Dayforce vs. Namely

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Dayforce
Score 7.9 out of 10
Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
Dayforce is a people platform that simplifies HR operations. As a unified HCMS, it delivers HR, payroll, benefits, workforce management, talent, and analytics—helping organizations boost productivity, stay compliant, and make smarter decisions with embedded intelligence and personalized experiences.N/A
Namely
Score 7.5 out of 10
N/A
Namely is an end-to-end HR, benefits, and payroll solution for mid-sized businesses. The cloud-based platform can be used to manage the entire HR process.N/A
Pricing
DayforceNamely
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
DayforceNamely
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalRequired
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
DayforceNamely
Considered Both Products
Dayforce
Namely
Chose Namely
Both UltiPro and Dayforce are more expensive, harder to use and more difficult to set up/admin than Namely. For API and integration with other clouds/apps (likeNetSuite), both UtilPro and Dayforce are better than Namely out of the box.

We could see a better time off management …
Features
DayforceNamely
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
8.1
601 Ratings
3% above category average
Namely
7.0
143 Ratings
12% below category average
Employee demographic data8.8524 Ratings7.7132 Ratings
Employment history9.0559 Ratings7.9138 Ratings
Job profiles and administration9.0548 Ratings7.130 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.9.0552 Ratings7.0132 Ratings
Organizational charting6.8502 Ratings4.6134 Ratings
Organization and location management6.8547 Ratings6.3129 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)7.4370 Ratings8.382 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
8.5
601 Ratings
6% above category average
Namely
6.9
127 Ratings
14% below category average
Pay calculation9.1587 Ratings9.0111 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors7.2294 Ratings5.553 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment9.0153 Ratings6.057 Ratings
Benefit plan administration8.3475 Ratings8.1109 Ratings
Direct deposit files9.1573 Ratings8.9113 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management8.3455 Ratings4.1100 Ratings
Reimbursement management8.9308 Ratings6.657 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
8.8
546 Ratings
10% above category average
Namely
7.4
124 Ratings
8% below category average
Approval workflow9.2514 Ratings6.5121 Ratings
Balance details8.9528 Ratings7.1116 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment8.5433 Ratings8.595 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
8.2
614 Ratings
2% above category average
Namely
8.3
141 Ratings
3% above category average
View and generate pay and benefit information8.5585 Ratings8.5129 Ratings
Update personal information8.4598 Ratings9.1140 Ratings
View company policy documentation7.6418 Ratings7.5127 Ratings
Employee recognition8.8219 Ratings7.8116 Ratings
View job history7.6492 Ratings8.4134 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
8.2
103 Ratings
2% above category average
Namely
5.9
53 Ratings
31% below category average
Tracking of all physical assets8.2103 Ratings5.953 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
6.3
600 Ratings
18% below category average
Namely
8.2
121 Ratings
9% above category average
Report builder6.5591 Ratings8.5117 Ratings
Pre-built reports6.5591 Ratings8.5112 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data6.0416 Ratings7.574 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
8.5
393 Ratings
7% above category average
Namely
6.7
116 Ratings
17% below category average
New hire portal8.9383 Ratings8.7110 Ratings
Manager tracking tools8.2337 Ratings4.885 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
8.3
256 Ratings
5% above category average
Namely
4.1
96 Ratings
64% below category average
Corporate goal setting7.8214 Ratings6.086 Ratings
Individual goal setting8.8235 Ratings3.194 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility8.2200 Ratings3.172 Ratings
Performance tracking8.5240 Ratings4.189 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
8.0
282 Ratings
2% above category average
Namely
5.9
107 Ratings
28% below category average
Performance plans8.5261 Ratings4.696 Ratings
Performance improvement plans8.3224 Ratings2.268 Ratings
Review status tracking7.5265 Ratings7.695 Ratings
Review reminders8.2260 Ratings7.698 Ratings
Multiple review frequency7.7234 Ratings7.485 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
8.1
130 Ratings
4% above category average
Namely
5.9
21 Ratings
28% below category average
Create succession plans/pools9.1103 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate ranking7.7112 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate search7.7118 Ratings5.921 Ratings
Candidate development8.1105 Ratings00 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Dayforce
9.0
302 Ratings
15% above category average
Namely
8.8
6 Ratings
13% above category average
Job Requisition Management9.4284 Ratings8.95 Ratings
Company Website Posting9.4277 Ratings8.85 Ratings
Publish to Social Media8.7233 Ratings8.85 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting9.4265 Ratings8.95 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention7.7229 Ratings8.85 Ratings
Applicant Tracking9.4276 Ratings8.95 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts9.3272 Ratings8.66 Ratings
Best Alternatives
DayforceNamely
Small Businesses
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.5 out of 10
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.7 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.7 out of 10
Enterprises
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 9.9 out of 10
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 9.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
DayforceNamely
Likelihood to Recommend
8.2
(640 ratings)
7.9
(145 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.8
(89 ratings)
9.9
(9 ratings)
Usability
4.2
(60 ratings)
8.4
(71 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(12 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Performance
5.0
(13 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
8.9
(66 ratings)
