Comparison

Workday vs ESS 45 Zebra

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Workday

Access your enterprise workplace tools securely from your mobile device. Manage time off, view pay, submit expenses, and approve requests. Stay connected with company directory and learning resources, all with robust data security.

Highlights
  • View pay and request time off
  • Submit timesheets and expenses
  • Approve employee requests
  • Access company directory
  • Take learning courses
  • View reports and dashboards
  • Secure data access with biometrics
Read full description

The Workday app provides secure, mobile access to your Workday applications on-the-go. As an employee, our simple interface allows you to • Review your pay, view or request time off, check in and out for work, submit your timesheet, and submit expenses quickly. • Get push notifications alerts and reminders for time tracking, important updates, and approvals. Immediately take action right from the app. • Browse your company directory, securely view coworker profiles, leave feedback, and take learning courses on-the-go. As a manager, you can take action wherever you are • Approve your employee requests easily. • View your team or individual profiles and immediately take actions relevant to your role, such as perform a job change, make a compensation change, or provide performance feedback. • Stay connected to your business by gaining quick insight into what's important through interactive reports and dashboards. And if your mobile device is ever lost or stolen, you can be confident that your data is secure. With support for Touch ID and Face ID, only you can access your information. Note: Your organization must authorize access to the Workday mobile app. You will only have access to mobile features your organization has enabled, based on your role (not all mobile features may be available to you). Not all Workday features are available on mobile.

About

ESS 45 Zebra

Manage your work schedule, time off requests, and shift trades with this intuitive application. Easily view your timecard, update availability, and clock in and out using geofence technology. It's designed for seamless team coordination and efficient workforce management.

Highlights
  • View schedule
  • Request day-off/time-off
  • Perform shift trade
  • Bid on open shifts
  • View timecard
  • Clock work hours (geofence)
  • Update availability
Features
Read full description

With New ESS app, team members can: · Intuitive design & UI Refresh of entire app · New Dashboard · View schedule · Request day-off, time-off · Perform Shift Trade with teammates · Bid on open shifts or request additional shifts · View timecard · Update availability and get shifts accordingly · Request for alternate work locations · Clock your work hours using Geofence enabled mobile clock · View absence calendar App is compatible with 4.1.12.* and 4.3.* web apps.

Screenshots

Workday4 screens
ESS 45 Zebra4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Workday at 4.7 against ESS 45 Zebra's 1.6. Workday also leads on ratings volume (1.9M vs 420) and review sentiment (30% vs 6%). ESS 45 Zebra's advantage is iOS requirement (15.6 vs 18.0). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Workday holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 1.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Workday has 1.9M ratings behind it against 420, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 30% of Workday's written reviews are positive against 6% of ESS 45 Zebra's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Workday ships an update fortnightly, ESS 45 Zebra every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Workday versus ESS 45 Zebra: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWorkdayESS 45 Zebra
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (1.9M ratings) — better1.6 (420 ratings)
Positive reviews30.5% of reviews — better6.3% of reviews
Number of ratings1.9M — better420
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
Best chart rank#8 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS18.015.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size258 MB68 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperWorkdayReflexis Systems Inc

Customer experience

Workday

All ratings1,916,471 ratings
Positive93.4%
Neutral2.7%
Negative3.9%
Written reviews3,329 reviews
Positive30.5%
Neutral7.5%
Negative62.0%

ESS 45 Zebra

All ratings419 ratings
Positive12.9%
Neutral4.1%
Negative83.1%
Written reviews192 reviews
Positive6.3%
Neutral5.7%
Negative88.0%

User reviews

Workday

From 1.9M App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Convenient mobile access
  • 📊 Useful features (time tracking, pay stubs, learning)
  • 👍 Easy to use for basic tasks
  • 💡 Potential for improvement with better UI/UX

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent login issues and password resets
  • 🕰️ Slow performance and loading times
  • 👎 Not very intuitive or user-friendly
  • 🔒 Privacy concerns with app permissions
  • 🤔 Limited functionality compared to web version

ESS 45 Zebra

From 420 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Works well
  • 👍 Clean and easy to use interface
  • 🚀 Efficient

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Constantly logs out
  • 🐛 Buggy and unreliable
  • 🐛 Crashes frequently
  • 🐛 Inaccurate schedule display
  • 🐛 Unable to log in

Bugs and requests

Workday

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashes or freezes frequently
  • Time off requests not working as expected
  • Inconsistent behavior across mobile and web versions

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to view and manage leave balances
  • Streamlined time entry and approval process
  • Improved navigation and task flow
  • Integration with calendar and other productivity apps

ESS 45 Zebra

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Constant login issues
  • Time card not working
  • Schedule not displaying correctly
  • Inability to request time off

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add Face ID/Biometric login
  • Improve calendar sync
  • Allow viewing of coworker schedules
  • Streamline time off request process

In-app purchases

None

Workday

No in-app purchases

None

ESS 45 Zebra

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Workday free?
Workday is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ESS 45 Zebra free?
ESS 45 Zebra is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Workday or ESS 45 Zebra?
Workday is rated higher. Workday averages 4.7 out of 5 from 1.9M ratings, while ESS 45 Zebra averages 1.6 from 420 ratings.
Do Workday or ESS 45 Zebra have ads?
Neither Workday nor ESS 45 Zebra shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Workday or ESS 45 Zebra?
Workday ships an update fortnightly, and ESS 45 Zebra every 3 weeks. Most recently, Workday was updated on November 3, 2026 and ESS 45 Zebra on October 26, 2026.

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