Paychex vs. Sage HR

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Paychex
Score 6.9 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
Sage HR
Score 8.9 out of 10
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
Sage HR is HR software for small to medium businesses. The vendor states Sage HR is designed to be easy to use, and automates every step of the human resource process. Sage HR is designed with modular functionality to be customized for users' needs. According to the vendor, key differentiators include: 1. Easy to use 2. Modular functionality 2. Automates the end-to-end HR process 3. There's a mobile app (iOS & Android) 5. Feature…
$5.50
per month
Pricing
PaychexSage HR
Editions & Modules
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
Expenses Management
$1.50
per user, per month
Performance Management
$3.00
per user, per month
Shift Scheduling
$3.00
per user, per month
Timesheets
$3.00
per user, per month
Leave Management
$5.50
per user, per month
Recruitment
$200.00
per user, per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
PaychexSage HR
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
Additional DetailsThe modular product. - No hidden fees - Cancel anytime - No credit card required
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
PaychexSage HR
Features
PaychexSage HR
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
6.7
272 Ratings
19% below category average
Sage HR
7.1
12 Ratings
13% below category average
Employee demographic data7.8219 Ratings8.911 Ratings
Employment history8.1242 Ratings8.411 Ratings
Job profiles and administration7.8177 Ratings7.89 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.7.8172 Ratings00 Ratings
Organizational charting1.01 Ratings5.111 Ratings
Organization and location management7.5158 Ratings7.09 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)6.7146 Ratings5.54 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
7.7
313 Ratings
5% below category average
Sage HR
7.5
2 Ratings
8% below category average
Pay calculation8.0295 Ratings00 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment7.1153 Ratings00 Ratings
Benefit plan administration6.9174 Ratings00 Ratings
Direct deposit files8.3294 Ratings00 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management8.0209 Ratings00 Ratings
Reimbursement management7.7118 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
7.3
159 Ratings
11% below category average
Sage HR
7.2
12 Ratings
13% below category average
Approval workflow7.3113 Ratings5.112 Ratings
Balance details7.5151 Ratings8.412 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment7.0119 Ratings8.29 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
7.8
270 Ratings
5% below category average
Sage HR
6.8
11 Ratings
19% below category average
View and generate pay and benefit information7.8248 Ratings8.03 Ratings
Update personal information7.9260 Ratings8.511 Ratings
View company policy documentation7.7121 Ratings4.89 Ratings
View job history7.9184 Ratings8.08 Ratings
Employee recognition00 Ratings4.49 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
4.9
43 Ratings
49% below category average
Sage HR
4.8
6 Ratings
51% below category average
Tracking of all physical assets4.943 Ratings4.86 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
5.9
177 Ratings
24% below category average
Sage HR
5.9
11 Ratings
24% below category average
Report builder6.3147 Ratings7.210 Ratings
Pre-built reports6.3165 Ratings7.810 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data5.191 Ratings2.93 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
6.4
173 Ratings
22% below category average
Sage HR
8.0
9 Ratings
0% above category average
New hire portal6.7165 Ratings7.79 Ratings
Manager tracking tools6.1109 Ratings8.28 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
5.2
70 Ratings
40% below category average
Sage HR
3.0
3 Ratings
89% below category average
Job Requisition Management5.536 Ratings1.93 Ratings
Company Website Posting5.234 Ratings2.02 Ratings
Publish to Social Media4.728 Ratings2.01 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting5.235 Ratings2.02 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention4.734 Ratings2.02 Ratings
Applicant Tracking4.839 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts5.964 Ratings4.02 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
-
Ratings
Sage HR
6.1
8 Ratings
27% below category average
Corporate goal setting00 Ratings6.87 Ratings
Individual goal setting00 Ratings3.78 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility00 Ratings6.88 Ratings
Performance tracking00 Ratings7.08 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
-
Ratings
Sage HR
5.3
8 Ratings
39% below category average
Performance plans00 Ratings6.18 Ratings
Performance improvement plans00 Ratings2.67 Ratings
Review status tracking00 Ratings6.18 Ratings
Review reminders00 Ratings7.98 Ratings
Multiple review frequency00 Ratings3.78 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
Paychex
-
Ratings
Sage HR
3.1
4 Ratings
87% below category average
Create succession plans/pools00 Ratings2.74 Ratings
Candidate ranking00 Ratings2.62 Ratings
Candidate search00 Ratings4.52 Ratings
Candidate development00 Ratings2.74 Ratings
Best Alternatives
PaychexSage HR
Small Businesses
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.3 out of 10
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.3 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
PaychexSage HR
Likelihood to Recommend
6.2
(321 ratings)
8.7
(13 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
1.2
(44 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
6.7
(264 ratings)
8.5
(3 ratings)
Availability
5.6
(12 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
7.1
(12 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
6.2
(264 ratings)
9.1
(5 ratings)
In-Person Training
4.5
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
8.3
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
5.3
(13 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
5.0
(9 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.1
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
6.0
(12 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
2.2
(33 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
3.2
(34 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
PaychexSage HR
Likelihood to Recommend
Paychex Inc.
