Ceridian Dayforce: Fast facts

Pricing: Custom quotes only.

Key features:

  • Global payroll in 160+ countries.

  • Benefits with self-guided employee enrollment.

  • 24/7 customer support.

Learn More on Ceridian’s Website

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Ceridian Dayforce’s human capital management software brings together the most important payroll, human resources and talent management tools, giving enterprises the ability to handle all of their HR activities on one platform instead of across disparate third-party programs. While the Dayforce platform’s price and complexity make it best suited to businesses with more than 1,000 employees, it can be used by enterprises with just a few hundred employees as well.

In our Ceridian Dayforce review, we’ll cover who this HR software is best suited for, identify its strengths and weaknesses, describe its key features and suggest alternatives if you decide Ceridian Dayforce isn’t the right HCM program for you.

Ceridian Dayforce pricing

The Ceridian logo.
Image: Ceridian

Ceridian doesn’t list its prices online, though individual plan costs vary by which modules you add to your package and how many employees you have on staff. Note that the lack of upfront pricing is typical of most enterprise-level payroll, HR and HCM software solutions — Ceridian’s quote-based pricing isn’t outside the typical (though frustrating) industry norm.

Ceridian Dayforce: Key features

Global payroll

Using Ceridian, employers can pay contractors and full-time workers in more than 160 countries. Employees can choose from multiple pay methods, including direct deposit and on-demand payment through Dayforce Wallet. Although you can use Ceridian Dayforce to run payroll in house, you can fully outsource payroll tasks to Ceridian’s team using its managed payroll service.

Recruiting and onboarding

Dayforce’s AI software automates most aspects of tracking down the right candidate for a given job. The system screens and ranks candidates based on their skills, experience and resumes, and from there, hiring managers can use Ceridian to communicate with candidates via text.

Once a new employee is hired, Dayforce’s onboarding tools and mobile app guide them through self-service onboarding. Employers can customize the onboarding experience to include welcome videos, a company culture introduction and an overview of the individual employee’s manager and team members.

Unique employee metrics

Dayforce’s thorough reporting feature includes flight-risk reports generated by its AI-powered analytics tool. The HR software also curates individual performance data that managers can use to quickly verify employee successes and productivity markers.

The system’s unique knowledge management program helps employers understand how employees feel about the company and test new communication tools. Additionally, Dayforce’s personality profile tool helps team leaders tailor their communication and feedback styles to each individual’s personality and preferences.

Ideal Talent Marketplace

Ceridian Dayforce’s flexible hiring marketplace connects employers with on-demand workers who can work on an hourly or seasonal basis to fill scheduling gaps. Once you find an employee whose skills and availability suit your needs, Ceridian will handle the hiring, onboarding, compliance and payment aspects of adding a flexible worker to your team.

Ceridian pros

Comprehensive HR features: Ceridian Dayforce completely eliminates the need for any third-party HR software. The all-in-one software service includes benefits enrollment, detailed HR analytics and reports, self-service apps for employees and managers, payroll integration and workforce forecasting based on HR metrics.

Unique industry-specific plans: Like its key competitors, Ceridian offers several industry-specific HCM solutions, including unique HCM plans and tools for niche industries like sports entertainment.

Well-reviewed mobile apps: The Dayforce app for employers and managers can be used to clock in and out, track time, request paid time off, enroll in benefits and access pay stub information. Both the Android and iOS versions of the app receive high ratings on the App Store and Google Play, earning 4.7 (out of 5) on the App Store and 4.2 (out of 5) on Google Play.

Dayforce Wallet: Employees can use Dayforce’s prepaid debit card to access their net pay on demand instead of waiting for payday. Dayforce Wallet is included with Ceridian Dayforce’s payroll solution at no additional cost.

Ceridian cons

No transparent online pricing: As is typical with enterprise-level HCM solutions, Ceridian HR software doesn’t list its starting prices online. Customers should contact a Ceridian representative directly to schedule a customized demo and request a quote.

Frequent software updates: According to multiple user reviews, Ceridian frequently updates — or even overhauls — its software system. While frequent improvements indicate the company is invested in providing an excellent HCM experience for its customers, users report being frustrated with the updates’ frequency, bugs and lack of support or training. App users report having the same problems with frequent, buggy mobile updates.

Slow-to-respond customer service: For the most part, Ceridian customers don’t have dedicated account managers. Instead, issues must be submitted as online tickets, which aren’t always resolved as quickly or as satisfactorily as users would like.

Alternatives to Ceridian Dayforce

Workday HCM

The Workday logo.
Image: Workday

Workday HCM, like Ceridian Dayforce, is an all-in-one HR, payroll, benefits, workforce management and talent management platform. Its extensive AI-based reporting and analytics tools include industry benchmark comparisons that empower enterprises to position their benefits and compensation competitively. Workday’s skills-based recruiting tools and LMS courses help companies recruit top talent and foster ongoing skill development once employees are hired.

Learn more by reading our in-depth comparison of Workday and ADP.


Visit Workday’s Website

Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM

Oracle logo.
Image: Oracle

Oracle’s HCM software aims to offer as many HR tools on one platform as possible, reducing the need for confusing or complex third-party integrations. Its built-in time-tracking, payroll, learning management system and native analytics tools help corporations manage massive workforces. Its workforce management product includes metrics on workforce health and safety, automated incident reports and alerts notifying key players of potentially dangerous situations (such as illness exposure).

Learn more by reading our in-depth comparison of Workday and Oracle.


Visit Oracle’s Website

ADP Workforce Now

ADP logo
Image: ADP

ADP Workforce Now is ADP’s HR solution for small, midsize and large businesses. It bundles full-service payroll with time and attendance tracking, employee benefits administration, reporting and talent management. Its employee self-service app is one of the highest-rated time tracking and payroll apps in the HR software industry.

ADP Workforce Now likely has enough tools and HR features for smaller enterprises with 250+ employees. As they grow, multinational corporations and enterprises with more than 1,000 employees can scale up to ADP Vantage HCM, ADP’s more robust, enterprise-specific HCM solution.

Learn more by reading our detailed ADP review.


Visit ADP’s Website

Who is Ceridian Dayforce best for?

Enterprise-level companies with employees numbering in the high hundreds and upwards can benefit from Ceridian Dayforce’s streamlined, all-in-one HR and payroll platform. Since Dayforce enables employee payments in more than 160 countries, it’s particularly valuable for multinational corporations that pay employees across the globe in multiple currencies.

Since Ceridian Dayforce works best for large corporations, it’s not an ideal solution for small and midsize businesses. If you’re interested in a small-business payroll, HR, benefit and talent management solution that can scale with you, consider ADP or BambooHR over Ceridian.

How we reviewed Ceridian Dayforce

To assess the Ceridian Dayforce HR software, we viewed the company’s self-guided demo to explore its features, tools and dashboards. We carefully considered user reviews on various app stores and third-party sites like Gartner Peer Insights. While combing through data, we focused specifically on Ceridian’s interface, ease of use and accessibility, features and customer service, which we juxtaposed with close competitors like Workday HCM to evaluate Dayforce’s standout features and desirability in the overall HCM market.