What users are saying about
15 Ratings
<a href='https://www.trustradius.com/static/about-trustradius-scoring' target='_blank' rel='nofollow noopener'>trScore algorithm: Learn more.</a>Score 8.4 out of 100
Based on 15 reviews and ratings
Paychex Flex
<a href='https://www.trustradius.com/static/about-trustradius-scoring#question3' target='_blank' rel='nofollow noopener'>Customer Verified: Read more.</a>
Top Rated
318 Ratings
<a href='https://www.trustradius.com/static/about-trustradius-scoring' target='_blank' rel='nofollow noopener'>trScore algorithm: Learn more.</a>Score 7.7 out of 100
Based on 318 reviews and ratings
Feature Set Ratings
- Darwinbox ranks higher in 3 feature sets: Leave and Attendance Management, HR Reporting, Recruiting / ATS
- Paychex Flex ranks higher in 4 feature sets: Payroll Management, Employee Self Service, Asset Management, Onboarding
- Darwinbox and Paychex Flex are tied in 1 feature set: Human Resource Management
Human Resource Management
7.1
Darwinbox
71%
7.1
Paychex Flex
71%
Paychex Flex ranks higher in 5/7 features
Paychex Flex ranks higher in 5/7 features
Employee demographic data
5.4
54%
3 Ratings
8.6
86%
124 Ratings
Employment history
6.7
67%
3 Ratings
8.2
82%
139 Ratings
Job profiles and administration
7.5
75%
3 Ratings
8.1
81%
95 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.
6.7
67%
3 Ratings
7.9
79%
97 Ratings
Organizational charting
8.3
83%
3 Ratings
1.0
10%
1 Rating
Organization and location management
8.0
80%
3 Ratings
7.8
78%
93 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)
N/A
0 Ratings
7.9
79%
91 Ratings
Payroll Management
7.7
Darwinbox
77%
8.1
Paychex Flex
81%
Paychex Flex ranks higher in 4/7 features
Paychex Flex ranks higher in 4/7 features
Pay calculation
7.3
73%
3 Ratings
8.7
87%
171 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors
7.7
77%
3 Ratings
N/A
0 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment
7.6
76%
3 Ratings
7.4
74%
82 Ratings
Benefit plan administration
7.3
73%
3 Ratings
8.2
82%
103 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management
8.0
80%
3 Ratings
8.4
84%
121 Ratings
Reimbursement management
8.0
80%
3 Ratings
7.4
74%
68 Ratings
Direct deposit files
N/A
0 Ratings
8.8
88%
168 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
8.5
Darwinbox
85%
7.9
Paychex Flex
79%
Darwinbox ranks higher in 3/3 features
Darwinbox ranks higher in 3/3 features
Approval workflow
8.3
83%
3 Ratings
7.9
79%
71 Ratings
Balance details
9.0
90%
3 Ratings
7.9
79%
89 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment
8.4
84%
3 Ratings
7.9
79%
74 Ratings
Employee Self Service
7.7
Darwinbox
77%
8.2
Paychex Flex
82%
Paychex Flex ranks higher in 3/5 features
Paychex Flex ranks higher in 3/5 features
View and generate pay and benefit information
8.1
81%
3 Ratings
8.4
84%
145 Ratings
Update personal information
8.3
83%
3 Ratings
8.5
85%
151 Ratings
View company policy documentation
7.9
79%
3 Ratings
7.8
78%
69 Ratings
Employee recognition
6.9
69%
3 Ratings
N/A
0 Ratings
View job history
7.5
75%
3 Ratings
8.1
81%
100 Ratings
Asset Management
7.3
Darwinbox
73%
7.9
Paychex Flex
79%
Paychex Flex ranks higher in 1/1 features
Paychex Flex ranks higher in 1/1 features
Tracking of all physical assets
7.3
73%
3 Ratings
7.9
79%
27 Ratings
HR Reporting
8.3
Darwinbox
83%
7.5
Paychex Flex
75%
Darwinbox ranks higher in 3/3 features
Darwinbox ranks higher in 3/3 features
Report builder
8.5
85%
2 Ratings
7.4
74%
95 Ratings
Pre-built reports
8.0
80%
2 Ratings
7.8
78%
104 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data
8.5
85%
2 Ratings
7.2
72%
59 Ratings
Onboarding
8.0
Darwinbox
80%
8.1