Paychex is great option for smaller employers as the site offers perk benefits to employees at no cost to the employer. I don't see anything like this being offered at competitors such as ADP RUN/Total Source, Bamboo, Trinet, Justworks or Gusto. Also, the initial set up is relatively easy and the dedicated support for set up is great along with our regular dedicated payroll support.
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Sage
Keeping an accurate time off calendar, with specific buckets, is extremely important. It has helped my company grow without having to manage things in Excel. Also, implementing an annual review process by using CakeHR has been very clean and transparent with my employees. This also allows me to see year over year. In years past, we used Word or a Jotform which made it challenging to pull up years past.
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Pros
Paychex Inc.
  • 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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Sage
  • Employee self service - the apps and desktops GUIs are very intuitive.
  • Leave management - this manages itself through the app and system, saves lots of admin.
  • Customization - you can tailor the system more and more to suit your specific needs.
  • Updates and Customer Service - the CakeHR team gave dedicated a lot of time to bring out weekly updates and systems improvements which shows they are dedicated to making this a great product - the fact that they were bought by Se recently is also testament to their ongoing mission.
Read full review
Cons
Paychex Inc.
  • I understand logging you out is a security function, but I'd prefer it not to log you out so soon.
  • The training we received for the team's meeting was subpar, in my opinion. Probably better geared for people with little to no computer experience. Very slow pace; we could have easily received all of this from some tutorials in a few minutes.
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Sage
  • Some features available in other HR products have not been available in Cake in the past (Performance, ATS), however, these are being rolled out now.
  • The user experience for the Admin interface is not completely intuitive.
  • Overall look and feel could be updated one day.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Paychex Inc.
Overall I like the features that Paychex Flex offers. I am sure that there are other features that I am unaware of, so I am excited to see if there is more that Flex is capable of to make my job easier. The basic features are really user friendly and easy to access. If there ever is an issue customer service is great
Read full review
Sage
No answers on this topic
Usability
Paychex Inc.
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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Sage
payroll process is good Sage HR - web version gives good demographic data uploading to Super portal is good uploading to ATO portal is good giving various reports to Managers is good
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Reliability and Availability
Paychex Inc.
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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Sage
No answers on this topic
Performance
Paychex Inc.
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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Sage
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Paychex Inc.
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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Sage
Customer support is amazing. There are times I post a question and I don't get back to support. They will always follow-up with an email to make sure our questions are answered. I even had a call with Julianna who was wonderful and very personable. You definitely get a level us service that exceeds most companies. Keep up the good work CakeHR.
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In-Person Training
Paychex Inc.
We did online training only
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Sage
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Paychex Inc.
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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Sage
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Paychex Inc.
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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Sage
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Paychex Inc.
We still use QB Desktop Pro to maintain a Check Register / Overall Balance for the company, but once having tried QB Payroll Online for about 3 months prior to finding Paychex Flex I can tell you that there's just no comparison. QB online is VERY EXPENSIVE and not so user-friendly. I hated every minute of those 6 payrolls we ran through QB online.
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Sage
Bamboo is more versatile for large enterprises where as Sage HR is better for smaller/mid-size businesses. Both systems have very similar features and functionality. Sage HR has great tools for companies with multiple locations which has benefitted us in tracking employees' time, resources, and performance. Both have similar customer service and it really comes down to what features you are wanting to focus on as a business.
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Scalability
Paychex Inc.
I generally do payroll at the office, however I have had to go remote due to internet issues and also had to take payroll on vacation with me. Very easy to log in wherever you are and manage your TAA and payroll
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Sage
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Paychex Inc.
  • With Paychex Flex we have been able to improve our compliance with required documentation for new/rehires
  • Moving everyone to direct deposit and mobile clock in/out eliminated lines at punching stations and paycheck pickup stations
  • Lost checks is a thing of the past
Read full review
Sage
  • Saved me lots of admin time with employee self service.
  • I can run this system by myself for over 100 employees so no need to hire extra staff to manage.
  • Easy performance management allows the business to review and appraise employees and make everything more efficient (cost and time).
Read full review
ScreenShots

Paychex Screenshots

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

Sage HR Screenshots

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