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SAP HCM vs SAP SuccessFactors 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

SAP HCM
Ranking in Talent Management
3rd
Ranking in Cloud HCM
3rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
57
Ranking in other categories
Benefits Administration (4th)
SAP SuccessFactors
Ranking in Talent Management
2nd
Ranking in Cloud HCM
2nd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
97
Ranking in other categories
Talent Acquisition (2nd), Global Payroll (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Cloud HCM category, the mindshare of SAP HCM is 10.5%, down from 16.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP SuccessFactors is 19.9%, down from 22.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud HCM
 

Featured Reviews

Renelia Villanueva - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient payroll processing with comprehensive attendance management
I am currently heading the payroll benefits and HRIS team here in Manila. We are using SAP HCM on-premises, and we implemented SuccessFactors focusing on Employee Central and GMPM SAP HCM has helped a lot due to the always changing government regulations pertaining to taxation, social security…
Renelia Villanueva - PeerSpot reviewer
Moving to a cloud-based employee portal has improved experience but user interface requires attention
I am currently handling SAP sub-modules, particularly in HR. I interface with SAP SuccessFactors modules such as Employee Central, Goals and Performance, and Talent Moving from an in-house developed employee self-service portal to a cloud-based internet solution is an improvement for us.…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I like the talent, recruitment, and learning features the most."
"It's very suitable for large, multi-geography companies but also very suitable for medium companies with multi-geography operations."
"It is a pretty stable solution."
"The compliance management functionality is quite good."
"The feature I like most in SAP HCM is its effectiveness for talent management."
"Customers can create custom infotypes to store any custom data points."
"The most valuable feature is Organizational Management (OM)."
"The functions are really important in the product in ReadyNodes."
"I think it's perfect that every requirement has flexibility in how it is handled, and that there are several workarounds for any problem we are looking to solve. Each problem has multiple solutions, so it gives us a lot of flexibility in terms of processes."
"There were no major technical issues or downtimes reported with SAP SuccessFactors."
"There are a lot of features in SuccessFactors that HR can actually explore. We recently implemented a learning platform that employs the individual staff to actually manage their own learning."
"This solution has always been stable for me."
"In terms of user experience, it is quite good."
"The most valuable feature of SAP SuccessFactors is analytics."
"This solution offers good flexibility and configurability. It can handle different types of performance management."
"The main advantage of SuccessFactors is its ability to add many types of integrations within the SAP Cloud platform. Many useful modules can be implemented alongside SuccessFactors as third-party integrations, and this capability to extend the system is a big plus."
 

