Paylocity vs. PDS Vista

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Paylocity
Score 7.8 out of 10
N/A
Paylocity provides 24/7 access to your online payroll and human resource data management. Paylocity offers highly customizable payroll functionality, as well as HR, benefits administration, and time and talent management programs.N/A
PDS Vista
Score 6.2 out of 10
Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
Vista® is a human resource, benefits, payroll, recruiting, and self-service software. Functional elements include recruitment, staffing, position and training management, compliance, and performance and compensation.N/A
Pricing
PaylocityPDS Vista
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
PaylocityPDS Vista
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsLicense pricing is based on the number of full and part-time active employees within bands (e.g. 751-1,000). SaaS pricing is based on PEPM.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
PaylocityPDS Vista
Considered Both Products
Paylocity

No answer on this topic

PDS Vista
Chose PDS Vista
ADP and Paylocity. Vista may not be as flashy as those user sites, but it is much more effective and easy to use for multiple roles in the system. Admins, managers, and users are much easier to manage and their experience is better having the single sign-on for them to use.
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
PaylocityPDS Vista
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
7.8
847 Ratings
0% below category average
PDS Vista
7.7
18 Ratings
2% below category average
Employee demographic data8.5798 Ratings9.017 Ratings
Employment history8.2779 Ratings9.018 Ratings
Job profiles and administration7.8716 Ratings9.014 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.7.6727 Ratings7.012 Ratings
Organizational charting7.1668 Ratings7.013 Ratings
Organization and location management7.8650 Ratings7.016 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)7.5556 Ratings6.011 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
8.1
835 Ratings
1% above category average
PDS Vista
8.0
18 Ratings
0% below category average
Pay calculation8.6811 Ratings8.216 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors7.3381 Ratings7.39 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment8.5581 Ratings00 Ratings
Benefit plan administration7.2554 Ratings8.216 Ratings
Direct deposit files8.9810 Ratings8.217 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management8.2641 Ratings8.213 Ratings
Reimbursement management7.9395 Ratings8.25 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
7.6
698 Ratings
6% below category average
PDS Vista
8.2
13 Ratings
2% above category average
Approval workflow7.9619 Ratings8.27 Ratings
Balance details7.4668 Ratings8.213 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment7.4518 Ratings8.212 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
8.3
847 Ratings
2% above category average
PDS Vista
7.1
17 Ratings
13% below category average
View and generate pay and benefit information8.5824 Ratings8.216 Ratings
Update personal information8.6838 Ratings7.314 Ratings
View company policy documentation8.0665 Ratings7.38 Ratings
Employee recognition8.3581 Ratings7.25 Ratings
View job history8.3703 Ratings5.84 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
7.5
238 Ratings
3% below category average
PDS Vista
7.3
7 Ratings
6% below category average
Tracking of all physical assets7.5238 Ratings7.37 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
7.0
773 Ratings
8% below category average
PDS Vista
8.0
16 Ratings
5% above category average
Report builder7.0739 Ratings8.014 Ratings
Pre-built reports7.4753 Ratings8.016 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data6.5449 Ratings8.013 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
8.2
721 Ratings
2% above category average
PDS Vista
7.3
1 Ratings
9% below category average
New hire portal8.3717 Ratings7.31 Ratings
Manager tracking tools8.0559 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
7.4
374 Ratings
10% below category average
PDS Vista
5.8
2 Ratings
34% below category average
Corporate goal setting7.4283 Ratings5.52 Ratings
Individual goal setting7.4345 Ratings5.52 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility7.3244 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance tracking7.4348 Ratings6.42 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
7.4
480 Ratings
7% below category average
PDS Vista
7.3
4 Ratings
8% below category average
Performance plans7.2429 Ratings7.32 Ratings
Performance improvement plans7.2355 Ratings7.31 Ratings
Review status tracking7.4441 Ratings7.32 Ratings
Review reminders7.5443 Ratings7.23 Ratings
Multiple review frequency7.6362 Ratings7.32 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
7.1
220 Ratings
10% below category average
PDS Vista
3.6
1 Ratings
75% below category average
Create succession plans/pools6.7147 Ratings3.61 Ratings
Candidate ranking7.1180 Ratings3.61 Ratings
Candidate search7.4200 Ratings3.61 Ratings
Candidate development7.4161 Ratings3.61 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
7.7
453 Ratings
1% below category average
PDS Vista
2.5
3 Ratings
102% below category average
Job Requisition Management7.8372 Ratings3.13 Ratings
Company Website Posting8.1396 Ratings3.13 Ratings
Publish to Social Media7.7304 Ratings00 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting7.7371 Ratings00 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention7.0310 Ratings1.92 Ratings
Applicant Tracking8.0416 Ratings2.33 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts7.9414 Ratings2.02 Ratings
Best Alternatives
PaylocityPDS Vista
Small Businesses
Patriot Software
Patriot Software
Score 9.0 out of 10
Patriot Software
Patriot Software
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.5 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.3 out of 10
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
PaylocityPDS Vista
Likelihood to Recommend
7.7
(882 ratings)
8.0
(23 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.9
(82 ratings)
9.1
(7 ratings)
Usability
8.5
(58 ratings)
8.2
(2 ratings)
Availability
8.8
(9 ratings)
9.5
(2 ratings)
Performance
9.4
(9 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
7.2
(79 ratings)
8.2
(3 ratings)
Online Training
8.3
