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Cornerstone Learning vs SAP HCM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 4, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Cornerstone Learning
Ranking in Talent Management
9th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
Learning Management Systems (LMS) (7th), Virtual Training (4th)
SAP HCM
Ranking in Talent Management
3rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
57
Ranking in other categories
Benefits Administration (3rd), Cloud HCM (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Talent Management category, the mindshare of Cornerstone Learning is 2.8%, up from 2.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP HCM is 9.0%, down from 12.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Talent Management
 

Featured Reviews

Vibha  Mishra - PeerSpot reviewer
Streamlined compliance training and efficient session creation empower diverse industries
Creating a session requires just one click, which makes data ready efficiently. Reporting-wise, Cornerstone is the best. It allows internal content management, playlist creation, using external links for learning, and supports various AI training. All the compliance training, code of conduct, and audits are handled through Cornerstone, making it beneficial.
Renelia Villanueva - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient payroll processing with comprehensive attendance management
I am currently heading the payroll benefits and HRIS team here in Manila. We are using SAP HCM on-premises, and we implemented SuccessFactors focusing on Employee Central and GMPM SAP HCM has helped a lot due to the always changing government regulations pertaining to taxation, social security…

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The most valuable feature of Cornerstone Learning is the reporting and learner transcripts."
"Cornerstone Learning's most valuable features are the keyword search, filters, and add-to-favorites option."
"What I like the most about Cornerstone is that it is agile. It has good built-in processes and the implementation is rapid."
"The most valuable features of Cornerstone Learning are the welcome page and the learner's home. It is user-friendly and graphically appealing."
"The solution is very stable."
"The most valuable features of Cornerstone Learning are how they organized the management of the different content types is good. They are done in different ways which is a benefit. Additionally, the reporting 2.0 and playlist functionality are very good."
"There are new releases every three months that keep up with industry standards and meet the needs of the customer."
"The Meeting feature is similar to a conference call facility that can be used for virtual meetings."
"SAP HCM is a competitive and comprehensive tool that covers major programs in the enterprise and supports the global process."
"The most valuable feature, in my view, is the level of exceptions or error messages that come back when something goes wrong."
"SAP HCM is a powerful program that can greatly benefit organizations with its comprehensive features and integrations."
"The technical support is quite good."
"The payroll suite is very valuable."
"SAP HCM can handle a large number of employees. We can easily process payrolls and check the arrangements, and the client can also check the performance of the employees. Additionally, it has some advanced features."
"I feel SAP HCM is very competitive and worth the investment given its capability to integrate modules and provide comprehensive value."
"We are satisfied with the reporting by SAP HCM."
 

