tech from europe
Workday

The best alternatives to Workday

19 European alternatives · updated 8 October 2026 · How we select

Workday’s enterprise pricing and all-or-nothing licensing push mid-market teams toward simpler, more affordable HR platforms. Users also chafe at its complexity and the effort required to manage integrations and custom workflows. For EU-based organizations, concerns about US jurisdiction and data export limits often tip the balance toward a European alternative.

In short

Workday covers recruiting, hr management, payroll, financial management and analytics. European alternatives: HRLocker, Factorial, CharlieHR, Recruitee and Leapsome and 14 more. By area: HRLocker, Factorial and Recruitee for recruiting; HRLocker, Factorial and CharlieHR for HR management; Factorial, Bizneo HR and Cezanne HR for payroll; Cegid HR for analytics.

European alternatives to Workday

HRLocker🇮🇪 IE

Irish HR software with ISO 27001 and EU hosting

Replaces Workday’s HR management and recruiting for SMEs; lacks payroll, financial management and analytics.

RecruitingHR managementFrom €4/user/mo★ 4.5 (64 reviews)
EU hostingGDPRISO 27001
HRLocker vs Workday →
What users praise and criticise
  • Intuitive interface requiring minimal training
  • Centralizes HR functions (records, leave, documents, performance reviews) in one platform
  • GDPR-compliant and secure data handling
  • Limited pricing transparency and minimum user requirement of 15
  • Complex annual leave settings for part-time workers
  • Requests for enhanced integrations (e.g., calendar sync with Gmail)
Factorial🇪🇸 ES

All-in-one HR software from Barcelona, EU-hosted with ISO 27001 and SOC 2 for SMEs.

Replaces Workday’s HR management, payroll and recruiting for SMEs; lacks financial management and enterprise analytics.

RecruitingHR managementPayrollFrom $8/user/mo★ 4.3 (2229 reviews)
EU hostingGDPRISO/IEC 27001:2017
Factorial vs Workday →
What users praise and criticise
  • Intuitive, user-friendly interface with high ease-of-use ratings (9.2/10 on G2, 4.5/5 on Capterra)
  • Comprehensive HR feature set covering time tracking, document management, leave requests, recruitment workflows, performance management, and ATS capabilities
  • AI-driven automation layer streamlines repetitive HR tasks
  • Inconsistent and unresponsive customer support, particularly after onboarding, with delayed responses and unresolved tickets
  • Integration limitations with complex enterprise systems, posing challenges for companies with 200+ employees
  • Occasional performance issues and perceived feature bloat for simpler organizations
CharlieHR🇬🇧 GB

UK HR software for small businesses with EU-hosted data

Replaces Workday’s HR management for small businesses; no recruiting, payroll, financial or analytics tools.

HR managementFrom £5/user/mo★ 4.7 (233 reviews)
EU hostingGDPRISO 27001
CharlieHR vs Workday →
What users praise and criticise
  • Simple and intuitive interface for non-HR specialists
  • Centralizes leave, holiday, and sick leave tracking effectively
  • Streamlined onboarding workflows for new hires
  • Basic reporting tools lacking depth for advanced HR needs
  • Limited integration options compared to larger platforms
  • No native payroll functionality
Recruitee🇳🇱 NL

Dutch ATS with ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type II

Replaces Workday’s recruiting with ATS and hiring workflows; no HR management, payroll, financial or analytics features.

Recruiting★ 4.3 (776 reviews)
EU hostingGDPRISO 27001
Recruitee vs Workday →
What users praise and criticise
  • Intuitive drag-and-drop interface with minimal training required
  • Responsive 24/7 support, live chat, and dedicated onboarding for Lead plan users
  • Customizable hiring workflows, role-based access, and job scheduling
  • Limited reporting functionality with occasional data accuracy issues
  • Restricted mobile app capabilities for certain tasks
  • Advertised features like skill assessments and video interviewing require third-party integrations
Leapsome🇩🇪 DE

All-in-one HR platform with performance, engagement and OKRs

Replaces Workday’s performance and engagement tools; no recruiting, payroll, financial or analytics features.

