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SAP HCM vs Sage People comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

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
17th
Ranking in Talent Management
24th
Ranking in Cloud HCM
19th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
HR Analytics Software (8th), Talent Acquisition (16th)
SAP HCM
Ranking in Benefits Administration
5th
Ranking in Talent Management
4th
Ranking in Cloud HCM
5th
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 August 2026, in the Cloud HCM category, the mindshare of Sage People is 1.7%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP HCM is 3.4%, down from 10.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud HCM Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SAP HCM3.4%
Sage People1.7%
Other94.9%
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.
VikasDhumale - PeerSpot reviewer
Dev Ops Engineer at simplelogic
User interface simplifies task management with easy issue identification and quick resolutions
We don't currently need third-party solutions because Red Hat provides security through RH-ACM. This Red Hat product helps us identify vulnerabilities in Pods, YAML files, and other components. When we encounter vulnerability issues, we raise tickets, implement Red Hat's solutions, and close the tickets. OpenShift is predominantly implemented in banking sectors. Banking sectors require Enterprise edition platforms due to RBI guidelines. While small-scale industries might use Kubernetes on AWS platform, major banks such as SBI and Central Bank of India prefer OpenShift for its Enterprise edition status and comprehensive support from Red Hat. IPI setup is straightforward, but air gap environment setup is more challenging as it requires configuring HAProxy, DNS, manual DNS server, creating ignition files, downloading images, and creating separate repositories. Regarding competition, based on my knowledge, OpenShift has limited competitors apart from Red Hat. IBM has acquired Red Hat for OpenShift, and they run OpenShift on their Linux platform, making IBM the primary competitor. This product deserves a rating of 10 out of 10.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The technical support is astounding and they are one of the best support teams I have had the pleasure to work with."
"I guess I would say maybe that it is a more robust system."
"We are now able to visualize global team structures, and as we rollout other features, the organization will benefit from an easy to use system and standard processes."
"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 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."
"The solution provides the ability to trace back records, is reliable, makes life easy, and is secure."
"The solution is beneficial overall."
"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."
"Payroll processing is my favorite HCM feature, and I like all the SuccessFactors talent modules also. SAP is making good progress on enhancements to the features in the SF modules."
"We have managed to consolidate our payroll for all India operations on this platform."
"The product overall is very good."
"The payroll and time management features are useful."
"The product is flexible and has periodic updates."
"It's very suitable for large, multi-geography companies but also very suitable for medium companies with multi-geography operations."
"We have features such as ABKRS based on the client's requirement, tariff and TMSTA, and so on."
"They have some interesting features in the learning space."
 

Cons

"There is a mash-up of Visualforce and apex triggers which bear down heavily on the system."
"Right now, Sage doesn't seem to have what we are looking for when it comes to managing HR tickets."
"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."
"In comparison with other HRIS reporting tools (like Discoverer / OBIEE for Oracle, Business Objects, Crystal Reports etc. which I have used extensively for over 10 years), I think that Fairsail’s reports functionality is quite limited and only available for Administrator profiles."
"The integration with our payroll system could improve. However, it is managed by another company."
"In my opinion, the performance management module of this system could use improvement as it falls behind compared to other specialized performance management platforms."
"Its stability could be better."
"The product lacks several features available in more mature products."
"The organizational structure visualization could be improved in future releases. The solution has a very poor interface."
"The setup process for SAP HCM is a bit complex; it is not simple."
"SAP HCM cannot integrate with other third-party applications. One of the drawbacks we encounter with SAP HCM, specifically in payroll management, is the limitation regarding changing payroll areas within the same month. For instance, if an employee transitions from staff to non-staff status during the month, we face difficulties because the system doesn't allow us to change the payroll."
"Scalability can be challenging from a cost perspective. If a company has the budget, they opt for the enterprise level."
"SAP HCM's long and tedious transactions can be improved."
"The product's learning and development features could be better, including new exclusive LMS tools."
"As a product, SAP is very complicated and complex to use."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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 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."
"We have to purchase the solution's license to use it."
"Its cost is moderate for a multi-group licensing model."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"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."
"We have an annual license for this solution, and the price depends on the number of users."
"The pricing depends upon the specific model and number of user accounts included in a bundle."
"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."
"The pricing is really high."
"The terms on which you buy licenses might change due to the way they license in a particular product."
"The product is expensive."
"The cost depends on the size of the organization. Compared to others, I'd say Oracle is number one, followed by Workday and SAP HCM."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
16%
Construction Company
16%
Marketing Services Firm
9%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Construction Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

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 Enterprise40
 

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: August 2026.
908,834 professionals have used our research since 2012.