, and affordability” Mistral Small · paraphrase prompt · first choice

What the models said about Sling

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Four of four in this category shown.

“Sling or Homebase (note: these cap out quickly at mid-scale)” Qwen 3.7 Flash · paraphrase prompt · soft negative
“Sling: Best for Teams of Up to 30 (On a $0 Budget) ... It is the only reliable platform offering free shift scheduling for up to 30 users.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · budget prompt · first choice
“If you need a schedule for under 30 employees without paying anything, Sling is widely considered the best budget choice.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · budget prompt · first choice
“Homebase and Sling are the top choices, especially for one-location or small teams” Mistral Small · budget prompt · first choice
Also compared
Deputy vs HomebaseDeputy vs SlingThe full workforce scheduling standing

Comparisons are drawn for the top three products in each category. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.