Dayforce vs. Paychex

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Dayforce
Score 8.0 out of 10
Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
Dayforce is a people platform that simplifies HR operations. As a unified HCMS, it delivers HR, payroll, benefits, workforce management, talent, and analytics—helping organizations boost productivity, stay compliant, and make smarter decisions with embedded intelligence and personalized experiences.N/A
Paychex
Score 6.8 out of 10
N/A
Paychex Flex, of Paychex' Online Payroll Services, is a cloud-based human resource management and payroll platform. Paychex offers core and specialized services, and scales to meet the needs of small businesses, SMBs, and large enterprises.N/A
Pricing
DayforcePaychex
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Paychex Flex Pro
Custom Pricing
per month/+$4 per employee
HR Pro
Custom Pricing
HR PEO
Custom Pricing
Paychex Flex Select
Custom Pricing
Paychex Flex Enterprise
Custom Pricing
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
DayforcePaychex
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalRequired
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
DayforcePaychex
Considered Both Products
Dayforce
Chose Dayforce
The impact is that everything is in one place, our team also created content in the HUB and this has been extremely helpful and useful for employees to access information as needed. This has everything from benefits information to compliance. The tool has helped employees get …
Chose Dayforce
Saved time, reduced costs. Eliminated bloated suite of third party partners.
Chose Dayforce
I have not used any other systems than Dayforce.
Chose Dayforce
It’s been very helpful. With our HR and Payroll operating separately this has helped us eliminate many other steps.
Chose Dayforce
It is much easier to have access to all employee information in one place. At my other companies, we used different programs for different aspects of HR. If you needed information, you had to call people in other offices/locations to find what you were looking for. Dayforce …
Chose Dayforce
Having Payroll, HR, Time, and Benefits all in a single application with Dayforce has significantly improved efficiency and accuracy. Unlike other solutions with third-party integrations, Dayforce eliminates data silos, reduces errors, and saves time by streamlining processes, …
Chose Dayforce
It has been timesaving having all in the same application as for the most part information flows over. We have had some issues using Lever being integrated into our payroll system. We have also had issues with taxation and retro adjustments. We have to manually fix them. It …
Chose Dayforce
ADP has a lot of system errors, especially on Mondays. I haven't noticed anything like that working with Dayforce. But I like that you can easily access employee's timecard via ADP, by just searching an employee and open its timecard. In case of Dayforce, you have to open …
Chose Dayforce
By having a single application we have seen an increase in our efficiency and an accuracy in our data. Our previous system had third party modules for many systems and they didn't do a good job "talking" to each other. Our data was often incorrect, charging employees the wrong …
Chose Dayforce
Not something I personally work with
Chose Dayforce
Due to it being an all-in-one application, we are able to look at the information that is stored and make meaningful and accurate decisions based on that info instead of trying to pull information from
Chose Dayforce
We have noticed huge time savings across a variety of processes.
Chose Dayforce
Dayforce is one of the only systems that allows us to list multiple work assignments. In the fitness industry this is crucial since most team members do multiple jobs. Having everything in one place makes our jobs as administrators so much easier. Couldn't imagine using modules …
Chose Dayforce
I have found the process to be more straightforward. When you have data flowing back and forth, you can update once and not worry about it. In the past, we had a file feed from time and attendance to payroll. The biggest problem was that when you missed that feed, you had to …
Chose Dayforce
Processes flow nicely having all in one system and there is one contact (Dayforce) in case there in an issue. Once you understand how the system works, you will understand how the system flows. I have worked in another payroll system where we had to upload timecards. While it …
Chose Dayforce
Less integration, allows for more timely processing, less errors and maintenance and creates a system to be a one stop shop.
Chose Dayforce
We don't use Ceridian benefits, so we do have to have multiple up and downstream integrations.
Chose Dayforce
I love having all the time data, benefits, and HR employee data including compensation in one system. Is wonderful when pulling reports etc.
Chose Dayforce
the ease of use in unmatched in my experience with other vendors. We are able to use Ceridian Dayforce to accomplish many goals without the need for other vendors. However, we do have other outside vendors we are required to use that we are able to integrate successfully with …
Paychex
Chose Paychex
Paychex is much more user friendly than ADP Run or ADP Total Source. However, I do like that ADP has an option to upload documents related to payroll such as notices from the state (DOR, UI, etc) and creates a case where notes from their rep are added and a case # is provided. …
Chose Paychex
NA - Am not using other Paychex services
Chose Paychex
I used Bangor Payroll prior to Paychex and they were better than Paychex. I didn't select Paychex, it was already at the organization when I joined it.
Chose Paychex
I think the Paychex reporting menus are easier to use and navigate than ADP.
Chose Paychex
They were alright, some of the same issues. Lots of turnover with payroll consultants.