HR management★ 4.7 (3174 reviews)Import from Workday: ✓ built-in Workday importer · source
EU hostingGDPRISO 27001:2022
Leapsome vs Workday →
What users praise and criticise
  • Unified platform for OKRs, feedback, learning, engagement surveys and 360-degree reviews
  • Intuitive and user-friendly interface with quick setup for reviews
  • Standardizes HR processes and reduces dependency on external tools like Google Forms
  • Feature-heavy interface can feel overwhelming and cluttered for new users
  • Goal-setting and chronological sorting described as unintuitive
  • Integration issues with Google Calendar (edits do not sync automatically)
Bizneo HR🇪🇸 ES

Modular Spanish HR suite with 16+ tools for recruitment, performance and time tracking — EU-hosted and ISO-certified.

Replaces Workday’s HCM core for SMEs; lacks financial management and enterprise analytics.

RecruitingHR managementPayroll★ 4.6 (719 reviews)
EU hostingGDPRISO 27001
Bizneo HR vs Workday →
What users praise and criticise
  • Intuitive, lightweight interface with quick adoption and easy navigation for HR workflows
  • Highly responsive and professional support with a 98% satisfaction rate for responsiveness
  • Comprehensive all-in-one HR suite covering recruitment, onboarding, performance, time tracking, absence management, payroll, and employee self-service
  • Advanced configuration requires time and admin support, with a learning curve for complex setups
  • Onboarding process can be slow, lacking a single clear guide for quick ramp-up
  • Reporting and analytics depth varies and may not meet advanced requirements
Cezanne HR🇬🇧 GB

Modular UK HR software with EU hosting and payroll

Replaces Workday’s HR, recruiting and payroll for UK teams; no financial management or enterprise analytics.

RecruitingHR managementPayrollFrom $2/mo★ 4.5 (1248 reviews)
EU hostingGDPRISO/IEC 27001:2022
Cezanne HR vs Workday →
What users praise and criticise
  • Intuitive interface accessible to non-technical users
  • Flexible and customizable to specific HR workflows
  • Comprehensive modular coverage of core HR, onboarding, absence, performance, recruitment, payroll and analytics
  • Occasional performance issues like slow server responses or system hangs
  • Interface sometimes described as less modern or clunky, particularly for mail merges
  • Limited filing functions, such as multi-document uploads and data deletion controls
Rexx Systems🇩🇪 DE

German ATS and HR suite with AI shortlisting and EU hosting

Replaces Workday’s recruiting and HR management for mid-sized teams; lacks financial and analytics tools.

RecruitingHR managementFrom €0.50/user/mo★ 3.1 (2092 reviews)
EU hostingGDPRISO 27001
Rexx Systems vs Workday →
What users praise and criticise
  • Centralizes HR processes from onboarding to offboarding
  • Digital personnel file with secure employee data management
  • Automated workflows for absence tracking, working hours, and salary administration
  • Slow and inefficient customer support with long response times
  • Modular pricing increases total cost of ownership
  • Outdated and non-intuitive user interface with excessive clicks
Personio🇩🇪 DE

All-in-one HR software for European SMBs — payroll, recruiting and employee data in one EU-hosted platform.

Replaces Workday’s HR management, payroll and recruiting for European SMBs; lacks financial management and enterprise analytics.

RecruitingHR managementPayroll★ 4.4 (1830 reviews)
EU hostingGDPRISO 27001
Personio vs Workday →
What users praise and criticise
  • Intuitive, user-friendly interface with clean navigation and minimal training requirements for HR teams and employees
  • Responsive and helpful customer support that analyzes and implements user feedback where possible
  • Comprehensive all-in-one HR platform covering recruitment, onboarding, payroll, time tracking, absence management, performance, and employee self-service
  • Occasional performance issues, including slow page loading times and cumbersome navigation requiring multiple clicks
  • Inconsistent customer support quality, with reports of delayed responses and lack of follow-up on feedback
  • Limited pricing transparency, as Core and CorePro plan prices are no longer publicly available, and additional costs for features like API access
HiBob🇬🇧 GB

London-based HRIS with EU-hosted data, AI-driven insights and Mercer compensation benchmarks for scaling teams.

Replaces Workday’s HR management and payroll for scaling teams; lacks financial management and enterprise analytics.

HR managementPayroll★ 4.5 (2662 reviews)
EU hostingGDPRISO 27001:2022
HiBob vs Workday →
Kenjo🇩🇪 DE

Berlin HR platform for recruitment, payroll and time tracking

Replaces Workday’s HR, recruiting and payroll with time tracking; no financial management or enterprise analytics.

