Cornerstone OnDemand vs. Paycom

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cornerstone OnDemand
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
Cornerstone OnDemand is a cloud-based application for talent management. Cornerstone offers suites for recruiting, training, performance monitoring and planning, learning, and HR data management. It is scaled for enterprises.N/A
Paycom
Score 7.2 out of 10
N/A
Paycom is a core HR management software solution. It includes features such as talent acquisition and management, time tracking, and payroll management. It offers some automation capacities, particularly regarding payroll.N/A
Pricing
Cornerstone OnDemandPaycom
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cornerstone OnDemandPaycom
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Cornerstone OnDemandPaycom
Considered Both Products
Cornerstone OnDemand
Chose Cornerstone OnDemand
Cornerstone operates like a big ship; it takes a while for it to change direction. I have not been part of the selection process for Cornerstone but understand that they will provide steep discounts in exchange for longer contracts. I would prefer a newer or more agile system …
Chose Cornerstone OnDemand
I have not used or evaluated other products like Cornerstone OnDemand.
Chose Cornerstone OnDemand
Cornerstone OnDemand, from an overall product for the areas they offer, is a good system. However, Ultimate Software has come a long way and if we were evaluating them tomorrow against each other with the pricing Cornerstone now has (along with implementation), I am not sure …
Paycom
Chose Paycom
Paycom had the best ROI for the features we wanted and more customization options. Namely did not have all the features we wanted and UltiPro's sales representative did not seem think it was worth their time to demo to us, so we went with someone who wanted our business who …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Cornerstone OnDemandPaycom
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
8.2
132 Ratings
11% above category average
Paycom
7.1
313 Ratings
12% below category average
New hire portal8.369 Ratings7.4310 Ratings
Manager tracking tools8.0114 Ratings6.7268 Ratings
Compliance tracking and reporting8.4125 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
8.3
114 Ratings
13% above category average
Paycom
5.5
181 Ratings
39% below category average
Corporate goal setting8.095 Ratings4.236 Ratings
Subordinate goal setting8.398 Ratings00 Ratings
Individual goal setting8.8106 Ratings6.3168 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility8.194 Ratings4.835 Ratings
Performance tracking8.1109 Ratings6.4177 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
7.8
119 Ratings
13% above category average
Paycom
6.7
226 Ratings
17% below category average
Performance plans8.193 Ratings6.8209 Ratings
Plan weighting7.480 Ratings00 Ratings
Manager note taking7.969 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance improvement plans7.781 Ratings6.7198 Ratings
Review status tracking8.396 Ratings6.7202 Ratings
Rater nomination workflow7.664 Ratings00 Ratings
Review reminders8.193 Ratings7.1209 Ratings
Workflow restrictions7.485 Ratings00 Ratings
Multiple review frequency7.082 Ratings6.3187 Ratings
Reporting8.1113 Ratings00 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
9.0
58 Ratings
23% above category average
Paycom
6.8
34 Ratings
15% below category average
Create succession plans/pools8.449 Ratings9.124 Ratings
Candidate ranking9.349 Ratings6.830 Ratings
Candidate search9.352 Ratings5.833 Ratings
Candidate development9.249 Ratings5.429 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
8.6
66 Ratings
16% above category average
Paycom
6.7
218 Ratings
15% below category average
Job Requisition Management8.745 Ratings6.9195 Ratings
Company Website Posting8.841 Ratings7.2192 Ratings
Publish to Social Media8.738 Ratings6.5154 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting8.638 Ratings6.9178 Ratings
Customized Application Form8.740 Ratings00 Ratings
Resume Management8.743 Ratings00 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention8.840 Ratings6.2165 Ratings
Candidate Search8.641 Ratings00 Ratings
Applicant Tracking8.841 Ratings6.6201 Ratings
Collaboration8.836 Ratings00 Ratings
Task Creation and Delegation8.638 Ratings00 Ratings
Email Templates8.359 Ratings00 Ratings
User Permissions8.360 Ratings00 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts8.355 Ratings6.1204 Ratings
Reporting8.363 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning Management
Comparison of Learning Management features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
7.5
187 Ratings
6% above category average
Paycom
-
Ratings
Course authoring5.6138 Ratings00 Ratings
Course catalog or library8.4185 Ratings00 Ratings
Player/Portal7.8172 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning content8.2147 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile friendly7.9135 Ratings00 Ratings
Progress tracking & certifications7.4168 Ratings00 Ratings
Assignments7.8181 Ratings00 Ratings
Compliance management7.5162 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning administration7.5184 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning reporting & analytics7.7183 Ratings00 Ratings
Social learning6.9116 Ratings00 Ratings
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
Paycom
6.9
357 Ratings
13% below category average
Employee demographic data00 Ratings7.3324 Ratings
Employment history00 Ratings6.8310 Ratings
Job profiles and administration00 Ratings7.0311 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.00 Ratings6.6312 Ratings
Organizational charting00 Ratings5.9234 Ratings
