HiBob vs. SumTotal (legacy)

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
HiBob
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
HiBob is an HR management platform that provides features supporting talent management including onboarding administration and task management, payroll reporting and time tracking, and manager dashboard for tracking employee performance.N/A
SumTotal (legacy)
Score 7.9 out of 10
Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
The SumTotal Talent Expansion Suite included SumTotal (LMS), and was supported by Skillsoft since the October 2014 acquisition. Acquired by Cornerstone OnDemand in 2022, it is a legacy product, and Cornerstone recommends upgrading to their modern platform.N/A
Pricing
HiBobSumTotal (legacy)
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
HiBobSumTotal (legacy)
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
HiBobSumTotal (legacy)
Considered Both Products
HiBob
Chose HiBob
HiBob is solid, again for a 50 - 250 or so employer. I perfer ADP Workforce Now because it has more robust features, however, HiBob can house international employee's data, which is why we went with it
Chose HiBob
I don't remember the names of other similar products that I have used as I am not in HR so I don't work with it daily and didn't evaluate the products. But! I am in UX, and I can tell you that from that perspective, HiBob is really head and shoulders above the rest. If you are …
Chose HiBob
HiBob balances functionality, usability, pricing and client control to a much greater level than other systems. Enterprise systems such as SAP and Oracle offer greater functionality but at a much greater cost. Similar offerings from BambooHR, Dayforce and Workday are lacking in …
Chose HiBob
I am being repetitive, but it’s really high adaptability is what makes the difference.

Other system are not so customisable or flexible when it comes to generate data or create forms for instance.
Chose HiBob
We used Small Improvements for our 1-1s and annual reviews before using Hibob. It worked for us, but nothing beats one login for all of our people processes. Key efficiencies for the win!
Chose HiBob
mostly because of the user friendly it is. you or your employees can't get wrong. it is super intuitive.
has all the relevant data to manage your human source at the company
great support team, although I had some troubles when you can get your CSM over the phone when it is …
Chose HiBob
BambooHR is a great platform for small business but we found it wasn't conducive to our organization as we began to grow. While very user friendly, the Performance Management was limited and basic. HiBob has a better social platform where employees can be publicly recognized. …
Chose HiBob
I used this in my previous job and the system was internal so hard to say but completley different in the fact Hibob has a 'familiar' and friendlier feel - almost feels like a social media page and it is much more inviting for new employee and current. It also gives employees …
Chose HiBob
HIbob is customisable and fun and really personal which is great for us as a business as we like to keep our tone of voice throughout our communications. Deel is great for various uses but doesn't have the same customisable options. HIbob is also super user friendly. None of …
Chose HiBob
Hibob has more customizable performance management, employee surveys, and PTO cycles than most of the tools I've evaluated. Hibob also includes many features for one-on-one tracking, Slack integration, and employee engagement (Kudos/Accounements/Polls) that other platforms …
Chose HiBob
In comparison to SAP, Hibob stands out hugely because of its user-friendliness.
Chose HiBob
N/A, HiBob is the first HRIS I have used, but despite that, as a first-time Admin I find it very user-friendly.
Chose HiBob
I love Bamboo HR but according to me, it is suited more for small or medium size companies. Bamboo HR is less custom. The survey, compensation, and performance module are better on HiBob. However, maybe Hibob has this option but we don't use it in my current company, but …
Chose HiBob
Hibob was ultimately more flexible and offered a strong customer support network which is why we selected it over others. It's also well-priced and while not "cheap", it was more inexpensive than other larger systems. Their sales team was so supportive the entire time and as we …
Chose HiBob
We looked at multiple products that cover different areas of P&C. We liked that Hibob did the job of many platforms.
Chose HiBob
Hibob is much easier to use than Oracle Cloud. The UE is much better - from the look of the home page to finding where to book leave or set goals etc, it is much better. I would also say that it is better in that you can set up flows so you get automatic reminders for certain …
Chose HiBob
We used Breathe before and it had incredibly basic functionality. It's hard to compare because there's a big difference in price point - but no one interacted with Breathe and it was only used for tracking holidays.
