Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

SAP HCM vs SAP SuccessFactors comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

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

SAP HCM
Ranking in Talent Management
3rd
Ranking in Cloud HCM
3rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
57
Ranking in other categories
Benefits Administration (4th)
SAP SuccessFactors
Ranking in Talent Management
2nd
Ranking in Cloud HCM
2nd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
97
Ranking in other categories
Talent Acquisition (2nd), Global Payroll (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Cloud HCM category, the mindshare of SAP HCM is 10.5%, down from 16.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP SuccessFactors is 19.9%, down from 22.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud HCM
 

Featured Reviews

Renelia Villanueva - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient payroll processing with comprehensive attendance management
I am currently heading the payroll benefits and HRIS team here in Manila. We are using SAP HCM on-premises, and we implemented SuccessFactors focusing on Employee Central and GMPM SAP HCM has helped a lot due to the always changing government regulations pertaining to taxation, social security…
Renelia Villanueva - PeerSpot reviewer
Moving to a cloud-based employee portal has improved experience but user interface requires attention
I am currently handling SAP sub-modules, particularly in HR. I interface with SAP SuccessFactors modules such as Employee Central, Goals and Performance, and Talent Moving from an in-house developed employee self-service portal to a cloud-based internet solution is an improvement for us.…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The feature I like most in SAP HCM is its effectiveness for talent management."
"Payroll is always the central area the tool focuses on. It needs to ensure things are flowing, employees are paid on time, and there are no issues related to location, pay, or hiring. SAP HCM helps observe all the work, from hiring to paying paychecks every month. It's a system that depends on the data you input. You don't want to work with bad data and expect miracles. If the data isn't clean, it's more work."
"The payroll operations I’ve managed within this and other organizations involve substantial numbers, demonstrating that SAP HCM stable product. As for talent management, we’ve utilized consulting services and supplemented them with various in-house developments. Moreover, we are exploring innovative AI, including chatbots and AI-driven use cases."
"I like the talent, recruitment, and learning features the most."
"The valuable features of SAP HCM include managing employee data from hiring to retirement."
"The platform is simple to use and has a user-friendly dashboard and integration features."
"The payroll suite is very valuable."
"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."
"The tool's most valuable feature is its integration capabilities with on-premise ERPs and other systems."
"The performance and goal management is good, and it has a fairly detailed employee central."
"It's a uniform user interface."
"The most valuable features of the solution are GUI and OData API."
"It is a scalable solution. I would rate it a ten out of ten."
"This solution offers good flexibility and configurability. It can handle different types of performance management."
"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."
"It has a global database, and it is globally accessible. By using this solution, we have moved away from paper, which is a big step for us."
 

Cons

"SAP HCM needs to improve its UI."
"HCM could improve compatibility, making it more accessible via web applications and graphical interfaces."
"SAP HCM needs to be more customizable to fit unique organizational processes."
"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."
"It would be nice if the solution migrated to S/4HANA."
"System usability is a challenge."
"SAP HCM's long and tedious transactions can be improved."
"When performing reconciliation, manual entry is sometimes required, and barcode scanning isn't always available."
"Overall, the documentation could be improved, and I think the learning management module needs to include more capabilities when it comes to matching an organization's particular learning approach."
"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."
"Some of the screens aren't that user-friendly, older employees especially have a hard time with it. They have some problems with it."
"The reporting tool is not as good as IBM Cognos which is very, very powerful."
"The integration between the recruitment module and employee central is a big problem."
"SuccessFactors' experience management is not so user-friendly."
"The user experience could be simplified."
"The reporting and cloud integration could be done better in this solution."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"For implementation, SAP offers little support unless you buy SAP Safeguarding from SAP Consulting."
"Licensing fees are paid yearly."
"Be careful and guard against future changes in licensing."
"The pricing is not reasonable at all."
"SAP is expensive, but if you're using the product, then the expensive product becomes inexpensive. Considering its performance and features, I find it quite reasonable."
"You pay per license. There not any costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."
"We have an annual license for this solution, and the price depends on the number of users."
"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."
"I rate the tool's pricing a seven to eight out of ten."
"The pricing for SuccessFactors is ridiculously high, and there are costs in addition to the license fee for some features."
"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 licensing fees are based on the number of modules that are being used, and the number of users."
"It is not expensive because it is a complete suite with a module-based cost."
"I don't want to comment on the license cost, to be honest. It could be about $1,000 approximately per customer. However, it's very flexible in terms of the licensing costs depending on the volume and depending on the deal of installation."
"The price of the solution is highly expensive."
"The solution is on the expensive side but is definitely worth the money."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Cloud HCM solutions are best for your needs.
860,592 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Answers from the Community

NC
Jan 25, 2024
Jan 25, 2024
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 to simplify the process, giving life back to HR systems so that they can be more modern and flexible, and rely more on the heart of HR – the employee. On the other hand, while SF is technically less ...
See 2 answers
YZ
Sep 6, 2021
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 to simplify the process, giving life back to HR systems so that they can be more modern and flexible, and rely more on the heart of HR – the employee. On the other hand, while SF is technically less complex than SAP HCM, it also has significantly less capability, particularly when it comes to integration with other SAP modules. For example, while SAP's integration between the SAP Project system and the SAP HCM process is robust, SuccessFactors' integration is limited and still in its early stages. In all circumstances, SAP SF represents the future of HR, with a highly promising road map. I believe that if SAP continues to create more features, SF will have greater functionality than SAP HCM in 5 years.
Kseniia Gravis - PeerSpot reviewer
Jan 25, 2024
So are you striving to successfully deploy and utilize SAP systems to centralize data, streamline operations, gain real-time insights and achieve business efficiency? SAP applications are the backbone of every business. We also discuss the best SAP implementation process as an ideal solution for such problems: https://www.cleveroad.com/blog/why-outsource-sap/ 
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Educational Organization
23%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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...
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...
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 ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP SuccessFactors?
The licensing costs are quite high, which is a typical scenario for such solutions.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

SAP Human Capital Management
SuccessFactors
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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.
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
Find out what your peers are saying about SAP HCM vs. SAP SuccessFactors and other solutions. Updated: May 2025.
860,592 professionals have used our research since 2012.