Organization and location management00 Ratings8.0270 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)00 Ratings6.8256 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
Paycom
7.5
370 Ratings
7% below category average
Pay calculation00 Ratings7.9359 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors00 Ratings6.447 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment00 Ratings8.713 Ratings
Benefit plan administration00 Ratings7.5307 Ratings
Direct deposit files00 Ratings8.0359 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management00 Ratings7.1294 Ratings
Reimbursement management00 Ratings7.0199 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
Paycom
7.5
326 Ratings
8% below category average
Approval workflow00 Ratings7.4311 Ratings
Balance details00 Ratings7.5311 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment00 Ratings7.7258 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
Paycom
7.5
371 Ratings
8% below category average
View and generate pay and benefit information00 Ratings7.8364 Ratings
Update personal information00 Ratings8.2367 Ratings
View company policy documentation00 Ratings7.6326 Ratings
Employee recognition00 Ratings6.4177 Ratings
View job history00 Ratings7.7291 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
Paycom
4.9
26 Ratings
45% below category average
Tracking of all physical assets00 Ratings4.926 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
Paycom
6.2
318 Ratings
20% below category average
Report builder00 Ratings6.4312 Ratings
Pre-built reports00 Ratings6.5309 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data00 Ratings5.855 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Cornerstone OnDemandPaycom
Small Businesses
Paycor
Paycor
Score 7.3 out of 10
Patriot Software
Patriot Software
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM
Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM
Score 7.4 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM
Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM
Score 7.4 out of 10
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.3 out of 10
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User Ratings
Cornerstone OnDemandPaycom
Likelihood to Recommend
8.2
(257 ratings)
6.9
(390 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.9
(37 ratings)
8.3
(20 ratings)
Usability
8.1
(37 ratings)
8.4
(23 ratings)
Availability
9.0
(5 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(5 ratings)
8.2
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
6.6
(36 ratings)
9.0
(51 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.6
(4 ratings)
6.4
(1 ratings)
Online Training
8.0
(10 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.0
(10 ratings)
7.9
(6 ratings)
Configurability
7.3
(115 ratings)
5.5
(1 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
8.5
(3 ratings)
5.5
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.5
(4 ratings)
5.5
(1 ratings)
Professional Services
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
7.0
(3 ratings)
4.9
(2 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.9
(3 ratings)
8.3
(2 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cornerstone OnDemandPaycom
Likelihood to Recommend
Cornerstone OnDemand
I feel Cornerstone OnDemand is a great solution for companies that have a large amount of compliance training that needs to be assigned and closely tracked. The features of dynamic groups (based on specific user criteria) allows you to target very specific audiences. The assignment functionality gives you great flexibility on when the assignment runs and how often, and also provides many options for due dates (static date or dynamic date - x days from hire date, date assigned, etc.). This has allowed us to have a clear and consistent user experience for both our newly hired employees and our seasoned employees.
Read full review
Paycom
Paycom has really helped us to configure our timecards and payroll to fit our unique pay structure. The system made it easy for staff to understand and not just the payroll/HR department. We use paper pay checks, and the system uses the "home location" for delivery which is not necessarily where the employee works, just where they pick up their check. If we used direct deposit, I am sure that would not be an issue.
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Pros
Cornerstone OnDemand
  • Automatic recurring assignments are easy to get that refresher training out without needing to assign it fresh each time.
  • Reporting 2.0 makes it easy to write and share your reports with just selected filters. Making it easy for people receiving it to just change what they need to see.
  • Learning Admin Console makes it easy to peek at what is going on in your portal and open up connected reporting when needed.
  • Success Center is a great resource for getting peer answers to questions and learning about the releases and suggesting changes that should be added to the roadmap.
Read full review
Paycom
  • Customer Support- Jaco Lau and Jeff Sullins have been highly responsive to all of our needs and customizations
  • Customization capabilities - we have had to build an End-To-End performance management system that now fits and meets our needs
  • Functionality - the tools and intuitive use of Paycom makes for a great user-experience. Our employees are already embracing it and have expressed gratitude for moving to this new platform.
Read full review
Cons
Cornerstone OnDemand
  • Sometimes finding the right answer to your support question can be a bit more difficult than it should be.
  • I would like to see more OSHA related courses.
  • At times, the administrative interface seems to need to be updated, but the tradeoff honestly might be the absolute rock-solid stability of the platform.
