OnSurvey · Built-on Workday
Every HR tech vendor says it is “integrated with Workday”. A newer label, Built-on Workday, means something different: the app runs inside your Workday tenant instead of next to it.
The difference is not marketing. It decides where your employee data lives, which security model applies and how many systems your team has to run. Here is how the two compare, using employee surveys as the example.
Buzz
Short answer: an integrated app runs outside Workday and moves data in and out through APIs or middleware. A Built-on Workday app runs inside your Workday tenant, on Workday Extend, using the same data, security and user interface as Workday itself.
|
|
Integrated with Workday
|
Built-on Workday
|
|---|---|---|
|
Where the app runs
|
Vendor platform, outside Workday
|
Inside your Workday tenant
|
|
Employee data
|
Copied to the vendor through APIs, RaaS, EIB or middleware
|
Read and written in place; no copy leaves the tenant
|
|
Security
|
A second permission model to set up and audit
|
Inherits the security policies already in Workday
|
|
User experience
|
Separate login, tab and notifications
|
Inside Workday, with Workday UI components
|
|
Maintenance
|
Integration jobs, field mappings and API changes to look after
|
Updates delivered through the platform
|
|
Buying
|
Separate vendor contract and review
|
Workday Marketplace
|
For years, connecting a third-party application to Workday has meant building an integration: middleware, or custom code against the Workday APIs. The usual building blocks are:
The SOAP API uses XML messaging; the REST API uses JSON and is friendlier for modern SaaS tools.
Packages custom report data as a callable endpoint that another system can pull on a schedule.
Enterprise Interface Builder files move data in batches; Workday Studio handles more complex integration logic.
Pre-built connectors (ADP, Salesforce, Cornerstone) and iPaaS tools such as Workato, MuleSoft and Boomi hide much of the code.
All of these do the same job: move data between Workday and an external system. That is also the limit. However tidy the integration, you still run two systems, each with its own data store, its own security model and its own user interface.
In 2024 Workday launched the Built-on Workday program on top of Workday Extend. Instead of connecting to Workday from the outside, certified partners such as Onward build applications that run inside the Workday tenant. They use the same data model, the same security framework and the same UI components as Workday’s own features, so for employees the app feels like part of Workday.
No external database and no API calls shuttling employee records to a third-party server. The app reads and writes your Workday data directly.
The app respects the security policies already configured in your tenant. There is no separate permission model to manage or audit.
People use the app inside Workday: no new login, no context switching, no extra browser tab.
Apps are found and bought on Workday Marketplace, and updates arrive through the platform rather than a vendor portal.
The program keeps growing. Partners such as PwC, Hyland, Syssero and Onward already build and distribute apps through the marketplace, and in late 2025 Workday added Workday Build, a developer platform with low-code tools and AI agent builders for new apps on the platform.
Onboarding feedback, engagement surveys, exit interviews, manager effectiveness reviews: nearly every Workday customer runs surveys. Until now that has meant one of two set-ups.
Pick Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey, Culture Amp or similar, then use the Workday API to pull employee data in, trigger sends from Workday events and push responses back for reporting.
A pre-built Workday connector lowers the technical lift, but the architecture stays the same: two systems and one bridge.
Both work, and plenty of teams have run surveys this way for years. They also bring the same recurring problems:
This is the problem the Built-on Workday program was designed to solve. OnSurvey, built by Onward, is a Built-on Workday app for employee surveys, forms and feedback. It runs natively inside the Workday tenant, so there is no external system holding survey data, no API bridge to maintain and no separate security model. Surveys are created, sent, completed and analysed entirely within Workday.
App admins and survey functional admins build surveys and templates in the Workday interface. No vendor portal, no switching platforms.
Send a new-hire survey from the start date, an exit survey when a termination fires, or manager feedback after a promotion. The automation lives in Workday business processes.
Every response is tied to the respondent's Workday worker, so you can slice results by department, location, job family, tenure or manager.
Use Workday Prism Analytics, custom reports and worksheets. No separate BI tool or data pipeline to make sense of results.
Response data follows the security policies already in your tenant, the same way as every other piece of sensitive employee data.
Reach employees through Workday notifications, email or Slack, wherever they already work.
OnSurvey is a subscription app bought directly through Workday Marketplace, so procurement runs through your existing Workday relationship.
Integration connects two systems. Built-on Workday removes the need for the second system.
For use cases like employee surveys, where data sensitivity, automation and employee experience all matter, a native app such as OnSurvey removes the integration tax, keeps data where it belongs and gives your team one less system to manage. If you are evaluating survey tools, ask one question: does this run inside Workday, or next to it?
Explore the listing on Workday Marketplace or book a walkthrough with the Onward team.
An integrated app runs on the vendor’s own platform and exchanges data with Workday through APIs, RaaS, EIB or middleware. A Built-on Workday app runs inside your Workday tenant on Workday Extend, using Workday’s data model, security and user interface, so no second system is involved.
Workday Extend is Workday’s platform for building custom and partner applications that run inside the tenant. Built-on Workday apps are partner apps built on Extend and certified by Workday.
No. It reads and writes data in place inside the tenant, and access follows the security policies you already configured.
Yes. OnSurvey by Onward runs natively in Workday for employee surveys, forms and feedback, and is available on Workday Marketplace.
Yes. Survey sends can be tied to Workday business processes, such as a hire, termination or promotion, and responses are linked to the worker record for reporting.
Run surveys inside Workday
OnSurvey is a Built-on Workday app for surveys, forms and feedback. No integration, no data copies.
OnSurvey keeps survey data, security and reporting in your tenant. Find it on Workday Marketplace or talk to the Onward team.
With OnSurvey in Workday
