Sage People vs Workday comparison

Sage and Workday are both solutions in the Cloud HCM category. Sage is ranked #23, while Workday is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.4. Sage holds a 1.4% mindshare in CHCM, compared to Workday’s 9.3% mindshare. Additionally, 81% of Sage users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of Workday users who would recommend it.

Sage People

Read 15 Sage People reviews

1,800 Views
918 Comparison Views

81% willing to recommend

Workday

Read 58 Workday reviews

10,828 Views
7,471 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Sage People

Workday

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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: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Sage People vs. Workday

April 2026

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Helped 886,174 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

18th

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

1st

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 9.3%, down from 18.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud HCM Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Workday	9.3%
Sage People	1.4%
Other	89.3%

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

"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."

"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's initial setup was straightforward."

"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 is beneficial overall."

"The technical support is astounding and they are one of the best support teams I have had the pleasure to work with."

"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."

"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."

More Sage People pros

"It is quite user-friendly."

"Workday is easy to use. Timesheet and resource management are also easy."

"The platform itself is very robust and I generally like the reporting and analytics capability."

"Everything is in Workday as far as personnel is concerned."

"We use Workday for HR services and found the software to be very user-friendly compared to the previous software."

"It is easy to use and straightforward."

"The interface of Workday is superior; it is easy and clear, everything is organized effectively, and I enjoy using Workday extensively."

"It is a one-stop solution for everything, where you can look for information about other employees, track your information, search a directory, and see and track your personal and salary details on the employee profile page."

More Workday pros

Cons

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

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

"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."

"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."

"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."

"Its technical support could have been better."

"Its stability could be better."

More Sage People cons

"Errors are not very clear in some cases. I've been experiencing some issues within the application that the error messages or what I needed to do were not very easily clear to me."

"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."

"Workday does have a community site where people can go on and off for suggestions. They call them Brainstorms, and you can vote them up. That is something that they do well, but oftentimes, they seem to be racing to deliver something based on what a competitor is delivering. For example, if they hear SAP has this new functionality and learning that's going to be coming out, they prioritize there, which makes sense, but unfortunately, some of these Brainstorms may get neglected where the product might not be improved as quickly or as needed for the customers. You might be waiting for a year or two to get a feature that you'd like released. They should pay more attention to customer feedback and ensure that customer feedback is an essential part of their product roadmap."

"Reporting systems should be improved. If you want to report it on paper, if you want something more BI oriented, more high level predictive or more data-driven, it should be improved."

"In a future release we could like to have access to asset, supply and treasury management functionalities."

"Analytical tools have needed improvement. Workday has just released Prism Analytics, to replace the current analytical tools, so it’s in the early stages."

"It is good that much of the development is based on community input but often that can lead to details being ignored and small, nagging issues are ignored."

"It does not integrate with some of the career management softwares, like LinkedIn."

More Workday cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"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 price of the solution is reasonable."

"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."

"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."

More Sage People pricing and cost advice

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

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

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

"Workday is an expensive solution."

"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."

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

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

"It's very, very expensive."

More Workday pricing and cost advice

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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

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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 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.

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Comparisons

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Compared 9% of the time

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Compared 5% of the time

ADP Workforce Now vs Sage People

Compared 5% of the time

PeopleSoft vs Sage People

Compared 5% of the time

Eightfold Talent Intelligence Platform vs Sage People

Compared 5% of the time

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SAP SuccessFactors vs Workday

Compared 21% 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

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Sage People

March 2026

Download Sage People product report

Buyer's Guide

Workday

March 2026

Download Workday product report

Also Known As

Fairsail

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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.

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

April 2026

Free Report: Sage People vs. Workday

Find out what your peers are saying about Sage People vs. Workday and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.

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