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SAP SuccessFactors vs SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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 Global Payroll
2nd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
100
Ranking in other categories
Talent Management (1st), Cloud HCM (2nd), Talent Acquisition (2nd)
SAP SuccessFactors Employee...
Ranking in Global Payroll
8th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Global Payroll category, the mindshare of SAP SuccessFactors is 4.3%, down from 5.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll is 1.8%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Global Payroll Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SAP SuccessFactors4.3%
SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll1.8%
Other93.9%
Global Payroll
 

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.
HK
Consultant at BluTech Talent Plus LLP
Compensation cycles have become more secure and compliant while payroll data is now easier to validate
From a coding perspective, there are server timing issues. The system gets logged out, and there are issues from a coding perspective. From a feature perspective, most software has the same features, so they cannot implement more features in compensation because it is a crucial part. There are more issues with the software rather than the features. The time and saving time are problematic. There are some errors and rendering issues. Sometimes we get errors without our faults, which is where the inconsistency with their features exists. One area I want them to improve is the integration part where we can integrate systems with third-party software. Workday and Oracle provide very good integration suites, but SAP, because they are more focused on security, is hesitant. Their systems are somewhat legacy, so they do not support third-party software as comparably well. SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll has introduced story reports in the analytics part, which is a good feature. They are removing legacy systems like detailed reporting and Canvas. In 2028, they plan to remove these systems. Story reports is a pretty good feature where we can view graphs, tiles, and all information on one screen with the data. I would suggest they improve their community. SAP Community is pretty good, but they can improve their database with tech tips and documentation where they put every single scenario into written documents so that every client can find solutions without waiting for replies. The community should be improved.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It has improved the way my organization functions by introduction of self service and consolidation of processes."
"It's brought to our organization a big big improvement. We would give it a good rating."
"We are partners with a company and we are responsible for using this software for our clients."
"It covers all the everyday functions of the employee life cycle."
"The SuccessFactors learning applications within the SuccessFactors learning modules, as well as the performance management system, are highly beneficial for each and every employee in our organization. These tools eliminate the need for using Excel to manage data, allowing for direct input into the system. This streamlines the process, making it easier to view and analyze information. We can readily access our performance history, comparing our actions and achievements from the previous year. At present, we are consistently monitoring our day-to-day performance."
"We have found objects like Foundation and MDF most valuable."
"What I like the most is the KPI management formula."
"One of the most valuable features of this solution is the performance management workflow."
"The strongest point of SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll is compliance and security, which is the most significant advantage they hold against other software in terms of compliance and security with local and international laws."
 

Cons

"I think there is room for improvement in user friendliness. In my experience, users are sometimes confused about how to use the solution."
"SAP resources are at the high end and anything you want to change or any customization is expensive."
"To explain one feature that I would like to see in SuccessFactors, I must describe a similar feature as seen in Oracle. In Oracle, there's a feature called Workforce Prediction, and with this feature, we can predict some of the behaviors of any employee. For example, the software can attempt to predict whether the employee might resign in future, or perhaps if they will start to perform better. This is something that is missing in SuccessFactors."
"We had stability issues very often during the end of the year and after updates."
"We encountered challenges with the tool's integration with third-party applications and deployments."
"Be prepared for price surprises. It’s quite expensive."
"There is still need for improvement in the technical support; it is not ideal."
"The GUI needs to be enhanced to be in line with the latest and complete version of the solution."
"There are more issues with the software rather than the features."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is not expensive because it is a complete suite with a module-based cost."
"We have a yearly license. There are no additional costs."
"Our costs for the solution are subsidized by our parent company, I am not aware of the exact cost because of this. However, we pay $50,000 annually. If we move to another solution it will be more expensive."
"The cost of SAP SuccessFactors is reasonable."
"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."
"It could be cheaper."
"The price of the solution depends on too many factors to provide an estimate. However, the price of SAP SuccessFactors is competitive."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
15%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Construction Company
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise70
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...
How easy is to maintain Workday, Oracle Cloud, and SuccessFactors?
I implemented Workday in 2024 and without having previous Workday experience, it was very challenging. I spent most of 2025 putting out fires and cleaning up the business processes that came with l...
What needs improvement with SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll?
From a coding perspective, there are server timing issues. The system gets logged out, and there are issues from a coding perspective. From a feature perspective, most software has the same feature...
What is your primary use case for SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll?
The client company has requirements to implement their compensation cycle. Every company has an increment cycle yearly, and we take advantage of SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll to imple...
What advice do you have for others considering SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll?
Rather than providing a technical specialist, they could increase their community. SAP Community is pretty good, but they can improve their database with tech tips and documentation where they put ...
 

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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