Paychex Flex
81%
Darwinbox ranks higher in 1/2 features
Darwinbox ranks higher in 1/2 features
New hire portal
9.0
90%
2 Ratings
8.3
83%
93 Ratings
Manager tracking tools
7.0
70%
2 Ratings
8.0
80%
64 Ratings
Performance and Goals
8.1
Darwinbox
81%
Paychex Flex
Feature Set Not Supported
N/A
Darwinbox ranks higher in 4/4 features
Darwinbox ranks higher in 4/4 features
Corporate goal setting
8.0
80%
2 Ratings
N/A
0 Ratings
Individual goal setting
8.5
85%
2 Ratings
N/A
0 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility
8.0
80%
2 Ratings
N/A
0 Ratings
Performance tracking
8.0
80%
2 Ratings
N/A
0 Ratings
Performance Management
7.4
Darwinbox
74%
Paychex Flex
Feature Set Not Supported
N/A
Darwinbox ranks higher in 5/5 features
Darwinbox ranks higher in 5/5 features
Performance plans
8.0
80%
2 Ratings
N/A
0 Ratings
Performance improvement plans
7.5
75%
2 Ratings
N/A
0 Ratings
Review status tracking
7.0
70%
2 Ratings
N/A
0 Ratings
Review reminders
6.5
65%
2 Ratings
N/A
0 Ratings
Multiple review frequency
8.0
80%
2 Ratings
N/A
0 Ratings
Succession Planning
7.7
Darwinbox
77%
Paychex Flex
Feature Set Not Supported
N/A
Darwinbox ranks higher in 4/4 features
Darwinbox ranks higher in 4/4 features
Create succession plans/pools
7.5
75%
2 Ratings
N/A
0 Ratings
Candidate ranking
8.0
80%
2 Ratings
N/A
0 Ratings
Candidate search
7.5
75%
2 Ratings
N/A
0 Ratings
Candidate development
8.0
80%
2 Ratings
N/A
0 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
7.8
Darwinbox
78%
7.4
Paychex Flex
74%
Darwinbox ranks higher in 5/7 features
Darwinbox ranks higher in 5/7 features
Job Requisition Management
7.5
75%
2 Ratings
7.2
72%
25 Ratings
Company Website Posting
7.5
75%
2 Ratings
7.5
75%
24 Ratings
Publish to Social Media
8.5
85%
2 Ratings
7.5
75%
18 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting
7.0
70%
2 Ratings
7.2
72%
24 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention
7.0
70%
2 Ratings
7.2
72%
20 Ratings
Applicant Tracking
8.0
80%
2 Ratings
7.3
73%
24 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts
9.0
90%
2 Ratings
7.6
76%
38 Ratings
Attribute Ratings
- Paychex Flex is rated higher in 1 area: Likelihood to Recommend
Likelihood to Recommend
7.1
Darwinbox
71%
3 Ratings
8.0
Paychex Flex
80%
185 Ratings
Likelihood to Renew
Darwinbox
N/A
0 Ratings
7.8
Paychex Flex
78%
15 Ratings
Usability
Darwinbox
N/A
0 Ratings
8.2
Paychex Flex
82%
131 Ratings
Availability
Darwinbox
N/A
0 Ratings
8.9
Paychex Flex
89%
6 Ratings
Performance
Darwinbox
N/A
0 Ratings
8.8
Paychex Flex
88%
6 Ratings
Support Rating
Darwinbox
N/A
0 Ratings
8.1
Paychex Flex
81%
160 Ratings
Online Training
Darwinbox
N/A
0 Ratings
8.2
Paychex Flex
82%
1 Rating
Implementation Rating
Darwinbox
N/A
0 Ratings
8.6
Paychex Flex
86%
8 Ratings
Product Scalability
Darwinbox
N/A
0 Ratings
8.2
Paychex Flex
82%
6 Ratings
Likelihood to Recommend
Darwinbox
Employees that come into work are needed to clock in to get paid for the amount of time they are working per day. They will log on to Darwinbox and clock in as soon as they can. Some will use the PTO they have available to use. HR will be able to make payroll in a timely manner for employees.
Financial Aid Advisor
The College Of Health Care ProfessionsFinancial Services, 11-50 employees
Paychex Flex
Processing payroll biweekly to the payroll specialist, handling and enrolling new employee paperwork, If you have 401k benefits at your workplace it is easy to monitor 401K performance, print out their required paperwork every quarter or yearly as required by the Financial institutions to meet legal requirements. Filing and submitting 5500 to IRS is helpful.

