Dayforce vs. Workday Adaptive Planning

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Dayforce
Score 7.9 out of 10
Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
Dayforce HCM is a cloud-based platform encompassing HR, payroll, benefits, and talent and workforce management. It provides companies with a scalable framework and real-time data, such as continual pay calculations, to enable efficient decision-making.N/A
Workday Adaptive Planning
Score 7.9 out of 10
Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
Workday Adaptive Planning(formerly Adaptive Insights) is a financial planning and reporting tool. It includes automated budgeting and forecasting, financial reporting, and other active planning capabilities, including integrations with third-party products like Salesforce.N/A
Pricing
DayforceWorkday Adaptive Planning
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
DayforceWorkday Adaptive Planning
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesYes
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalOptional
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
DayforceWorkday Adaptive Planning
Considered Both Products
Dayforce
Chose Dayforce
There were much less confusion for our employees. And everything is easier to access.
Workday Adaptive Planning
Chose Workday Adaptive Planning
I wasn't fully involved in the decision to purchase Adaptive Insights, but there was consideration of using the NetSuite financial planning module instead of going with Adaptive. The largest benefits of using Adaptive Insights were the additional modeling features and the …
Top Pros

No answers on this topic

Top Cons

No answers on this topic

Features
DayforceWorkday Adaptive Planning
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
7.9
602 Ratings
0% above category average
Workday Adaptive Planning
-
Ratings
Employee demographic data8.3525 Ratings00 Ratings
Employment history8.6559 Ratings00 Ratings
Job profiles and administration8.2549 Ratings00 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.8.0553 Ratings00 Ratings
Organizational charting7.3502 Ratings00 Ratings
Organization and location management7.5548 Ratings00 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)7.5370 Ratings00 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
8.5
602 Ratings
6% above category average
Workday Adaptive Planning
-
Ratings
Pay calculation9.1588 Ratings00 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors7.5295 Ratings00 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment8.9154 Ratings00 Ratings
Benefit plan administration8.0475 Ratings00 Ratings
Direct deposit files9.0574 Ratings00 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management8.4456 Ratings00 Ratings
Reimbursement management8.5309 Ratings00 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
8.4
547 Ratings
4% above category average
Workday Adaptive Planning
-
Ratings
Approval workflow8.6515 Ratings00 Ratings
Balance details8.3529 Ratings00 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment8.3434 Ratings00 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
8.2
615 Ratings
1% above category average
Workday Adaptive Planning
-
Ratings
View and generate pay and benefit information8.6586 Ratings00 Ratings
Update personal information8.7599 Ratings00 Ratings
View company policy documentation7.8419 Ratings00 Ratings
Employee recognition7.9219 Ratings00 Ratings
View job history7.8492 Ratings00 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
8.0
103 Ratings
0% above category average
Workday Adaptive Planning
-
Ratings
Tracking of all physical assets8.0103 Ratings00 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
6.9
601 Ratings
8% below category average
Workday Adaptive Planning
-
Ratings
Report builder7.3592 Ratings00 Ratings
Pre-built reports7.3592 Ratings00 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data5.9416 Ratings00 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
8.2
394 Ratings
3% above category average
Workday Adaptive Planning
-
Ratings
New hire portal8.3384 Ratings00 Ratings
Manager tracking tools8.1338 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
8.1
257 Ratings
2% above category average
Workday Adaptive Planning
-
Ratings
Corporate goal setting7.5215 Ratings00 Ratings
Individual goal setting8.5236 Ratings00 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility7.9201 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance tracking8.3241 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
8.0
283 Ratings
2% above category average
Workday Adaptive Planning
-
Ratings
Performance plans8.0262 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance improvement plans8.0225 Ratings00 Ratings
Review status tracking7.9265 Ratings00 Ratings