Read full review
Paycom
  • Update alert system for employees. When and employee misses a clock in so he/she requests a missed punch correction, the alert saying missed punch will continue to pop up at the employee until a manager approves said punch request. It confuses employees and makes them think they didn't request the punch so they do it again. It should not keep alerting said employee if he/she made a change to fix it. If anything, it should alert the manager until said requests are approved and/or denied.
  • Provide the employees pay rate in the edit grid layout section of payroll
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Cornerstone OnDemand
As long as pricing stays reasonable, we will likely stay with Cornerstone for at least one more contract renewal. It would be a large task to migrate all of our content to a new system. However, the LMS landscape is diversifying with new startups that are showing some real innovation.
Read full review
Paycom
We've made the mistake of moving away from Paycom to a PEO which had made a lot of promises, that they could not keep. Less than a year after that transition, we returned to Paycom and are happier than ever.
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Usability
Cornerstone OnDemand
Easy to use, easy to learn, lots of support during the learning process. There are a few parts of the system we don't use and I'm hesitant to begin using because other clients have said they're difficult and cumbersome (certifications) or outdated (libraries)
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Paycom
The system is very user friendly. Once you navigate where your information is stored under the forms you are golden. While the training amplified my capabilities and knowledge, I could have jumped into the system without and training and managed just fine. This probably one of my favorite parts about Paycom!
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Reliability and Availability
Cornerstone OnDemand
I haven't really had any major availability problems. The service is practically impeccable but it is true that at times, due to server and latency problems, the application has been slower. But these have been specific issues that have resolved themselves.
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Paycom
They are very dependable and I have never experience any outages
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Performance
Cornerstone OnDemand
Pages do not load quickly. Often times any action or selection of a box, drop down, check, pretty much ANY Javascript interaction causes the whole entire page to load/reload/start doing something in the background. This makes a nightmare for having to mass edit courses or upload ILT sessions. It's the one of the archaic web designs they use that really bugs me as an admin and makes working in the portal at times intolerable and insufferable
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Paycom
It is a solid product and was out first payroll software that we have used
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Support Rating
Cornerstone OnDemand
Its always important to have support when you are facing problems and when you are the main admin of the organization. Cornerstone Support is very supporting when you have not found the answer in the help guide. its very useful to have a team support to guide you.
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Paycom
Our TSR has been wonderful to work with. Every step of the
way he was quick to respond and answer any questions we had. I knew I could
reach him at any time (day or night) and he would be available to assist.
Implementing a new HRIS system is obviously a huge task and I contribute all
our success to our rep Kurt! Of course, with any implementation, there were
bumps along the way and issues. But I always knew we would work as a team to
get those issues figured out. Working in the Paycom system has been smooth and
easy to learn and I enjoy the employee self-service interface. Our managers
have had positive things to say and are all excited about the changes we have
been able to make to our organization due to Paycom being implemented.
Read full review
In-Person Training
Cornerstone OnDemand
we use also to admin all our training in person events and sessions. Its easy to admin this kind of trainings and automatize some processes we have. Also de user experience and the integration with other systems helps to the employees to use more. All modules integrated oriented to develop people is the principal reason to have CSOD. The training administration is very complete and allows to automate many processes.
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Paycom
They were a sales person and not really a good trainer.
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Online Training
Cornerstone OnDemand
The online modules are pretty good. You can access them at any time, which we have done. You learn a lot in the beginning, but having the ability to retake short lessons when you are working on those items was very helpful.
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Paycom
All the online training modules were short and straight to the point. Every module teach you how to use the system. If there is one thing they know how to do is training. We did implementation during the pandemic so all had to be done online or via zoom meetings.
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Implementation Rating
Cornerstone OnDemand
The implementation was pretty difficult. We felt they (Cornerstone) didn’t properly allocate the resources to complete our implementation in the timetable we wanted.

