SAP SuccessFactors vs Sage People comparison

Sage and SAP are both solutions in the Cloud HCM category. Sage is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.0, while SAP is ranked #1 with an average rating of 7.4. Sage holds a 0.6% mindshare in CHCM, compared to SAP’s 21.2% mindshare. Additionally, 81% of Sage users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 85% of SAP users who would recommend it.

Sage People

Read 15 Sage People reviews

440 Views
214 Comparison Views

81% willing to recommend

SAP SuccessFactors

Read 95 SAP SuccessFactors reviews

9,820 Views
7,073 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

Sage People

SAP SuccessFactors

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

SAP SuccessFactors and Sage People compete in the Human Resources Management Systems (HRMS) market. SAP SuccessFactors seems to have the upper hand in enterprise functionality with its AI integration, while Sage People offers robust reporting and flexible pricing favorable for mid-sized enterprises.

Features: SAP SuccessFactors offers comprehensive coverage of the employee lifecycle with modularity and integration capabilities. Its predictive analytics and AI enhance functionality for enterprises, and it integrates with third-party applications. Sage People provides customizable reporting, mobile access, and seamless financial system integration, focusing on data storage and reporting.

Room for Improvement: SAP SuccessFactors requires better analytics, integration, and role-based permissions systems, alongside more intuitive user experiences. Sage People could improve customization, stability, and performance management, with enhancements needed in automation capabilities and user interface.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SAP SuccessFactors mainly operates on the public cloud, necessitating direct support for complex processes, with some users experiencing bureaucratic support. Sage People, on both public and private clouds, is regarded for efficient support, though speed could improve, experiencing fewer escalations than SAP SuccessFactors.

Pricing and ROI: SAP SuccessFactors is higher priced, suitable for large organizations, with user and module-based pricing offering potential ROI through HR process automation. Sage People offers flexible licensing as a more economical option for small to mid-sized enterprises, aligning with market standards for better ROI while streamlining HR functions.

To learn more, read our detailed SAP SuccessFactors vs. Sage People Report (Updated: May 2025).

Buyer's Guide

SAP SuccessFactors vs. Sage People

May 2025

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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 Talent Management

11th

Ranking in Cloud HCM

10th

Ranking in Talent Acquisition

8th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Benefits Administration (10th), HR Analytics Software (7th)

SAP SuccessFactors

Ranking in Talent Management

1st

Ranking in Cloud HCM

1st

Ranking in Talent Acquisition

2nd

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Global Payroll (2nd)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Cloud HCM category, the mindshare of Sage People is 0.6%, down from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP SuccessFactors is 21.2%, down from 22.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud HCM

Featured Reviews

Spencer Gray

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.

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SandeepKumar7

Head - Shared Service Operations and HR Systems at a pharma/biotech company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Useful to manage employee life cycle management but is not very easy to implement

There are quite a few things, like goal management, in terms of transferring goals from manager to subordinates, which is probably not one of the best ways to look at SAP SuccessFactors, making it an area that could have been done better. Route management and template management are pretty good areas. The reporting in the tool is not as great as I would want it to be from a PMGM internal management perspective. I just hope that SAP SuccessFactors comes up with a payroll tool that suits India. I don't see it as one of the best tools for the Indian scenario. I would love to see much better document management in the system, like onboarding. Onboarding has document management, but if I want to report through it, there is not much that I can do about it. DMS in SAP would be great since, in most places, DMS is maintained outside the system. I would have loved to see better DMS in SAP SuccessFactors. In terms of the reporting, I understand that since everything is moving to SAP SAC. Even without SAP SAC, it would be great if we could have better analytics within SAP SuccessFactors.

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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 Sage People is the integration with our payroll system."

"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 report builder and dashboard builder are very, very good."

"Without a doubt, the most valuable aspect of this solution is the reports, as it offers endless possibilities for report customization. You can easily build any report you can imagine with this system."

"Sage makes all the information accessible, like pulling a file because an employee needs something ASAP. It's all in the system. It's easy to find old reports if I need them for payroll purposes. It might take days to do some of this work by hand."

"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's initial setup was straightforward."