Review reminders8.0260 Ratings00 Ratings
Multiple review frequency8.1234 Ratings00 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
7.7
131 Ratings
2% below category average
Workday Adaptive Planning
-
Ratings
Create succession plans/pools8.5104 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate ranking7.4113 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate search7.1118 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate development7.7106 Ratings00 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
8.1
302 Ratings
4% above category average
Workday Adaptive Planning
-
Ratings
Job Requisition Management8.5284 Ratings00 Ratings
Company Website Posting8.5277 Ratings00 Ratings
Publish to Social Media8.0233 Ratings00 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting8.4265 Ratings00 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention7.0229 Ratings00 Ratings
Applicant Tracking8.3276 Ratings00 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts8.2272 Ratings00 Ratings
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
-
Ratings
Workday Adaptive Planning
9.3
1 Ratings
20% above category average
Pixel Perfect reports00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Customizable dashboards00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
-
Ratings
Workday Adaptive Planning
8.0
1 Ratings
0% above category average
Drill-down analysis00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Formatting capabilities00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
-
Ratings
Workday Adaptive Planning
8.0
1 Ratings
1% below category average
Publish to PDF00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Report Versioning00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
-
Ratings
Workday Adaptive Planning
7.7
1 Ratings
2% above category average
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Predictive Analytics00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
-
Ratings
Workday Adaptive Planning
9.0
1 Ratings
5% above category average
Multi-User Support (named login)00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
-
Ratings
Workday Adaptive Planning
8.5
1 Ratings
9% above category average
Responsive Design for Web Access00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Mobile Application00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Budgeting, Planning, and Forecasting
Comparison of Budgeting, Planning, and Forecasting features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
-
Ratings
Workday Adaptive Planning
8.6
188 Ratings
7% above category average
Long-term financial planning00 Ratings8.4174 Ratings
Financial budgeting00 Ratings9.3185 Ratings
Forecasting00 Ratings8.4180 Ratings
Scenario modeling00 Ratings8.3171 Ratings
Management reporting00 Ratings8.8185 Ratings
Consolidation and Close
Comparison of Consolidation and Close features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
-
Ratings
Workday Adaptive Planning
6.7
153 Ratings
15% below category average
Financial data consolidation00 Ratings6.4116 Ratings
Journal entries and reports00 Ratings6.376 Ratings
Multi-currency management00 Ratings6.288 Ratings
Intercompany Eliminations00 Ratings6.269 Ratings
Minority Ownership00 Ratings5.540 Ratings
Local and consolidated reporting00 Ratings9.2102 Ratings
Detailed Audit Trails00 Ratings7.4128 Ratings
Financial Reporting and Compliance
Comparison of Financial Reporting and Compliance features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
-
Ratings
Workday Adaptive Planning
7.8
176 Ratings
1% below category average
Financial Statement Reporting00 Ratings7.9155 Ratings
Management Reporting00 Ratings8.5171 Ratings
Excel-based Reporting00 Ratings7.7170 Ratings
Automated board and financial reporting00 Ratings8.6147 Ratings
XBRL support for regulatory filing00 Ratings6.029 Ratings
Analytics and Reporting
Comparison of Analytics and Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
-
Ratings
Workday Adaptive Planning
7.8
145 Ratings
3% below category average
Personalized dashboards00 Ratings7.3127 Ratings
Color-coded scorecards00 Ratings8.1106 Ratings
KPIs00 Ratings8.2118 Ratings
Cost and profitability analysis00 Ratings7.2120 Ratings
Key Performance Indicator setting00 Ratings8.2102 Ratings
Benchmarking with external data00 Ratings7.671 Ratings
Integration
Comparison of Integration features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
-
Ratings
Workday Adaptive Planning
8.4
166 Ratings
3% above category average
Flat file integration00 Ratings8.9130 Ratings
Excel data integration00 Ratings8.2159 Ratings
Direct links to 3rd-party data sources00 Ratings8.3120 Ratings
Best Alternatives
DayforceWorkday Adaptive Planning
Small Businesses
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.4 out of 10