Chose HiBob
Namely did not have connected modules, so it was difficult to manage data across the different sites. They didn't have a large suite of API connections. Workday required technical experts to code and manage everything, is not user-friendly, and did not have historical data …
Chose HiBob
Hibob has a lot more features than PeopleHR. Just missing the overtime and expenses calculation
Hibob is much more user friendly than our previous system, it is prettier, much more customisable and to be used similarly to a social media platform has really helped people engage …
Chose HiBob
Hibob is a lot more user-friendly than other HRIS
Top-of-the-line customer service
Constantly updates the different offered modules
Chose HiBob
We quickly outgrew our old HRIS, Breathe. Hibob was scalable, whereas we had reached user capacity with Breathe. We couldn't customise employee fields, permissions, or reports which made things like payroll and integration very challenging. All of these issues were resolved …
Chose HiBob
Hibob offers a lot of features and customization compared to BambooHR. You can have workflows only apply to select groupings of employees, whether by location, job type, or a custom group. It has built in surveys that you can customize; I had to use an expensive external system …
SumTotal (legacy)
Chose SumTotal (legacy)
In our case SumTotal platform seemed to be more complete and robust to provide the right features for managing complex ILT plans and blended programs, which was an important thing for us. It was also very easy to deploy mobile and to increase learning options for all users, …
Chose SumTotal (legacy)
SumTotal Talent Development is a very competitive product. In my opinion SumTotal Talent Development is better than Freshteams, Darwinbox, but not as good as Skillate, SAP Successfactors. SAP Successfactors is enterprise grade and used only by large organizations and has too …
Chose SumTotal (legacy)
SumTotal does not stack up to any of the above HCM software.
Chose SumTotal (legacy)
Maestro is a little dated looking. Younger users are looking for something up-to-date, interactive, fun, and easy to use and Maestro has a ways to go with this.
Chose SumTotal (legacy)
When I came to my company, they had been using a "light" LMS called Articulate. It was cheap and bare bones; i.e. not a lot of features, really just a platform to launch eLearning from and not real interface for student to utilize. When I began to overhaul the training …
Chose SumTotal (legacy)
Highly developed functionality
Chose SumTotal (legacy)
SuccessFactors is more user friendly, however their service is less than stellar. SumTotal was chosen because of price and customer service.
Features
HiBobSumTotal (legacy)
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
HiBob
9.5
Ratings
16% above category average
SumTotal (legacy)
-
Ratings
Employee demographic data10.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Employment history9.60 Ratings00 Ratings
Job profiles and administration9.60 Ratings00 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.9.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Organizational charting9.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Organization and location management9.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)8.60 Ratings00 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
HiBob
8.3
Ratings
2% above category average
SumTotal (legacy)
-
Ratings
Pay calculation7.60 Ratings00 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors9.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management7.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
HiBob
8.3
Ratings
2% above category average
SumTotal (legacy)
-
Ratings
Approval workflow9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Balance details7.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment8.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
HiBob
8.8
Ratings
7% above category average
SumTotal (legacy)
-
Ratings
View and generate pay and benefit information8.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Update personal information9.20 Ratings00 Ratings
View company policy documentation8.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Employee recognition7.70 Ratings00 Ratings
View job history9.50 Ratings00 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
HiBob
7.8
Ratings
4% above category average
SumTotal (legacy)
-
Ratings
Report builder9.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Pre-built reports6.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data7.60 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
HiBob
7.8
Ratings
3% below category average
SumTotal (legacy)
8.8
Ratings
18% above category average
Corporate goal setting8.30 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Individual goal setting8.10 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility6.80 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Performance tracking8.00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
HiBob
6.9
Ratings
13% below category average
SumTotal (legacy)
8.2
Ratings
18% above category average
Performance plans8.20 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Performance improvement plans1.90 Ratings7.50 Ratings
Review status tracking7.80 Ratings7.90 Ratings
Review reminders8.70 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Multiple review frequency7.80 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
HiBob
-
Ratings
SumTotal (legacy)
8.2
Ratings
12% above category average
New hire portal00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Manager tracking tools00 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
HiBob
-
Ratings
SumTotal (legacy)
7.0
Ratings
3% above category average
Create succession plans/pools00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Candidate search00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Candidate development00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
HiBob
-
Ratings
SumTotal (legacy)
7.8
Ratings
9% above category average
Job Requisition Management00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Company Website Posting00 Ratings7.50 Ratings