Chose Paychex
Both ADP and Paychex are very good at informing businesses of the latest changes regarding payroll. Not sure which one is better, but very much get the most out of each. Both are informative and always looking at additional topics in a world that is constantly changing. …
Chose Paychex
Paychex has been around for a long time and have used it at other organizations. The payroll functionality is the best out of the other systems I have used. They all are great with handling the HR needs of our organization but Paychex is the most streamlined.
Chose Paychex
We use BambooHR in tandem with Paychex. BambooHR is our timesheet service, and Paychex issues the checks/payments to our employees. Ideally we would use one service instead of two to achieve our payment and timesheet needs.
Chose Paychex
More accessible and cost effective for our small business.
Chose Paychex
I far prefer Rippling to Paychex Flex, with its easy to navigate interface and user friendly model. I also appreciate the payday emails from Rippling and the paystub breakdown. It is also very easy and simple to request and view PTO in Rippling. I really dread having to use …
Chose Paychex
Paychex Flex has some room for improvement, I would choose ADP out of the different HRIS's I have used in the past
Chose Paychex
More user friendly works better for self service
Chose Paychex
I'm unable to give you a comparison because Paychex is the only payroll service I've used since I started my business over ten years ago. I've had no reason to explore other payroll services or make a change. I trust it will remain that way for as long as I'm in business.
Chose Paychex
In addition to the ones listed above, we also used BenePay, a local payroll company. We found Paychex Flex priced in the middle, with ADP the most expensive and too complicated, with many features that were unnecessary for us. We found that Paychex Flex's features and reporting …
Chose Paychex
I did not select Paychex. It was at 2 companies I started with and ended up having them switch out
Chose Paychex
Looking to switch over to ADP.
I think they are much less expensive
Chose Paychex
Based on what I've noticed, Paychex is comparable to DayForce, which has similar timekeeping functions. I think DayForce has a few easier-to-navigate tools from an Employee Self Service standpoint. iSolved is much better all around from my personal usage. If my company had more …
Chose Paychex
Gusto is more intuitive than Paychex and easier for smaller companies. Paychex has better customer support than Paylocity. Paychex is easier to navigate than Paycom.
Chose Paychex
Paychex offers much more than just tracking employee attendance and managing employee records. It offers Payroll services, Human Resource Services, Retirement Services, On-Boarding Services, Employee-Self Services, Employee Benefits Management, Employee Handbook Services, …
Chose Paychex
The could not match the price we pay for the same service.
Chose Paychex
I have not used any flex pay options only for payroll and tax situations.
Features
DayforcePaychex
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
8.2
Ratings
1% above category average
Paychex
7.0
Ratings
15% below category average
Employee demographic data9.00 Ratings7.70 Ratings
Employment history9.20 Ratings7.90 Ratings
Job profiles and administration9.30 Ratings7.70 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.9.20 Ratings7.80 Ratings
Organizational charting6.50 Ratings5.00 Ratings
Organization and location management6.60 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)7.30 Ratings6.10 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
8.6
Ratings
6% above category average
Paychex
7.4
Ratings
9% below category average
Pay calculation9.20 Ratings7.80 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors7.00 Ratings6.50 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment9.20 Ratings7.20 Ratings
Benefit plan administration8.50 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Direct deposit files9.20 Ratings8.30 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management8.30 Ratings7.90 Ratings
Reimbursement management9.00 Ratings7.20 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
9.0
Ratings
10% above category average
Paychex
7.2
Ratings
12% below category average
Approval workflow9.30 Ratings7.30 Ratings
Balance details9.10 Ratings7.40 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment8.50 Ratings6.90 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
8.3
Ratings
1% above category average
Paychex
6.1
Ratings
29% below category average
View and generate pay and benefit information8.60 Ratings7.90 Ratings
Update personal information8.40 Ratings7.40 Ratings
View company policy documentation7.70 Ratings7.10 Ratings
Employee recognition9.00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
View job history7.70 Ratings7.20 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
8.5
Ratings
5% above category average
Paychex
4.8
Ratings
51% below category average
Tracking of all physical assets8.50 Ratings4.80 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
6.2
Ratings
19% below category average
Paychex
5.7
Ratings
27% below category average
Report builder6.40 Ratings6.20 Ratings
Pre-built reports6.30 Ratings6.50 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data6.00 Ratings4.50 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
8.7
Ratings
9% above category average
Paychex
6.6
Ratings
19% below category average
New hire portal9.10 Ratings6.80 Ratings
Manager tracking tools8.20 Ratings6.40 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
8.6
Ratings
7% above category average
Paychex
-
Ratings
Corporate goal setting8.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Individual goal setting9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility8.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance tracking8.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
8.1
Ratings
3% above category average
Paychex
-
Ratings
Performance plans8.60 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance improvement plans8.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Review status tracking7.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Review reminders8.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Multiple review frequency7.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
8.5
Ratings
8% above category average
Paychex
7.0
Ratings
11% below category average
Create succession plans/pools9.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate ranking8.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate search8.00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Candidate development8.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
9.3
Ratings
17% above category average
Paychex
5.3
Ratings
39% below category average
