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Dayforce HCM vs SAP SuccessFactors comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

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

Dayforce HCM
Ranking in Talent Management
10th
Ranking in Cloud HCM
9th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Talent Intelligence (4th)
SAP SuccessFactors
Ranking in Talent Management
1st
Ranking in Cloud HCM
1st
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
99
Ranking in other categories
Talent Acquisition (2nd), Global Payroll (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Cloud HCM category, the mindshare of Dayforce HCM is 3.5%, up from 2.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP SuccessFactors is 19.0%, down from 22.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud HCM Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
SAP SuccessFactors19.0%
Dayforce HCM3.5%
Other77.5%
Cloud HCM
 

Featured Reviews

Thomas Noorkah - PeerSpot reviewer
Greatly improved our efficiency with its integrated time and attendance module
Dayforce has given us near to real-time access to time sheets and clockings since it has an integrated time and attendance module. Within six minutes of someone clocking in, we can see them on the timesheets. Dayforce has enabled us to smooth out our payroll system so not everything is happening at the end of the payroll cycle. We can see the impacts during the week and make it a lot more manageable. It's also been helpful for benefits administration with employees being able to file life and work events online. They can access their pay stubs, request leave, change their address, update their direct deposit details, and other things. We've become much more efficient, and much less paper driven.
ManujGupta - PeerSpot reviewer
Has improved employee satisfaction and streamlined real-time data management
In terms of customizations in specific modules for industry requirements, SAP SuccessFactors is much more generic and does not comply many times with industry requirements as a vertical. In my experience with SuccessFactors' analytics capabilities influencing decision-making, workforce analytics is still challenging due to customizations. It does not provide flexibility in terms of analytics, and we have to customize extensively. For the future of the product, I would like to see more AI implementation, Python integrations, and GPT integrations.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Ceridian Dayforce HCM is a stable product."
"Configuring your HR policies and rules is straightforward."
"The solution's payroll portion is very streamlined."
"The time capture from time cards to charging to projects has greatly improved because it is now all automated and flows into the GL very easily."
"We like being able to hire from the Dayforce recruiting module straight into Dayforce and having the file feeds go to our benefits vendor."
"We have been able to automate many of our manual processes."
"Our employee benefits enrollment is managed through Ceridian Dayforce, which makes for a limited manual process."
"Great time and attendance payroll and benefits administration which has improved our efficiency."
"It has improved my organization by enabling us to efficiently manage our personnel."
"Scalability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten...It is a stable solution."
"The UX in SAP SuccessFactors is good."
"SAP SuccessFactors, in my opinion, is the best cloud-based HR solution tool for any size business."
"There are a lot of features in SuccessFactors that HR can actually explore. We recently implemented a learning platform that employs the individual staff to actually manage their own learning."
"The overall functionality of the solution is very good."
"The initial setup was pretty simple."
"All Learning Management Systems have their strengths and weaknesses, SAP SuccessFactors is a strong option, but organizations should choose based on their specific needs."
 

Cons

"Management and reporting of the GL costing could be improved."
"The reporting could be improved."
"I would like the solution to improve its customer service communication."
"Dayforce has its gaps like every HR system, but nothing comes to mind at the moment."
"An area for improvement could be a little more testing before implementing hotfixes to make sure they do not interfere with any active customized products."
"One area to be improved is the solution's reporting function, which can be cumbersome."
"I would also like to see some improvement in standard reports. A standard report should be available to pull the required information for Affirmative Action Plans. I do not think I should have to build or create one."
"The solution's initial setup was difficult. Also, the solution's initial deployment took around six months."
"They should work on a faster way of locating a proper documentation."
"SuccessFactors should consider building their best practices around critical industries to help companies become more differentiated in the markets they operate in."
"SAP SuccessFactors' pricing structure could be improved."
"The stability could be a bit better."
"The price could be lower."
"There should be more connectivity with other systems."
"In my experience with SuccessFactors' analytics capabilities influencing decision-making, workforce analytics is still challenging due to customizations."
"There is not much scope for enhancements, personalization, or customization with the cloud-based variant of this solution, which could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Negotiate for everything you want."
"We paid for the implementation costs in the first year with the money that we saved by switching to Dayforce HCM."
"The XOXO program associated with Dayforce allows you to earn credits towards registration and accommodations at their annual Insight Conferences, which can be a real savings to the company when sending employees to the conference."
"We found the setup costs and pricing to be very reasonable."
"Earlier, the price of the product was reasonable. Under present circumstances, the price or cost of the product has been increased."
"Ceridian continually enhances Dayforce HCM. Some of these enhancements they charge for and some are just straight enhancements with no extra charge."
"I rate the solution's pricing a seven on a scale where one is the lowest and ten is the most expensive."
"In terms of pricing, the product is expensive. However, it is crucial to take into account the manner in which the solution will be utilized and the availability of other alternatives."
"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."
"For SAP, the product is pricey, both CAPEX and the OPEX. It's something that could be improved."
"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."
"So now, SAP charges me 300 Euros for 14,000 employees. I still have to pay 2,000 euros because I'm using SAP on-prem."
"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."
"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 licensing fees are based on the number of modules that are being used, and the number of users."
"I rate the tool's pricing a seven to eight out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Non Profit
8%
Comms Service Provider
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business22
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise69
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Ceridian Dayforce HCM?
The solution's payroll portion is very streamlined.
What needs improvement with Ceridian Dayforce HCM?
Customizing the home screen was difficult; I could not remove certain tabs that were irrelevant to our users. The search functionality is poor as there's no way for administrators to tag keywords t...
What is your primary use case for Ceridian Dayforce HCM?
We have used Dayforce HCM for our HR functionalities and for the learning module over the last five years. We actually just migrated to a new learning management system.
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 ...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Ceridian Dayforce HCM, Ascender Talent Management, Ceridian Ideal
SuccessFactors
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

ACCO Brands
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 Dayforce HCM vs. SAP SuccessFactors and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,832 professionals have used our research since 2012.