Thanks to its robust anlalytics tools, global compliance features and extensive international payroll support, Dayforce (previously Ceridian Dayforce) has made itself a key player in the world of enterprise-level workforce management software.
But if Dayforce isn’t right for you, plenty of top Dayforce competitors could be better solutions for your business’s needs. In this article, we overview Dayforce’s top competitors, analyzing their features, pros, cons, and prices. Read on to gain an in-depth understanding of the different solutions that are vying for a spot at the top of the enterprise software food chain, and a place within your workforce operations.
Top Dayforce competitors and alternatives: Comparison table
| Pricing | Built-in Global Payroll | Tax compliance tools | Employee self-service | Benefits administration | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dayforce | Custom quote | Yes (160+ countries) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Try Dayforce |
| UKG Pro | Custom quote | No (Global payroll through third-party partnerships) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Try UKG |
| ADP Workforce Now | Custom quote | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Try ADP |
| Oracle PeopleSoft HCM | Custom quote | Limited (9 countries) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Try Peoplesoft |
| Rippling | Custom quote | Yes (140+ countries) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Try Rippling |
| BambooHR | Custom quote | Yes (135+ countries) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Try BambooHR |
| Workday HCM | Custom quote | Limited (4 countries) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Try Workday |
Top Dayforce competitors
UKG Pro: Best for flexibility and configuration
UKG Pro is an HCM solution that streamlines the payroll and HR operations of organizations with international teams. While UKG Pro does support global payroll processing, it does not provide it as a built-in feature. Instead, it uses partnerships with other providers to administer payments to employees in other countries.
SEE: Dayforce vs. UKG: Which Software Is Better? (TechRepublic)
Why we chose it: What UKG may lack in built-in global payroll capabilities is made up for in customization and flexibility. Businesses can tailor their software to fix their unique needs, from the customized initial setup to configurable data analytics reports. Managers can even use UKG Pro’s compensation management tools to generate customized salary plans to fine-tune their payroll each step of the way.
For more information, read the full UKG review.
Features
- Compliance tools.
- Real-time data reports.
- Employee learning management system.
- Talent acquisition.
- Employee self-service tools.
- Third-party app integration available via the UKG Pro Integration Hub.
Pros
- Comes with UKG Talk, a collaborative system that helps employers connect with their employees.
- Configurable platform.
- Impressive reporting and data analytics tools.
- UKG Pro mobile app.
Cons
- Pricing information not provided online.
- Onboarding can be a timely process, due to the software’s customized setup.
Pricing
UKG Pro doesn’t share pricing information on its website. Shoppers can reach out to the company’s sales team for customized pricing quotes.
ADP Workforce Now: Best for tax and payroll compliance
ADP Workforce Now is a well-known name in the payroll software game. It comes equipped with a plethora of tools to reform payroll, benefits and other HR related procedures. Its comprehensive payroll and HR features work together to resolve otherwise confusing tasks, and it utilizes automation to save users time and effort in their administrative processes.
Why we chose it: While ADP Workforce Now provides various perks for simplifying HR for local and global teams, its payroll compliance and tax management features are where the product really shines. The solution protects businesses from making costly payroll mistakes through its payroll dashboard that alerts users of detected errors. ADP Workforce Now’s expert tax filing and payment services let businesses file with confidence, and users can preview their payroll to ensure accuracy before submitting.
For more information, read the full ADP Workforce Now review.
Features
- Workforce management.
- New hire reporting.
- Benefits enrollment and administration.
- Customized real-time reports.
- Employee recordkeeping.
- Dozens of third-party integrations, including integrations with Xero, QuickBooks Online, Sage, SAP, 7shifts and more.
Pros
- Employee self-service available through desktop or mobile app.
- Synced payroll deductions to maintain local, state and federal tax compliance.
- Payroll dashboard with real-time gross-to-net calculations.
Cons
- Cumbersome initial implementation.
- Reporting can be challenging for new users.
Pricing
ADP Workforce Now can be purchased in four pricing plans:
- Essential
- Enhanced
- Complete
- HR Pro
Exact pricing information is not available online, and those interested can reach out to the ADP sales team for precise details.
