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LMS · head to head

Sana vs Workday

Sana logo

Sana

LMS

AI-native learning and knowledge assistant, acquired by Workday in 2025

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Workday logo

Workday

HR

Enterprise cloud applications for finance and HR

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Sana workday completed its acquisition on 4 November 2025, so Sana is now an HCM vendor's capability; if you do not run Workday, the roadmap will be shaped around a platform you do not use and standalone availability is not guaranteed long term.; Workday high implementation costs equal to or exceeding annual software fees
  • They diverge on capability: Sana covers Sana Agents, Workday covers Human capital management.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Sana and Workday actually diverge.

Attributes where Sana and Workday differ
AttributeSanaWorkday
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidCloud/Web
CategoryLMSHR
FoundedUnknown2005

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Sana

  • Sana Agents
  • Sana Learn
  • Enterprise search
  • Live collaborative sessions
  • Content generation
  • Permission-aware retrieval
  • Workday integration

Only in Workday

  • Human capital management
  • Financial management
  • Planning
  • Payroll
  • Time tracking
  • Talent management
  • Procurement
  • Salesforce

Both cover

  • Analytics

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Sana

  • An organisation whose employees repeatedly ask the same policy and process questions in Slack and where the answer already exists in a document nobody findsnot Workday
  • A Workday customer wanting learning and an internal assistant on the same employee record rather than a separate LMS contractnot Workday
  • Onboarding at a fast-growing company where content goes stale faster than the training team can rewrite coursesnot Workday
  • Sales enablement where reps need an answer about a product or a contract term during a call, not a course to complete next weeknot Workday

Workday

  • HR managementnot Sana
  • Financial planningnot Sana
  • Workforce planningnot Sana
  • Compliancenot Sana
  • Analyticsnot Sana

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Sana

  • Workday completed its acquisition on 4 November 2025, so Sana is now an HCM vendor's capability; if you do not run Workday, the roadmap will be shaped around a platform you do not use and standalone availability is not guaranteed long term.
  • Answer quality depends entirely on the state of your internal content, so an organisation with contradictory or outdated documents gets a confident assistant citing the wrong version, which is worse than not having one.
  • Permission-aware retrieval across many source systems is difficult to get exactly right, and a misconfigured connector can surface content to employees who should not see it, which makes the security review substantial.
  • Compliance-heavy training needs, such as certification tracking, regulator-mandated evidence and SCORM-based external content, are handled less thoroughly than in traditional learning management systems built for that purpose.
  • Pricing is unpublished and now negotiated in the context of a Workday relationship, which reduces a non-Workday buyer's leverage and makes a like-for-like comparison against a standalone LMS difficult.

Workday

  • High implementation costs equal to or exceeding annual software fees
  • Long deployment timelines (12-18 months standard) before ROI
  • Steep per-employee pricing at enterprise scale ($408-504 PEPM)
  • Limited pre-built templates and customization; often requires extensive configuration
  • Requires significant IT and change management resources during implementation

Pricing, plan by plan

Sana

On request
  • Sana$undefined/year
    • Per-employee annual subscription
    • Agents and Learn licensed together or separately depending on the agreement
    • Connector scope affects pricing

Workday

On request
  • Small Business$undefined/month
    • Core HR
    • Payroll
    • Time tracking
  • Medium Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Full HCM suite
    • Financial management
    • Advanced analytics
  • Large Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Complete platform
    • Custom configurations
    • Dedicated support

Which should you pick?

Choose Sana if

  • You need sana agents.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want sana learn.
Sana review

Choose Workday if

  • You need human capital management.
  • You work on Cloud/Web.
  • You also want financial management.
Workday review

Questions people ask

Is Sana or Workday better?
Neither clearly leads. Sana starts at On request and Workday at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Sana or Workday?
Sana starts at On request and Workday at On request.
Does Sana or Workday run on more platforms?
Sana runs on Web, iOS, Android. Workday runs on Cloud/Web.
What is Sana best used for?
Sana is most often used for an organisation whose employees repeatedly ask the same policy and process questions in slack and where the answer already exists in a document nobody finds, a workday customer wanting learning and an internal assistant on the same employee record rather than a separate lms contract, onboarding at a fast-growing company where content goes stale faster than the training team can rewrite courses, sales enablement where reps need an answer about a product or a contract term during a call, not a course to complete next week. Of those, an organisation whose employees repeatedly ask the same policy and process questions in slack and where the answer already exists in a document nobody finds and a workday customer wanting learning and an internal assistant on the same employee record rather than a separate lms contract are not what Workday is typically brought in for.
What can Sana do that Workday cannot?
Sana covers Sana Agents, Sana Learn, Enterprise search, Live collaborative sessions. Workday covers Human capital management, Financial management, Planning, Payroll. Both handle Analytics.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Sana: Is Sana still an independent company?

No. Workday completed its acquisition on 4 November 2025 for approximately $1.1bn; the integrated experience begins rolling out in 2026.

Workday: What is Workday GO and what market is it designed for?

Workday GO is a product designed for small and midsize organizations, bringing together HR and finance solutions with transparent pricing and fast activation in 30 to 60 days. It includes HCM, benefits, payroll, talent, and more at a lower price point than standard Workday.

Source
Sana: Is it an LMS or a search tool?

Both, but the emphasis is on answering questions from your existing content. Traditional course delivery and completion tracking are secondary.

Workday: What is Workday Skills Cloud and how does it fit into HCM?

Workday Skills Cloud is an intelligent skills foundation built into Workday HCM. It is described as the world's most open intelligent skills foundation and fuels data-driven talent strategies across recruiting, learning, and workforce planning.

Source
Sana: Does it work if we are not a Workday customer?

Currently yes, but the product direction now serves Workday's platform strategy, so weigh that in a multi-year commitment.

Workday: Does Workday include payroll and benefits management?

Yes. Workday HCM includes benefits administration and payroll capabilities as part of its core suite. Global payroll processing is available across multiple countries and tax jurisdictions.

Source
Sana: How is it priced?

Per employee per year, unpublished, and increasingly negotiated as part of a Workday agreement.

Workday: What is the typical pricing model for Workday HCM?

Workday HCM uses per-employee (PEPM) annual subscription pricing. Companies at scale typically pay $34-42 PEPM. Enterprise organizations with 5,000+ employees typically pay $408-504 per employee annually. Pricing decreases with larger commitments and longer contract terms.

Source
Workday: How long does Workday implementation typically take?

Standard implementations are lengthy, often taking 12-18 months. Workday GO promises faster activation in 30-60 days. Implementation costs typically equal 100-150% of the first year's software subscription fees.

Source
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