More Sage People pros

"This solution has automatic linking and reporting features. Upgrades are hassle-free because you don't need to change everything from scratch, when compared to Meta4."

"The main advantage of SuccessFactors is its ability to add many types of integrations within the SAP Cloud platform. Many useful modules can be implemented alongside SuccessFactors as third-party integrations, and this capability to extend the system is a big plus."

"The features of the solution that I found valuable for my business are its ability to create a dashboard, pie charts, and reporting functions, as well as advanced reporting capabilities."

"SAP SuccessFactors is stable, we have not found any bugs or glitches."

"Compared to other on-premise solutions, the first advantage of SAP SuccessFactors is that it is a SaaS-based solution."

"The standardized procedures and best practices embedded in the system are very valuable."

"All of SuccessFactors' features are useful, but there are several modules within SuccessFactors that I find handy. You have Employee Central, which manages employee records within the system. It manages all the information about an employee, including names, addresses, account numbers, positions, org charts, etc. It also handles performance reviews and KPIs for employees within an organization. Then you have succession planning and development as well."

"In terms of user experience, it is quite good."

More SAP SuccessFactors pros

Cons

"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."

"Its stability could be better."

"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."

"Its technical support could have been better."

"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."

"There were a couple of things that we wanted to customize, but we couldn’t do it ourselves."

"The user interface is not great."

More Sage People cons

"SuccessFactors' experience management is not so user-friendly."

"SAP should also look into easily integrating with other applications or other tools. Technology has changed now, and it should be easier for any application to integrate with other apps. There needs to be more flexibility."

"It's a bit complicated to make a change in the tool... It is time-consuming."

"I think there is room for improvement in user friendliness. In my experience, users are sometimes confused about how to use the solution."

"The reporting tool is not as good as IBM Cognos which is very, very powerful."

"SAP SuccessFactors could improve learning management. The module is desperate and should be included in the primary solution. Additionally, it is missing some business use cases."

"The solution needs more localization, especially for the Middle East and Russia."

"SAP SuccessFactors functionality doesn't meet the expectation of our end users. There are other solutions that have better functionality, such as Workday, which is one of the top applications. Additionally, the solution could be easier to use."

More SAP SuccessFactors cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"The pricing is reasonable."

"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."

"We have to purchase the solution's license to use it."

"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 price of the solution is reasonable."

"I believe we pay licensing on a yearly basis, but I can't comment on the total amount that we pay on licensing."

More Sage People pricing and cost advice

"I have raised change requests for some modules within SuccessFactors. For example, when you're using Recruiting Management, there's a feature called Interview Central you can use to reach the candidates you're interviewing. I wanted to add a writing assessment when I select the competency on that platform. It varies from consultant to consultant, depending on what module they use."

"We are on an annual subscription to use SAP SuccessFactors. The pricing model is something that they could restructure a bit better. If it was based differently on the type of usage it would help."

"The price of the solution depends on too many factors to provide an estimate. However, the price of SAP SuccessFactors is competitive."

"For SAP, the product is pricey, both CAPEX and the OPEX. It's something that could be improved."

"Probably, it is one of the priciest products, and is very costly to put up and maintain but because it is a good solution end to end, people take it."

"If you go by best practices and do it right from the outset, the setup won't be a costly endeavor. In terms of setup, there is a lot of flexibility compared to three years ago."

"We don't utilize even half of the licenses because not everyone uses them. With SAP SuccessFactors, though, we're now conducting all our performance evaluations within the system, so I suppose we're making better use of those licenses. As for SAP for employee services and internal benefits processing, we do have licenses for those but don't utilize them."

"The solution is on the expensive side but is definitely worth the money."

More SAP SuccessFactors pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

22%

Comms Service Provider

12%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Educational Organization

45%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Sage People?

The report builder and dashboard builder are very, very good.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sage People?

The product is definitely not cheap. However, it's probably not uber-expensive. It is definitely on the higher end. Companies must understand that the more modules they choose, the more expensive t...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Sage People?

There were a couple of things that we wanted to customize, but we couldn’t do it ourselves. So, we had to do another project that cost us. The product must improve how absence works.

See all answers

What are the biggest differences between Workday, Oracle Cloud and SAP SuccessFactors?