Oracle PeopleSoft HCM: Best feature-rich solution
Oracle PeopleSoft lets users experience human resources, payroll, workforce management and talent management all within one HCM solution. And for organizations that like to stay on the cutting edge of new technology, this solution may be what they’re looking for.
Why we chose it: Oracle PeopleSoft comes out with new features every quarter to keep their software ahead of competitors in the latest HCM capabilities. For example, some recent additions to the solution include a Team Calendar and new tools for streamlining performance management and reaching more data-driven payroll insights.
PeopleSoft has even established its own community surrounding its HCM product, where users can collaborate with PeopleSoft product development by voting on and sharing their own software feature ideas.
For more information, read the full Oracle PeopleSoft review.
Features
- Real-time indexing.
- Mobile, tablet and desktop access.
- Document sharing.
- Alerts and notifications.
- Approval frameworks.
- Syncs with third-party apps via the PeopleSoft Integration Broker application.
Pros
- Configuration options allow users to tailor their solutions to their needs.
- Robust security features to protect sensitive information.
- Payroll support for the U.S., the U.K., Mexico, Canada and various countries in the Middle East.
Cons
- Numerous features can cause a significant learning curve for new users.
- Challenging initial setup process.
Pricing
Oracle PeopleSoft provides on-demand pricing, so you’ll need to contact the PeopleSoft’s sales team to request a quote.
Rippling: Best for global talent acquisition
Rippling is a workforce management platform that combines employee payroll and organizational expense processes into one unified solution. Businesses are able to take the guesswork out of paying, recruiting and maintaining compliance when managing their international teams, thanks to the automated features and tools sprinkled throughout Rippling’s platform.
Organizations looking to expand internationally will appreciate the solution’s dedication to local law compliance. The native employer of record (EOR) service simplifies international hiring and onboarding, and businesses can even pay their global employees in their local currency without delays for conversions or transfers. The supportive tool makes it so distance no longer stands in the way of employers hiring the best workers to join their teams.
For more information, read the full Rippling review.
Features
- EOR and payroll support for over 140 countries.
- Custom workflows.
- Instant payroll tax calculation and filing.
- Automatic data syncing.
- New-hire onboarding.
- Rippling syncs with third-party software by utilizing pre-built “recipes,” or workflows that ensure your third-party app integrates with Rippling’s automations.
Pros
- Inventory management and remote device management features allow global workers to access the equipment and tools they need.
- Corporate cards with pre-set limits issued to new hires.
- Localized contracts for global workers to ensure compliance.
Cons
- Ambiguous pricing information.
- No free trial.
Pricing
Rippling’s software starts at $8 per month per user. However the final price of the solution is based on the services the buyers choose. If interested, you can visit the Rippling website to request a free quote.
BambooHR: Best user-friendly solution
BambooHR is a comprehensive, all-in-one solution for all things payroll and people management. This intuitive solution simplifies payroll and other administrative tasks for not only organizations but also their employees. From the time a new worker is hired, the system’s automated features support them through each stage in the employee lifecycle, from onboarding to payroll to benefits and more.
Why we chose it: BambooHR was explicitly designed for small to midsize businesses. It consolidates their operations within one digestible and user-friendly platform. Business managers can visualize their workers data easily, touching on areas like benefits administration, time tracking and payroll. Businesses are even able to harness the power of BambooHR’s pre-built integrations, allowing them to streamline their data sharing across systems to drive enhanced data insights.
For more information, read the full BambooHR review.
Features
- Employee data management.
- Recruitment and onboarding.
- Applicant tracking.
- Performance management.
- Pre-built integrations.
- Native integrations with over 100 third-party apps, all available via the BambooHR Marketplace.
Pros
- Local and international payroll in 135+ countries (international payroll available through third-party provider Remote).
- Features for tracking, syncing and managing employee schedules and time data.
- Free trial.
Cons
- Time and attendance features have limited customization capabilities.
- No transparent pricing information.
Pricing
BambooHR has two available pricing plans:
- Core, which includes time-off tracking, benefits tracking, hiring, onboarding and reporting.
- Advantage, which includes all of Core’s features plus performance management, employee experience tools and a centralized employee community hub.