(10 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.2
(33 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Configurability
8.3
(7 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
8.1
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
6.6
(7 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.8
(8 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Professional Services
9.1
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
7.3
(7 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.0
(6 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
PaylocityPDS Vista
Likelihood to Recommend
Paylocity
Paylocity works well for our organization. Ease of use for our managers and employees is very important. Makes it easier for us in HR to manage. Time and attendance works very well. Efficient and effective. Payroll runs very smoothly. We appreciate the performance and compensation module for tracking employees performance, journals and getting feedback and annual compensation.
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Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
As Vista HRMS is fully customizable to suit your needs, a company should determine if they have a current employee who can do the work themselves otherwise they will need to consider the additional cost of asking PDS to do the customizations for them. There are additional modules that we aren't currently making use of, but each company should learn about the functionality of each of them as some may be more beneficial than others. When gathering your questions, ask all potential users of the system what they would want to see in an HRMS. We did so before selecting Vista HRMS and we got pages and pages of questions and comments and made sure that each item was addressed beforehand and was something that we would be able to incorporate into the system. You have the option of taking the system in house or being a hosted client. Make sure you figure out what resources your IT department has available. If you have a dedicated administrator who will do all the upgrades and enhancements great, otherwise you may need PDS to help out and having PDS host may be a better option
Read full review
Pros
Paylocity
  • Customer Service is always helpful with little wait time.
  • Always improving; for example, the recent change to processing payroll. So much easier.
  • Onboarding makes it simple and the fact that the company can personalize the messaging to new hires allows us to make it more personalized.
  • Having an assigned account manager regardless of company size is definitely a plus.
Read full review
Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
  • Vista HRMS is very flexible, it does everything we need for HR, benefits and payroll. It’s user-friendly and intuitive to use, when we roll out new self-service items our employees have no problems and require minimal training or documentation.
  • PDS has excellent customer service and support. We get answers to the majority of our questions and problems quickly, within the day that we call. More complex issues that may require PDS’ technical support are usually addressed within a few days. We were upgrading our production servers to Windows 2012 over a weekend and a key person in our organization was on leave. When we checked with PDS to see what cost would be involved if we needed their help, they said it was included in our regular maintenance, no extra cost.
  • The PDS User’s Conference is an excellent learning opportunity for training on everything Vista does, including using Crystal Reports for custom reporting. You also get to meet and talk to the executive and development staff and have direct input into the future product development.
Read full review
Cons
Paylocity
  • Recruiting piece/ATS could be improved.
  • A candidate being able to save progress on their application is really a must as they can't leave and come back to their application without having to restart, i.e. if they need to get a phone number for a reference for example.
  • Could use more room in entering the job for internal notes.
  • Quirky when doing cut and paste of job details that leaves spaces that aren't in the document being pasted.
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Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
  • Typical of any system built for the unknown requirements of hundreds or thousands of customers with varying needs, PDS sometimes doesn't fit our processes precisely out of the box. However, this con is far outweighed by the ability to configure and customize the system.
  • The most significant pet peeve of our users is the necessity for so many clicks to navigate between different areas or the system or to review applicants. These items are being addressed based on feedback from the user community in an upcoming release.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Paylocity
We have had many issues with the way our platform was set up at implementation that still continue to plague us. In addition, our benefits, in particular our FSA, have been mis-managed causing a balance due from an employee (and also a lot of work for our accounting and HR team, as well as stress for the employee). Our service rep continues to answer incorrectly on many fronts (original response is usually check out this paylocity article, vs. helping) and recently our COBRA management was mishandled (not adding Dental to a person on Cobra who had requested it). So- all in all...we are not particularly happy w/ Paylocity
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Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
I feel so invested in Vista HRMS that I don't really want to try other options. I know we as an organization are not using this product to it's full potential and that is just due to us lacking the resources to be able to invest the time into breaking it apart and making it work to the best ability for us. The system works great as is, but there are a lot of implementations we can put into place to help us out even more. For example, we would love to start using Workflow to create more efficiencies. I personally have a very good relationship with our hosted vendor who supports Vista HRMS and can help me with any issues and concerns, this is a big part of the reason that I would renew with this product and continue to be an advocate for Vista HRMS.