No answers on this topic

Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.7 out of 10
Centage
Centage
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.1 out of 10
Prophix
Prophix
Score 8.8 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
DayforceWorkday Adaptive Planning
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(642 ratings)
8.8
(217 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.6
(89 ratings)
7.6
(43 ratings)
Usability
4.9
(60 ratings)
8.7
(123 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(12 ratings)
7.3
(11 ratings)
Performance
5.0
(13 ratings)
9.1
(5 ratings)
Support Rating
8.3
(66 ratings)
8.2
(33 ratings)
In-Person Training
7.0
(11 ratings)
8.2
(2 ratings)
Online Training
7.3
(18 ratings)
7.3
(9 ratings)
Implementation Rating
7.8
(44 ratings)
9.0
(27 ratings)
Configurability
9.0
(13 ratings)
8.2
(5 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
7.3
(9 ratings)
7.5
(8 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.9
(14 ratings)
8.3
(12 ratings)
Professional Services
-
(0 ratings)
8.2
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.9
(18 ratings)
8.2
(4 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.9
(12 ratings)
6.4
(4 ratings)
User Testimonials
DayforceWorkday Adaptive Planning
Likelihood to Recommend
Dayforce
I think Dayforce is a great option for a large and/or Global organization. I do not think it would be the best fit for a very small company or business. It really shines for enterprise organizations with multi-locations. While a small business could use it, I would say it has too many bells and whistles that might feel overwhelming to a smaller organization.
Read full review
Workday
In a previous company, I was hired based on my experience with Workday Adaptive Planning. After being hired and reviewing the company, I quickly determined they were not large of enough of a company to need the program. Instead, we made better Excel budget templates, utilized OneDrive and created a better experience without the cost. Left the job after 9 months because I worked my way out of the position. My next role I looked for bigger companies and had better success with implementation.
Read full review
Pros
Dayforce
  • 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.
Read full review
Workday
  • It helps create dynamic plans for finances, operations and various functional units in an organization all under one platform
  • It helps in scenario modeling to help analyze various business events and report by any number of business dimensions including channel, customer or product
  • It can be integrated with any system including ERP, BI or CRM
Read full review
Cons
Dayforce
  • There have been a few instances of users being locked out of Ceridian due to recent upgrades. Not ideal when an employee wants to see their paystub and is suddenly have login issues.
  • Not the best for when an employee is transferred to another country as their employee number is locked to their SIN or SSN. And, we are required to create a new user record with a new employee number for the new country.
Read full review
Workday
  • Web reports and sheets are not great for in-depth reporting, and require the use of the OfficeConnect for Excel plugin and, therefore, the use of Excel for extensive reporting capabilities.
  • It has limited formula functionality in some instances, requiring again the use of OfficeConnect for Excel for extensive calculations.
  • I would like to see new planning sheet types or upgrades to existing sheet types; functionality has been the same for over 10 years.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Dayforce
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.
Read full review
Workday
For one we're in way too deep to not move forward with Adaptive. We're integrated with Workday, we do a ton of reporting with Adaptive, and it's working very well for planning and forecasting. No reason to look back or change course.
Read full review
Usability
Dayforce
I think it's very usable for the employee. I don't think it is as easy for the HR/PR admins - especially if there is an issue. There are so many setup screens that need to be looked at to try to figure out why payroll isn't calculating properly, hours aren't feeding over correctly, or benefits are not calculating properly. For the most part, they can't do their own troubleshooting. The same is true for the managers. Our managers find it cumbersome to go into make any schedule changes after the schedules have been generated.
Read full review
Workday
Workday Adaptive Planning has detailed online help with both articles and videos that are comprehensive. It has a lot of similarities to Excel, which most finance people are already familiar with, plus the user interface is intuitive and easy to pick up. The online support team is quick to respond and very knowledgeable.
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Reliability and Availability
Dayforce
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.
Read full review
Workday
There haven't been any lately. The only one issue I can think of is when there was an update in Adaptive that altered our reports. Before I realized there was an issue, Adaptive reached out to let me know, so that it could be fixed.
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Performance
Dayforce
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.
Read full review
Workday
All aspects of Adaptive Insights perform well. One area that I wish was quicker was integration. When importing data from Intacct our accounting ERP platform, it can sometimes take 4 hours for the import to process. The earlier imports are done, the quicker they complete. My estimate for a quick upload is about two hours.