8.0
(27 ratings)
In-Person Training
7.0
(11 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
7.3
(18 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.8
(44 ratings)
5.5
(85 ratings)
Configurability
9.0
(13 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
7.3
(9 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.9
(14 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.9
(18 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.9
(12 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
DayforceNamely
Likelihood to Recommend
Dayforce
I think Dayforce is a great option for a large and/or Global organization. I do not think it would be the best fit for a very small company or business. It really shines for enterprise organizations with multi-locations. While a small business could use it, I would say it has too many bells and whistles that might feel overwhelming to a smaller organization.
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Namely
Namely is aesthetically very pleasing and navigates like other social media platforms which can be appealing to potentially a remote workforce who interacts more online than in person. Unfortunately, it did not serve our population well as we are primarily manufacturing where people are not as interested in utilizing the HRIS for interactions when they would rather connect in person.
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Pros
Dayforce
  • Payroll - it shows everything in real time and it runs quickly.
  • People - Having all employee details from the offer letter to W2 information in the same spot.
  • Dayforce Wallet: The on-demand feature is fully integrated with Timesheets and Payroll. What shows in one will be in the other.
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Namely
  • Namely has helped with our COVID sick leave response. It has made a major difference both with the weekly payroll and the 941 tax filing
  • Keeping track of our multiple PTO plans. Thank goodness for Namely, I have shredded my old PTO spreadsheets.
  • Employees like the convenience of the cell phone app. As a payroll administrator, I like the Geo Tracking tool where I can see where some are when the clock is in or out.
  • The flexibility inside of the payroll system both as you are finalizing an employee profile and when you are processing payroll is a major advantage.
  • The reports I get out of Namely in Excel format work well for me.
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Cons
Dayforce
  • There have been a few instances of users being locked out of Ceridian due to recent upgrades. Not ideal when an employee wants to see their paystub and is suddenly have login issues.
  • Not the best for when an employee is transferred to another country as their employee number is locked to their SIN or SSN. And, we are required to create a new user record with a new employee number for the new country.
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Namely
  • Limits to custom reporting
  • No direct feed for Ohio Workers Comp (now a manual process on our end)
  • No option to place an employee on Leave of Absence and exclude them from payroll while they are "inactive"
  • No option to suppress certain deductions for certain pay types (i.e. allow 401K for commissions but block remaining deductions - also now a manual process to uncheck the suppress box for 401K for each commission check)
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Likelihood to Renew
Dayforce
We are highly invested in Ceridian's Dayforce product. It give us the flexibility and scaling that our growing company needs. Its potential reaches beyond the basic HR functions to the decision making that our Management Team needs. Ceridian is always innovating the employee and employee experiences to offer cutting edge options.
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Namely
Administrators and employees love Namely. It is very easy to use and streamlined. Employees stay engaged with news feed updates and enjoy all the self service options. The time cards are very easy to access and clocking in and out for non-exempt employees is a breeze. Namely is part of our family.
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Usability
Dayforce
I think it's very usable for the employee. I don't think it is as easy for the HR/PR admins - especially if there is an issue. There are so many setup screens that need to be looked at to try to figure out why payroll isn't calculating properly, hours aren't feeding over correctly, or benefits are not calculating properly. For the most part, they can't do their own troubleshooting. The same is true for the managers. Our managers find it cumbersome to go into make any schedule changes after the schedules have been generated.
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Namely
It is very simple to use for myself, the HR team, and our employees. I find the payroll process very user-friendly. Reporting is simple to navigate and produce the required information requested. I know our employees enjoy the self-service feature and use it on a regular basis, which saves me time.
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Reliability and Availability
Dayforce
Dayforce's high availability ensures that our HR processes are supported around the clock, which is critical for a global organization like ours. The platform is cloud-based, offering reliable access from any location at any time, allowing our employees, managers, and HR teams to stay connected regardless of time zones or geographic locations. This level of availability ensures that payroll processing, employee self-service, and real-time data access continue uninterrupted, even during peak periods or unforeseen disruptions. The system’s robust infrastructure minimizes downtime, which is vital for operations that span multiple regions. Additionally, having a centralized platform that’s always available helps keep our teams aligned, ensures compliance, and facilitates timely decision-making across all our locations.
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Namely
No answers on this topic
Performance
Dayforce
We haven't noticed any slow-down due to the integration of Dayforce WFM with our Ceridian HPL products (HRIS and Payroll). The new HTML view of the timesheets don't load as quickly as the old Silverlight view - however, we have gotten used to the change.
