Sage People vs Workday HCM comparison

Sage and Workday are both solutions in the Cloud HCM category. Sage is ranked #19, while Workday is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.4. Sage holds a 1.7% mindshare in CHCM, compared to Workday’s 9.7% mindshare. Additionally, 81% of Sage users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of Workday users who would recommend it.

Sage People

Read 15 Sage People reviews

2,766 Views
1,521 Comparison Views

81% willing to recommend

Workday HCM

Read 66 Workday HCM reviews

15,307 Views
10,868 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Sage People

Workday HCM

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 21, 2026

Workday HCM and Sage People compete in the HR management software category. Workday appears to have the advantage due to its ease of use and flexible integration capabilities.

Features: Workday HCM stands out with centralized data management, enabling access to HR, payroll, and employee information from one platform. Its real-time reporting and robust automation enhance operational efficiency. Sage People excels in detailed reporting features, the ability to integrate with financial systems, and extensive customization options.

Room for Improvement: Workday needs enhancements in reporting customization, more industry-specific solutions, and seamless payroll integrations. Users seek better mobile experience and faster loading times. Sage People could improve its user interface, expand automation features, and offer better payroll system integration for ease of use.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Workday offers flexible deployment options including public, private, and hybrid cloud, alongside responsive customer support with community resources. Sage People also supports diverse deployment models but can improve on response times, although users find support quality satisfactory when received.

Pricing and ROI: Workday is priced based on headcount and module choices, making it more suitable for larger businesses with high ROI through efficiency gains. Sage People offers competitive pricing ideal for mid-sized companies but can be expensive for startups, with ROI dependent on feature utilization and incorporation.

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

Buyer's Guide

Sage People vs. Workday HCM

June 2026

Download the complete report

Helped 906,829 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

17th

Ranking in Talent Management

23rd

Ranking in Cloud HCM

19th

Ranking in Talent Acquisition

15th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

HR Analytics Software (8th)

Workday HCM

Ranking in Benefits Administration

1st

Ranking in Talent Management

2nd

Ranking in Cloud HCM

1st

Ranking in Talent Acquisition

1st

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of July 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 Workday HCM is 9.7%, down from 18.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud HCM Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Workday	9.7%
Sage People	1.7%
Other	88.6%

Cloud HCM

Featured Reviews

Spencer Gray

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.

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

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

"The report builder and dashboard builder are very, very good."

"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."

"The solution's initial setup was straightforward."

"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."

"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."

"I guess I would say maybe that it is a more robust system."

More Sage People pros

"In the process of obtaining representative sites in NaviNet, it assists us in facilitating decision-making and taking action."

"We use this solution to manage financials, payroll and recruiting."

"It is a leading talent management tool, and it has got the largest market share."

"It saves a lot of time for onboarding processes."

"I would recommend the solution to others, owing to its stability."

"The solution has allowed leaders to self-serve, and we have fewer systems, less manual data entry, and less processing."

"There is a lot to like about it. I really enjoy the business process framework. It's something that's really seamless. It allows you to have people within the flow. They get assigned a task to complete something to approve, etc. That's a really good piece of functionality that Workday offers. Their out-of-the-box reporting framework is also really powerful in terms of what it provides. These would be two things that I would highlight."

"The solution is extremely stable."

More Workday HCM pros

Cons

"If Sage People were to become a fully cloud-based solution, it could lead to significant improvements. With the COVID pandemic highlighting the benefits of remote work, a complete shift to cloud-based functionality would be a welcome development for users."

"Right now, Sage doesn't seem to have what we are looking for when it comes to managing HR tickets."

"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."

"The product lacks several features available in more mature products."

"Its technical support could have been 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."

"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."

More Sage People cons

"It is very unique as compared to other tools in terms of the employee master data and how it is organized. That's why sometimes the information needs to sit in two different systems because, in Workday, it is organized differently. This issue is not related to benefits. It is more or so related to how you categorize employees. I don't think this is a problem that could be solved. Workday is aware of this. It is one of those kinds of situations that you just got to live with."

