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SAP SuccessFactors vs SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central 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
Ranking in Cloud HCM
1st
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
100
Ranking in other categories
Talent Management (1st), Talent Acquisition (1st), Global Payroll (2nd)
SAP SuccessFactors Employee...
Ranking in Cloud HCM
15th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
4.6
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

SS
Assistant Manager at Kashiv Biosciences
HR has gained clear analytics for attrition, goals, and appraisals and manages talent efficiently
SAP SuccessFactors has a low error rate. We had many ad hoc reports that we needed to generate, and it was very easy to do so in SAP SuccessFactors. We also created many in-house reports according to our specific requirements with the help of this tool, which was a really big game changer for us. We did not depend on advanced Excel in those cases. We generated a lot of detailed reports whenever we needed them during emergency cases or board meetings. A lot of usefulness and time were saved in those cases. I will also mention that we conducted a comparative study for some recruitment cases. We had a recruitment model where we were looking for a very niche profile. Since the job profile was really different and rare, we had to depend on analytics to understand and shortlist from a large pool of candidates that we already had in our database. Analytics was really helpful in this situation.
SP
Senior ERP Consultant at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
User-friendly integration capabilities and responsive support enhance operational efficiency
SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central is cloud-based, eliminating the need for any infrastructure with readily available data centers. It is very user-friendly and integrates seamlessly with the Employee Central Payroll and all other talent modules. I have utilized the payroll integration, noting that on-premises payroll is called SAP Payroll, while when taken to the cloud, it is referred to as Employee Central Payroll, which runs on the same server and is configured on on-premises but on a different node. Within the cloud, SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central integrates with Employee Central Payroll via point-to-point applications, which push the master data from Employee Central to Employee Central Payroll, forming the bridge between these two modules.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."
"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 it fully, we might not utilize all its available features yet."
"The solution is stable."
"Scalability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten...It is a stable solution."
"The most valuable feature is the onboarding module, which enables candidates to fill in their details online and smoothly transitions data from the recruitment module into the SAP database."
"The feature I like the most is the notification bar where we can see upcoming courses that the organization requires from time to time. It's easy to track any pending courses. I also like the search feature in SuccessFactors. We can search for newly available courses that are updated in the system for completion."
"The tool has a unique talent management platform."
"The most important feature is the ability to follow up on the yearly performance of the team. It's very good for management to understand how people are performing."
"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."
"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."
 

Cons

"In my experience with SuccessFactors' analytics capabilities influencing decision-making, workforce analytics is still challenging due to customizations."
"SAP SuccessFactors is working on making beneficial changes but they are not fast enough. They can improve by making the improvements or updates quicker. Additionally, the user interface could improve, it is not something you want to return to when compared to a solution similar to Instagram."
"The SAP SuccessFactors integration with old versions can improve. We are using an older finance module but we are having migration issues."
"SAP SuccessFactors' pricing structure could be improved."
"There have been cases involving a lot of re-implementations and frustrations within clients where they have the workbook sessions, the workbook workshops and things like that. And I think that doesn't really go down well because the workbooks are very technical and, a lot of times, very confusing for the client."
"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."
"I don't think SuccessFactors is quite fit for use as an employee database."
"There should be more connectivity with other systems."
"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

"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."
"We have a yearly license. There are no additional costs."
"It could be cheaper."
"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."
"SAP SuccessFactors requires an annual subscription."
"Due to the way in which we purchased SuccessFactors as a module along with other SAP modules, we were able to procure it at a slightly better price than usual. I would rate their pricing 5/5 stars."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
15%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise69
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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 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 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 needs improvement with SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central?
Regarding improvements or additional features for SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central, nowadays Generative AI is booming, and AI is integrated within SAP. I am planning to get certified in automati...
What is your primary use case for SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central?
SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central is essentially the master data for an employee. Compared to on-premises, it is simply OM and PA taken to the cloud and becomes the master data for an employee. R...
What advice do you have for others considering SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central?
The solution has helped to streamline organizational payroll processes. I have worked with many clients who used SAP on-premises, as well as clients with legacy systems, necessitating the retrieval...
 

Also Known As

SuccessFactors
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, Skril
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Find out what your peers are saying about SAP SuccessFactors vs. SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
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