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SAP HCM vs Sage People comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 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

Sage People
Ranking in Benefits Administration
20th
Ranking in Talent Management
27th
Ranking in Cloud HCM
25th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
HR Analytics Software (9th), Talent Acquisition (15th)
SAP HCM
Ranking in Benefits Administration
3rd
Ranking in Talent Management
3rd
Ranking in Cloud HCM
3rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
59
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Cloud HCM category, the mindshare of Sage People is 1.3%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP HCM is 4.8%, down from 14.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud HCM Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
SAP HCM4.8%
Sage People1.3%
Other93.9%
Cloud HCM
 

Featured Reviews

Spencer Gray - PeerSpot reviewer
People Advisor at Thomas International
Highly customizable, robust, and access to helpful online community
In my opinion, the performance management module of this system could use improvement as it falls behind compared to other specialized performance management platforms. While I understand that this system is not solely focused on performance management and is more of a generalist solution, it still lacks the capabilities and features that you can find in other specialized platforms. If we were to switch to a provider solely focused on performance management, we would have access to a wider range of features and capabilities that are not currently available in this system. Sage People offers a wide range of functions that meet most requirements. However, there is still room for improvement. One feature that I would like to see added is the ability to detect and address any failures in the custom processes or functions built within the system. I would like to see a tool that can automatically sense and identify any issues in the system. Currently, when something goes wrong, it's not always immediately obvious and requires a lot of manual troubleshooting. It would be helpful if there was an error message that clearly explained why the system is failing. This would speed up the investigation process and make it ten times faster.
SS
Assistant Manager at Kashiv Biosciences
Centralized global HR data has improved expense control and supports secure employee management
The features of SAP HCM are valued by me as it had a clear idea about what was expected from the user point. The person or the application has a lot of features and it had actually all the information needed from our part. That aspect is nice. Apart from that, the T-codes are really helpful to understand which particular option we need when we put the T-code in the search box. The stability and reliability of SAP HCM product are really nice, very helpful, and secured. It has no point of leakage and is mostly reliable, as most companies and organizations prefer SAP over many tools. As for security, it's already secured from the beginning itself, and that is the only reason our organization relies on it. Since it's very useful at a global scale, it is a very useful tool and is very easy to access and handle.

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 features of Sage People are the reports that are useful for decision-making and the API that can be integrated well. Additionally, the solution can be accessed from mobile devices onto the cloud."
"The solution's initial setup was straightforward."
"The reporting features are also very valuable because, on top of 300+ reports available on the system, you can also customize quite a number of reports."
"Compared to the other system that we were using, I think Sage is more friendly. As an administrator, Sage's dashboard is visually friendly and many tasks are easier to accomplish. Another feature that we've liked since we started using Sage is the reporting. With the other system, we needed to configure a lot of things manually when it came to reporting, but with Sage the reporting tasks are much simpler."
"I guess I would say maybe that it is a more robust system."
"The solution is beneficial overall."
"The most valuable feature of Sage People is the integration with our payroll system."
"The solution provides the ability to trace back records, is reliable, makes life easy, and is secure."
"We have features such as ABKRS based on the client's requirement, tariff and TMSTA, and so on."
"The integration provided by SAP between different modules is very good."
"The payroll suite is very valuable."
"The functions are really important in the product in ReadyNodes."
"I think HCM was the most stable for me...It is a very scalable product."
"When you maintain your data in SAP, you can generate any kind of HR report with one click."
"SAP HCM is a competitive and comprehensive tool that covers major programs in the enterprise and supports the global process."
"All our employee data, like performance and payroll, is managed through SAP HCM."
 

Cons

"In my opinion, the performance management module of this system could use improvement as it falls behind compared to other specialized performance management platforms."
"The integration with our payroll system could improve. However, it is managed by another company."
"The budget module does not work. Sage People need to maybe make it more user-friendly."
"The automation in Sage People could improve. The solution is the best used for data storage but the automation could be better to have more functionality."
"There were a couple of things that we wanted to customize, but we couldn’t do it ourselves."
"Its stability could be better."
"Right now, Sage doesn't seem to have what we are looking for when it comes to managing HR tickets. In my previous experiences with other HR software, we had to buy another solution to obtain this functionality, and it would be a great feature for Sage to consider adding. For an HR system, Sage would do very well to include it."
"If Sage People were to become a fully cloud-based solution, it could lead to significant improvements. With the COVID pandemic highlighting the benefits of remote work, a complete shift to cloud-based functionality would be a welcome development for users."
"I would like it to move more towards a single data space, a single data source. SAP as a platform relies on multiple data sources because traditionally, it's been bolted together by the acquisition of other products rather than a single database. That's why there are lots of points of failure and lots of required points of integration. They need a single integration point."
"I would say the speed of SAP HCM tool might need some optimization."
"The organizational structure visualization could be improved in future releases. The solution has a very poor interface."
"SAP HCM has helped a lot due to the always changing government regulations pertaining to taxation, social security service, and local regulations that change frequently."
"The customer support from SAP is reasonable, yet I would rate it five out of ten."
"It needs a lot of end user training as it is not intuitive at all."
"I'm currently working for a state-owned government company, and we need to follow some standards and regulations. We also have a strategy to be followed. Sometimes the template and the format are not available in the SAP HCM, so we have to work around this limitation. The tax also sometimes changes in my country, and we have to redo everything to change the payroll calculations, benefits, and things like that. The talent management feature can be improved. It is currently very simple in SAP HCM. SAP is also very hard to integrate. In terms of monitoring, there are no monitoring tools, but as long as we take care of the disk capacity, there is no problem."
"In my experience, SAP HCM and similar products are very good, but the focus now should be on providing features to encourage employee adoption. For example, accessing pay slips is a task that naturally drives adoption. However, AI tools that can prompt employees at the right time through the right application are needed for actions such as conducting surveys or gathering performance feedback."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the solution is reasonable."
"There is other software on the market that can do similar functions to Sage People that could be better in price. Some solution allows you to do your payroll processes by month or by the process. Small companies could benefit by using another solution."
"I think it's reasonably priced. But in comparison to other systems, I would choose them over Sage People, regardless of their prices."
"Its cost is moderate for a multi-group licensing model."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"The cost of Sage People varies depending on the financial resources of the organization. While it may be affordable for middle-level companies, it may be more challenging for young companies to bear the cost."
"I believe we pay licensing on a yearly basis, but I can't comment on the total amount that we pay on licensing."
"From an SME standpoint, I wouldn't necessarily describe it as expensive. However, for the average startup, it may not be affordable since our current annual expenditure on the system, which supports approximately 210-220 users, amounts to approximately £15,000 to £18,000."
"The pricing depends upon the specific model and number of user accounts included in a bundle."
"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 solution is a little expensive and we are charged per user for the license. The solution can be paid monthly or annually."
"We have an annual license for this solution, and the price depends on the number of users."
"The solution is cheap."
"SAP is extremely expensive. The integration costs and customization costs are also a lot."
"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."
"We purchase the product's yearly license."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
18%
Marketing Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Government
6%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise6
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise39
 

Questions from the Community

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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

Fairsail
SAP Human Capital Management
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Rocketship Education, Monitise, u-blox, SolarWinds, Mitsubishi, SmartStream, Canonical, Betfair
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 SAP HCM vs. Sage People and other solutions. Updated: January 2026.
881,665 professionals have used our research since 2012.