Publish to Social Media00 Ratings7.90 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting00 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention00 Ratings6.50 Ratings
Applicant Tracking00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts00 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Learning Management
Comparison of Learning Management features of Product A and Product B
HiBob
-
Ratings
SumTotal (legacy)
6.5
Ratings
8% below category average
Course authoring00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Course catalog or library00 Ratings4.00 Ratings
Player/Portal00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Progress tracking & certifications00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Assignments00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Compliance management00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Learning administration00 Ratings4.00 Ratings
Learning reporting & analytics00 Ratings5.00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
HiBobSumTotal (legacy)
Small Businesses
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.2 out of 10
Paycor
Paycor
Score 7.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.1 out of 10
Engagedly
Engagedly
Score 8.6 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
HiBobSumTotal (legacy)
Likelihood to Recommend
8.9
(0 ratings)
7.5
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.1
(0 ratings)
6.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.8
(0 ratings)
2.0
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
6.7
(0 ratings)
3.0
(0 ratings)
Online Training
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
7.7
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
HiBobSumTotal (legacy)
Likelihood to Recommend
The system is very well suited for the stage we are at as a company. We did a lot via Excel and old processes, but once we hit the 100-person mark, our work would have been challenging to execute without Hibob. We eliminated 3 systems by consolidating to the one Hibob system - it was almost a cost-neutral swap for us.
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I personally, am not a fan of SumTotal. I have worked on several different HRIS and Payroll systems which outweigh all aspects of SumTotal (Lawson Interface Desktop, Ceridian Dayforce, ADP Enterprise, and Ultimate Software's UltiPro). As antiquated as Lawson felt, it had more functionality than SumTotal. Of course, all others I worked on were for the most part cloud based and had modern functionality to go with it.
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Pros
  • It is extremely flexible and can be modified to fit most of our processes.
  • It's an easy UI to use and looks very nice as well.
  • I like that there is options like Superpowers and Hobbies to get to know our employees more than just their work details.
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  • SumTotal has a very user friendly design, making it easy for non-programmers to configure their LMS interface, customize various environments for different groups, and to integrate numerous external web applications through iFraming, such as social media or news feeds. I was able to configure a custom environment for several different clients, making it feel like their own LMS, such as a custom color scheme and logos, custom widgets (which are section of any page), news feeds, training messages, and custom learning plans.
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Cons
  • Tasks - For something like onboarding, I wish there was a way to set up the tasks so that the person setting up the employee profile would be the only person to get the assigned tasks. It's hard to describe but for example, if there are multiple on-boarders on the team, is there a way to set up the tasks so that technically every on-boarder would be assigned to the task, but the person setting up the profile is the one that triggers the task for themselves.
  • Reports - I find pulling reports a bit complicated, especially if I am asked to pull data that involves info being located in different areas of an employee profile. For example, for a couple of months, I thought it was impossible to pull a variable pay report along with the base salary (in one report rather than pull two separate reports) only to find out that you can do that via the Total Compensation report. Also when I have to pull data for headcount since a certain day, I wish you can make the settings so that data can appear after a certain day, rather than sorting it manually via Excel/Google sheets.
  • Timesheet - I love the functionality of the timesheet that hibob provided, but I also wish they included an option where people can set up predicted work schedules for future dates. Currently, the timesheets are ideals for scenarios where employees time in and out of work.
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  • JasperSoft Reporting - it is difficult to use and manage.
  • Exams could be more robust. Offering alternate types of questions.
  • Too many clicks on the administrator side. Adding new activities is not intuitive, you need to click through each section to determine what needs to be entered where. Would be better if it was guided for new activities, just prompting for 'required' fields.
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Likelihood to Renew
We will without a doubt be continuing to use Hibob, it is convenient, being engaged with and great value for money. A one stop shop for all things HR related to keep policies and safe financial information has been so beneficial to the business meaning less risk to GDPR breaches and somewhere for employees to refer back to in future has been invaluable
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I have transitioned from a position who supported the product to a position where I use the product. I continue to be impressed with the robustness of the product and how efficient it is. It is a user friendly software that can be used to navigate and accomplish tasks to meet organizational requirements.