Payroll is available as an add-on with either plan, as is benefits administration and time tracking. While BambooHR does not share exact price figures on its website, it does advertise a 15% discount for companies that bundle a Core or Advantage plan with payroll and benefits administration.
Workday HCM: Best for data analytics
Workday HCM offers cloud-based Human Capital Management software with capabilities to help businesses get the most out of their data. Like Dayforce, Workday HCM provides features for talent management, payroll, time tracking and more, and it leverages information gathered from these processes to generate insightful data-driven reports.
Why we chose it: Workday HCM’s built-in analytics and reporting features use key metrics and emerging trends to uncover actionable insights for businesses. The software lets users choose to either run the system’s preconfigured payroll reports or customize their own reports suited to their needs.
With the augmented analytics applied to payroll and other workforce data sets, decision-makers can uncover valuable relationships between data. They could then use this to gain the information they need to lead with confidence.
For more information, read the full WorkdayHCM review.
Features
- Real-time general ledger visibility.
- Flexible audits.
- User-friendly compliance dashboard.
- Compliance-related updates.
- Mobile app.
- Workday syncs with third-party apps via its Workday Integration Cloud platform, which includes both an industry-standard API framework for business-specific integrations and a variety of pre-built integrations.
Pros
- Employers can visualize their general ledger prior to completing their payroll processing.
- Insights and discovery automations.
- Robust workforce data analysis for insightful learnings.
- Augmented analytics include natural language “story” generation.
Cons
- No free trial.
- Built-in global payroll support is limited to the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and France—other locations can only be managed through third-party integrations.
Pricing
Workday doesn’t provide clear prices of its software online, so you’ll have to contact the sales department on the website for pricing details.
Is Dayforce worth it?
Dayforce’s HCM solution contains many valuable capabilities. Its enterprise HCM software assists organizations with their payroll processes, as well as additional tasks related to HR, workforce management and customer experience, to name just a few.
One helpful offering provided through Dayforce Payroll is the Dayforce Wallet, which enables employees to access their wages on demand through a prepaid card and mobile app. This can relieve financial stress for hired workers, and it’s an attractive benefit to draw new talent to your business.
Dayforce also comes loaded with analytics features to help businesses gain more actionable insights from their data. It comes pre-programmed with KPIs, 300+ configurable reports and other helpful business intelligence features so organizations can easily learn from their payroll, benefits, time and HR data. Its talent intelligence module also helps businesses take a smarter approach to talent recruitment, with AI and machine learning features for narrowing down the candidate pool.
The software also performs real-time payroll calculations to ensure data accuracy. Furthermore, the global payroll solution covers over 160 countries, making it an optimal choice for organizations growing internationally. Dayforce provides businesses with streamlined support and localized expertise, simplifying the global payroll management process for businesses wherever their employees reside. The system also performs tax management and filing and is tailored to ensure compliance throughout each of your business’s geographical operations.
These are just a few of several perks provided through the solution, which brings all areas of HCM together in one unified, robust platform.
Dayforce pros and cons
Dayforce provides many advantageous features for local and global payroll. Still, shoppers should also consider its disadvantages to better assess the product’s value for their organization.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
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Dayforce pricing
Like others on this list, Dayforce does not provide transparent pricing information online. Instead, customers can fill out a form on the website to be put in contact with the sales department.
Do you need an alternative to Dayforce?
While Dayforce is a valuable payroll and workforce management solution, it may not be the optimal choice for your businesses. It’s best to first list your business’s HR and payroll needs, then examine which features are absolutely necessary to keep things running smoothly. From there, you can easily determine which solutions are most fitting for your business.
If you are unsure about whether Dayforce has the features that meet your organization’s needs, consider the alternative software solutions discussed within this article and their usefulness in your business operations. For example, if your business is looking to optimize its workforce processes through data-driven insights, Workday HCM may be your best option.
As another instance, a growing business may benefit from the UKG Pro’s flexibility or Rippling’s onboarding features. Comparing the key qualities of these software options can help you determine their value to your organization.
Methodology
This is a technical review using compiled literature researched from relevant databases. The information provided in this article is gathered from vendor websites or based on an aggregate of user feedback to ensure a high-quality review.