RecruitingHR managementPayrollFrom €5.40/mo★ 4.3 (430 reviews)
GDPR
Kenjo vs Workday →
What users praise and criticise
  • Review research provided is unrelated to Kenjo and focuses on review platforms (Capterra, G2, Trustpilot) instead of the product itself
Jobylon🇸🇪 SE

Swedish ATS with EU hosting, ISO 27001 and built-in employer branding

Replaces Workday’s recruiting with employer branding tools; no HR management or financial features.

Recruiting★ 4.6 (1527 reviews)
EU hostingGDPRISO 27001
Jobylon vs Workday →
What users praise and criticise
  • intuitive and user-friendly interface requiring minimal training
  • responsive and helpful customer support
  • streamlines recruitment processes for managers and candidates
  • occasional system freezes or slowness during peak usage
  • limited mobile experience in some areas
  • reporting and analytics functionality needs improvement
Cegid HR🇫🇷 FR

French cloud HR suite for enterprises with payroll, talent and compliance

Replaces Workday’s HCM core for enterprises; lacks full financial management tools.

RecruitingHR managementPayrollAnalyticsFrom $50/user/mo★ 3.4 (489 reviews)
EU hostingGDPRISO/IEC 27001
Cegid HR vs Workday →
What users praise and criticise
  • Comprehensive HR feature set covering recruiting, onboarding, performance and compensation management
  • Intuitive and user-friendly interface for HR teams and employees
  • Modular design supporting payroll, self-service and personalized development plans
  • Limited customization for unique organizational workflows
  • Weak or inflexible reporting capabilities
  • Performance issues with large data volumes or high concurrent usage
Sympa🇫🇮 FI

Finnish HR platform covering the full employee lifecycle with 300+ integrations and multi-geo support.

Replaces Workday’s HR and recruiting with a full employee lifecycle platform; no payroll, financial management or enterprise analytics.

RecruitingHR management★ 4.4 (19 reviews)
EU hostingGDPRISO 27001
Sympa vs Workday →
BreatheHR🇬🇧 GB

UK HR software for SMEs with GDPR compliance

Replaces Workday’s HR management for SMEs; no recruiting, payroll, financial or analytics tools.

HR managementFrom £24/mo★ 4.4 (889 reviews)
EU hostingGDPR
BreatheHR vs Workday →
What users praise and criticise
  • No long-term commitment, cancel anytime
  • Intuitive and easy to navigate interface
  • Fast implementation and onboarding
  • Limited advanced reporting features
  • Occasional performance slowdowns
skeeled🇱🇺 LU

AI-driven talent acquisition software with predictive candidate matching

Replaces Workday’s recruiting with AI-driven candidate matching; no HR management, payroll, financial or analytics features.

RecruitingFrom €299.00/mo★ 4.0 (36 reviews)
EU hostingGDPR
skeeled vs Workday →
What users praise and criticise
  • Intuitive interface with quick setup and customization, often ready within a day
  • Improves HR and line manager collaboration with streamlined communication
  • Clear overview of recruitment pipelines, even with high application volumes
  • AI candidate matching algorithm lacks precision for specialized or niche roles
  • Unclear per-user visibility, role limits, and permissions complicate budgeting and access control
  • Limited advanced reporting and analytics for pipeline and hiring KPIs
Pinpoint🇬🇧 GB

UK applicant tracking system with configurable workflows and AI-assisted hiring tools

Replaces Workday’s recruiting with an ATS and AI hiring tools; no HR management, payroll, financial management or analytics.

RecruitingFrom $165/user/mo★ 4.6 (3002599 reviews)
EU hostingISO 27001
Pinpoint vs Workday →
What users praise and criticise
  • Intuitive interface with minimal learning curve for quick team adoption
  • Streamlines recruitment processes and improves candidate engagement
  • Strong, responsive customer support that resolves issues quickly
  • Onboarding module requires additional cost for full DocuSign integration
  • Onboarding process can feel clunky and navigation could be more intuitive
  • Limited automation and reporting capabilities for large enterprises
Eploy🇬🇧 GB

UK talent acquisition platform with ATS and recruitment CRM

Replaces Workday’s recruiting with ATS and CRM; no HR management, payroll, financial or analytics features.

