Compared to point solutions or single-market HR tools, UKG stands out for the breadth of its platform and its ability to support different levels of complexity. UKG Pro is built for organizations with advanced HR, payroll, and workforce needs, offering deep configurability and support for multi-entity or global operations, while UKG Ready delivers a simpler, all-in-one system that combines HR, payroll, time, scheduling, and talent management with a focus on automation and ease of use.
Ratings
Ease of Use
Best For
Key Differentiator
Price
Free Trial
PROS
- Super robust product, packing years of experience with HCM and Workforce Management technology
- Since they offer UKG Pro for HRMS and UKG Ready for workforce management, you could arrive at a combination of products that suits many of your HR needs from the same set of tools.
CONS
- Compared to newer tools, UKG Pro and UKG Ready tend to miss a unique selling point or a specific focus on a certain type of business. While they work great for bigger companies in all sorts of industries, very niche operations might have a hard time adapting to the tool.
- Similarly, UKG offers many solutions under one umbrella, so it's not the best fit if you're looking for only a handful of specific use cases.
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Ultimate Software was mainly known for its core HR tech product, UltiPro. Now that they’ve merged with Kronos, UltiPro has been rebranded as UKG Pro. The new company behind it, the Ultimate Kronos Group, aims to combine HCM capabilities with robust people data and analytics. Further, thanks in part to the merger, the word is that the service delivery of the HR teams that use UKG has improved considerably.
This combination of features and tools is what makes UKG a noteworthy mention in so many HR tech categories. Arguably, UKG Pro can be an HRIS, HCM suite, and HRMS. It has a payroll tool, which also relates nicely to its workforce management offering, UKG Ready.
The UKG Ready solution, for instance, allows teams to effectively manage the entire time and attendance process. With UKG Ready, it’s easy to punch in and out, manually edit timestamps or change billing coding for different departments. This is a great solution for full comprehensive workforce management.
It’s also worth mentioning that the platform has an ACA compliance tool within the UKG Pro offering. UKG's ACA manager can help with filing compliance documents on your behalf, like 1095-C forms. This part of their tool includes features like a healthcare eligibility dashboard, automatic generation of forms, and pre-delivered reports for identifying ACA compliance.
UKG also offers payroll services for their Workforce Ready users. Aside from the software tools, you can get expert assistance with tax filing, garnishment processing, and distribution of checks and payroll documentation.
UKG’s products and expertise have been tested throughout the years and built out to the point where they have modules for just about everything you could imagine: payroll, benefits management, onboarding, time-tracking, and countless other HR functions.
I use UKG at least once a week. I use it for my annual goals, time management, and business intelligence reports. This system has been extremely helpful in tracking and updating strategic goals. There are many reports I run from this system that supports my week to week workload. This system has been instrumental in creating reports for EEO compliance.
UKG is user friendly. It enables my team to self-manage the tools within the system. It also helps hiring managers with bias awareness.
My company has used UKG for over 2 years. We wanted a system that would enhance the recruitment process experience. I have used the system for almost 2 years and the key benefits I enjoy is that it has been a repository for my diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy that all managers can share with their teams.
Sometimes there are small glitches in the system that need technical support. I wish the pricing was cheaper. I have not been able to launch directly into timesheet mode.
I have not used many other tools as this, however, I do like the tools that uses inclusive language to review job descriptions. It recommends specific adjectives in job postings.
People should think about what they really want to accomplish with this tool (i.e., talent management, payroll, ease of integration, etc.). Ask yourself about the level of self-service you want this product to deliver. Does it deliver what you need?
I have only used the product for less than two years and currently cannot compare if it has changed or evolved over time.
Technology industry
Not good fit for large companies
I personally use the tool every day. The main thing I use the tool for is pulling reports about employee information. I use these reports to provide talent metrics to our executive leadership team. I also use the tool daily to review the org chart. This assists in integrating employees into other programs we use, like Officevibe and Linkedin Learning, which UKG does not directly integrate into. One other workflow we use UKG for is assigning HR tasks. You can create custom tasks, so we use it to keep track of tasks that are not related to UKG, like removing people from other programs when they are offboarded.
Honestly, I do not like UKG, but these are 3 pros:
- The org chart is nice to be able to see who each person reports to (although only HR is able to see it)
- The HR checklist tasks are useful to keep track of tasks.
- The ability to filter reports before exporting is useful.
Our organization bought UKG to replace our old HRIS. We previously were with BambooHR but moved to UKG so that we could move payroll internally. We have been using the tool for one year. This tool provides the bare minimum needed for an HRIS as we have the basic version. We have used the tool for one year, but we are already looking for a new HRIS to move to because we have had a very bad experience with both the tool and customer support. I personally use the tool daily to run reports and review the organization chart.
- Pulling reports is so complicated. It is not streamlined at all.
- When conducting payroll, we get LOTS of error flags that we have to go through (and by LOTS I mean 75-100)
- The org chart is only accessible by the HR dept.
- It is just not user-friendly. I often have to hold the hands of our employees to show them how to submit a PTO request, change their personal info, etc.
This tool is much worse than similar tools in my opinion. The reason we switched was so that we could have an internal payroll solution, but after just 1 year we are already looking for a different tool.
The first criteria people should consider is whether the tool meets all of their requirements. That is the reason we switched to UKG because our old system did not meet our new requirements. Next, people should consider whether it has add-ons that support their business. We are looking for a system that has a built-in performance management solution, as well as L&D functions.
