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Dayforce HCM vs Sage People 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
9th
Ranking in Cloud HCM
7th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Talent Intelligence (2nd)
Sage People
Ranking in Talent Management
12th
Ranking in Cloud HCM
11th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Benefits Administration (12th), HR Analytics Software (6th), Talent Acquisition (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Cloud HCM category, the mindshare of Dayforce HCM is 3.1%, up from 3.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sage People is 0.7%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud HCM
 

Featured Reviews

TracyBritan - PeerSpot reviewer
Frustrating support and difficult customization prevent optimal use of learning system
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 to training courses, making it hard for people to find content. Additionally, there is no way to send a direct link to training if someone asks about it. The reporting is subpar; you can only report by course and not by person unless you go into specific Dayforce reports, which do not match the fields in the learning module. The support is also terrible, with slow response times and a lack of useful knowledge-based articles.
Ruth Baker - PeerSpot reviewer
A highly scalable product that provides excellent dashboard and reporting features
The initial setup is easy. We need to be technically savvy. We need to have experience with HR systems to be involved in the setups. For someone who's never had an HR system before, it's going to be very overwhelming. The solution has got a lot of functionalities, which is brilliant. It is 90% customizable. We can configure it exactly as we want it. We would definitely need someone with HR systems experience to understand the backend. We can configure the back end as much as we like. We can also do it once we’ve gone live with the system.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It has created efficiencies in HR and Payroll by eliminating double entry into two systems, implementing a time clock feature for hourly employees, and by having a downloadable general ledger (G/L) constructing journal entering for payroll."
"Configuring your HR policies and rules is straightforward."
"Dayforce has transformed how we operate by saving us time, paper, accuracy, money, and the employee/supervisor experience."
"Statutory holiday pay is calculated automatically."
"It provides real-time information with great reports."
"I have not encountered many bugs, and in the rare instances where problems occurred, Ceridian Dayforce HCM promptly fixed them. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten."
"Our employee benefits enrollment is managed through Ceridian Dayforce, which makes for a limited manual process."
"We used the solution to do a lot of performance management during the review cycle and it helped us alleviate the administrative burden."
"The solution is beneficial overall."
"The report builder and dashboard builder are very, very good."
"The solution's initial setup was straightforward."
"The most valuable feature of Sage People is the integration with our payroll system."
"The solution provides the ability to trace back records, is reliable, makes life easy, and is secure."
"Sage makes all the information accessible, like pulling a file because an employee needs something ASAP. It's all in the system. It's easy to find old reports if I need them for payroll purposes. It might take days to do some of this work by hand."
"Compared to the other system that we were using, I think Sage is more friendly. As an administrator, Sage's dashboard is visually friendly and many tasks are easier to accomplish. Another feature that we've liked since we started using Sage is the reporting. With the other system, we needed to configure a lot of things manually when it came to reporting, but with Sage the reporting tasks are much simpler."
"I guess I would say maybe that it is a more robust system."
 

Cons

"Dayforce has its gaps like every HR system, but nothing comes to mind at the moment."
"I would like the solution to improve its customer service communication."
"The reporting could be improved."
"One area to be improved is the solution's reporting function, which can be cumbersome."
"Management and reporting of the GL costing could be improved."
"The solution's dashboards and geofencing could be improved."
"Many things are presented as though they will be included with the system but then require costly upgrades."
"I would like to continue to see improvements in the Recruiting module. I would like to see this module interact with Calendars, such as Outlook, etc."
"If Sage People were to become a fully cloud-based solution, it could lead to significant improvements. With the COVID pandemic highlighting the benefits of remote work, a complete shift to cloud-based functionality would be a welcome development for users."
"Right now, Sage doesn't seem to have what we are looking for when it comes to managing HR tickets. In my previous experiences with other HR software, we had to buy another solution to obtain this functionality, and it would be a great feature for Sage to consider adding. For an HR system, Sage would do very well to include it."
"The integration with our payroll system could improve. However, it is managed by another company."
"The user interface is not great."
"Its stability could be better."
"The automation in Sage People could improve. The solution is the best used for data storage but the automation could be better to have more functionality."
"The budget module does not work. Sage People need to maybe make it more user-friendly."
"In my opinion, the performance management module of this system could use improvement as it falls behind compared to other specialized performance management platforms."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"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 paid for the implementation costs in the first year with the money that we saved by switching to Dayforce HCM."
"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 found the setup costs and pricing to be very reasonable."
"I rate the solution's pricing a seven on a scale where one is the lowest and ten is the most expensive."
"Negotiate for everything you want."
"There is other software on the market that can do similar functions to Sage People that could be better in price. Some solution allows you to do your payroll processes by month or by the process. Small companies could benefit by using another solution."
"The cost of Sage People varies depending on the financial resources of the organization. While it may be affordable for middle-level companies, it may be more challenging for young companies to bear the cost."
"I think it's reasonably priced. But in comparison to other systems, I would choose them over Sage People, regardless of their prices."
"The price of the solution is reasonable."
"We have to purchase the solution's license to use it."
"I believe we pay licensing on a yearly basis, but I can't comment on the total amount that we pay on licensing."
"Its cost is moderate for a multi-group licensing model."
"From an SME standpoint, I wouldn't necessarily describe it as expensive. However, for the average startup, it may not be affordable since our current annual expenditure on the system, which supports approximately 210-220 users, amounts to approximately £15,000 to £18,000."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
31%
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
22%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Educational Organization
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 do you like most about Sage People?
The report builder and dashboard builder are very, very good.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sage People?
The product is definitely not cheap. However, it's probably not uber-expensive. It is definitely on the higher end. Companies must understand that the more modules they choose, the more expensive t...
What needs improvement with Sage People?
There were a couple of things that we wanted to customize, but we couldn’t do it ourselves. So, we had to do another project that cost us. The product must improve how absence works.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Ceridian Dayforce HCM, Ascender Talent Management, Ceridian Ideal
Fairsail
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

ACCO Brands
Rocketship Education, Monitise, u-blox, SolarWinds, Mitsubishi, SmartStream, Canonical, Betfair
Find out what your peers are saying about Dayforce HCM vs. Sage People and other solutions. Updated: May 2025.
857,162 professionals have used our research since 2012.