GoCo vs SumTotal

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Our analysts compared GoCo vs SumTotal based on data from our 400+ point analysis of HR Management Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

SumTotal Software Tool

Product Basics

GoCo is a software platform designed to help businesses manage their HR tasks, offering features like payroll, benefits administration, and employee onboarding. It's a cloud-based solution that aims to simplify HR processes for small and medium-sized businesses. GoCo is known for its user-friendly interface, affordability, and comprehensive features, making it a popular choice among businesses looking to streamline their HR operations.

GoCo's key benefits include its ease of use, cost-effectiveness, and the wide range of features it offers. The platform is also highly secure, ensuring the protection of sensitive employee data. Popular features include payroll processing, benefits administration tools, and employee onboarding functionalities. GoCo's payroll tools are designed to save businesses time and money, while its benefits administration features help manage employee benefits programs efficiently. The employee onboarding tools facilitate a smooth and quick onboarding process for new hires.

Compared to other HR management software options, GoCo stands out for its user-friendly interface, affordability, and comprehensive features. It's important to note that pricing for HR management software can vary based on factors such as the number of employees and the specific features required. It's recommended to check with GoCo or other providers directly for the most up-to-date pricing information.

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SumTotal is a cloud-based HR Management software catering to mid-sized to large organizations. It packs a comprehensive suite of features covering talent acquisition, learning & development, workforce management, and performance management. Users praise its robust reporting & analytics, rich learning library, and mobile-friendly accessibility. However, the extensive customization options and powerful tools come with a steeper learning curve for administrators. Additionally, SumTotal's potential for high integration costs and higher price point compared to basic solutions make it less suitable for smaller companies. While some users struggle with complex content creation tools and limited instructor-led options, SumTotal shines in its ability to scale and adapt to dynamic needs, making it a strong contender for organizations seeking a feature-rich, customizable HR management platform, especially those with substantial training requirements and a dispersed workforce.

Pros
  • Comprehensive learning library
  • Robust reporting & analytics
  • Scalable for large organizations
  • Mobile-friendly learning
  • Customizable user experience
Cons
  • Steep learning curve for admins
  • Limited instructor-led options
  • Complex content creation tools
  • Potentially high integration costs
  • Pricey for smaller companies
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Windows
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Android
Chromebook
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Android
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Cloud
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Mobile
Cloud
On-Premise
Mobile

Product Assistance

Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support
Email
Phone
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FAQ
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Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support

