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DarwinBox vs IBM Kenexa comparison

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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

DarwinBox
Ranking in Talent Management
9th
Average Rating
6.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
Cloud HCM (9th), HR Analytics Software (6th), Talent Acquisition (10th)
IBM Kenexa
Ranking in Talent Management
17th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.3
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
Benefits Administration (12th), Applicant Tracking and Recruiting Software (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Talent Management category, the mindshare of DarwinBox is 2.1%, down from 2.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Kenexa is 1.6%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Talent Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
DarwinBox2.1%
IBM Kenexa1.6%
Other96.3%
Talent Management
 

Featured Reviews

SHANOOPCHATHOTH PARAMBIL - PeerSpot reviewer
Program Manager at Intelliswift
Enhancing attendance and leave management but needs better performance customization
Our primary use case for DarwinBox includes managing attendance, payroll-related tasks, and employee appraisal cycles DarwinBox has provided a significant return on investment for our finance team. Managing payroll and attendance manually would require more team members, so using DarwinBox…
Karan Grover - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Suitable for larger-scale companies aiming to streamline and automate their processes digitally
The deployment of the solution took between six to eight months. When we introduced BrassRing at my company, we encountered several challenges. First, moving data from our old system to BrassRing was tough because it needed reformatting. Second, connecting BrassRing with our HR data was tricky due to manual processes for roles and departments. Third, setting up the workflow in BrassRing was complex. Fourth, configuring user access and approval levels was a detailed task. We also had to manage the change process, including running both old and new systems in parallel, communicating changes, and training users. Lastly, monitoring and reporting were needed to ensure data accuracy and proper system usage once everything was in place. We had a team of six to eight people managing the project from our side during the BrassRing deployment. I'm not sure about the size of the BrassRing team, and we also had our own technical team, which had three to four members. The solution required maintenance, particularly from my side as the administrator. Maintenance responsibilities were divided into two parts: some tasks we, as end-users, could control, while others were the responsibility of the BrassRing team. Payment-related tasks were a regular part of our responsibilities. I wasn't the only person maintaining the solution. There were three power users from Infosys, each responsible for a specific geography. My counterpart managed it in the US, and I, along with my colleague in India, managed it for other geographies.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The leave-related modules are comprehensive, offering built-in functionalities for optional leaves."
"In our company, we use DarwinBox to maintain the data of our employees and for recruitment purposes."
"It has a very intuitive user interface, and anyone can use it and implement it without having to use a guide or a walk through process."
"The solution that we used previously was very complex. As a result, without referring to the manuals and consulting an expert, it was difficult for a newly hired employee to navigate the platform. However, this is not the case with Darwinbox. It has a very intuitive user interface, and anyone can use it and implement it without having to use a guide or a walk through process. It's very simple."
"The most valuable features of the solution are organogram and position-based mapping."
"I just think it's a good tool, with great flexibility."
"The ease of scaling is one of BrassRing's biggest strengths, making it a trusted choice for large companies."
"The most important features are that the instrument can be customized, that we can get important and relevant data about our employees, and the responsiveness of our client team from IBM has been phenomenal."
"IBM Kenexa is fairly stable, and we don't have any downtime."
"We acquired a pharmacy retailer three years ago, and Kenexa enabled us to actually standardize our employee engagement across both of those organizations, helping us understand at an enterprise level what was going on and, most importantly, how people were starting to feel about being acquired and joining the broader company space."
"Overall, from a recruiter's perspective, it is an excellent product and is probably one of the best recruitment products out there in terms of usability, ease of understanding, and management of large applicant pools."
"We like IBM; IBM has been great partners for us, they're really invested in our success, and they see us as a valuable client."
"I like how we can copy a req as we have many duplicates, which saved a lot of time when opening reqs."
 

Cons

"Customization in performance management is cumbersome."
"Like most software, it has a base version, the vanilla, out-of-the-box version, and customization is required to match it to the unique processes of each company. The Darwinbox team seems to be having difficulty with the customization process. They have to be a little more mature to customize it as per every company's need."
"DarwinBox is not a stable solution...DarwinBox is not a scalable solution."
"The solution's API integration with third-party applications should be improved."
"2xO was created by brain-damaged monkeys in front of keyboards."
"I would not recommend IBM Kenexa to others."
"Maybe there's some room for improvement in the functionality around the actual tools that we build with."
"I would say that it could likely be made slightly easier to consume and work with - less scientific or engineering oriented - but IBM Kenexa Talent Insights is about the most powerful and useful tool I've seen."
"Improvements can be made from the back end, with the workbench."
"Technical support was not always great. They tend to push you towards workbench admins or paid support."
"It needs to update its reporting and analytics tools."
"IBM Kenexa has a lot of room for improvement. The solution is not advancing anymore in terms of the user experience and in the workflows."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"My company makes some yearly payments towards the licensing costs attached to DarwinBox."
"Compared with SuccessFactors, there is no major difference in DarwinBox's cost."
"Kenexa was fairly priced. However, in 2019, before I left my previous organization, they significantly increased their pricing. It can be affordable, but their pricing is going up. It is not just licensing; it is how many applicants you have in your system on the database side."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
15%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
6%
Outsourcing Company
16%
Construction Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise28
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with DarwinBox?
Customization in performance management is cumbersome. Processes like six-month appraisals lack easy configurations, and any significant customization requires working with vendors.
What is your primary use case for DarwinBox?
Our primary use case for DarwinBox includes managing attendance, payroll-related tasks, and employee appraisal cycles.
What advice do you have for others considering DarwinBox?
DarwinBox offers comprehensive modules, but an area of concern is the lack of customizability, especially in performance management. It adequately covers basic functionalities, but there is a need ...
Ask a question
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Also Known As

No data available
IBM Smarter Workforce, Outstart
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Myntra, GVK BIO, Bisleri, Times Internet, Delhivery, Aarti
Sweet Spot International (SSI), Leo Burnett Worldwide (LBW), Sika AG, Legacy Health, Apollo Group Inc., Regeneron, Transurban Group, National Health Service, New Zealand Police, Overland Footwear, Yealands, Johnson Controls, Allscripts, Kerry Foods, Masterpet, AMD, Balfour Beatty
Find out what your peers are saying about DarwinBox vs. IBM Kenexa and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
913,683 professionals have used our research since 2012.