For example, we worked on Workday and SSO integrations - work that we had specifically contracted for in advance. When we were ready to work on that project, they didn’t have the people ready to help us, so it took a lot longer than necessary. That was my biggest pain point.

The implementation approach we went with was a self-led implementation. We would speak to the implementation manager once per week, and self-trained. We met with implementation manager to discuss issues, review things that we’d learned for 1 hour. We found that wasn’t enough. Other things would come up outside that one hour window that we couldn’t get answers to. We didn’t have anyone to ask about those things and we had to wait to ask during our weekly meeting.

The advantage of the self-led implementation approach was that it was really inexpensive – significantly less than the implementation cost for the other systems that we looked at. I also liked that we could pace ourselves. There were however big roadblocks. We would have to make sure the right resources were available. We had an implementation/project manager with a lot of experience and felt that the person was knowledgeable but missed on a few things.

In hindsight, I would still go with the self-led implementation, but knowing what I know now, I would ask for the integration person to be available more. I would work that into the contract. With single sign-on, we needed deep linking to build direct links through a Single Sign-On tool, e.g. when someone gets an email, it directs them to training. But it has to go through SSO to get them to the correct link. Deep linking wasn’t turned on in our system and they had to activate it. We encountered little things like that – sequencing pre-requisites which were problematic. We tried to troubleshoot ourselves.

I recommend you consider contracting for some extra implementation hours and determine when they are going to be available. Work it into the contract that you have the ability to call tech support during implementation. In addition to weekly implementation meetings, they have technical webexes – 4 every week, but 2 didn’t apply to us – one as we were using SSO. The challenge is they were not always relevant – we had specific questions that didn’t fall into those categories
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Paycom
Not at all satisfied it was a nightmare we spent over 8 months with the implementation team having issues after issues all related to the Puerto Rico regulations (half my employees are in Puerto Rico) and at the end we were moved over from the implementation team to the production team without all the issues being resolved
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Alternatives Considered
Cornerstone OnDemand
The user experience is a lot better than using SumTotal as an admin CSOD makes working easy. Without having workarounds. Reporting is a lot better than both platforms. Reporting in CSOD is complex however easy to manage and create when you understand the data points collected
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Paycom
ADP is too complex, too many people to go through to get what you need, as you need it. I can only say that I don't want to ever have to go back to using ADP again., Wherever my career leads me - I will lead them to PAYCOM!!
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Cornerstone OnDemand
It is important to be familiar with the terms and annual increases in licenses and other aspects of the contract. I recommend analyzing this from the beginning and the permanence is relevant because Cornerstone updates its modules and brings out new features that may allow you to leave a module to acquire another
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Paycom
No answers on this topic
Scalability
Cornerstone OnDemand
It's a great product with some pieces that are set but many things that can be customized as needed for individual needs
Read full review
Paycom
They are not able to meet our current needs
Read full review
Professional Services
Cornerstone OnDemand
As I have said before, I have no doubt that the services of the Cornerstone sales people were very good. In particular, our salesperson spent a lot of time in contact with us to make the process go smoothly. Perhaps being a large company in some cases the times were slowed down but it is something normal to take into account.
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Paycom
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Cornerstone OnDemand
  • We are in the process of trying to increase employee engagement through content expansion. We are in the early stages of this.
  • The Edge Import Tool, in conjunction with Reporting 2.0, has done a great job of helping to automate/semi-automate tasks for huge time savings.
  • Maintaining compliance. Achieved through dynamic/automated groups, assignments, communication, and reporting.
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Paycom
  • Saved time, 2 person HR department so time is limited. With reduced time for onboarding we have been able to focus on other areas.
  • Improved employee satisfaction- employees enjoy the ease of use of the system and the ability to use on their phones.
  • Reduced background check/drug screening costs- prior providers were absorbent in the amount we paid compared to Paycom.
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ScreenShots

Cornerstone OnDemand Screenshots

Screenshot of A personalized, modern user experience and self-service capabilities to engage employees, ensure productivity, and centralize employee dataScreenshot of With Cornerstone Learning, go beyond compliance and training - truly develop an engaged and collaborative workforce.Screenshot of Cornerstone Recruiting takes care of all talent acquisition needs and provides candidates with an amazing experience.Screenshot of With Cornerstone Performance, benchmark your people's performance, align them with your strategy, and provide feedback that matters.Screenshot of Cornerstone HR offers a personalized, modern user experience and self-service capabilities to engage employees, ensure productivity, and centralize employee data.Screenshot of With Content Anytime, quickly deliver hundreds of eLearning courses covering key soft-skills such as communication, time management, leadership, teamwork, and emotional intelligence.

Paycom Screenshots

Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of