HR Management · head-to-head
HRworks vs Personalwolke
The short answer
In the computed table, HRworks leads payroll readiness (5.5 vs 3.7; six judges lean HRworks, none Personalwolke), recruiting and onboarding (4.3 vs 0.0; six to none), employee data governance (4.5 vs 3.0; six to none), sovereignty (5.7 vs 4.0; six to none) and core HR records (4.0 vs 3.2; five to none, one tie). Time and absence is the most contested: 6.2 vs 5.7, two judges leaning HRworks and four tying. Personalwolke's lead is pricing transparency (1.7 vs 0.5; four judges lean Personalwolke, two tie): published prices exist for Personalwolke, while HRworks publishes no prices and pricing was not weighted in HRworks's verdicts. Per-judge weighted totals favor HRworks, from The IT Integrator's 4.8 vs 2.6 to The Payroll Officer's 5.6 vs 3.5. Both list EU-only data residency and US Cloud Act subprocessor exposure; HRworks's legal entity jurisdiction is DE, Personalwolke's is AT. We found no published verdict summary for Personalwolke.
Choose HRworks if
- You run payroll through DATEV and want a partner interface — six judges lean HRworks on payroll readiness (5.5 vs 3.7), and its verdict names DATEV as a partner.
- You need recruiting and onboarding inside the same HR suite — six judges lean HRworks on recruiting and onboarding (4.3 vs 0.0).
- Your data protection officer prioritizes employee data governance — six judges lean HRworks (4.5 vs 3.0).
- You require a German legal entity — HRworks's legal entity jurisdiction is DE, and six judges lean HRworks on sovereignty (5.7 vs 4.0).
- You need smartphone time capture with breaks, overtime and minus hours — HRworks's verdict evidences these, and time and absence stands at 6.2 vs 5.7 (two lean HRworks, four tie).
Choose Personalwolke if
- You need published prices before talking to sales — four judges lean Personalwolke on pricing transparency (1.7 vs 0.5), and published prices exist for Personalwolke.
- You require an Austrian legal entity — Personalwolke's legal entity jurisdiction is AT.
- Time and absence is your main requirement and you would let price decide a tie — four judges tie the two there (5.7 vs 6.2), and Personalwolke holds the pricing transparency lean.
- You want EU-only data residency together with published prices — Personalwolke lists data residency as EU-only and publishes prices.
Read this comparison as one judge. Each weighs the same scores by what they care about.
The bench's picks
Same scores, different priorities: each judge's weighting applied to both products. The split is the finding.
- The People Lead HRworks Personalwolke picks HRworks
- The Payroll Officer HRworks Personalwolke picks HRworks
- The Works Council Advocate HRworks Personalwolke picks HRworks
- The Data Protection Officer HRworks Personalwolke picks HRworks
- The IT Integrator HRworks Personalwolke picks HRworks
- The Skeptic HRworks Personalwolke picks HRworks
Criterion by criterion
| Criterion | HRworks | Personalwolke | The bench leans |
|---|---|---|---|
| Digital personnel file & data model | HRworks, 5 of 6 judges | ||
| Payroll handoff | HRworks, 6 of 6 judges | ||
| Absence & working-time | HRworks, 2 of 6 judges | ||
| Recruiting & onboarding | HRworks, 6 of 6 judges | ||
| Employee data protection & co-determination | HRworks, 6 of 6 judges | ||
| European sovereignty | HRworks, 6 of 6 judges | ||
| Pricing transparency | no published price | not comparable |
Stars show the bench average per criterion; the lean counts which product each judge scored higher. Open a judge's tab for their reasoning on both sides.
Sovereignty, side by side
| Dimension | HRworks | Personalwolke |
|---|---|---|
| Legal entity | Not determined | Incorporated in AT |
| Ownership | Not determined | Not determined |
| Data residency | EU only | Not determined |
| Subprocessors | Not determined | EU only |
Facts, side by side
Only facts both products carry under the same definition — anything else would not be a fair row.
| Compliance · GDPR | yes · yes1 | yes2 |
|---|---|---|
| Integrations · API | yes3 | yes4 |
| Legal · Address | Freiburg · Waldkircher Str. 28 · Germany · 791065 | Wien · Wagenseilgasse 14 · Austria · 11206 |
| Legal · Company name | HRworks GmbH · 20267 | Workflow HR Systems GmbH8 |
| Legal · Entity | HRworks GmbH3 | Workflow HR Systems GmbH9 |
| Legal · Entity name | HRworks GmbH5 | Workflow HR Systems GmbH6 |
| Legal · VAT id | DE 187 235 0395 | ATU501769006 |
| Pricing · Free trial | yes7 | 30 · yes10 |
| Product · Digital personnel file | Central digital personnel file for storing and finding HR documents11 | Personalwolke offers a digital personnel file module12 |
| Product · Digital time clock | Employees see their own time account and have a digital time clock13 | digitale Stempeluhr mit Echtzeit-Synchronisation4 |
| Product · Modules | Software suite modules: time management, travel expenses, personnel administration, personnel development, payroll13 | Personalwolke Time · Personalwolke Travel · Personalwolke Project Time · Personalwolke HR-Expert2 |
| Product · User base | Over 400,000 people trust HR WORKS7 | 50000+4 |
| Support · Channels | Multiple support channels7 | Support · Servicedesk · Online-Handbuch · Downloadbereich · FAQs14 |