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DarwinBox vs IBM Kenexa comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 4, 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

DarwinBox
Ranking in Talent Management
9th
Average Rating
6.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
Cloud HCM (9th), HR Analytics Software (6th), Talent Acquisition (10th)
IBM Kenexa
Ranking in Talent Management
17th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.3
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
Benefits Administration (12th), Applicant Tracking and Recruiting Software (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Talent Management category, the mindshare of DarwinBox is 2.1%, down from 2.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Kenexa is 1.6%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Talent Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
DarwinBox2.1%
IBM Kenexa1.6%
Other96.3%
Talent Management
 

Featured Reviews

SHANOOPCHATHOTH PARAMBIL - PeerSpot reviewer
Program Manager at Intelliswift
Enhancing attendance and leave management but needs better performance customization
Our primary use case for DarwinBox includes managing attendance, payroll-related tasks, and employee appraisal cycles DarwinBox has provided a significant return on investment for our finance team. Managing payroll and attendance manually would require more team members, so using DarwinBox…
Karan Grover - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Suitable for larger-scale companies aiming to streamline and automate their processes digitally
The deployment of the solution took between six to eight months. When we introduced BrassRing at my company, we encountered several challenges. First, moving data from our old system to BrassRing was tough because it needed reformatting. Second, connecting BrassRing with our HR data was tricky due to manual processes for roles and departments. Third, setting up the workflow in BrassRing was complex. Fourth, configuring user access and approval levels was a detailed task. We also had to manage the change process, including running both old and new systems in parallel, communicating changes, and training users. Lastly, monitoring and reporting were needed to ensure data accuracy and proper system usage once everything was in place. We had a team of six to eight people managing the project from our side during the BrassRing deployment. I'm not sure about the size of the BrassRing team, and we also had our own technical team, which had three to four members. The solution required maintenance, particularly from my side as the administrator. Maintenance responsibilities were divided into two parts: some tasks we, as end-users, could control, while others were the responsibility of the BrassRing team. Payment-related tasks were a regular part of our responsibilities. I wasn't the only person maintaining the solution. There were three power users from Infosys, each responsible for a specific geography. My counterpart managed it in the US, and I, along with my colleague in India, managed it for other geographies.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It has a very intuitive user interface, and anyone can use it and implement it without having to use a guide or a walk through process."
"The most valuable features of the solution are organogram and position-based mapping."
"The solution that we used previously was very complex. As a result, without referring to the manuals and consulting an expert, it was difficult for a newly hired employee to navigate the platform. However, this is not the case with Darwinbox. It has a very intuitive user interface, and anyone can use it and implement it without having to use a guide or a walk through process. It's very simple."
"In our company, we use DarwinBox to maintain the data of our employees and for recruitment purposes."
"The leave-related modules are comprehensive, offering built-in functionalities for optional leaves."
"As I said, IBM are doing a great job with us at the moment, but we're always looking and speaking and open to having conversations with other people because the market's changing and IBM are aware of that."
"I think one of the biggest benefits that Kenexa brings is the scalability."
"We acquired a pharmacy retailer three years ago, and Kenexa enabled us to actually standardize our employee engagement across both of those organizations, helping us understand at an enterprise level what was going on and, most importantly, how people were starting to feel about being acquired and joining the broader company space."
"The streamlined, simplicity approach of Kenexa makes it simple for me to navigate."
"I like how we can copy a req as we have many duplicates, which saved a lot of time when opening reqs."
"For us in particular, I love how configurable the system is; I can use the same technology for different parts of my business."
"Scalability is great, as we use the system for everything from a very low-volume, high-touch corporate recruiting model to our tax office, high-volume approach, which is 80-100,000 people each season."
"The ability now to be able to take data, load it yourself, ask the business questions and get the answers on your own process with the business just made it a lot faster, and the cognitive solution gives us some insights for us to think about."
 

Cons

"Customization in performance management is cumbersome."
"The solution's API integration with third-party applications should be improved."
"Like most software, it has a base version, the vanilla, out-of-the-box version, and customization is required to match it to the unique processes of each company. The Darwinbox team seems to be having difficulty with the customization process. They have to be a little more mature to customize it as per every company's need."
"DarwinBox is not a stable solution...DarwinBox is not a scalable solution."
"I get a real sense of frustration when you see the kind of customer insight teams and what they can do and then you look at the colleague insights teams, which I'm leading on as well, and seeing there's a gap and we need to close that gap."
"We're really looking forward to some of their enhancements to their onboarding portal, specifically for recruiters and hiring managers."
"We have about 50 requests for enhancements in the system right now."
"The reporting feature currently is our biggest struggle point; getting the data we need and in the fashion that we need it is a current struggle point for us."
"Maybe there's some room for improvement in the functionality around the actual tools that we build with."
"It was a little rocky, as they always are, but we went live on time and that's all that matters."
"If you happen to be an early adopter of enhancements, it can be a frustrating process, as it is hard to decipher together with their support whether an issue is a bug or working as intended (a change in the way something works)."
"Technical support was not always great. They tend to push you towards workbench admins or paid support."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Compared with SuccessFactors, there is no major difference in DarwinBox's cost."
"My company makes some yearly payments towards the licensing costs attached to DarwinBox."
"Kenexa was fairly priced. However, in 2019, before I left my previous organization, they significantly increased their pricing. It can be affordable, but their pricing is going up. It is not just licensing; it is how many applicants you have in your system on the database side."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
16%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
6%
Outsourcing Company
15%
Construction Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise28
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with DarwinBox?
Customization in performance management is cumbersome. Processes like six-month appraisals lack easy configurations, and any significant customization requires working with vendors.
What is your primary use case for DarwinBox?
Our primary use case for DarwinBox includes managing attendance, payroll-related tasks, and employee appraisal cycles.
What advice do you have for others considering DarwinBox?
DarwinBox offers comprehensive modules, but an area of concern is the lack of customizability, especially in performance management. It adequately covers basic functionalities, but there is a need ...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

No data available
IBM Smarter Workforce, Outstart
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Myntra, GVK BIO, Bisleri, Times Internet, Delhivery, Aarti
Sweet Spot International (SSI), Leo Burnett Worldwide (LBW), Sika AG, Legacy Health, Apollo Group Inc., Regeneron, Transurban Group, National Health Service, New Zealand Police, Overland Footwear, Yealands, Johnson Controls, Allscripts, Kerry Foods, Masterpet, AMD, Balfour Beatty
Find out what your peers are saying about DarwinBox vs. IBM Kenexa and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
914,351 professionals have used our research since 2012.