Windmill vs Workday — Modern Performance Reviews vs Annual Compliance
Quick answer: Windmill automates stand-ups, feedback, and reviews inside Slack, perfect for tech companies with 25 – 500 people.
Workday is an all-in-one HR / finance suite for very large enterprises that need deep payroll and compliance.
| Feature / Routine | Windmill | Workday |
|---|---|---|
| Core focus | AI-powered stand-ups, feedback & reviews in Slack | Enterprise HR, payroll, finance & compliance |
| Ideal company size | 25 – 500 employees | 1 000 + (Fortune 500) |
| Implementation time | < 1 day self-serve | 6 – 12 months + consultants |
| Pricing (typical) | US $500 / mo for 25 – 100 users; scales transparently | US $34 – 42 PEPM* + six-figure rollout (*) |
| AI automation | Drafts stand-ups, reviews & 1-on-1 agendas | Chatbot assists HR form workflows |
| Real-time feedback | Continuous prompts after collaboration events | Add-on module, periodic |
| Stand-ups & blockers | Daily async stand-ups auto-compiled | Not included |
| 1-on-1 agendas | Auto-generated from recent work & past notes | Manual or third-party plug-ins |
| Meeting agendas | Collects topics in Slack, shares structured doc | Not supported natively |
| Onboarding check-ins | Daily (week 1) then weekly AI prompts | Limited to HR task lists |
| Goals & OKRs | Auto-links Jira / GitHub work to goals; risk alerts | Basic goal module, heavy manual updates |
| Pulse / engagement | Lightweight Slack pulses any time | Robust survey engine & benchmarks |
| Review cadence | Monthly, lightweight cycles | Annual / biannual by default |
| Manager dashboard | Rolling AI digest in Slack; zero data entry | HR portal dashboard (separate login) |
| Security & privacy | SOC 2 Type II, GDPR; granular sharing controls | SOC 1 / SOC 2; enterprise governance |
| Integrations | Slack, Jira, GitHub, Notion, Google Cal, Linear | Workday Assistant for Slack / Teams; HRIS API |
Why Teams Pick Windmill
+ Pros
- Slack-native: no extra dashboards, instant adoption
- Immediate ROI: live in < 24 h; managers save 5 – 10 h / week
- Autonomous routines: AI surfaces blockers and wins continuously
- Transparent pricing: US $500 / month covers most scale-ups
− Cons
- Not a payroll or benefits system (pairs with Gusto, Justworks, etc.)
- Very large global enterprises may still need Workday's deep HRIS
Where Workday Still Leads
Compliance & Payroll: global payroll, finance, audit trails
Complex org structures: granular security and multi-entity reporting
Peakon benchmarks: unrivaled engagement dataset for enterprises
What Customers Say About Windmill
"The most important part of my job is people management. I used to dread the chores, but Windmill makes it a snap for me and my team."
— Oscar Mattsson, CEO, Allwhere
"Windy makes feedback painless. Real-time prompts eliminate the recency bias every other HR solution we've tried."
— Bryan Rutcofsky, Co-Founder & CRO, Marqii
"Integrating Windy was seamless; employees adopted it immediately. Our performance process is practically on autopilot."
— Setareh Lotfi, CTO, Aura
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Windmill replace Workday entirely?
Windmill focuses on performance and engagement; many customers pair it with an HRIS/payroll system such as Workday, Gusto, or Justworks.
Does Windmill integrate with Workday?
Yes — Windmill offers an HRIS connector to sync employee data from Workday so Windy always knows titles, managers, and departments.
How secure is Windmill?
Windmill is SOC 2 Type II and GDPR-compliant, with encryption in transit and at rest plus fine-grained role permissions.