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IBM Kenexa vs Personio comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

IBM Kenexa
Ranking in Applicant Tracking and Recruiting Software
10th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.3
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
Benefits Administration (16th), Talent Management (17th)
Personio
Ranking in Applicant Tracking and Recruiting Software
7th
Average Rating
5.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Cloud HCM (20th), HR Analytics Software (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Applicant Tracking and Recruiting Software category, the mindshare of IBM Kenexa is 2.3%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Personio is 1.1%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Applicant Tracking and Recruiting Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Personio1.1%
IBM Kenexa2.3%
Other96.6%
Applicant Tracking and Recruiting Software
 

Featured Reviews

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.
RT
Global Talent Acquisition Lead at Career Break
Offers strong HR features but recruiting module needs essential improvements
The analytics and reporting aspect in Personio for the recruiting part was below expectations compared to some other applicant tracking systems. It is clunky and cannot be tailored to specific needs. The reporting and analytics for the recruiting part are insufficient. The ability to filter applications based on filtering questions added to applications was missing in recruiting. Other recruiting software performs this function much better. Keyword searches within applicants' resumes in the database within recruiting were not possible. I brought this up with the Personio account manager and was told it was on the development list, but these are essential features for any recruiter. I would advise companies looking for an ATS and considering Personio to get a separate recruiting piece of software that can interface with Personio instead.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Now, having provided this, amongst many other things, we have a much closer relationship to the business."
"I would say the support that we get from the CSMs is the most valuable for me right now, because I'm still leaning on them pretty heavily to understand everything that I'm doing within the system."
"It has definitely improved my organization by being able to help the recruiters move candidates through the interview process."
"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 just think it's a good tool, with great flexibility."
"The most valuable features are that we can upload documents and download them on demand."
"I would definitely and highly recommend the applicant tracking system."
"IBM Kenexa is fairly stable. We don't have any downtime."
"Personio provides an opportunity to set up structure with certain steps, creating a clear interviewing process, which resulted in hiring better candidates faster because having a system in place is better than having none."
"As an HR tool, Personio is really good; it is straightforward adding your organizational structure through it with the accounting codes so you can interface with many accounting modules and payroll modules."
 

Cons

"Improved integrations: There are all kinds of issues with integrations, hires failing."
"The user interface could do with an overhaul."
"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."
"The downside of Kenexa is that they're constantly reinventing, so they have constant releases with new features and upgrades. The downside of that is that they do experience fairly regular issues with stability that they're not always as quick to respond to as we'd like them to."
"The downside is it's a system that was created many, many years ago and so it just evolves."
"We're really looking forward to some of their enhancements to their onboarding portal, specifically for recruiters and hiring managers."
"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."
"There were functions we couldn't customize and needed to."
"Personio is not scalable as an ATS, and I struggle to work with it."
"The analytics and reporting aspect in Personio for the recruiting part was below expectations compared to some other applicant tracking systems."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Healthcare Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
21%
Financial Services Firm
19%
Construction Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
 

Company Size

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

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Personio?
I cannot provide information about the setup costs as I am not responsible for the financial aspects.
What needs improvement with Personio?
The screening of candidates in the ATS part is quite complicated. In Greenhouse, you can have a CV of one person on one page at a time, zoomed in immediately for easy screening. In Personio, it req...
What is your primary use case for Personio?
I'm a consultant, so I do in-house recruiting, embedded recruiting for various clients, and one of my clients is using Personio as their ATS, so that's how I work with it. As a recruiter, I primari...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

IBM Smarter Workforce, Outstart
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
Orderbird, HelloFresh, Stylight, TURCK, HolidayCheck, ZenMate, Amorelie, UNU, raisin
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Kenexa vs. Personio and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.