"My opinion is that this solution can improve the overall integrations and add more automation. I think anything that could be on a self-serve basis would work quite well."

"Workday could improve by adding other features, such as messaging to candidates and other recruiting capabilities that other new-age solutions have."

"The cost of Workday is certainly not inexpensive. It's very pricey."

"I would be happy if it was faster. Currently, when I try to navigate within the solution itself, it is a bit slow in terms of the page load time. When I click on something, it usually takes time to load. When you click on different icons or areas on the website, it is slow. Even when you navigate between different models, it is a bit slow. I would like to see a bit faster performance and a better user experience."

"The solution needs to be updated with generative UI."

"In Workday Human Capital Management, I feel that the security part needs to be improved."

"Workday would be improved with more API connectors."

More Workday HCM cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Its cost is moderate for a multi-group licensing model."

"I think it's reasonably priced. But in comparison to other systems, I would choose them over Sage People, regardless of their prices."

"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."

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

"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."

"The pricing 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."

"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."

More Sage People pricing and cost advice

"It has an annual subscription rate, but I'm not sure how it will work."

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

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

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

"Each module comes with an additional cost. It operates on a mid-price model. So, there is an additional payment for each module needed. The solution might be costlier for smaller companies, making it more suitable for mid to large-sized enterprises."

"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."

"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."

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

More Workday HCM pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Construction Company

16%

Comms Service Provider

15%

Marketing Services Firm

Outsourcing Company

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

Government

Comms Service Provider

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	18
Midsize Enterprise	7
Large Enterprise	50

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...

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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...

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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...

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Comparisons

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Compared 8% of the time

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Compared 6% of the time

ADP Workforce Now vs Sage People

Compared 5% of the time

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Compared 5% of the time

DarwinBox vs Sage People

Compared 4% of the time

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SAP SuccessFactors vs Workday HCM

Compared 22% of the time

UKG vs Workday HCM

Compared 8% of the time

Oracle HCM Cloud vs Workday HCM

Compared 6% of the time

SAP HCM vs Workday HCM

Compared 5% of the time

SmartRecruiters vs Workday HCM

Compared 1% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Sage People

July 2026

Download Sage People product report

Buyer's Guide

Workday HCM

July 2026

Download Workday HCM product report

Also Known As

Fairsail

Workday Human Capital Management

Overview

Sage People offers customizable reporting, system integration, and HR management capabilities tailored to companies managing diverse teams globally through Salesforce technology. It enhances workforce engagement and enables seamless interaction with payroll and financial systems.

Sage People is built for managing HR services, including payroll integration, employee data handling, and talent acquisition. It provides a visually appealing interface powered by Salesforce, enhancing employee processes with functions like time-off management and legally compliant reporting. Implementation supports global operations across APAC, EMEA, and Americas, optimizing workforce engagement and standardizing HR processes.

What are Sage People's key features?

Customizable Reporting: Enables detailed analysis and evaluation of HR metrics
Payroll Integration: Seamlessly connects with payroll systems to streamline financial transactions
Global Team Visualization: Visualizes team structures for better management
Employee Information Management: Centralizes employee data for easy access and updates
Cloud and On-Premise Support: Allows flexibility in deployment and ensures robust performance

What benefits are important to consider in reviews?

Process Standardization: Facilitates consistent HR practices across various regions
Employee Engagement: Enhances workforce interaction and satisfaction
Mobile Access: Provides remote accessibility for team management
Efficient Integration: Connects with existing financial systems for simplified workflows

Sage People is widely used across industries for efficient HR management, especially in talent acquisition and onboarding processes. Its adaptability enables companies to customize according to workforce requirements, whether in the cloud or on-premise, supporting comprehensive payroll management and application oversight.

Sage

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.

Workday

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!

Buyer's Guide

Sage People vs. Workday HCM

June 2026

Free Report: Sage People vs. Workday HCM

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