Product Insights

  • Centralized Record Keeping: Small businesses can spend less time on repetitive, manual tasks and more easily get accurate data of every employee. The unified platform centralizes employee records, time off data and HR documents. 
  • Flexibility: If companies already have benefits administration software, GoCo will include it to allow employees to register online. The system can also sync with an existing payroll solution if desired, so users don’t have to change the way they work or who they work with. This approach supports existing policies and service providers. 
  • Customizable Onboarding:  Embedded payroll, benefits and sync capabilities help new hires start strong from day one. From offer letters to tax withholding information, everything is done digitally.  
  • Simplified Leave Management: Users can build a policy for unlimited group PTO, adjust the accrual procedure for various locations and create a performance-based policy for each employee. It allows separating PTO from other absences when running reports.  
  • Business Growth and Compliance:  GoCo automates benefits administration, which removes the burden of remaining compliant to various regulations and eliminates costs so businesses can focus on growing. The system manages all types of benefits such as health plans and disability, and maintains strict adherence to the latest ACA, ERISA, COBRA, HSA and FSA regulations.  
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  • Employee Retention: Provide tools for employee development, management and learning practices that encourage employee retention. 
  • Enhanced Productivity: Talent managers can continuously onboarding to speed up overall productivity. 
  • Organizational Stability: Learning-centered employee development builds an agile workforce that is adaptable to changing business environments. 
  • Learning Ecosystem: Invest in research and development on the latest learning trends, which managers can leverage to enhance employees' learning experience. 
  • Talent Engagement: Engage top talent while moving through the recruitment process, understand the workforce, identify the best talent and build a seamless experience for candidates as well as hiring teams. 
  • Enhanced Candidate Experience: Offer smartphone-optimized sites with intelligent and automated interview tools, candidate matching, and an easy-to-use mobile app interface. Keep applicants informed about upcoming interview details via a user dashboard. 
  • Accelerated Time-to-Performance: Seamless onboarding training helps new hires get up to speed quickly. Provide unique company policies and work culture for them to become familiar with the company. 
  • Smooth Role Switch: Access onboarding plans for new roles that include defined goals, new teams and KPI’s that ensure a more seamless transition to new responsibilities. 
  • Robust Manager and Admin Capabilities: Managers and administrators can easily view, schedule, filter, mark up and share reports from a mobile dashboard. Leverage reporting tools, advanced reports and dashboards at a single click. 
  • Informed Compensation Plans: Create smart, data-driven compensation plans according to preset or custom parameters. Real-time performance insights and budget modeling make compensation informed, fair and cost-effective. 
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  • Benefits Administration: The automated enrollment process ensures employees receive the right benefit packages. It also has the option of syncing benefits with payroll and insurance carriers. In addition, it provides employees with a self-service portal and access to certified benefit advisors. 
  • Payroll: This feature provides users with the option of keeping their current payroll software and syncing data with GoCo. Capabilities include automated time tracking and PTO (including COVID-19 paid leave), calculated final paychecks and benefit deductions.  
  • Employee Onboarding: The entire onboarding and talent acquisition process is done digitally. Managers can send customized offer letters, receive documents and allow new hires to enroll in self-service benefits. They can also assign onboarding tasks and set up payroll. 
  • Time Tracking: This feature supports PTO tracking, adding holiday hours and calculating overtime synced with a timesheet so that employees are paid correctly. It provides reports about teams’ working hours. Employees can request PTO through this feature, while managers can approve PTO and automatically notify the employee about their remaining PTO.  
  • HR Compliance: Companies can be sure they’re adhering to the latest benefits compliance regulations with tools that unify record keeping and streamline documents collection.  
  • Security: GoCo operates on Heroku, a technology that grants peace of mind by providing security checks at every layer of the software to protect customers from breaches. 
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  • Talent Development: Provides combined functionality of talent onboarding, talent management and learning management solutions to cater to talent development requirements. 
  • Talent Acquisition: Helps create a streamlined hiring cycle, hire the right talent, engage fresh recruits and drive productivity from day one. 
  • Learning Management:  
    •  Helps provide a customized, personalized and engaging learning experience tailored to the skill and competency of individuals rather than the whole team. 
    •  Ease of access on all devices, along with an offline mode, ensures seamless and consistent access to content and courses. 
  • Talent Management: Personalized and intuitive tools help employees pursue career growth and development. Capabilities include performance management, 360-degree feedback, succession planning and compensation management. 
  • Performance Management: Provides comprehensive feedback and tools that make feedback actionable, constructive and insightful. Measures workforce productivity, progress and priorities in real time. 
  • Succession Planning: Enables talent managers to identify and assess skill gaps, build agile talent pools, and align employee success with business goals and objectives. 
  • Compensation Management: Simplifies and streamline compensation plans, and helps build competitive packages to attract and retain top recruits. Workflow automation and compensation management tools aid compliance with complex global policies. 
  • Workforce Management: Bundled payroll, benefits and expense management minimize time, cost and efforts while maximizing accuracy. Features include automated scheduling, time and attendance, absence management, and compliance. 
  • Applicant Tracking System: Includes real-time alerts and notifications for offer approvals, a unique dashboard and reports widgets, customizable requisitions, and a consolidated requisition workspace. 
  • Mobility: Provides access to tools and reporting capabilities at all times and from any location. The dashboard can be operated using a tablet, desktop, mobile app or a phone browser. 
  • Growth Edition: Caters to the needs of fast-growing small and medium-sized businesses. Includes webinars, instructor-led training, approvals, and additional learning resources that users can access and configure anytime. 
  • Extended Enterprise: Helps build a brand image, accelerate growth and drive new sources of potential revenue. Facilitates an enriched and optimized learning experience for distributors, partners and customers. 
  • Gamified and Collaborative Learning: Helps: 
    •  Assess and accelerate learning with gamification capabilities that include leaderboards, points, levels and badges. 
    •  Enhance employee engagement by identifying and rewarding the right learning behaviors. 
    •  Enrich the knowledge of new hires with collaborative learning, up-to-date content, feedback and social ratings. 
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Product Ranking

#117

among all
HR Management Software

#23

among all
HR Management Software

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User Sentiment Summary

Excellent User Sentiment 287 reviews
Fair User Sentiment 132 reviews
95%
of users recommend this product

GoCo has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 95% when considering 287 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

69%
of users recommend this product

SumTotal has a 'fair' User Satisfaction Rating of 69% when considering 132 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

4.8 (188)
3.2 (39)
4.73 (48)
2.7 (7)
4.7 (47)
n/a
n/a
4.0 (56)
4.2 (4)
2.9 (30)

Awards

GoCo stands above the rest by achieving an ‘Excellent’ rating as a User Favorite.