Verified User
Administrator in Corporate
Medical Practice Company, 11-50 employeesPros
Darwinbox
- Employee Management - including personal details and other core HR and resourcing features e.g. time tracking, expense, payroll etc
- Workforce planning, recruitment, tracking the recruitment drives and interview statuses and updates for the potential hires at one place
- Integrated Rewards and Recognition, Performance management systems, and project and resourcing management
- Great analytics dashboard allowing the more holistic and drill down visualization as per the need
Senior Manager
AGC Networks (an Essar Group of Companies)Computer & Network Security, 5001-10,000 employees
Paychex Flex
- Paychex Flex does an exemplary job with handling Payroll. Our organization has full-time employee's as well as contractor's and we never have an issue with payroll.
- Insurance renewal process is painless.
- Another plus to using Paychex Flex is the customer support. Questions and/or inquiries are handled promptly and in a timely manner.

Verified User
Administrative Assistant in Other
Education Management Company, 1-10 employeesCons
Darwinbox
- The app version is a bit lankier than the pc version.
- Interface customization would be great for individuals wanting to change style.
- No other real issue to improve, possibly lower the price but that's not too bad.
Financial Aid Advisor
The College Of Health Care ProfessionsFinancial Services, 11-50 employees
Paychex Flex
- It's difficult to update user emails and user phone numbers after they have been set
- The performance management system could use some quality of life improvements like viewing previous reviews while completing a new review or allowing a manager to view the self-review of an employee while completing the manager review.
- For the issues and incidents section, it would be great if system admins could submit a new case like a workplace injury or near-miss without having to tag an employee in the case. Sometimes we just want to add the information into Flex for recordkeeping purposes and for generating 300A forms at the end of the year.

Verified User
Administrator in Human Resources
Real Estate Company, 51-200 employeesPricing Details
Darwinbox
General
Free Trial
—Free/Freemium Version
—Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—Entry-level set up fee?
No
Starting Price
—Darwinbox Editions & Modules
—
Additional Pricing Details
—Paychex Flex
General
Free Trial
—Free/Freemium Version
—Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—Entry-level set up fee?
Required
Starting Price
$0
Paychex Flex Editions & Modules
Edition
Paychex Go | $591 |
---|---|
Paychex Flex Service | Contact sales team |
Paychex Flex Enterprise | Contact sales team |
- per month/+$4 per employee
- none
Additional Pricing Details
—Likelihood to Renew
Darwinbox
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Paychex Flex
Paychex Flex 7.8
Based on 15 answers
overall we have had good experience. when problems occur paychex is quick to resolve the problems; however when encountering recurring problems and issues it doesn't matter how quickly they are resolved they should re-occur. Paychex will price match competitor's quotes.
Tax Accountant
Markovitz DuganAccounting, 11-50 employees
Usability
Darwinbox
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Paychex Flex
Paychex Flex 8.2
Based on 131 answers
Paychex Flex has possibly added electronic onboarding since we stopped using the system. This option would bring my rating up to a 8 or 9 for Paychex Flex. The ability to have employees enter their info, read and ackowledge company policies versus hand writing paper applications that are often times not legible, has been more effecient for us with the hiring process
Human Resources Administrator
Positive Energy NY LLCConstruction, 51-200 employees
Reliability and Availability
Darwinbox
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Paychex Flex
Paychex Flex 8.9
Based on 6 answers
We have not experienced any difficulties with unplanned outages. Notifications are always made for outages, and they do not effect normal business operations.