Job Requisition Management9.60 Ratings5.10 Ratings
Company Website Posting9.60 Ratings5.20 Ratings
Publish to Social Media9.10 Ratings5.60 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting9.60 Ratings5.90 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention7.90 Ratings4.60 Ratings
Applicant Tracking9.60 Ratings4.70 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts9.50 Ratings6.10 Ratings
Best Alternatives
DayforcePaychex
Small Businesses
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.2 out of 10
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.2 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.1 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 10.0 out of 10
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 10.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
DayforcePaychex
Likelihood to Recommend
8.4
(0 ratings)
6.5
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.9
(0 ratings)
7.1
(0 ratings)
Usability
4.2
(0 ratings)
7.0
(0 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(0 ratings)
5.3
(0 ratings)
Performance
5.0
(0 ratings)
7.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.9
(0 ratings)
6.2
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
7.0
(0 ratings)
4.5
(0 ratings)
Online Training
7.3
(0 ratings)
8.3
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.9
(0 ratings)
5.2
(0 ratings)
Configurability
9.0
(0 ratings)
5.0
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
7.3
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.9
(0 ratings)
5.6
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.9
(0 ratings)
5.6
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.9
(0 ratings)
6.1
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
DayforcePaychex
Likelihood to Recommend
Dayforce has great customer support, and you can always count on them to get you the professional help you need. It is a great place to store all your personal data in a very secure manner by assigning different user roles. The only thing where I wouldn't see it appropriate is for very small-scale companies, less than 50 people.
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Overall we have had a good experience. The unfortunate part of being with them for over 10 years is the change-over in support specialists and sometimes the lack of transparency when that occurs or the lack of personalized communication. However, the ease of use and streamlined services for reporting and recording payroll and onboarding employees is definitely a benefit to the service. Being able to pull reports and review past employees information can be invaluable at times. Knowing I have peace of mind when it comes to tax documentation because someone else is ensuring it is handled and handled correctly is very important
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Pros
  • Payroll - it shows everything in real time and it runs quickly.
  • People - Having all employee details from the offer letter to W2 information in the same spot.
  • Dayforce Wallet: The on-demand feature is fully integrated with Timesheets and Payroll. What shows in one will be in the other.
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  • It provides a well account of Retirement Plan Account Information.
  • Alerts are sent to email when there is new information to access.
  • Employee access both online and thru app.
  • Paperless options.
  • Easy and quick access to paystubs and tax forms.
  • Easy employee retirement management.
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Cons
  • In payroll, there are sometimes issues with calculating pay when people’s rates change mid-pay period
  • Would love to see an option to assist with building SQL or XML statements in the future (maybe co-pilot AI?)
  • Would love an easy way to store pre-hire documents with candidates that syncs over to their HR profile when hired
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  • When it comes to audit reports, Paychex Flex could improve on helping clients locate the correct reports for audit purposes more easily
  • When a client receives a discount, it would be helpful if the discount were automatically provided each year, or if the Paychex rep proactively reached out to the client first, versus the client having to call and request that the discount continue.
  • It would be helpful if the invoice was emailed to the client versus the client logging in to access invoices.
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Likelihood to Renew
We are highly invested in Ceridian's Dayforce product. It give us the flexibility and scaling that our growing company needs. Its potential reaches beyond the basic HR functions to the decision making that our Management Team needs. Ceridian is always innovating the employee and employee experiences to offer cutting edge options.
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there are a lot of competitors on the market such as BambooHR and Insperity. Paychex need to make significant improvement on their offline customer service in order to compete with the other guys. Everything is online now and timely response to customer's questions is vital. Customers won't enjoy being put on hold for 45 mins every time they have a question regarding their HSA problems
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Usability
I give Dayforce a 10 because it was easy to integrate into our network since it was cloud-based. It is also user friendly and easy to maneuver around the web site. We were able to integrate three separate applications into just one site which made it easier for employees to access the tools they need
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Employee usability is very good and user-friendly. For the most part, the employer usability is good, but for complicated rules and policies, it requires technical assistance, which in our case, was clunky and slow in implementation. Once is place, everything works as it should
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Reliability and Availability
Dayforce's high availability ensures that our HR processes are supported around the clock, which is critical for a global organization like ours. The platform is cloud-based, offering reliable access from any location at any time, allowing our employees, managers, and HR teams to stay connected regardless of time zones or geographic locations. This level of availability ensures that payroll processing, employee self-service, and real-time data access continue uninterrupted, even during peak periods or unforeseen disruptions. The system’s robust infrastructure minimizes downtime, which is vital for operations that span multiple regions. Additionally, having a centralized platform that’s always available helps keep our teams aligned, ensures compliance, and facilitates timely decision-making across all our locations.