User Favorite Award

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Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Simple Interface: GoCo's interface is clean and easy to navigate, making it simple for HR professionals to find the information they need quickly.
Automated Workflows: The platform automates many HR tasks, such as onboarding new employees and managing benefits, which can save HR teams a significant amount of time.
Employee Self-Service: GoCo's employee self-service portal allows employees to manage their own information, such as their contact details and benefits elections, which can free up HR staff to focus on other tasks.
Compliance Support: The platform helps businesses comply with employment laws and regulations, such as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and COBRA.
Integrations: GoCo integrates with a variety of other business software applications, such as payroll and accounting software, which can help businesses streamline their operations.
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Robust Tools: All reviews on this feature suggest that SumTotal provides a robust set of talent development and management, payroll, and workforce management solutions.
Effective Tracking: According to 80% of reviews on tracking, the software optimizes talent management by tracking development and career growth.
Self-Service: Managers and employees can access and complete training courses at their convenience, according to all reviews on self-service.
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Limited Customization: The platform's rigidity can be frustrating for companies with unique or complex HR needs, especially when it comes to tailoring workflows or data fields.
Payroll Integration Issues: Several users report problems syncing GoCo with their payroll systems, leading to inaccurate data and time-consuming manual fixes.
Mobile App Shortcomings: The mobile app's functionality falls short of the web version, limiting on-the-go access for employees and HR admins alike.
Customer Support Challenges: Response times and issue resolution can be slow, leaving users feeling stuck when they encounter problems.
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Outdated Course Content: About 70% of reviews on course content reported that some modules aren’t frequently updated, resulting in an outdated learning experience.
Non-Intuitive Functions: Most features and functions aren’t intuitive, making it difficult to navigate, according to all reviews on this aspect.
Access to Reports: Accessing and pulling reports is extremely tedious and slow, according to 100% of reviews on reporting.
Customer Service: All reviews on customer support suggest that customer service is very slow and unresponsive.
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GoCo appears to be a rising star in the HR software realm, garnering positive feedback for its user-friendly interface and robust features. Users frequently highlight its intuitive design, making it a breeze to navigate even for those with limited HR experience. The platform's comprehensive suite of tools streamlines core HR functions, including onboarding, benefits administration, and payroll, saving businesses valuable time and resources. GoCo's magic lies in its ability to automate tedious tasks, such as document management and employee data tracking, allowing HR professionals to focus on strategic initiatives. However, some users note that GoCo's reporting capabilities could be more extensive, limiting in-depth data analysis. Additionally, while the platform integrates with several popular payroll providers, some users desire broader integration options. Despite these minor drawbacks, GoCo's strengths in user experience, automation, and core HR functionality make it a compelling choice for small to medium-sized businesses seeking an all-in-one HR solution. Its ease of use and comprehensive features empower HR teams to efficiently manage their workforce, making it an ideal fit for organizations looking to streamline HR processes and enhance employee experiences.

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SumTotal users paint a mixed picture, praising its robust functionality and mobile accessibility while critiquing its clunky interface and steep learning curve. Many laud its comprehensive suite, encompassing everything from onboarding to performance management, finding it a one-stop shop for HR needs. One user gushes, "It's like having a whole HR department in the cloud!" However, ease of use seems to be a major sticking point. Comments like "The interface feels outdated and unintuitive" and "Learning curve is a mountain, not a hill" pop up frequently. This is often contrasted with praise for competitors like Workday, lauded for its sleek design and user-friendliness. One user sums it up: "SumTotal has the depth, Workday has the polish." Mobile accessibility shines as a bright spot, with users appreciating the ability to manage tasks on the go. This stands out compared to some competitors, making SumTotal a good fit for companies with a mobile workforce. Ultimately, SumTotal seems to be a powerful tool for organizations willing to invest the time and effort in mastering its complexities. As one user puts it, "It's not perfect, but it's incredibly versatile. If you can handle the initial climb, the view from the top is pretty good."

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