No. The customer support has not been helpful to us.
Small companies that want to do internal payroll but do not need all of the bells and whistles (and who do not mind spending a lot of time on payroll and pulling reports). I do not recommend the tool.
Most organizations. Any org that wants additional tools beyond the bare minimum. Any org that is big enough to need an org chart. We are at 250 and it is already an inefficient tool for us.
Paylocity
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BambooHR
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ADP
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UKG offers many solutions and modules within its platform. Hence it's not the best fit for companies in need of only a handful of specific use cases. For example, it has no standalone ACA module. Therefore, it is best for large or enterprise companies looking for an entire HR suite plus many other perks.
Through the years, UKG has been trusted by organizations like Tesla, Marriott, Yamaha, Aramark, Puma, Sony Music, Samsung, Mammoth, Temple University, MGM Grand, The YMCA, The Salvation Army, and Feeding America.
- People analytics: Gather intel on everything workforce-related and use it to make strategic, AI-supported decisions.
- Compensation management: UKG Ready can automate and streamline the entire compensation management process. This add-on supports annual, nonannual, cycle-based, and off-cycle merit and promotion-based salary increases.
- People center: With UKG Pro, you get a complete picture of your entire employee population. This instant access to business intelligence can drive decision-making.
- Benefits administration: Employees can learn about, compare, and enroll in the compensation plans of their choosing. This part of the platform also provides educational tools and personalized recommendations.
UKG has capabilities for:
- Payroll
- Benefits administration
- Open enrollment and life events
- Tax management
- Talent management
- Document manager
- Onboarding
- Compensation management
- Succession planning
- Mobile app (Android & iOS)
While their integrations are limited, UKG does have API capabilities. UKG’s products can integrate with tools like LinkedIn, Branch, Workday, Jostle, and many more. There are more integrations for other HR, payroll, ERP, patient information systems, and other back-office applications. If once you look into it you realize that they don’t integrate with a particular part of your tech stack, you should know that they sometimes provide custom solutions on a case-by-case basis.
UKG uses subscription-based pricing. Cost is determined by employee count, selected features, and additional add-ons. Specific pricing requires a quote from UKG sales.
UKG Pro is best suited for organizations with complex HR and payroll requirements, such as large enterprises, global teams, or companies with sophisticated reporting, compliance, and workforce planning needs. It’s designed for teams that need depth, configurability, and long-term scalability.
UKG Ready is typically a better fit for small to mid-sized businesses that want a unified system for HR, payroll, and workforce management without the overhead of an enterprise HCM. It works well for teams that prioritize simplicity, automation, and faster time-to-value over extensive customization.
Implementing UKG Pro or Ready can take up to a few months for large organizations. They also have numerous third-party services out there to assist with the implementation of its software.
Now, although it can vary depending on if you’re implementing UKG Ready or UKG Pro, a typical implementation process can follow these six steps:
- Planning: Webinars, learning modules, timeline creation, introduction to the project manager.
- Assess: Goal setting, provide necessary data, approve solution design, review best practices.
- Solution Build: Build the system, integrate it with other systems, and administrator training.
- Test & Clarify: Solution overview, internal training, workshops.
- Deploy & Support: "Go live" additional training, transition to support team.
- Additional Modules & Functionality: Implementation of additional solutions, for instance, the ACA module.
Aside from having customer success managers for their clients, UKG has many resources in place for their users. They’ve got a resources & insights page, for instance, where you can browse ROI tools and ebooks or guides for each of their features. They also have a support community page where customers can get their questions answered by experts as well as community members.
UKG was formed in 2020 through the merger of Ultimate Software and Kronos, two long-standing providers in the HR and workforce management space. The company is headquartered in the United States, with dual headquarters in Lowell, Massachusetts, and Weston, Florida.
Today, UKG operates as a single organization delivering HCM, payroll, and workforce management software to customers globally. The company is led by Jennifer Morgan, who serves as CEO.
While UKG’s roots stretch back to the founding of Kronos in 1977 and Ultimate Software in 1990, the modern UKG platform reflects a consolidation of those legacies into a unified product strategy focused on workforce experience, operational efficiency, and people analytics.
Company HQ
The company still keeps the headquarters from the two entities they were before the merger. That’s Lowell Massachusetts (Kronos) and Weston Florida (Ultimate Software).
Number of Employees
12,000+
Year Founded
Although the merger happened in 2020, it’s interesting to consider that Kronos Incorporated was founded in 1977 and Ultimate Software in 1990.
Amount Raised
FAQ
Is UKG Kronos?
Kronos merged with Ultimate Software in 2020, resulting in the creation of the UKG company (Ultimate Kronos Group). Kronos Workforce Ready, the company’s flagship time tracking software product, rebranded as UKG ready.
Is UKG the same as UltiPro?
Ultimate Software became the Ultimate Kronos Group as it merged with the company Kronos in 2020. UltiPro became UKG Pro, retaining much of the HCM software offering that made it so popular since the turn of the century with some added workforce management features.
Does UKG do payroll?
Whether it’s through UKG Ready or UKG Pro, their two main offerings based on the products they did before the merger, UKG is certainly able to process payroll. They offer the software tools to process it automatically, but they also provide expert assistance if needed.
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