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SAP SuccessFactors 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

Sage People
Ranking in Talent Management
24th
Ranking in Cloud HCM
19th
Ranking in Talent Acquisition
16th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Benefits Administration (17th), HR Analytics Software (8th)
SAP SuccessFactors
Ranking in Talent Management
1st
Ranking in Cloud HCM
2nd
Ranking in Talent Acquisition
2nd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
100
Ranking in other categories
Global Payroll (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Cloud HCM category, the mindshare of Sage People is 1.7%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP SuccessFactors is 8.7%, down from 19.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud HCM Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SAP SuccessFactors8.7%
Sage People1.7%
Other89.6%
Cloud HCM
 

Featured Reviews

Spencer Gray - PeerSpot reviewer
People Advisor at Thomas International
Highly customizable, robust, and access to helpful online community
In my opinion, the performance management module of this system could use improvement as it falls behind compared to other specialized performance management platforms. While I understand that this system is not solely focused on performance management and is more of a generalist solution, it still lacks the capabilities and features that you can find in other specialized platforms. If we were to switch to a provider solely focused on performance management, we would have access to a wider range of features and capabilities that are not currently available in this system. Sage People offers a wide range of functions that meet most requirements. However, there is still room for improvement. One feature that I would like to see added is the ability to detect and address any failures in the custom processes or functions built within the system. I would like to see a tool that can automatically sense and identify any issues in the system. Currently, when something goes wrong, it's not always immediately obvious and requires a lot of manual troubleshooting. It would be helpful if there was an error message that clearly explained why the system is failing. This would speed up the investigation process and make it ten times faster.
SS
Assistant Manager at Kashiv Biosciences
HR has gained clear analytics for attrition, goals, and appraisals and manages talent efficiently
SAP SuccessFactors has a low error rate. We had many ad hoc reports that we needed to generate, and it was very easy to do so in SAP SuccessFactors. We also created many in-house reports according to our specific requirements with the help of this tool, which was a really big game changer for us. We did not depend on advanced Excel in those cases. We generated a lot of detailed reports whenever we needed them during emergency cases or board meetings. A lot of usefulness and time were saved in those cases. I will also mention that we conducted a comparative study for some recruitment cases. We had a recruitment model where we were looking for a very niche profile. Since the job profile was really different and rare, we had to depend on analytics to understand and shortlist from a large pool of candidates that we already had in our database. Analytics was really helpful in this situation.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product is really easy to customise and configure, and the automation has enabled us to manage several HR processes at the right time in the correct manner."
"The reporting features are also very valuable because, on top of 300+ reports available on the system, you can also customize quite a number of reports."
"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."
"The most valuable features of Sage People are the reports that are useful for decision-making and the API that can be integrated well. Additionally, the solution can be accessed from mobile devices onto the cloud."
"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."
"We are now able to visualize global team structures, and as we rollout other features, the organization will benefit from an easy to use system and standard processes."
"The technical support is astounding and they are one of the best support teams I have had the pleasure to work with."
"What I can share with people looking to implement SAP SuccessFactors is that it's quite intuitive as it's a cloud solution, and it's also the latest solution and would be great for your business needs."
"What I like the most is the KPI management formula."
"The best feature is that the solution has an open architecture and provides an open platform so it can coexist with other systems."
"SAP SuccessFactors forms a key tool to our Employee Engagement pillar extensively leveraged by our HR function across the Group."
"It is the best cloud product in the market, with strong support from SAP, which is a market leader in the world."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the performance management module."
"From a user perspective, everything is straightforward; after login, we can easily navigate to any of the pages we need, and the organization structure, salary details, and training records are all available as drop-downs on the home page."
"The product is stable, scalable, and addresses a lot of issues."
 

Cons

"In my opinion, the performance management module of this system could use improvement as it falls behind compared to other specialized performance management platforms."
"The budget module does not work. Sage People need to maybe make it more user-friendly."
"In comparison with other HRIS reporting tools (like Discoverer / OBIEE for Oracle, Business Objects, Crystal Reports etc. which I have used extensively for over 10 years), I think that Fairsail’s reports functionality is quite limited and only available for Administrator profiles."
"The integration with our payroll system could improve. However, it is managed by another company."
"Its stability could be better."
"There is a mash-up of Visualforce and apex triggers which bear down heavily on the system."
"Within the absence screens, we have it set up to automatically allow up to five days holiday to carry over. If staff members are allowed to carry over, it’s a bit difficult to add it in easily."
"Its technical support could have been better."
"The back end for the administration and the front end is too overtly complex and it's not aligned with our operations and learning needs."
"SuccessFactors is a perfect tool if you use it the way it is meant to be, but if you start building custom sessions and try to use it differently, then it is a total mess."
"SAP needs to add more power to its built-in analytics capability as part of the product."
"The installation was a bit complex. They are more complicated than other cloud solutions."
"Employee Central made an incredible improvement, but still is behind the SAP HCM On Prem solution."
"The GUI needs to be enhanced to be in line with the latest and complete version of the solution."
"In the next release, I would like to be able to configure objects from instances, not from import and export files."
"Its overall integration and user experience can be improved. SuccessFactors is a system that is built out of three different systems. The elements part was bought from Plateau, and the original performance dialogue was built by SuccessFactors itself. After that, SAP bought it, and it hasn't improved in the last few years. SuccessFactors is a perfect tool if you use it the way it is meant to be, but if you start building custom sessions and try to use it differently, then it is a total mess. It is not agile. It is like an old Mastodon truck or whatever. We don't have the Employee Central and Competence Management modules. Our company made the choice to not implement the Employee Central module. We also didn't implement the Competence Management module. We use the learning module to do some competence management, but I am not that fond of it. It would have been best to have the whole suite. SAP should never sell this without selling the whole suite because it just doesn't work. The biggest gain for me would be having the possibility of doing strategic personnel planning and managing internal mobility. If it could be used for social purposes, such as creating communities and connecting with media channels, that would be perfect. It should also have the possibilities for local admin and agile product development."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"The price of the solution is reasonable."
"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."
"Its cost is moderate for a multi-group licensing model."
"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 pricing is reasonable."
"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."
"For SAP, the product is pricey, both CAPEX and the OPEX. It's something that could be improved."
"It is not cheap, but it is reasonable."
"I think the pricing is a little better than most solutions out there. There are reasonable prices when it comes to some of the modules such as the Payroll module, and for the remaining modules I believe the pricing is fair in comparison to the rest of the market."
"We are on an annual subscription to use SAP SuccessFactors. The pricing model is something that they could restructure a bit better. If it was based differently on the type of usage it would help."
"It is not expensive because it is a complete suite with a module-based cost."
"If you go by best practices and do it right from the outset, the setup won't be a costly endeavor. In terms of setup, there is a lot of flexibility compared to three years ago."
"Due to the way in which we purchased SuccessFactors as a module along with other SAP modules, we were able to procure it at a slightly better price than usual. I would rate their pricing 5/5 stars."
"The price of the solution is highly expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
16%
Construction Company
16%
Marketing Services Firm
9%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
15%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise6
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise70
 

Questions from the Community

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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...
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...
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...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Fairsail
SuccessFactors
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Rocketship Education, Monitise, u-blox, SolarWinds, Mitsubishi, SmartStream, Canonical, Betfair
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, Skril
Find out what your peers are saying about SAP SuccessFactors vs. Sage People and other solutions. Updated: July 2026.
908,877 professionals have used our research since 2012.