Sage People vs Workday comparison

Read 58 Workday reviews

9,682 Views
6,777 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Sage People

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

Workday and Sage People compete in the HR services sector. Workday appears to have the upper hand due to its strong integration capabilities and user-friendly design, whereas Sage People offers robust reporting and better adaptability to organizational needs.

Features: Workday excels in providing comprehensive HR services with a strong emphasis on user experience. Notably, its intuitive business process framework and extensive integration capabilities simplify annual reviews and enhance reporting. Sage People, leveraging Salesforce technology, is recognized for its customizable and powerful reporting capabilities. It facilitates integrated financial system functions and provides support for comprehensive employee information management.

Room for Improvement: Workday users point out analytics limitations, payroll system integration challenges, and configuration complexities. It lacks flexibility in handling global payroll, requiring outside assistance for reporting tweaks. Sage People could enhance performance management and automation areas. Additionally, better HR ticket management and more intuitive error messaging would improve user experience. Customization options in Sage People do not fully meet expectations compared to broader systems.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Workday offers deployment across public, private, and hybrid clouds, with a supportive user community despite occasional support delays. Sage People widely utilizes public and private clouds, with generally prompt direct support. Occasionally, technical support issues arise. Workday benefits from a stronger community support network.

Pricing and ROI: Workday is geared towards larger organizations with significant upfront costs, justified by comprehensive features and integration benefits, improving ROI through streamlined processes. Sage People targets SMEs with flexible licensing options, offering robust HR functionalities at balanced pricing, ensuring affordability and accessibility for mid-sized and growing businesses without incurring premium expenses associated with Workday.

To learn more, read our detailed Sage People vs. Workday Report (Updated: March 2026).

Sage People vs. Workday

Download the complete report

Helped 885,789 peers since 2012

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 Benefits Administration

20th

Ranking in Talent Management

27th

Ranking in Cloud HCM

23rd

Ranking in Talent Acquisition

16th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

HR Analytics Software (9th)

Workday

Ranking in Benefits Administration

1st

Ranking in Talent Management

2nd

Ranking in Cloud HCM

2nd

Ranking in Talent Acquisition

2nd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Cloud HCM category, the mindshare of Sage People is 1.4%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Workday is 10.5%, down from 18.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud HCM Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Workday	10.5%
Sage People	1.4%
Other	88.1%

Cloud HCM

Featured Reviews

Ruth Baker

HRIS Implementation Consultant at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees

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.

Read full review

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

"Without a doubt, the most valuable aspect of this solution is the reports, as it offers endless possibilities for report customization. You can easily build any report you can imagine with this system."

"The most valuable feature of Sage People is the integration with our payroll system."

"Compared to the other HR systems I have used in the past, I can say that Sage is in my top five when it comes to recommendations."

"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."

"It is easy to see all the information we have for a person across two screens, and reports are easy to run, view, amend, and add."

"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 solution provides the ability to trace back records, is reliable, makes life easy, and is secure."

More Sage People pros

"The most valuable feature of Workday is the ease of use which is overall user-friendly."

"This product is leaps and bounds above the competition. Part of the reason is that it is built with modern technology. It has no legacy coding in it at all."

"I would say that we have definitely seen a return on investment."

"It is quite user-friendly, and we can store all the employee data information on it."

"I found the analysis features to be very useful for our company. I also found the modules installed to be aligned with our company's KPIs. These were the two features that stood out."

"Between risk reduction, audit reduction and knowing that in many ways we can stop thinking about HR as an issue to solve, we have seen great value."

"It is easy to use and straightforward."

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

More Workday pros

Cons

"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."

"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."

"There is a mash-up of Visualforce and apex triggers which bear down heavily on the system."

"Its technical support could have been better."

"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."

"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."

"There were a couple of things that we wanted to customize, but we couldn’t do it ourselves."

More Sage People cons

"They don't offer any backend database access. This is one limitation that I found in this product. Workday hasn't opened up about what kind of database they are into, which can make it easy for the technical team to emulate issues. It would be good if they can offer backend access to the technical team. It would be helpful if they can also provide a Troubleshooting Guide that we can use to troubleshoot issues. When we have an issue, there are very limited resources to refer to."

