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Dayforce HCM vs SAP HCM 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
14th
Ranking in Cloud HCM
9th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Talent Intelligence (2nd)
SAP HCM
Ranking in Talent Management
3rd
Ranking in Cloud HCM
2nd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
58
Ranking in other categories
Benefits Administration (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Cloud HCM category, the mindshare of Dayforce HCM is 2.5%, down from 2.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP HCM is 5.4%, down from 15.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud HCM Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
SAP HCM5.4%
Dayforce HCM2.5%
Other92.1%
Cloud HCM
 

Featured Reviews

Thomas Noorkah - PeerSpot reviewer
Director of Enterprise Financial Systems at City of Columbus
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.
VD
DevOps Engineer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
User interface simplifies task management with easy issue identification and quick resolutions
We don't currently need third-party solutions because Red Hat provides security through RH-ACM. This Red Hat product helps us identify vulnerabilities in Pods, YAML files, and other components. When we encounter vulnerability issues, we raise tickets, implement Red Hat's solutions, and close the tickets. OpenShift is predominantly implemented in banking sectors. Banking sectors require Enterprise edition platforms due to RBI guidelines. While small-scale industries might use Kubernetes on AWS platform, major banks such as SBI and Central Bank of India prefer OpenShift for its Enterprise edition status and comprehensive support from Red Hat. IPI setup is straightforward, but air gap environment setup is more challenging as it requires configuring HAProxy, DNS, manual DNS server, creating ignition files, downloading images, and creating separate repositories. Regarding competition, based on my knowledge, OpenShift has limited competitors apart from Red Hat. IBM has acquired Red Hat for OpenShift, and they run OpenShift on their Linux platform, making IBM the primary competitor. This product deserves a rating of 10 out of 10.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We like being able to hire from the Dayforce recruiting module straight into Dayforce and having the file feeds go to our benefits vendor."
"Configuring your HR policies and rules is straightforward."
"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."
"We used the solution to do a lot of performance management during the review cycle and it helped us alleviate the administrative burden."
"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."
"The initial setup is easy."
"Ceridian Dayforce HCM is a stable product."
"Our employee benefits enrollment is managed through Ceridian Dayforce, which makes for a limited manual process."
"Customers can create custom infotypes to store any custom data points."
"The functions are really important in the product in ReadyNodes."
"We've found that the solution has the capability to scale."
"It's very suitable for large, multi-geography companies but also very suitable for medium companies with multi-geography operations."
"Payroll processing is my favorite HCM feature, and I like all the SuccessFactors talent modules also. SAP is making good progress on enhancements to the features in the SF modules."
"We are satisfied with the reporting by SAP HCM."
"I like the talent, recruitment, and learning features the most."
"Scalability is excellent, and I would rate it ten out of ten."
 

Cons

"The solution's dashboards and geofencing could be improved."
"I would like to see more built-in forms. This would save a lot of time during the year-end process."
"The solution's initial setup was difficult. Also, the solution's initial deployment took around six months."
"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."
"One area to be improved is the solution's reporting function, which can be cumbersome."
"I would like the solution to improve its customer service communication."
"Management and reporting of the GL costing could be improved."
"It would be nice if the solution migrated to S/4HANA."
"The speed of technical support can be improved."
"SAP HCM is costly compared to other ERPs like Microsoft Dynamics or Oracle, and I would rate the cost as one out of ten."
"SAP HCM needs to be more customizable to fit unique organizational processes."
"Regarding vSAN ReadyNodes, there needs to be a clear assessment of areas that require improvement from the product perspective."
"The setup comes with a set of challenges as well."
"It is a bit tedious and manual to work with."
"The product's learning and development features could be better, including new exclusive LMS tools."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"Ceridian continually enhances Dayforce HCM. Some of these enhancements they charge for and some are just straight enhancements with no extra charge."
"Earlier, the price of the product was reasonable. Under present circumstances, the price or cost of the product has been increased."
"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."
"Negotiate for everything you want."
"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."
"Licensing is pretty complex. SAP does not have a straight forward way of licensing, and it differs from client to client."
"The pricing is not reasonable at all."
"The product is expensive."
"We purchase the product's yearly license."
"In my view, this product is a waste of money for SMB because there are much better products available and licensing is an issue."
"SAP is extremely expensive. The integration costs and customization costs are also a lot."
"I believe HCM is a little expensive, but I don't know the exact price because I'm involved with the sales team. However, I think the price must be reasonable because many organizations are migrating their current ERPs to SAP. It's excellent software, and the price is competitive."
"For implementation, SAP offers little support unless you buy SAP Safeguarding from SAP Consulting."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Non Profit
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
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 Business18
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise39
 

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 SAP HCM?
SAP HCM is the one of the best ERP for an organization with a small to large scale business. It has the most efficient payroll functionality. Regards : SAP HR classes in pune
What do you like most about SAP HCM?
HCM is a very important module that each organization should want to use. It will help any organization to calculate and control the cost of their human resources.
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...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Ceridian Dayforce HCM, Ascender Talent Management, Ceridian Ideal
SAP Human Capital Management
 

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, Skrill Group Ltd.
Find out what your peers are saying about Dayforce HCM vs. SAP HCM and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,443 professionals have used our research since 2012.