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Usability
It's a solid HRIS system, it's user friendly to employees and employers, but they've changed the user interface 2 times now in the last 2.5 years, so having to find where certain things are after the change can be tedious
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I do not find SumTotal to be intuitive. I feel we need to adjust our needs to meet the functionality available in the tool.
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Reliability and Availability
Yes they are always there when we need them. Fast response time too.
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No answers on this topic
Performance
Yes the system is fast and easy to use.
Read full review
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
A lot of support is self-service from the users themselves, via a guide hosted on HiBob's website. I have found the guide helpful 10% of the time when I needed support. The support team is quite quick to reply, but not everyone is helpful unfortunately, and in many cases a lot of emails, messages and back and forth were needed to get to the bottom of an issue. When I pointed out that a video call would be a quicker way to tell people "this is how it's done", I was told that it's not the way they deliver support. I had to beg our account managers for a video chat with some skilled users to show me how to do certain things that (a) were nowhere to be found on the guide, and (b) the support team wasn't able to solve. Additionally, to find solutions, I was pointed to a forum where other users exchange tips on how they managed to solve problems - again, not really helpful as I would like to know this from Bob's team themselves since we're paying for the product, and I shouldn't rely on other users to tell me how they managed their way around a problem
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We have our own IT support to assist in SumTotal issues, however, we have had to log in cases directly. Support is mediocre at best.
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Online Training
It was fast and easy to learn with the trainer. Their staff was great to work with.
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No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
I really enjoyed the implementation being involved in a key piece of change management int he business was really exciting
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No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
HiBob balances functionality, usability, pricing and client control to a much greater level than other systems. Enterprise systems such as SAP and Oracle offer greater functionality but at a much greater cost. Similar offerings from BambooHR, Dayforce and Workday are lacking in their functionality, user experience, pricing or customizability. Overall, the Customer Support experience with HiBob is now, and always has been out of this world in terms of response times, helpfulness and a strong willingness to adapt to the client requirements in terms of feature implementation and roadmapping.
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SumTotal Talent Development is a very competitive product. In my opinion SumTotal Talent Development is better than Freshteams, Darwinbox, but not as good as Skillate, SAP SuccessFactors. SAP SuccessFactors is enterprise grade and used only by large organizations and has too many modules and hence a tough learning curve. While SumTotal Talent Development has a small learning curve.
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Scalability
It is easy to use across the board for all departments in the company.
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No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
  • Our HR Coordinator is the main administrator and is the go-to for all thing Bob. This has freed up time for me (VP) and for our HR Manager to spend time on strategy and implementation of employee experience programs. Before HiBob, our HR Manager spent approximately 20% of her time on administrative items that Bob takes care of in minutes and I would have spent around 10% of my time on Performance Management. We invest around $20k in HiBob, but it has saved us approximately $45k in time. So, an ROI of $25,000.
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  • Clean front-end user interface for easier course catalog management.
  • Reporting has been more difficult than previous LMS.
  • Audience building has more variables making it more difficult to manage.
  • Slower overall client turnaround due to admin side interface.
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ScreenShots

HiBob Screenshots

Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of

SumTotal (legacy) Screenshots

Screenshot of SumTotal Learning Management: Deliver the learning your organization needs including skilling/upskilling/reskilling, career planning & development. All delivered with our engaging learner experience across all modalities (desktop, tablet & mobile) and in the flow of workScreenshot of SumTotal Onboarding: Foster learning before day one with our robust onboarding solution. Build culture, complete necessary paperwork and begin the path to productivity for all your new and returning employees.Screenshot of SumTotal Performance: Performance management that meets the needs of today’s forward-thinking organizations. Align the goals and performance of your entire workforce with those of the broader organization for better business outcomes.Screenshot of SumTotal Succession: Make succession planning an organizational strength. SumTotal allows you to better understand your workforce now and better plan for your future with our intuitive succession planning tools.Screenshot of SumTotal Recruiting: A modern recruiting solution that delivers a powerful candidate experience, recruiter productivity, job matching and internal mobility.Screenshot of SumTotal Compensation: SumTotal makes compensation planning easier and less time consuming. Build a pay for performance culture that meets your organizations goals and objectives while keeping you competitive in the ever-changing marketplace.