Recruiting★ 4.7 (120 reviews)Import from Workday: ✓ custom API integration · source
GDPR
Eploy vs Workday →
What users praise and criticise
  • Intuitive and user-friendly interface for hiring managers and candidates
  • Flexible customization of workflows, emails, templates and company structures
  • Efficient interview scheduling and end-to-end visibility in recruitment
  • Outdated and non-intuitive user interface slows new user onboarding
  • Reporting features lack advanced customization options
  • Limited third-party integrations compared to competitors
Recruitive ATS🇬🇧 GB

UK recruitment software for agencies and HR teams

Replaces Workday’s recruiting for agencies and HR teams; no HR management, payroll, financial management or analytics.

Recruiting
GDPR
Recruitive ATS vs Workday →

All Workday alternatives at a glance

Which part of Workday each alternative covers.

ProviderRecruitingHR managementPayrollFinancial managementAnalyticsFromRatingImport from Workday
Workday 🇺🇸 (the tool you are replacing)✓✓✓✓✓–––
HRLocker 🇮🇪✓✓€4★ 4.5 (64)–
Factorial 🇪🇸✓✓✓$8★ 4.3 (2229)–
CharlieHR 🇬🇧✓£5★ 4.7 (233)–
Recruitee 🇳🇱✓On request★ 4.3 (776)–
Leapsome 🇩🇪✓On request★ 4.7 (3174)✓ built-in
Bizneo HR 🇪🇸✓✓✓On request★ 4.6 (719)–
Cezanne HR 🇬🇧✓✓✓$2/mo★ 4.5 (1248)–
Rexx Systems 🇩🇪✓✓€0.50★ 3.1 (2092)–
Personio 🇩🇪✓✓✓On request★ 4.4 (1830)–
HiBob 🇬🇧✓✓On request★ 4.5 (2662)–
Kenjo 🇩🇪✓✓✓€5.40/mo★ 4.3 (430)–
Jobylon 🇸🇪✓On request★ 4.6 (1527)–
Cegid HR 🇫🇷✓✓✓✓$50★ 3.4 (489)–
Sympa 🇫🇮✓✓On request★ 4.4 (19)–
BreatheHR 🇬🇧✓£24/mo★ 4.4 (889)–
skeeled 🇱🇺✓€299.00/mo★ 4.0 (36)–
Pinpoint 🇬🇧✓$165★ 4.6 (3002599)–
Eploy 🇬🇧✓On request★ 4.7 (120)✓ service
Recruitive ATS 🇬🇧✓On request––

Prices per user and month in the cheapest paid plan. Ratings are weighted across G2, Capterra, OMR and other portals, with the review count in brackets.

Workday: the facts

What to know about the tool you are replacing, with sources.

Headquarters
🇺🇸 US · since 2005
Where your data is stored
EU region only on some plansEU data residency is available on request for certain modules and regions.

What users value in Workday

  • Strong analytics and reporting capabilities
  • Scalable for large enterprises
  • Unified platform for HR and finance

What they criticise

  • High implementation and maintenance costs
  • Steep learning curve for administrators
  • Complex customization requirements

Sources: workday.com · researched 5 October 2026

Moving away from Workday

Leapsome imports Workday content with a built-in importer. With help from the vendor: Eploy. Every import above links its source on the product card.

Frequently asked questions

Which European tool fully replaces Workday?

Cegid HR is the only listed European tool that covers HR management, payroll, recruiting and analytics. Other tools focus on specific areas like recruiting or HR management only.

Which European alternative to Workday is best for recruiting?

Rexx Systems, Jobylon, Recruitee, skeeled, Eploy, Pinpoint and Personio all specialize in recruiting. Rexx Systems and Jobylon offer EU hosting, while Eploy and Recruitive ATS do not confirm EU data residency.

Where does Workday store my data?

Workday is based in the US. EU data residency is available on request for certain modules and regions, but the transfer mechanism is not established.

Are European Workday alternatives GDPR-compliant?

BreatheHR, Factorial, HiBob, HRLocker, Cegid HR, Bizneo HR, Cezanne HR and Sympa confirm EU hosting. Rexx Systems, Jobylon, Recruitee, skeeled and Pinpoint also state EU data residency.

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