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SAP SuccessFactors HCM vs Workday Human Capital Management comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 16, 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 SuccessFactors HCM
Ranking in Cloud HCM
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Workday Human Capital Manag...
Ranking in Cloud HCM
13th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

MS
Enterprise Architecht at RS Group plc
Increased onboarding efficiency and enhanced user engagement with comprehensive performance management
All features have been valuable, particularly as we are investigating whether to connect it with Talent Management. Currently, we have a solution with Degree, and we are considering moving it to SAP Talent Management. This would provide a single location to house everything, allowing all employees to use the same platform rather than two separate platforms. This also reduces integration expense and management costs. Different stakeholders benefit from various aspects of the interface and dashboards. Managers can examine their team members' skill sets. From an employee perspective, they can track their progress and match it with their objectives and goals. From an organizational perspective, we can maintain a comprehensive view when considering upskilling or other resource-related decisions. The dashboards are highly effective. The employee experience management tools have had a very positive impact on employee satisfaction and well-being within our organization.
Amit_Rai - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Software Engineer at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees
Automation has transformed hire to retire processes and delivers powerful HR analytics
In Workday Human Capital Management, I feel that the security part needs to be improved. Workday gives complete control to the implementers regarding security and who is going to see what data. There are sometimes loopholes that are not identified unless fully tested. If Workday had a security alert system, even a small alert would help the security architect secure all information better, especially sensitive data such as payroll. Additionally, customization is another area of improvement, as Workday provides a default blue and yellow theme, which may not align with a company's branding. If Workday provided the option to customize themes based on a company's preferences, it would enhance the user experience.

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 appreciate the most about this solution is the integration with SAP S/4HANA system."
"The SAP SuccessFactors HCM tool is a fantastic platform to work with, offering end-to-end employee lifecycle coverage."
"SAP SuccessFactors HCM has positively impacted my customer's environment by ensuring they are digital; we promote using DocuSign for document signing and ensuring effective onboarding, and post-implementation we provide hyper-care and digital adoption reports after six months or a year to show how much more paperless and workflow-enabled their organization has become after SAP SuccessFactors HCM implementation."
"The employee experience management tools have had a very positive impact on employee satisfaction and well-being within our organization."
"Using SAP SuccessFactors HCM analytics and insights helps my customers in data-driven decision-making."
"Workday Human Capital Management's most valuable feature is self-service."
"Workday Human Capital Management is a user-friendly solution."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is a cloud-based system and easy to use."
"The solution has good accessibility; it's easy to use and not very confusing."
"According to me, the most valuable feature is autonomy of business processes and the security configuration within the tenant, specifically the configuration. The solution is highly stable. It’s designed to handle most tasks automatically. I rate it a nine out of ten. The solution is highly scalable. I rate it an eight out of ten. This solution consistently supports its customers through its implementation partners or sales support. The setup is designed to be user-friendly and straightforward. Workday HCM is user-friendly and easier to implement within the organization"
"The product is a complete solution for security."
"The unique selling point of Workday is its easy-to-use user interface, which is quite difficult in other ERP systems such as SAP or Oracle Fusion."
"The reports I can download with compensation details come in a very organized manner, and I can record any future payments through the software, such as deferred cash bonuses that need to be paid one year later."
 

Cons

"The main area for improvement would be implementing a better pricing model. It is expensive, and with people discussing Workday more frequently, SAP needs to compete by becoming more free-flowing and dynamic compared to traditional SAP systems."
"The pricing of the solution is very high concerning pricing, setup cost, and licensing of this tool."
"The SAP SuccessFactors HCM has room for improvement in terms of product development nimbleness. Additionally, the speed of the application platform occasionally reduces, primarily due to data center related issues."
"It is very difficult to purchase SAP SuccessFactors HCM over here for smaller or medium-sized organizations, mainly because of the price."
"The solution should enhance its flexibility and promptly incorporate the brainstormed ideas into the upcoming releases. Typically, after their brainstorming session, it takes one or two update cycles for the changes to reflect in the tenant."
"Currently, the product's payroll feature works only in four countries. It should work for more countries."
"The solution should focus more on user experience and less on the technical side."
"We have had issues with respect to incidents."
"It would be good if the solution provided more extensive training sessions."
"In Workday Human Capital Management, I feel that the security part needs to be improved."
"The compensation module is not dynamic enough or flexible enough to accommodate the complexities in our salary structure."
"The tool has certain shortcomings when it comes to its integration capabilities with other systems in our company, making it an area where improvements are required."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The solution’s pricing is better than SAP SuccessFactors."
"Each module comes with an additional cost. It operates on a mid-price model. So, there is an additional payment for each module needed. The solution might be costlier for smaller companies, making it more suitable for mid to large-sized enterprises."
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Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business1
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP SuccessFactors HCM?
The pricing of SAP SuccessFactors HCM is a bit expensive; its HCM without SuccessFactors was reasonable when it was on-site, but SuccessFactors is very expensive. On-premise HCM was good regarding ...
What needs improvement with SAP SuccessFactors HCM?
Pakistani policies need most of the customizations for SAP SuccessFactors HCM. I don't think Pakistanis should improve; our systems are not right. We should improve, not SAP. There should be some a...
What is your primary use case for SAP SuccessFactors HCM?
I researched SAP SuccessFactors HCM products on your website. I was the project manager for the implementation of SAP SuccessFactors HCM in my university. The implementation partner was Telemarks. ...
What do you like most about Workday Human Capital Management?
The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is a cloud-based system and easy to use.
What needs improvement with Workday Human Capital Management?
I have not directly encountered issues in Workday Human Capital Management, but my manager mentioned that the compensation module is not dynamic enough or flexible enough to accommodate the complex...
What is your primary use case for Workday Human Capital Management?
My usual use cases for Workday Human Capital Management are that I am part of the total rewards team. My work cases involve viewing different employees' salary splits, compensation changes, when co...
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about SAP SuccessFactors HCM vs. Workday Human Capital Management and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.