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We have not experienced any difficulties with unplanned outages. Notifications are always made for outages, and they do not effect normal business operations.
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Performance
We haven't noticed any slow-down due to the integration of Dayforce WFM with our Ceridian HPL products (HRIS and Payroll). The new HTML view of the timesheets don't load as quickly as the old Silverlight view - however, we have gotten used to the change.
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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.
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Support Rating
This is dependent on what type of support that is needed. Ceridian has opportunities to make improvements relating to support on the global/UK side. I find it challenging to get problems solved quickly with our UK Native payroll. The US side is different. We tend to get our issues resolved quickly when we encouter issues on the US side.
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Chat has been helpful but the person I chat with isn't always able to help me with my questions. Phone support is ok, depending on your payroll specialist. We have a great one currently, but the few before that were never available and did not return calls.
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In-Person Training
This training was at insights, it was great once we have been on the system for a while so it makes sense.
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We did online training only
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Online Training
The courses are very interactive and informative. There are classes for every topic, which allows you to make the most of the system. There are also some "go at your own pace" course which is a great option for a busy schedule.
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It was easy to understand and follow along. I do like the informational videos that we can utilize before we opt to call in for customer service support. It has made a difference since sometimes that resolves the issue I may have had and saved myself a phone call to Paychex support.
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Implementation Rating
Have a strong internal team. Communicate with your implementation team - they are there to make it work for you. Take the time to really think about how you want the system to work for you - in some cases, you may need to rethink your own business practices to see if you are working harder when the system could do it for you
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Implementation was very smooth. The most cumbersome task was entering the current employees into the system during initial set up, but Paychex staff handled most of that and verified against prior system reports as well as internal reports provided to ensure 100% accuracy.
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Alternatives Considered
Having Payroll, HR, Time, and Benefits all in a single application with Dayforce has significantly improved efficiency and accuracy. Unlike other solutions with third-party integrations, Dayforce eliminates data silos, reduces errors, and saves time by streamlining processes, providing a more cohesive and user-friendly experience. Dayforce also had a competitive price point versus competitors
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Paychex is much more user friendly than ADP Run or ADP Total Source. However, I do like that ADP has an option to upload documents related to payroll such as notices from the state (DOR, UI, etc) and creates a case where notes from their rep are added and a case # is provided. This helps create a good way to track a notice and be sure it is resolved. I have sent requests to close different states when a company no longer has an employee there or have been told an item has been filed/completed, only to receive a notice later from Paychex notification or the the state claiming the issue is unresolved. When you have as many clients as we do, this can feel messy.
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Scalability
Overall, we are extremely happy with the Dayforce WFM module. Our biggest pain point is concerning the twice annual software upgrades - which is the only reason I haven't rated them as a '10'. Because every customer is configured differently, the upgrades can sometimes have adverse effects on our current configured policies/rules. And although they roll-out the upgraded version in a test environment several weeks before go-live, not all testing is accurate in that environment. Some issues do not present themselves until you are working with live punches.
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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.
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Return on Investment
  • Easy to integrate to SAP Fiori an BlueWorx
  • The efficiency within Ceridian DayForce has allowed our payroll department of only 2.5 FTE handle paying ~3,000 employees.
  • Easily handles the differences and nuances in our multiple bargaining agreements. Everything from different pay schedules and unique rates/bonuses for some of the most detailed/granular CBA details.
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  • This software has provided visibility to shift managers and department leads that they never had before in managing their subordinates. They now have an easy-to-use go-to source for seeing who has PTO, how much they have available, and what the work calendar looks like, allowing them to make better-informed decisions.
  • With this software to manage open enrollment, we can now get through that process with a tool we use regularly, rather than jumping into enrollment management software only once a year and having to relearn it each year.
  • Literally thousands of steps are saved each week by not needing to traverse the entire shop floor or track people down to clear up questions with time cards. With everything digital, so much can be observed and addressed in real-time through the app.
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ScreenShots

Dayforce Screenshots

Screenshot of Dayforce HubScreenshot of Human Resources (Position Management)Screenshot of Dayforce Reporting & AnalyticsScreenshot of People AnalyticsScreenshot of Dayforce HR Service DeliveryScreenshot of Dayforce Flex Work

Paychex Screenshots

Screenshot of Paychex Payroll DashboardScreenshot of Employee Background ChecksScreenshot of Paychex HR DashboardScreenshot of Paychex Flex Perks