Dayforce HCM vs Workday comparison

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Dayforce HCM

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

Workday and Dayforce compete in the human capital management (HCM) software category, with Workday having an edge due to its strong integration tools and comprehensive data management.

Features: Workday offers a consolidated system, making navigation seamless and integrating various processes efficiently. Key features include automation, a robust business process framework, and comprehensive reporting capabilities. On the other hand, Dayforce HCM excels in timekeeping and payroll efficiencies, providing real-time earnings review and robust employee engagement modules.

Room for Improvement: Workday faces challenges with global payroll integrations and a complex configuration process. Users also note limitations in customization and reliance on external support for report creation. Dayforce could improve by enhancing user-friendliness and simplifying reporting. Its dashboards need refinement, and geofencing capabilities require improvement.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Workday facilitates deployments across various cloud environments such as public, private, and hybrid, though it might require technical support for custom configurations. A strong community support network allows for troubleshooting. Dayforce operates mainly in public and on-premises environments, with a highly responsive support team recognized for quick response times.

Pricing and ROI: Workday is considered a high-cost solution but offers justification through its rich modules and integration capabilities, providing ROI via streamlined processes. Pricing is based on headcount and licensed modules, often positioning it as a premium option. Dayforce provides a more affordable alternative with lower implementation and ownership costs. Subscription fees and additional charges might be excessive for smaller companies, although the solution balances these costs with functional benefits.

To learn more, read our detailed Dayforce HCM vs. Workday Report (Updated: April 2026).

Dayforce HCM vs. Workday

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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

17th

Ranking in Cloud HCM

10th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Talent Intelligence (4th)

Workday

Ranking in Talent Management

2nd

Ranking in Cloud HCM

2nd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Benefits Administration (1st), Talent Acquisition (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Cloud HCM category, the mindshare of Dayforce HCM is 2.6%, down from 2.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Workday is 9.3%, down from 18.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud HCM Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Workday	9.3%
Dayforce HCM	2.6%
Other	88.1%

Cloud HCM

Featured Reviews

TracyBritan

Manager, Learning & Development at Ampersand

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.

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Eslam Abo Elnaga

Senior people and systems analyst at B_labs & Mylo

Has improved HR process efficiency through intuitive workflows and responsive support

There is something that could be improved in Workday, specifically in the time tracking module. While I am not working on Workday now, I was a regional HRIS working for Egypt, Malta, India, and China. I mention these countries to relate to high population countries and companies. In our company, we use assigned work schedules for our teams. Because we work with the time tracking module, we need to assign shifts. In the manufacturing industry, we might need to change shifts every day or week. Manufacturing teams are huge, approximately 50 to 200 people in one team. If this team has one leader, the leader needs to assign a work schedule for each person individually. While there is mass upload functionality where we can load shifts for all people or specific groups, we need to select multiple people and assign them to a schedule from the interface itself. I have requested this functionality many times. When extracting business processes awaiting actions report, I can select different processes in one box, hit okay, and the report comes up. However, the same functionality does not work for work schedule assigning. If implemented, it would help many people in companies with high populations and big teams.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Employees like being able to see what entitlements/balances that they have for their time away."

"The integrated time clock has provided efficiencies in payroll, as we no longer have to decipher handwritten time sheets and input them into the system."

"We needed a comprehensive HR software solution, and we found it with Ceridian Dayforce."

"Dayforce has transformed how we operate by saving us time, paper, accuracy, money, and the employee/supervisor experience."

"The initial setup is easy."

"Dayforce has transformed how we operate by saving us time, paper, accuracy, money, and the employee/supervisor experience."

"The fact that the time and attendance system is built into the HRIS is very valuable because, in the past, we had to use two different systems."

"We have been able to automate many of our manual processes."

More Dayforce HCM pros

"The solution was very good at reconfiguration and customization of their software. It helped us to meet federal regulations."

"The GUI is beautiful and we don't need to provide much training for the users because it is easy to navigate."

"There is a lot of scope for customization with this solution"

"The technical support services are excellent."

"I would highly recommend it to anyone."

"Workday beats them all; in my opinion, they are leaps and bounds above the competition, and part of the reason is that it is built with modern technology and has no legacy coding in it at all."

"The solution is stable."

"Workday is highly intuitive from a customer experience perspective. It was effortless for us to understand what to do even though we didn't have any related training. It was easy to use without guidance."

More Workday pros

Cons

"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."

"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."

"It would be nice if retro pay calculations were made automatically for salaried payroll, so a calculation and manual entry do not have to be done."

"Our current software program offers a home page with important company documents and a place for company announcements. Unfortunately, Ceridian Dayfoce does not offer this."

"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."

"Our current software program offers a home page with important company documents and a place for company announcements. Unfortunately, Ceridian Dayfoce does not offer this."

"The product they sell you is not the end product. Many things are presented as though they will be included with the system but then require costly upgrades."

More Dayforce HCM cons

"They don't offer any backend database access. This is one limitation that I found in this product."

"One area that could be improved with Workday is the analytics side."

"Reporting system should be improved. It is quite static based on historical data."

"It is good that much of the development is based on community input but often that can lead to details being ignored and small, nagging issues are ignored."

"The implementation could have gone a little smoother."

"The user interface could be better."

"The solution has to work a lot on financial integrations, material management and CRM modules."

"The expenses and reimbursements module could be improved. Creating expense reports is time-consuming and inefficient compared to other expense solutions."

More Workday cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"We paid for the implementation costs in the first year with the money that we saved by switching to Dayforce HCM."

