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SAP HCM vs SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 22, 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

SAP HCM
Ranking in Cloud HCM
3rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
59
Ranking in other categories
Benefits Administration (3rd), Talent Management (3rd)
SAP SuccessFactors Employee...
Ranking in Cloud HCM
15th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
3.3
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

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.
SajidFarooq - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Consultant
Comprehensive payroll and reporting have improved HR insights but still require reduced duplication
There are some activities that we perform in SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central and similar activities that we must also perform in Employee Central Payroll. If information has been entered in Employee Central, why is there a need to add the same information in another module of SAP SuccessFactors? This duplication of activities is a concern we have faced. One thing is opened in SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central, and the same activity must be performed in Employee Central Payroll as well. If the product is the same and contains two to three modules, why does SAP require us to perform duplication of work under the same product? The pricing is very high. There is significant competition in the market, and we face challenges in selling the product due to the high prices that SAP is offering. SAP needs to reconsider their pricing strategy.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The tool's best feature is SAP SuccessFactors."
"Core HR data management for employee and organizational data is very stable and flexible."
"The OpenShift user interface is user-friendly, making it easier for anyone to perform tasks compared to Kubernetes, and we have operators that help us rectify issues easily and identify which APIs or Pods are experiencing problems."
"We have managed to consolidate our payroll for all India operations on this platform."
"The most valuable feature is the Personnel Administration."
"Sometimes, employees may have pending requests that need approval, so you should check those and clear any errors to ensure smooth processing."
"We've found that the solution has the capability to scale."
"I think HCM was the most stable for me...It is a very scalable product."
"With just a single click, you can retrieve comprehensive information about an employee, such as their current profile, where they work, how many organizations they have changed, their years of experience, and their capacities and capabilities."
"SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central is cloud-based, eliminating the need for any infrastructure with readily available data centers, and it is very user-friendly and integrates seamlessly with the Employee Central Payroll and all other talent modules."
"I find SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central to be user-friendly, with a good UI, accessible through Fiori, making it easy to navigate without using T-codes."
 

Cons

"Managing changes in applications can be challenging since it complicates testing and unit testing, resulting in longer testing phases. This time-consuming process often leaves little room for actual work."
"Reports need to be added on the time management side."
"Scalability can be challenging from a cost perspective. If a company has the budget, they opt for the enterprise level."
"The setup comes with a set of challenges as well."
"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."
"The organizational management (OM) side needs improvement due to frequent reorganization which makes it tedious to make all the movement changes and combinations."
"As a product, SAP is very complicated and complex to use."
"Talent management: SAP has acquired SuccessFactors and does not invest in the SAP HCM Talent Management module any more."
"There are some activities that we perform in SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central and similar activities that we must also perform in Employee Central Payroll. If information has been entered in Employee Central, why is there a need to add the same information in another module of SAP SuccessFactors?"
"SAP can improve RDP and reports by making them more user-friendly, as there are complex processes in understanding and handling them."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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 have an annual license for this solution, and the price depends on the number of users."
"The solution is cheap."
"Licensing fees are paid yearly."
"HCM is cheaper than SuccessFactors."
"Licensing is pretty complex. SAP does not have a straight forward way of licensing, and it differs from client to client."
"We purchase the product's yearly license."
"For implementation, SAP offers little support unless you buy SAP Safeguarding from SAP Consulting."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise39
No data available
 

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 needs improvement with SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central?
There are some activities that we perform in SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central and similar activities that we must also perform in Employee Central Payroll. If information has been entered in Emp...
What is your primary use case for SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central?
SAP Business One targets small to medium-sized enterprises, while SAP Cloud ERP targets large enterprises. There is a clear difference between the target markets for these two products. I am curren...
What advice do you have for others considering SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central?
SAP Cloud ERP, previously called Grow with SAP, had its name changed last year in 2025. It is a complete SaaS model ERP with more modules included, such as sales, purchase, production, after-sales ...
 

Also Known As

SAP Human Capital Management
No data available
 

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.
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Find out what your peers are saying about SAP HCM vs. SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
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