Cons

"In general, some of the portal pages have an outdated look and feel."
"Its integration with Microsoft Teams for virtual sessions could be better"
"Even though the system has a number of features, design wise the user interface is a little bit complicated. It is hard for the user to navigate properly. Because the system has so many features, it has a lot of tabs and links. Sometimes, people get confused as to where to go and search."
"A minus is that Cornerstone doesn't provide the admin the ability to create their own content for learning. So, you can just manage the content."
"The automated ticketing system for technical support often has a response time that is quite long, which is something that should be improved."
"Cornerstone Learning could improve the curriculum function by giving it more flexibility. I'm managing the solution and I adding content to the system, and overall, the backend of the system looks a bit dated. Cornerstone Learning has focused a lot on the user experience and less on the backend operational administrative experience. This could be improved overall."
"Could use more robust reporting or more flexibility and scalability around the reporting side."
"Cornerstone Learning could be improved with more e-learning content."
"SAP HCM could improve by having more resources and making it more user-friendly. It is complex."
"SAP HCM is costly compared to other ERPs like Microsoft Dynamics or Oracle, and I would rate the cost as one out of ten."
"What can be improved in SAP HCM depends on the industry it serves. The system's navigation could be simplified for users. The flow and integration between parts, like core HR, payroll, and recruiting, must be communicated properly. Users should focus on how doing things correctly from the start will improve things in the long run rather than feeling overwhelmed by tasks."
"The speed of technical support can be improved."
"SAP HCM's long and tedious transactions can be improved."
"The product significantly improved our organization by automating many processes, which reduced paperwork and provided clearer, more accurate goals and competencies."
"There needs to be a renovation of the interface and functionalities of the talent management modules."
"There are already success factors for the cloud solution which cannot be integrated into S/4 HANA."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution cost approximately $47,000 annually."
"Quality always comes at a cost. I would not rate it as expensive. It provides value for money."
"The pricing of Cornerstone Learning is reasonable, but my knowledge of the cost is limited. I've had some discussions about licenses. I suppose we've had to push them a little bit to be more flexible about the licensing. For example, someone said they could only give us licenses in a batch of 500, but we found out that it wasn't true. We were able to negotiate a different amount."
"I'm not aware of the costs. It must have been something for which we paid. Every single employee in the company had some kind of access to Cornerstone because that's how they got to their training."
"It is a premium product, and it is on par with its competitors. It isn't out of scale with what the market is demanding. We're always looking at ways of trimming costs, but we haven't had a lot of flexibility with pricing and/or options with Cornerstone. So, its price is decent. There are ad hoc engineering costs when we are required to use a Cornerstone resource. Additionally, when we choose to integrate with third-party platforms, there is a setup and maintenance fee for these data integrations. They need to be built into our ongoing budget as we expand our offerings."
"The price of Cornerstone Learning depends on many factors, such as size and negotiations."
"This solution offers competitive pricing."
"I would rate the price at four on a scale from one to five because it's a very expensive product."
"The pricing depends upon the specific model and number of user accounts included in a bundle."
"Licensing fees are paid yearly."
"The cost of SAP HCM is high, the license should be reduced. SAP HCM has a lot of hidden costs."
"HCM is cheaper than SuccessFactors."
"For implementation, SAP offers little support unless you buy SAP Safeguarding from SAP Consulting."
"In my view, this product is a waste of money for SMB because there are much better products available and licensing is an issue."
"The pricing is around the middle, at a five out of ten. But it depends on the number of licenses. More licenses mean lower per-user costs. You need to understand how to play the volume game and the growth."
"The solution is cheap."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
54%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
4%
Financial Services Firm
4%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Is Cornerstone Learning reliable for content organization?
I think the organizational management of Cornerstone Learning is great. My organization uses this learning software and the way different content types are managed is very useful for our training ...
Does Cornerstone Learning provide you with good reports?
Cornerstone Learning provides great reports for your training programs and the performance of your employees on them. What's more, you get skills graphs which my company finds the most valuable for...
Why would you recommend Cornerstone as a platform for virtual training?
Hello, I think that Cornerstone is more than suitable for virtual training. For one, it gives you a really big array of tools and customizations to be able to deliver your employees high-quality t...
What do you like most about SAP HCM?
SAP HCM is the one of the best ERP for an organization with a small to large scale business. It has the most efficient payroll functionality. Regards : SAP HR classes in pune
What do you like most about SAP HCM?
HCM is a very important module that each organization should want to use. It will help any organization to calculate and control the cost of their human resources.
What is better, SAP HCM or SAP SuccessFactors?
When it comes to user experience, SuccessFactors is unquestionably superior, as it provides end users with a new experience and an advanced user interface. Additionally, the entire concept of SF is...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Cornerstone Learning Suite, Saba Cloud
SAP Human Capital Management
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Advantage Sales and Marketing
City of Cape Town, ADAMA Agricultural Solutions Ltd., TransAlta Corporation, Keolis, PT XL Axiata Tbk, National Football League (NFL), Plan International, Yoh, A Day & Zimmermann Company, China Talent Group (CTG TMO), Umicore S.A., Butterfield Bank, Skrill Group Ltd.
Find out what your peers are saying about Cornerstone Learning vs. SAP HCM and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.