Verified User
Manager in Other
Accounting Company, 1-10 employeesPerformance
Darwinbox
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Paychex Flex
Paychex Flex 8.8
Based on 6 answers
Unless there is lag time within the internet, the Paychex Flex website loads exceptional fast, pages load quickly and reports that I need to print or download load quickly. If I need to create a specialized report, once I complete it I receive an e-mail telling me my report is ready to be downloaded. Changing between web pages is fast as well.

Verified User
Director in Finance and Accounting
Electrical & Electronic Manufacturing Company, 11-50 employeesSupport Rating
Darwinbox
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Paychex Flex
Paychex Flex 8.1
Based on 160 answers
Paychex Flex has been having longer than normal wait times, but I do think that it is a covid-related/staffing issue as it's only been happening in the past 2 months (November, December, January 2022). Once I do have a representative on the line, they are helpful, knowledgeable, and friendly. The support level is fairly basic at the representative level. For anything more complex, an HR specialist would need to be brought in.
HR Operations Advisor / Fractional HR / Talent Aquisition
PrivateNon-profit Organization Management, 11-50 employees
Online Training
Darwinbox
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Paychex Flex
Paychex Flex 8.2
Based on 1 answer
They were very patient and answered all of my questions.
Accounting
Cameo Fabricators Inc.Oil & Energy, 11-50 employees
Implementation Rating
Darwinbox
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Paychex Flex
Paychex Flex 8.6
Based on 8 answers
Just make sure you have your in-house data collected and organized before you start. It would be helpful to put together a questionnaire to solicit all of the needed information.
President
DESERT FLORAL INCRetail, 1-10 employees
Alternatives Considered
Darwinbox
Darwinbox is up there with ADP in terms of quality for employers to use in such an open-level style. I personally would support the use of Darwinbox against the competition.
Financial Aid Advisor
The College Of Health Care ProfessionsFinancial Services, 11-50 employees
Paychex Flex
Paychex Flex is hands-down an easier way to manage payroll. I found QuickBooks Online to be somewhat confusing about when and where to file what form, and it was definitely more tedious than the easy flow of using Paychex Flex.
Executive Director
Visions of Hope Training ProgramNon-profit Organization Management, 1-10 employees
Scalability
Darwinbox
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Paychex Flex
Paychex Flex 8.2
Based on 6 answers
Employees can log in at home and get up to date information on their FSA balance and any medical bill reimbursements they may have uploaded. At renewal time they have the ability to make changes to their FSA or for new employees star the enrollment.

Verified User
Director in Finance and Accounting
Electrical & Electronic Manufacturing Company, 11-50 employeesReturn on Investment
Darwinbox
- The ability to view the organization structure and functional structure for the entire company.
- One-stop solution for talent acquisition, payroll, leaves, reimbursements, attendance (time-sheet), holidays, etc. So I don't have to open a lot of different apps.

Verified User
Manager in Marketing
Computer Software Company, 1001-5000 employeesPaychex Flex
- Using Paychex Flex has been a great timesaver for me - I can print out timesheets that help keep me focused on all the employee's time and accurate reporting.
- The payroll journals are very easy to read and make cash management a very simple process.
- Employees love that they can go online and see their paychecks and payroll information, thereby leaving me to do more important tasks.
Accounting Manager
Kitchens by Charles WeilerConstruction, 11-50 employees