"Negotiate for everything you want."

"Earlier, the price of the product was reasonable. Under present circumstances, the price or cost of the product has been increased."

"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."

"Ceridian continually enhances Dayforce HCM. Some of these enhancements they charge for and some are just straight enhancements with no extra charge."

"Its price is pretty high. It is more expensive than what is offered by other competitors in the market."

"I need to pay for a license. It is expensive."

"Workday is an expensive solution."

"The pricing is good from an HR perspective, although management gets upset after spending $500,000 a year, every year."

"You have the license fee per module, and then you have a kind of annual training fee, which is a kind of add-on. I wouldn't say it is exhaustive; it is minor. Licensing is pretty transparent for most of the part."

"It is on a yearly basis."

"I would rate the solution’s pricing a six out of ten."

"I rate the product’s pricing a ten out of ten."

More Workday pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Construction Company

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

University

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	5

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	17
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	42

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Ceridian Dayforce HCM?

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Ceridian Dayforce HCM?

The Learning Module add-on to Dayforce HCM was relatively inexpensive per user compared to other LMS’s.

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...

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 do you like most about Workday?

I like its UI and UX. When we were using Oracle or SAP, the UI/UX wasn't very user-friendly for the employees.

SAP SuccessFactors vs Dayforce HCM

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Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 5% of the time

PeopleSoft vs Dayforce HCM

Compared 4% of the time

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Compared 21% of the time

UKG vs Workday

Compared 8% of the time

Oracle HCM Cloud vs Workday

Compared 7% of the time

SAP HCM vs Workday

Compared 6% of the time

BambooHR vs Workday

Compared 4% of the time

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Product Reports

Dayforce HCM

Download Dayforce HCM product report

Download Workday product report

Also Known As

Ceridian Dayforce HCM, Ascender Talent Management, Ceridian Ideal

No data available

Overview

Dayforce HCM offers an integrated platform that combines timekeeping, payroll, and benefits management, enhancing HR operations with mobile access and transparent pay details across North America.

Dayforce HCM delivers comprehensive HR, payroll, and talent management tools within a cloud-based solution. It simplifies ACA, FMLA, and COBRA compliance while providing mobile and web access to payroll information. Its reporting capabilities are robust, and it features intuitive content management. The platform enhances efficiency with integrated time and attendance management, meeting payroll needs across Canada and the US. However, areas for improvement include retro pay calculations, user-friendliness, reporting, and customer service. Users also highlight the need for advancements in the Recruiting module, calendar integration, custom forms, and addressing import glitches and additional feature costs.

What are the key features?

Integrated Timekeeping: Streamlines payroll by eliminating manual entries.
Benefits Module: Simplifies management of ACA, FMLA, and COBRA.
Mobile and Web Access: Provides transparency in pay details.
Time and Attendance Integration: Boosts administrative efficiency.
Comprehensive Suite: Reduces reliance on multiple software for HR, payroll, and talent management.

Which benefits and ROI should users consider?

Streamlined Payroll: Efficient for companies operating in Canada and the US.
Robust Reporting: Enhances decision-making with comprehensive data analytics.
Intuitive Content Management: Simplifies HR management processes.

Organizations use Dayforce HCM for managing payroll, benefits administration, recruiting, and performance management, integrating HR functionalities on a cloud platform. Industries appreciate its ability to manage HR tasks efficiently, providing analytics and mobile features essential for handling HR processes and reporting.

Dayforce

Workday provides a cloud-based platform offering robust human capital management features, emphasizing security, user-friendliness, and operational efficiency through workflow automation.

Workday is utilized by organizations for human capital management, supporting everything from employee recruitment to retirement, payroll processing, and performance tracking. It centralizes HR operations to increase efficiency and manage employee data effectively. Its business process framework allows for drag-and-drop functionality, which along with real-time reporting, enriches the user experience. Workday's modules cover talent, compensation, benefits, and learning, enhancing the workforce management approach. Though integration with external systems can be complex, its usability and flexible configuration support adaptability. Users seek enhancements in customization, reporting, interface usability, and speed, particularly in financial, timekeeping, and payroll modules. Expanding automation, API connectors, language support, and introducing country and industry-specific modules would significantly boost its capabilities. Pricing remains a concern among users.

What are Workday's most important features?

Security: Ensures data protection with robust measures.
User-Friendliness: Intuitive design for ease of use.
Centralized Data Management: Consolidates employee information in one platform.
Real-Time Reporting: Delivers up-to-the-minute insights for decision-making.
Workflow Automation: Streamlines processes to reduce manual tasks.

What benefits should be evaluated when considering Workday?

Operational Efficiency: Automation streamlines HR processes and reduces redundancies.
Enhanced Usability: Integrated modules improve user interaction and efficiency.
Scalability: Adaptable configurations meet diverse business requirements.
Integration Capabilities: Connections with other systems bolster functionality.

Workday is implemented in a range of industries, including finance, healthcare, and technology, offering specialized HR management solutions tailored to each sector's unique requirements. These implementations improve workforce management and align HR strategies with organizational goals, showcasing its adaptability across different business landscapes.

Sample Customers

ACCO Brands

AAA, Allied Global, Avago Technologies Limited, Aviva, Cardinal Health, CareFusion, Chiquita Brands International, Equifax, Flextronics, HP, Life Time Fitness, McKee Foods, MGM Resorts International, Sanofi, ServiceSource International, Symantec, TripAdvisor, Yahoo!

Dayforce HCM vs. Workday