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Namely
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Dayforce
Most of the time the support is great; it's not always super efficient but I always get the help I need. Occasionally it takes a lot longer than we had hoped or get conflicting responses. We had one ticket recently where we were told we would have to pay the service team to support us on the project and then another person called the next day with the solution to our query and was able to find a solution easily. Generally, though, the response is great and they either walk me though how to do something via a Zoom Meeting or they email step-by-step instructions on how to do it and say if I have questions we can set up a meeting to discuss further.
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Namely
Namely platform has pretty good support: knowledgeable and relatively fast response times. Namely Payroll and Namely Benefits are very much depending on the quality of the support agent or CSM: we have had knowledgeable and attentive ones, but also ones that have provided erroneous information or failed to respond to urgent asks in a timely manner
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In-Person Training
Dayforce
Because the training we reviewed at Insights has changed how we use the system everyday. This is a key factor in our training.
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Namely
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Dayforce
The courses are very interactive and informative. There are classes for every topic, which allows you to make the most of the system. There are also some "go at your own pace" course which is a great option for a busy schedule.
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Namely
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Dayforce
Have a strong internal team. Communicate with your implementation team - they are there to make it work for you. Take the time to really think about how you want the system to work for you - in some cases, you may need to rethink your own business practices to see if you are working harder when the system could do it for you
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Namely
Implementation was a bit complicated and our company had to carry most of the weight. It often felt like our implementation manager was giving us extra work that she did not want to do herself. It also took much longer than expected - I believe almost 2 months. I believe our company carried a bit too much of the weight.
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Alternatives Considered
Dayforce
I can't speak much to how it would be if we had all of these features separately since I started with Dayforce all being integrated and have no other experience, but having it all in one place has made the completion of all of these HR tasks seamless. We can direct all of our energies into the same system, and it makes it easier to field employee inquiries and to troubleshoot when we need to
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Namely
The reason I continued to choose Namely at multiple employers is due to the continuity of employee experience. And the features have continued to grow since I initially onboarded in 2014. Also, through the years, I have had terrific benefits teams. The customer service has been the worst part of the experience outside of the benefits team.
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Scalability
Dayforce
Overall, we are extremely happy with the Dayforce WFM module. Our biggest pain point is concerning the twice annual software upgrades - which is the only reason I haven't rated them as a '10'. Because every customer is configured differently, the upgrades can sometimes have adverse effects on our current configured policies/rules. And although they roll-out the upgraded version in a test environment several weeks before go-live, not all testing is accurate in that environment. Some issues do not present themselves until you are working with live punches.
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Namely
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Dayforce
  • Performance Reviews/Comp used to be handled via paper and tracking/reporting was a nightmare - having all of that in the system is so much more efficient and provides huge ROI
  • Our organization used to have big problems with hiring managers going rogue and hiring positions that aren't approved by Finance - we built an approval workflow in the system that triggers before any req is approved which has completely solved this problem
  • Dayforce Wallet has been a huge perk for our employees - it's heavily used and our crew love it
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Namely
  • We were able to transition to a fully digital onboarding process which saved us hours in time per new hire and made the process smoother for the new hire.
  • Namely is our first HRIS and has helped the HR department to find data and information quickly.
  • Namely helped us digitize our performance management process which the company undergoes on an annual basis.
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ScreenShots

Dayforce Screenshots

Screenshot of Dayforce HubScreenshot of Human Resources (Position Management)Screenshot of Dayforce Reporting & AnalyticsScreenshot of People AnalyticsScreenshot of Dayforce HR Service DeliveryScreenshot of Dayforce Flex Work

Namely Screenshots

Screenshot of the Namely employee dashboard. This creates a central hub to access payroll and benefits info, share announcements, celebrate milestones, and navigate everything HR, from a desk or on the go.Screenshot of Namely Payroll, which is backed by automation and built-in compliance.Screenshot of the Onboarding interface, for new hires.Screenshot of the Applicant Tracking interface, which supports processes from job posting to onboarding with tools for hiring teams and candidates.Screenshot of the Benefits Administration interface, which supports open enrollment, plan changes, and employee elections.Screenshot of the Workforce Management interface. From here, viewers can track time, manage schedules, and handle complex workforce needs.