This paper discusses and compares the different sub-processes that occur during the hydrogen sorption of practical systems based on metal hydrides, i.e. intrinsic kinetics, heat transfer and hydrogen transport. Derived from their modeling equations, a resistance analysis is developed on these hydrogen sorption sub-processes for the first time. This analysis allows quantifying how strongly each sub-process affects the overall sorption kinetics in a hydride bed and thereby the sorption-rate limiting sub-process can be identified. It was found that in the case of the hydrogen absorption of sodium alanate material the heat transfer resistance is the dominant and rate limiting sub-process, with the exception of small geometries. Besides, the resistance due to hydrogen transport is negligible in comparison to the overall absorption resistance. As a consequence, simulations and designs of scaled-up systems based on sodium alanate material always require heat transfer optimization as one of the foremost considerations. Copyright (C) 2014, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.