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SAP SuccessFactors vs Workday comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
5.3
SAP SuccessFactors offers process automation and flexibility but has high licensing costs and varied ROI perceptions over time.
Sentiment score
7.3
Workday boosts employee engagement, saves 40% time, enhances interaction, and positively impacts ROI with reasonable pricing and streamlined processes.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.2
SAP SuccessFactors support receives mixed reviews; effectiveness varies by model, with premium services praised and responsiveness needing improvement.
Sentiment score
6.9
Workday customer service is responsive and knowledgeable but desires improvements in response times and regional expertise, especially for Koreans.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
SAP SuccessFactors scales efficiently for global growth but requires careful module selection to optimize performance across various users.
Sentiment score
7.9
Workday's cloud-based, flexible, scalable system supports diverse roles, excelling in growing medium to large enterprises efficiently.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
SAP SuccessFactors is stable but experiences occasional challenges, including integration issues and performance problems, varying by region.
Sentiment score
8.1
Workday is generally stable and reliable, with occasional minor issues like slowness or login disruptions, rated highly by users.
I hardly ever encounter any stability issues, as SAP SuccessFactors is very good and stable.
 

Room For Improvement

SAP SuccessFactors needs better integration, analytics, customization, streamlined management, and enhanced user experience to improve adoption and functionality.
Workday struggles with data integration, user interface inflexibility, and limited mobile utility, affecting user experience and international functionality.
Advisories can only be placed at the bottom, which is less effective as employees may not scroll down to see them.
The change management process during the initial launch was not effectively handled, leading to a poor user experience.
However, going by the demo, I think it is quite simple to use.
 

Setup Cost

SAP SuccessFactors' pricing varies by users and modules, with higher costs but valued for its business impact.
Workday's pricing is high, based on headcount and modules, offering value in reduced HR complexities and integration.
The licensing costs are quite high, which is a typical scenario for such solutions.
 

Valuable Features

SAP SuccessFactors offers comprehensive HR management with scalability, user-friendly interface, and robust integration, enhancing performance and decision-making.
Workday excels with its intuitive interface, powerful integrations, customizable functions, and strong security, enhancing HR efficiency and reducing costs.
Employees can view their goals, performance, ratings, and employee information, which enhances the employee experience.
SAP SuccessFactors has advantages in providing AI-driven initiatives such as candidate screening and matching features within the recruitment module.
Comparing Workday to other products, I am taking a positive note about Workday and it is the first priority that I suggested compared to Oracle or other products.
 

Categories and Ranking

SAP SuccessFactors
Ranking in Talent Management
2nd
Ranking in Cloud HCM
2nd
Ranking in Talent Acquisition
2nd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
97
Ranking in other categories
Global Payroll (2nd)
Workday
Ranking in Talent Management
1st
Ranking in Cloud HCM
1st
Ranking in Talent Acquisition
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
Benefits Administration (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Cloud HCM category, the mindshare of SAP SuccessFactors is 20.8%, down from 22.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Workday is 18.5%, up from 18.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud HCM
 

Featured Reviews

SandeepKumar7 - PeerSpot reviewer
Useful to manage employee life cycle management but is not very easy to implement
There are quite a few things, like goal management, in terms of transferring goals from manager to subordinates, which is probably not one of the best ways to look at SAP SuccessFactors, making it an area that could have been done better. Route management and template management are pretty good areas. The reporting in the tool is not as great as I would want it to be from a PMGM internal management perspective. I just hope that SAP SuccessFactors comes up with a payroll tool that suits India. I don't see it as one of the best tools for the Indian scenario. I would love to see much better document management in the system, like onboarding. Onboarding has document management, but if I want to report through it, there is not much that I can do about it. DMS in SAP would be great since, in most places, DMS is maintained outside the system. I would have loved to see better DMS in SAP SuccessFactors. In terms of the reporting, I understand that since everything is moving to SAP SAC. Even without SAP SAC, it would be great if we could have better analytics within SAP SuccessFactors.
Sarvesh Kumar Jha - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to use and provides great flexibility and security
Implementing the solution is generally not easy because it depends on our client's landscape. In the last one and a half years, Workday has started a new implementation approach called launch implementation. This approach allows you, as a client organization, to implement Workday in a shorter amount of time, given that you fulfill certain criteria. It depends on the number of subsidiaries and employees you have and their compensation structure. If it's not too complex, Workday provides its clients with this new approach called launch, where they can quickly onboard with the Workday without many complex requirements. The general implementation for Fortune 500 companies is always complex.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
34%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Educational Organization
16%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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...
What do you like most about SAP SuccessFactors?
The tool is easy to use for performance management. We haven't experienced any issues with SAP SuccessFactors for performance management, which is great. However, since we're still learning to use ...
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.
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...
What needs improvement with Workday?
If you want to add more features to your subscription, Workday becomes expensive.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

SuccessFactors
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
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!
Find out what your peers are saying about SAP SuccessFactors vs. Workday and other solutions. Updated: May 2025.
856,874 professionals have used our research since 2012.