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Usability
Paylocity
Overall, in my experience, Paylocity has been easy to use for both staff and administrators. First, the staff has an application and inputting Paid Time Off is easy to do. I then get an alert on my app and I am able to approve it on the spot from my app that gives me access as an employee and an administrator without having to use multiple apps or logins. As an administrator I think the portal is easy to use, Paylocity did a great job showing me tools and rolling out training classes before rollout.
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Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
The interface is intuitive, even if it does require some extra clicks to get to where you are going. The screens are consistently designed and formatted. There is a logical flow and organization to the application layout and menuing systems.
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Reliability and Availability
Paylocity
Paylocity support is always available and I never have to wait endlessly on hold. If our dedicated account manage is not available, there is an entire team assigned to our account. Every one of them is knowledgeable about our organization and Paylocity's process.
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Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
No answers on this topic
Performance
Paylocity
pages load in an acceptable amount of time, reports come back quickly, but integration is very complicated and hasn't been possible
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Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Paylocity
Everyone wants immediate assistance. Awaiting a response from an email only to ask 2-3 more questions is time consuming. Within the first six months of setup, I would rather respond back to the instructors who provided me the training in each category of my contract.
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Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
PDS has excellent customer service and support. We get answers to the
majority of our questions and problems quickly, within the day that we
call. More complex issues that may require PDS’ technical support are
usually addressed within a few days
Read full review
Online Training
Paylocity
The training was live online, but was with a group of other companies. We did not receive any personalized training with our team. Whenever we would ask for training, we would be sent a peak article link or a video. It felt like the reps we dealt with didn't know the answer to the questions.
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Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
The resources and online tools that PDS provide are extremely thorough and helpful in our training and learning.
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Implementation Rating
Paylocity
I had gone through an implementation process of another HR platform (Paycom) in my previous job and was traumatized, it was painful. I was surprised how easy and fast it was with Paylocity, the team was very helpful and set us up for success
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Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
Ask lots of questions, ensure you fully understand the functionality (particularly history records) and train, train, train the users for correct and complete utilization of the system.
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Alternatives Considered
Paylocity
We honestly had a program that only kept track of our Demographics, salaries, etc. then all of our Payroll was done on paper with paper leave slips etc. When I saw Paylocity, I was very excited about how easy it is/would be to use. [...] Our Paylocity rep that I spoke to was super GREAT in the explanation of Paylocity and I didn't even shop around much.
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Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
I've used Peoplesoft HCM in the past. The products have some similarities, but they are marketed to different sized companies, so it's a bit of apples to oranges. Peoplesoft was very complex and challenging to manage and support. Vista HRMS should require fewer technical resources and still provide robust features for HR and Payroll. We selected Vista HRMS because it met the majority of our requirements and was priced to enable us to purchase and implement it within our budget. Also, it's an integrated system (although not truly one system when you count Vista Time) which is an improvement over our current state.
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Paylocity
I wasn't involved in the sales process. I joined the organization after Paylocity was implemented.
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Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
No answers on this topic
Scalability
Paylocity
You have an account manager assigned to you on a daily basis but that person is barely available to you
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Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
No answers on this topic
Professional Services
Paylocity
Support is quick and proffessional
Read full review
Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Paylocity
  • Definitely more consistent processes. Everything is very user friendly and it reduces the amount of time it has taken us in the past before we started using Paylocity. Everything flows super smoothly.
  • We have an improved retention since we have used Paylocity. Before hand, many employees thought it was difficult to find anything like tax forms, pay stubs, benefit elections, etc. when we used other platforms before we implemented our data into Paylocity.
  • Costs have been reduced and the decision-making process has improved and got quicker. Before Paylocity, it would take at least a week to get a salary increase approved, or a job title change approved. Now, it take less than a day and is super easy.
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Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
  • Positive impact would definitely be self-service for both employees and managers to view and update selected data.
  • Through some analytics our managers are able to track turnover for their site/department by many criteria (length of service, reason, etc) and can view a number of other analytical reports such as headcount and demographics which help them to make informed decisions about their department.
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ScreenShots