Paycom and Workday are two close competitors that offer human capital management (HCM) software for medium and large businesses. While both platforms provide a similar feature selection, they also have some notable differences.
In this Paycom vs. Workday review, we help you compare these HCM vendors and decide which one is the right choice for your business.
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Paycom vs. Workday: Comparison table
| Paycom | Workday | Paylocity | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Custom quote | Custom quote | Custom quote |
| Global payroll | 180+ countries | 5 countries | 100+ countries |
| Talent acquisition | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Performance management | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Learning management | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Employee engagement | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Scheduling and time off management | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Time cards and clock-ins | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Try Paycom | Try Workday | Try Paylocity |
Paycom vs. Workday: Pricing
Paycom pricing
Paycom does not publicly disclose its pricing, so you’ll have to contact the sales team for a quote, most likely customized to your business’s specific needs.
For more information, see our full Paycom review.
Workday
Workday also does not publicly disclose its pricing. Again, you must contact the sales team for a custom quote.
For more information, see our full Workday review.
Paycom vs. Workday: Feature comparison
Payroll
Last year, Paycom expanded internationally, so its HR and payroll software is now available in over 180 countries worldwide. Its Beti tool allows employees to do their own payroll through self service, while Paycom Pay handles reconciling paper checks. Employees can also get paid through Vault, which is a pay card option; and Everyday, which is daily earned wage access.
Furthermore, the GL concierge general ledger consolidation feature makes it easy to keep and reconcile payroll accounting data. Paycom also offers support for garnishment administration and payroll tax management.
Workday’s payroll offering is housed under its broader finance offerings. The payroll platform is currently available in only five different countries: the U.S., Canada, Australia, the UK and France. Workday offers continuous payroll processing, which means real-time visibility into your general ledger. It also offers tools to help you manage taxes and compliance, including a dashboard that posts tax updates.
Workday AI features also help to reduce manual input and tedious repetitive tasks, while central analytics gives data into labor costs.
Talent acquisition
If you need to hire a new employee, Paycom’s applicant tracking software makes it easy to create a job post and post it to your company website and top career sites. As candidates apply, all of their information will be centralized in one system, making it easy to compare candidates and decide who to move forward with in the interview process.
Paycom also offers enhanced background checks that are FCRA compliant so that you can quickly clear potential hires to move forward in the process. Once you’re ready to extend someone an offer, Paycom’s onboarding software eliminates paperwork and data re-entry so employees can self onboard before their first official day of employment.
Workday offers a centralized recruiting hub to help you post jobs, find workers and hire the right candidates. Automated campaigns help you find and nurture the right talent, while tailored landing pages make it easier to connect with people.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning functionality embedded in the tool will scan candidate resumes and recommend job opportunities that are a good match. The hiring team can exchange interview feedback via Slack and Microsoft teams, and automated workflows and bulk functions make it easy to process candidates en masse.
Talent management
Paycom offers numerous tools to help manage talent after employees are hired. Its performance management tools include self reviews, manager reviews and 360 reviews to encourage holistic feedback. Its compensation budgeting tool helps you determine whether or not you are offering employees a competitive compensation package and see who may be exceeding their salary grades. You can more efficiently manage your workforce with the position management module, while the learning management module supports training and upskilling.
Workday’s Peakon Employee Voice tool helps you gather real-time insights and turn those into actual changes to promote employee engagement and retention. Its talent optimization tools include holistic performance dashboards and an Insights Hub to centralize goals, feedback and development items.
The Workday Skills Cloud helps you understand your employees’ current levels and areas for improvement, while the learning management software allows you to make personalized training courses to support compliance and upskilling.
Time and labor management
Paycom’s timekeeping software makes it easy for employees to punch in and out on either web-based time clocks or physical terminal clocks. It also offers a scheduling tool to help you reduce both overstaffing and understaffing. Create and edit templates for schedules, assign employees recurring shifts, batch assign shifts to multiple employees and let employees swap shifts with each other directly in the software. Paycom also offers tools to manage time off requests and PTO, so everything is centralized in one single system.
Workday also offers mobile clock in and out with geo-fencing to promote easy and accurate timekeeping. Managers can make mass approvals, edits and exceptions to cut down on repetitive work. You can also institute time and absence rules to automate the compliance process. Employees have a mobile self-service app, so they will be reminded of upcoming shifts and can also swap with each other. Workday also offers absent management software in addition to scheduling, so employees can request time off and get approvals all within the same software.
Paycom pros and cons
Pros of Paycom
- Global payroll and HR software available in 180+ countries.
- Many employee self-service options.
- Manage HR and payroll in a single system.
- Well-guided onboarding process.
Cons of Paycom
- Does not offer any pre-built integrations.
- Customer service could be improved.
- Software can be clunky and difficult to navigate.
Workday pros and cons
Pros of Workday
- Offers financial and operational software in addition to payroll and HR.
- Highly customizable and suitable for large and complex organizations.
- Relatively user friendly given the complexity of the software.
- More than 600 pre-built integrations to choose from.
Cons of Workday
- Payroll is only available in five countries.
- Higher learning curve due to the number of features.
- Can be expensive compared to competitors.
Should your organization use Paycom or Workday?
Choose Paycom if . . .
- You want payroll that can be used internationally.
- Your integration needs are limited.
- You need payroll and HCM features only.
- You want an employee-driven payroll process.
Choose Workday if . . .
- You want finance and operations software in addition to HCM requirements.
- You don’t need to run payroll outside of the U.S., Canada, Australia, the UK and France.
- You want hundreds of pre-built integrations to choose from.
- You are looking for excellent reporting and analytics features.
Methodology
To compare Paycom and Workday, we consulted product documentation and user reviews. We considered features such as payroll, talent acquisition, talent management, time and labor management and more. We also weighted factors such as pricing, user experience, customer service and international availability.