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Support Rating
Dayforce
Most of the time the support is great; it's not always super efficient but I always get the help I need. Occasionally it takes a lot longer than we had hoped or get conflicting responses. We had one ticket recently where we were told we would have to pay the service team to support us on the project and then another person called the next day with the solution to our query and was able to find a solution easily. Generally, though, the response is great and they either walk me though how to do something via a Zoom Meeting or they email step-by-step instructions on how to do it and say if I have questions we can set up a meeting to discuss further.
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Workday
Whenever we have had any questions, issues, or concerns, the support has been quick and thorough. [This] allow[s] us to be able to fully resolve any issues, or be connected with the right group quickly to attain the result we were after; be it from simple formatting to adding new detailed reporting.
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In-Person Training
Dayforce
Because the training we reviewed at Insights has changed how we use the system everyday. This is a key factor in our training.
Read full review
Workday
This was extremely helpful so that they could walk you through the model and teach you more about the complexity of various areas. It is most helpful when it is specific to your organization's model. The larger in-person trainings were helpful but they tended to be more generic and entry level. The trainings that are more tailored to your specific needs are the most helpful.
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Online Training
Dayforce
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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Workday
They often times tended to be way too generic or entry level. They would also become sales pitches to upgrade or get new Adaptive Planning products. The questions in the training would be very niche and specific to other organizations. They were rarely helpful to the group at large.
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Implementation Rating
Dayforce
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
Read full review
Workday
Trust the expertise of very strong 3rd party implementers. Having deployed Adaptive at a separate company before, I thought I knew it all (hubris, I know). Fortunately, I began to (very quickly) trust the judgment of our Carlson implementation team, and they provided invaluable insights and best-in-class processes that have benefitted me and my team greatly.
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Alternatives Considered
Dayforce
I can't speak much to how it would be if we had all of these features separately since I started with Dayforce all being integrated and have no other experience, but having it all in one place has made the completion of all of these HR tasks seamless. We can direct all of our energies into the same system, and it makes it easier to field employee inquiries and to troubleshoot when we need to
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Workday
Workday became our choice because it is fully web-based and easily integrates with other systems. The learning curve for Workday was shorter than that of Dynamics. The reporting tools in Workday are more user-friendly than that of Dynamics. However Workday did not have Check Printing tools which are available in Dynamics. The organization started a project to digitize all financial transactions so it was not a priority feature. When it comes to scaling up the functionalities of Workday it was much easier than Dynamics.
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Dayforce
No answers on this topic
Workday
Good read only seat access
Read full review
Scalability
Dayforce
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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Workday
We went from 2 users to 70+ users over a 2 year period of time. The application scaled wonderfully. 65 of those users were non-finance users so they were able to quickly learn the software and prepare budgets quickly and efficiently. That is the power of Adaptive and its ability to scale
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Professional Services
Dayforce
No answers on this topic
Workday
This is now available in house at Workday which is convenient.
Read full review
Return on Investment
Dayforce
  • Performance Reviews/Comp used to be handled via paper and tracking/reporting was a nightmare - having all of that in the system is so much more efficient and provides huge ROI
  • Our organization used to have big problems with hiring managers going rogue and hiring positions that aren't approved by Finance - we built an approval workflow in the system that triggers before any req is approved which has completely solved this problem
  • Dayforce Wallet has been a huge perk for our employees - it's heavily used and our crew love it
Read full review
Workday
  • It's facilitated a better financial literacy and management by the non-financial managers in the company, giving them a much better ability to see what they're spending, control it, and plan better in the future.
  • It's hard to quantify the ease of model and version management, but we could never do what we're doing now with our current staff. It would take a small army to replicate anything close to what Adaptive pulls off using Excel, if it's even possible.
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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

Workday Adaptive Planning Screenshots

Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of