Cons

"There's still room for improvement. We need end-to-end systems. Only the HR team uses HCM, but employees don't have access to their data. With Employee Central, employees can see their ratings, increment cycles, and other details, making things more transparent."
"We find some challenges in the integration between SAP HCM and SAP SuccessFactors."
"The breadth of functionality offered by SAP HCM comes at a cost."
"There needs to be a renovation of the interface and functionalities of the talent management modules."
"Regarding vSAN ReadyNodes, there needs to be a clear assessment of areas that require improvement from the product perspective."
"A better user interface and greater AI integration are crucial."
"System usability is a challenge."
"The customer support from SAP is reasonable, yet I would rate it five out of ten."
"The Onboarding module must be improved."
"It's a bit complicated to make a change in the tool... It is time-consuming."
"One area for improvement is making SuccessFactors more compatible with other countries, especially in terms of payroll and other functionalities."
"SuccessFactors' experience management is not so user-friendly."
"SuccessFactors feels rigid. It should be more streamlined. Also, the interface design is outdated and needs an upgrade."
"I don't think SuccessFactors is quite fit for use as an employee database."
"Its overall integration and user experience can be improved. SuccessFactors is a system that is built out of three different systems. The elements part was bought from Plateau, and the original performance dialogue was built by SuccessFactors itself. After that, SAP bought it, and it hasn't improved in the last few years. SuccessFactors is a perfect tool if you use it the way it is meant to be, but if you start building custom sessions and try to use it differently, then it is a total mess. It is not agile. It is like an old Mastodon truck or whatever. We don't have the Employee Central and Competence Management modules. Our company made the choice to not implement the Employee Central module. We also didn't implement the Competence Management module. We use the learning module to do some competence management, but I am not that fond of it. It would have been best to have the whole suite. SAP should never sell this without selling the whole suite because it just doesn't work. The biggest gain for me would be having the possibility of doing strategic personnel planning and managing internal mobility. If it could be used for social purposes, such as creating communities and connecting with media channels, that would be perfect. It should also have the possibilities for local admin and agile product development."
"There have been cases involving a lot of re-implementations and frustrations within clients where they have the workbook sessions, the workbook workshops and things like that. And I think that doesn't really go down well because the workbooks are very technical and, a lot of times, very confusing for the client."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost depends on the size of the organization. Compared to others, I'd say Oracle is number one, followed by Workday and SAP HCM."
"We purchase the product's yearly license."
"You pay per license. There not any costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."
"SAP is expensive, but if you're using the product, then the expensive product becomes inexpensive. Considering its performance and features, I find it quite reasonable."
"The solution is cheap."
"The solution is a little expensive and we are charged per user for the license. The solution can be paid monthly or annually."
"HCM is cheaper than SuccessFactors."
"The cost of SAP HCM is high, the license should be reduced. SAP HCM has a lot of hidden costs."
"We have a yearly license. There are no additional costs."
"The cost of SAP SuccessFactors is reasonable."
"I have raised change requests for some modules within SuccessFactors. For example, when you're using Recruiting Management, there's a feature called Interview Central you can use to reach the candidates you're interviewing. I wanted to add a writing assessment when I select the competency on that platform. It varies from consultant to consultant, depending on what module they use."
"We are on an annual subscription to use SAP SuccessFactors. The pricing model is something that they could restructure a bit better. If it was based differently on the type of usage it would help."
"I rate the tool's pricing a seven to eight out of ten."
"Our costs for the solution are subsidized by our parent company, I am not aware of the exact cost because of this. However, we pay $50,000 annually. If we move to another solution it will be more expensive."
"So now, SAP charges me 300 Euros for 14,000 employees. I still have to pay 2,000 euros because I'm using SAP on-prem."
"The price of the solution is highly expensive."
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Answers from the Community

NC
Jan 25, 2024
Jan 25, 2024
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 to simplify the process, giving life back to HR systems so that they can be more modern and flexible, and rely more on the heart of HR – the employee. On the other hand, while SF is technically less ...
See 2 answers
YZ
Sep 6, 2021
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 to simplify the process, giving life back to HR systems so that they can be more modern and flexible, and rely more on the heart of HR – the employee. On the other hand, while SF is technically less complex than SAP HCM, it also has significantly less capability, particularly when it comes to integration with other SAP modules. For example, while SAP's integration between the SAP Project system and the SAP HCM process is robust, SuccessFactors' integration is limited and still in its early stages. In all circumstances, SAP SF represents the future of HR, with a highly promising road map. I believe that if SAP continues to create more features, SF will have greater functionality than SAP HCM in 5 years.
Kseniia Gravis - PeerSpot reviewer
Jan 25, 2024
So are you striving to successfully deploy and utilize SAP systems to centralize data, streamline operations, gain real-time insights and achieve business efficiency? SAP applications are the backbone of every business. We also discuss the best SAP implementation process as an ideal solution for such problems: https://www.cleveroad.com/blog/why-outsource-sap/ 
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Educational Organization
17%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about SAP HCM?
SAP HCM is the one of the best ERP for an organization with a small to large scale business. It has the most efficient payroll functionality. Regards : SAP HR classes in pune
What do you like most about SAP HCM?
HCM is a very important module that each organization should want to use. It will help any organization to calculate and control the cost of their human resources.
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 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 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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP SuccessFactors?
The licensing costs are quite high, which is a typical scenario for such solutions.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

SAP Human Capital Management
SuccessFactors
 

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, Skrill Group Ltd.
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
Find out what your peers are saying about SAP HCM vs. SAP SuccessFactors and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
861,524 professionals have used our research since 2012.