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Personio vs SAP HCM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Personio
Ranking in Cloud HCM
18th
Average Rating
5.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Applicant Tracking and Recruiting Software (5th), HR Analytics Software (8th)
SAP HCM
Ranking in Cloud HCM
2nd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
59
Ranking in other categories
Benefits Administration (3rd), Talent Management (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Cloud HCM category, the mindshare of Personio is 0.8%, up from 0.5% 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%
Personio0.8%
Other93.8%
Cloud HCM
 

Featured Reviews

RT
Global Talent Acquisition Lead at Career Break
Offers strong HR features but recruiting module needs essential improvements
The analytics and reporting aspect in Personio for the recruiting part was below expectations compared to some other applicant tracking systems. It is clunky and cannot be tailored to specific needs. The reporting and analytics for the recruiting part are insufficient. The ability to filter applications based on filtering questions added to applications was missing in recruiting. Other recruiting software performs this function much better. Keyword searches within applicants' resumes in the database within recruiting were not possible. I brought this up with the Personio account manager and was told it was on the development list, but these are essential features for any recruiter. I would advise companies looking for an ATS and considering Personio to get a separate recruiting piece of software that can interface with Personio instead.
SS
Assistant Manager at Kashiv Biosciences
Centralized global HR data has improved expense control and supports secure employee management
The features of SAP HCM are valued by me as it had a clear idea about what was expected from the user point. The person or the application has a lot of features and it had actually all the information needed from our part. That aspect is nice. Apart from that, the T-codes are really helpful to understand which particular option we need when we put the T-code in the search box. The stability and reliability of SAP HCM product are really nice, very helpful, and secured. It has no point of leakage and is mostly reliable, as most companies and organizations prefer SAP over many tools. As for security, it's already secured from the beginning itself, and that is the only reason our organization relies on it. Since it's very useful at a global scale, it is a very useful tool and is very easy to access and handle.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Personio provides an opportunity to set up structure with certain steps, creating a clear interviewing process, which resulted in hiring better candidates faster because having a system in place is better than having none."
"As an HR tool, Personio is really good; it is straightforward adding your organizational structure through it with the accounting codes so you can interface with many accounting modules and payroll modules."
"Payroll is always the central area the tool focuses on. It needs to ensure things are flowing, employees are paid on time, and there are no issues related to location, pay, or hiring. SAP HCM helps observe all the work, from hiring to paying paychecks every month. It's a system that depends on the data you input. You don't want to work with bad data and expect miracles. If the data isn't clean, it's more work."
"The main benefit SAP HCM provides is that we have all the information in one place; it is basically one centralized system with all the information rather than having multiple systems across the organization."
"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."
"Customers can create custom infotypes to store any custom data points."
"The valuable features of SAP HCM include managing employee data from hiring to retirement."
"The tool's most valuable features for our HR operations include easy reporting capabilities, which allow us to generate reports for management meetings and auditing purposes. Additionally, it supports appointment preparation and processing benefits."
"We have managed to consolidate our payroll for all India operations on this platform."
"The integration provided by SAP between different modules is very good."
 

Cons

"The analytics and reporting aspect in Personio for the recruiting part was below expectations compared to some other applicant tracking systems."
"Personio is not scalable as an ATS, and I struggle to work with it."
"The extensibility of the integration could be improved."
"The product's learning and development features could be better, including new exclusive LMS tools."
"HCM could improve compatibility, making it more accessible via web applications and graphical interfaces."
"There are already success factors for the cloud solution which cannot be integrated into S/4 HANA."
"The speed of technical support can be improved."
"The setup process for SAP HCM is a bit complex; it is not simple."
"System usability is a challenge."
"SAP HCM could improve by having more resources and making it more user-friendly. It is complex."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"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."
"The pricing is really high."
"Licensing fees are paid yearly."
"The solution is a little expensive and we are charged per user for the license. The solution can be paid monthly or annually."
"Licensing is pretty complex. SAP does not have a straight forward way of licensing, and it differs from client to client."
"The pricing depends upon the specific model and number of user accounts included in a bundle."
"The solution is cheap."
"The terms on which you buy licenses might change due to the way they license in a particular product."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Manufacturing Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise39
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Personio?
I cannot provide information about the setup costs as I am not responsible for the financial aspects.
What needs improvement with Personio?
The screening of candidates in the ATS part is quite complicated. In Greenhouse, you can have a CV of one person on one page at a time, zoomed in immediately for easy screening. In Personio, it req...
What is your primary use case for Personio?
I'm a consultant, so I do in-house recruiting, embedded recruiting for various clients, and one of my clients is using Personio as their ATS, so that's how I work with it. As a recruiter, I primari...
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

No data available
SAP Human Capital Management
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Orderbird, HelloFresh, Stylight, TURCK, HolidayCheck, ZenMate, Amorelie, UNU, raisin
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 Personio vs. SAP HCM and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.