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SAP SuccessFactors vs Workday comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 27, 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
5.0
SAP SuccessFactors offers ROI within years by automating HR, though high costs may reduce perceived financial benefits.
Sentiment score
6.1
Workday boosts employee engagement, saves 40% time, enhances interaction, and positively impacts ROI with reasonable pricing and streamlined processes.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.1
SAP SuccessFactors' support experiences vary, with some users satisfied, but others face delays and note limited expertise.
Sentiment score
7.0
Workday customer service is responsive and knowledgeable but desires improvements in response times and regional expertise, especially for Koreans.
With Workday, I can pick up the phone, call them on Teams, and they answer immediately.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
SAP SuccessFactors offers scalable solutions with quarterly updates, cloud compatibility, and modular design for diverse organizational needs.
Sentiment score
7.7
Workday's cloud-based, flexible, scalable system supports diverse roles, excelling in growing medium to large enterprises efficiently.
We have implemented it for 25,000 employees, scaling from 7,000 to 25,000 using the same set of rules, and it was not difficult.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
SAP SuccessFactors is highly stable, with occasional updates or custom field issues, but generally surpasses other ERP systems in reliability.
Sentiment score
7.9
Workday is generally stable and reliable, with occasional minor issues like slowness or login disruptions, rated highly by users.
The solution is absolutely stable.
I hardly ever encounter any stability issues, as SAP SuccessFactors is very good and stable.
 

Room For Improvement

SAP SuccessFactors needs enhanced analytics, integration, user interfaces, customization, localization, cloud features, AI, and improved documentation.
Workday struggles with data integration, user interface inflexibility, and limited mobile utility, affecting user experience and international functionality.
Workforce analytics is still challenging due to customizations. It does not provide flexibility in terms of analytics, and we have to customize extensively.
Advisories can only be placed at the bottom, which is less effective as employees may not scroll down to see them.
They should implement soft connectors through a marketplace for virtual learning integration with platforms such as Teams, Cisco, and Webex, rather than relying on hard connectors using APIs.
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.
However, going by the demo, I think it is quite simple to use.
 

Setup Cost

SAP SuccessFactors offers customizable pricing with an annual subscription, though costs vary by company size and additional services.
Workday's pricing is high, based on headcount and modules, offering value in reduced HR complexities and integration.
The licensing cost is not expensive now.
The licensing costs are quite high, which is a typical scenario for such solutions.
 

Valuable Features

SAP SuccessFactors enhances recruitment, provides seamless integration and customization, increasing employee engagement and satisfaction with robust analytics.
Workday excels with its intuitive interface, powerful integrations, customizable functions, and strong security, enhancing HR efficiency and reducing costs.
The best features of SAP SuccessFactors are workflows, the storyboard, the workforce analytics, and customization in terms of doing those portlets and MDIs, which are much simpler.
SAP SuccessFactors has advantages in providing AI-driven initiatives such as candidate screening and matching features within the recruitment module.
Employees can view their goals, performance, ratings, and employee information, which enhances the employee experience.
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.
The interface of Workday is superior.
 

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
99
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
6.8
Number of Reviews
57
Ranking in other categories
Benefits Administration (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Cloud HCM category, the mindshare of SAP SuccessFactors is 19.4%, down from 22.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Workday is 17.4%, down from 17.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud HCM Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Workday17.4%
SAP SuccessFactors19.4%
Other63.2%
Cloud HCM
 

Featured Reviews

ManujGupta - PeerSpot reviewer
Has improved employee satisfaction and streamlined real-time data management
In terms of customizations in specific modules for industry requirements, SAP SuccessFactors is much more generic and does not comply many times with industry requirements as a vertical. In my experience with SuccessFactors' analytics capabilities influencing decision-making, workforce analytics is still challenging due to customizations. It does not provide flexibility in terms of analytics, and we have to customize extensively. For the future of the product, I would like to see more AI implementation, Python integrations, and GPT integrations.
Eslam Abo Elnaga - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Healthcare Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business22
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise69
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise41
 

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?
Based on my experience and the requirement, I would give it an eight. The ease of use is notable because seeing all the videos and demos, the user interface is quite simple to use. What I find most...
 

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: September 2025.
867,676 professionals have used our research since 2012.