Paylocity vs Workday HCM

Paylocity6.8/10

Workday HCM6.3/10

Scored in HCM Software

The short answer

Both sell by quote. Paylocity serves small businesses to enterprises with HR, payroll, time, benefits, expenses and corporate cards on one platform and 435 integrations.

By LeadChange Research TeamUpdated Oct 19, 2026Based on 13 sources, most recently checked Nov 12, 2026

Paylocity

Best for: US employers wanting payroll, HR, time, benefits and finance from one vendor

Choose Paylocity if

You are a small or midsize employer.
You want earned wage access with same-day funds for requests made by 2 PM CT.
You want expenses, corporate cards and AP automation with payroll.
You want 600+ pre-built learning classes.

Paylocity pricing Paylocity alternatives

Workday HCM

Best for: Large and midsize employers that run HR, talent and payroll on one platform

Choose Workday HCM if

You need workforce planning, reorganization modeling and dynamic org charts.
You report heavily: over 5,000 prebuilt reports and 160+ dashboards.
You run payroll with partners in 180+ countries.
You need GDPR and HIPAA stated by the vendor.

What Workday HCM costs Workday HCM competitors

LeadChange Score: editorial assessment based on public information.

Scorecard

Paylocity wins 1Workday HCM wins 02 ties

Paylocity vs Workday HCM by dimension
Dimension	Paylocity	Workday HCM
CapabilitiesBoth cover payroll, HR, time and talent. Paylocity adds expenses, corporate cards and procurement; Workday adds workforce planning, HR service delivery and reorganization modeling. Payroll, Global Payroll, Human Resources, Time & Labor, Talent Management, Benefits, Employee Experience, Expense Management, Corporate Cards, AP Automation, Guided Procurement, Headcount Planning, Asset Management, Access Management & Identity1	10 of 12 core capabilities	10 of 12 core capabilities
Fit and supportPaylocity serves small businesses to enterprises, with phone and email support on weekdays. Workday targets mid-market and enterprise organizations, so it is less suited to small businesses. Small businesses, mid-market companies, enterprises1	Small businesses, mid-market companies, enterprises	Mid-market companies, enterprises
SecurityBoth state SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001. Workday adds GDPR and HIPAA; Paylocity supports SAML single sign-on. Yes2	SOC 2, ISO 27001	SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR

Key differences

Where Paylocity and Workday HCM differ (4)
Attribute	Paylocity	Workday HCM
Pricing model	Base fee + per employee3	Quote only4
Best for	Small businesses, mid-market companies, enterprises1	Mid-market companies, enterprises4
Founded	19975	20056
Headquarters	Schaumburg, Illinois, US3	Pleasanton, California, US7

Show 7 attributes where they are the same

Where they are the same (7)
Attribute	Paylocity	Workday HCM
Price transparency	Quote only8	Quote only4
Deployment	Cloud3	Cloud6
Mobile apps	iOS, Android, Apple Watch9	10
Single sign-on	SAML (SP- and IdP-initiated)11	12
SOC 2 Type II	2	13
ISO 27001	2	13
Ownership	Publicly traded3	Publicly traded6

Analysis by dimension

Pricing. Neither publishes prices. Paylocity charges implementation fees and bills W-2 preparation and time clocks separately; Workday sells deployment as fixed-fee Launch packages.

Capabilities. Both cover payroll, HR, time and talent. Paylocity adds expenses, corporate cards and procurement; Workday adds workforce planning, HR service delivery and reorganization modeling.

Integrations. Paylocity lists 435 integrations, including Greenhouse, Checkr and Indeed, with an OAuth2 API and webhooks. Workday connects payroll to native and partner systems in 180+ countries.

Fit and support. Paylocity serves small businesses to enterprises, with phone and email support on weekdays. Workday targets mid-market and enterprise organizations, so it is less suited to small businesses.

Security. Both state SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001. Workday adds GDPR and HIPAA; Paylocity supports SAML single sign-on.

Neither one?

ADP Workforce Now

ADP Workforce Now has the highest LeadChange Score in HCM Software after excluding these two (6.5/10).

ADP Workforce Now review

More Paylocity comparisons

More Workday HCM comparisons

Frequently asked questions

Is Paylocity or Workday better for a growing company?

Paylocity serves small businesses through enterprises and adds finance tools as you grow; Workday targets mid-market and enterprise organizations that need planning and reporting depth.

Does Paylocity cost less than Workday?