Differences between Workday, Oracle Cloud,w and SAP SuccessFactors:w Oracle: "simple interface and deep customization to suit the purpose." SAP: Multiple functionalities that increase process effi...

See all answers

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...

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What do you like most about SAP SuccessFactors?

The tool is easy to use for performance management. We haven't experienced any issues with SAP SuccessFactors for performance management, which is great. However, since we're still learning to use ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Workday vs Sage People

Compared 31% of the time

Cegid vs Sage People

Compared 26% of the time

PeopleSoft vs Sage People

Compared 21% of the time

More Sage People Competitors

Workday vs SAP SuccessFactors

Compared 29% of the time

Oracle HCM Cloud vs SAP SuccessFactors

Compared 16% of the time

SAP HCM vs SAP SuccessFactors

Compared 15% of the time

PeopleSoft vs SAP SuccessFactors

Compared 7% of the time

UKG vs SAP SuccessFactors

Compared 4% of the time

More SAP SuccessFactors Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Sage People

April 2025

Download Sage People product report

Buyer's Guide

SAP SuccessFactors

April 2025

Download SAP SuccessFactors product report

Also Known As

Fairsail

SuccessFactors

Overview

Connect teams across borders

Customise communications: Deliver business updates to specific groups and gather feedback with surveys.
Personalise experiences: Create engaging, branded experiences – tailored by group or region.
Connect global teams: Manage your entire workforce, wherever they are. Embed global policies while enforcing local regulations.
Help teams thrive, anywhere: Support wellbeing, provide localised benefits packages, and more.

Get ahead with actionable HR analytics

Make informed decisions: Use People analytics for actionable insights in seconds.
Provide real-time insights: Give up-to-the-minute recommendations so leaders jump on trends and adjust plans.
Customise dashboards: Plan hiring, analyse attrition, manage absence, and more.
Get actionable feedback: Understand the employee experience through surveys, tailored to different groups.

Compete successfully for top talent

Deliver a differentiated, stand-out candidate experience with easy-to-use employer branding themes and options that shows off your culture and company story.
Fill roles faster with skilled talent using our unique, AI-powered, intelligent candidate matching.
Have new employees hit the ground running with seamless remote pre-boarding and onboarding experiences.

Sage

SAP SuccessFactors is an AI-powered, cloud-based HR suite supporting over 100 countries, providing real-time insights and integrated solutions across core HR, payroll, talent, learning, analytics, and employee experience.

Trusted by over 10,000 organizations, SAP SuccessFactors elevates people processes, decisions, and experiences by empowering employees. It offers AI-driven tools enhancing self-service, learning, performance, and development, unifying people and skills data to align talents with business goals. The platform ensures compliance with legal updates and speeds up results using HR best practices and a robust partner network. Its modular design, seamless integration, and mobile access stand out, supporting global accessibility and talent management. Role-based permissions and automated compliance offer flexibility and security, catering to diverse industries.

What are the most important features of SAP SuccessFactors?

Performance and Goal Management: Facilitates setting and tracking employee objectives.
Employee Lifecycle Management: Streamlines employee processes from recruitment to exit.
Learning Management: Promotes continuous learning and development.
Real-Time Reporting: Provides instant insights into HR data.

What benefits should users look for in SAP SuccessFactors reviews?

Increased Productivity: AI-driven tools enhance workforce agility.
Talent Alignment: Unifying skills data aligns workforce with business priorities.
Compliance Assurance: Regular updates ensure legal and regulatory adherence.
Global Accessibility: Cloud-based platform supports cross-geography management.

Organizations implement SAP SuccessFactors for Performance Management, Talent Acquisition, Learning, and HR core functions, streamlining recruitment, onboarding, records management, goal setting, and performance evaluation. It extends to time management, compensation, and talent development, integrating across geographies for centralized data management, reporting, and analytics, enhancing HR operations and employee engagement.

SAP

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, Skril

Buyer's Guide

SAP SuccessFactors vs. Sage People

May 2025

Free Report: SAP SuccessFactors vs. Sage People

Find out what your peers are saying about SAP SuccessFactors vs. Sage People and other solutions. Updated: May 2025.

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