"The price could be lower."

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

"My only suggestion might be to include a brief description of any new fields we introduce, making it easier for people to use them. Perhaps this is something they can consider implementing."

"The finance module of this solution is not great and needs improvement."

"The navigation of Workday is good but could be better."

"Workday does not support many Korean language features. So, it will be great if they have some development on the Korean language side – then it will be really powerful in our market."

"Also, while the browser is powerful, the mobile app is so limited it is mostly useless."

More Workday cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"We have to purchase the solution's license to use it."

"The pricing 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."

"The price of the solution is reasonable."

"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."

More Sage People pricing and cost advice

"It is on a yearly basis."

"It's very, very expensive."

"With a bigger budget, I would recommend SAP."

"Workday is moderately priced - I'd rate its pricing three out of five."

"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."

"By and large, Workday is expensive. It is based on the headcount. I'd probably rate it a three or four out of five in terms of pricing. It'd be like buying a Mercedes or a high-end car. It's expensive, but there's a specific value that you're getting with additional features and things of that nature. Using that metaphor, Workday probably tends to be more of a luxury. There are others like ADP that can do your payroll, your time off, and other things, but they don't do it as well."

"The solution is flexible in terms of pricing."

"The pricing for this solution is fairly high. It is not affordable for small and mid-sized companies."

More Workday pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Cloud HCM solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

885,789 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Construction Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

12%

Marketing Services Firm

Outsourcing Company

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

University

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	3
Midsize Enterprise	7
Large Enterprise	6

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	16
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	42

Questions from the Community

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

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...

See all answers

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.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Workday?

If you go with the launch implementation approach, the solution is generally not very expensive. If you want to add more features to your subscription, Workday becomes expensive. The solution is fl...

See all answers

Comparisons

SAP SuccessFactors vs Sage People

Compared 9% of the time

DarwinBox vs Sage People

Compared 6% of the time

ADP Workforce Now vs Sage People

Compared 6% of the time

Eightfold Talent Intelligence Platform vs Sage People

Compared 6% of the time

PeopleSoft vs Sage People

Compared 5% of the time

More Sage People Competitors

SAP SuccessFactors vs Workday

Compared 22% of the time

UKG vs Workday

Compared 8% of the time

Oracle HCM Cloud vs Workday

Compared 8% of the time

SAP HCM vs Workday

Compared 7% of the time

Dayforce HCM vs Workday

Compared 4% of the time

More Workday Competitors

Product Reports

Sage People

Download Sage People product report

Download Workday product report

Also Known As

Fairsail

No data available

Overview

Connect teams across borders

Customise communications: Deliver business updates to specific groups and gather feedback with surveys.
Personalise experiences: Create engaging, branded experiences – tailored by group or region.
Connect global teams: Manage your entire workforce, wherever they are. Embed global policies while enforcing local regulations.
Help teams thrive, anywhere: Support wellbeing, provide localised benefits packages, and more.

Get ahead with actionable HR analytics

Make informed decisions: Use People analytics for actionable insights in seconds.
Provide real-time insights: Give up-to-the-minute recommendations so leaders jump on trends and adjust plans.
Customise dashboards: Plan hiring, analyse attrition, manage absence, and more.
Get actionable feedback: Understand the employee experience through surveys, tailored to different groups.

Compete successfully for top talent

Deliver a differentiated, stand-out candidate experience with easy-to-use employer branding themes and options that shows off your culture and company story.
Fill roles faster with skilled talent using our unique, AI-powered, intelligent candidate matching.
Have new employees hit the ground running with seamless remote pre-boarding and onboarding experiences.

Sage

The Workday Platform is an AI-powered platform that unifies HR, financial, and operational data, enabling seamless planning, execution, and analysis. It improves decision-making, streamlines cross-team processes, and leverages Workday Illuminate™ for advanced AI insights from vast HR and finance datasets. Workday empowers organizations of all sizes to innovate and optimize performance.

Sample Customers

Rocketship Education, Monitise, u-blox, SolarWinds, Mitsubishi, SmartStream, Canonical, Betfair

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!

Sage People vs. Workday