Neither publishes a price. Paylocity charges a base fee plus per-employee fees by product; Workday adds a separate deployment package to its quote.

Which has more reporting, Paylocity or Workday?

Workday ships over 5,000 prebuilt, configurable reports and 160+ dashboards. Paylocity offers a compliance dashboard and 30+ payroll audits with automatic alerts.

Do Paylocity and Workday run payroll outside the US?

Yes. Paylocity lists global payroll in 100 countries; Workday connects native and partner payroll across 180+ countries.

What AI do Paylocity and Workday offer?

Paylocity’s Ignite AI runs purpose-built agents for pay, time and recruiting and explains payroll variances in plain language. Workday’s Payroll Agent validates, explains and recommends the next action in pay runs.

Where are Paylocity and Workday based?

Paylocity, founded in 1997, is headquartered in Schaumburg, Illinois. Workday, founded in 2005, is based in Pleasanton, California.

Is Paylocity or Workday HCM more secure?

Both Paylocity and Workday HCM state SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001. Workday HCM states HIPAA and GDPR (unverified for Paylocity).

How this page was made

What it is built from
31 verified facts, each checked against the vendor's own pages or another primary source, most recently on Nov 12, 2026.
Method
Scored and compared with the LeadChange methodology, version 1.5. Read the methodology
Independent review
Not reviewed yet by our independent reviewer. How we review
Hands-on testing
We have not tested either product hands-on: this page uses public information only.
Who made it
The LeadChange Research Team, following a written research process. No named expert has reviewed this page. About us
Independence and errors
Who pays us never changes a score or a rank. If something here is wrong, tell us and we correct it publicly. Request a correction

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Sources

The 13 pages this page's facts come from. The date beside each is our last check of the facts taken from it (the oldest, when they differ). The numbers beside the figures above link here.

Quotes from the sources

Paylocity paylocity.com“Payroll Global Payroll Human Resources Time & Labor Talent Benefits Employee Experience Talent Management” “Small Business 1-99 employees Learn more Midsize Business 100-499 employees Learn more Enterprise 500+ employees”
Paylocity paylocity.com/company/protecting-our-clients“We engage reputable audit firms who perform annual independent attestations for SOC 1 and SOC 2 Type II, which cover controls related to financial reporting, security, confidentiality, and availability.” “We are ISO 27001:2022 certified.”
U.S. SEC (Paylocity Form 10-K) Paylocity annual report, fiscal 2026 (SEC filing)“Recurring fees for each client generally include a base fee in addition to a fee based on the number of client employees and the number of products a client uses.” “As of June 30, 2026, our corporate headquarters occupied approximately 272,000 square feet in Schaumburg, Illinois under leases with final expiration in October 2032.”
Workday workday.com/en-us/products/human-capital-management/overview.html“Contact Sales” “From midsize businesses to public institutions to Fortune 500 leaders, we help drive success for customers worldwide.”
Paylocity paylocity.com/company/about-us“Since 1997, we’ve been partnering with organizations to create workplaces where employees thrive, and businesses excel.”
Workday workday.com/en-us/company/about-workday/our-story.html“2005 Workday is founded by software visionaries Aneel Bhusri and Dave Duffield as the first true cloud application provider for HR and finance.” “Workday debuted on the Fortune 500 and S&P 500, joining hundreds of our customers.”
Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workday,_Inc.“Headquarters Pleasanton, California, US”
Paylocity paylocity.com/pricing“Want to Learn More About Paylocity's Pricing? Contact us and explore our flexible pricing plans that fit your needs. Request Pricing”
Paylocity paylocity.com/products/capabilities/mobile“the Paylocity Mobile App connects you to our solutions wherever your job takes you … Conveniently clock in and out with a tap on your Apple Watch and access your most-used features, like timesheets, and schedules from anywhere.”
App Store apps.apple.com/us/app/workday/id316800034“The Workday app provides secure, mobile access to your Workday applications on-the-go.”
Microsoft learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/identity/saas-apps/paylocity-tutorial“Paylocity supports SP and IDP initiated SSO”
Microsoft Learn learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/identity/saas-apps/workday-tutorial“Configure Workday for Single sign-on with Microsoft Entra ID”
Workday workday.com/en-us/why-workday/trust/compliance.html“The SOC 2 Type II report is an independent assessment of our control environment performed by a third party.” “Information Security Scope (ISO 27001, 27017, 27018): Adaptive Planning, Analytics and Reporting, Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) and Contract & Document Intelligence, Financial Management, HiredScore, Human Capital Management, Payroll”