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SAP HCM vs UKG comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

SAP HCM
Ranking in Benefits Administration
3rd
Ranking in Talent Management
3rd
Ranking in Cloud HCM
3rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
UKG
Ranking in Benefits Administration
5th
Ranking in Talent Management
6th
Ranking in Cloud HCM
5th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
124
Ranking in other categories
Employee Scheduling Software (1st), Employee Time Tracking Software (2nd), HR Analytics Software (1st), Talent Acquisition (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Cloud HCM category, the mindshare of SAP HCM is 15.0%, down from 16.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of UKG is 5.0%, down from 5.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud HCM
 

Featured Reviews

Renelia Villanueva - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient payroll processing with comprehensive attendance management
I am currently heading the payroll benefits and HRIS team here in Manila. We are using SAP HCM on-premises, and we implemented SuccessFactors focusing on Employee Central and GMPM SAP HCM has helped a lot due to the always changing government regulations pertaining to taxation, social security…
Lonnie Fluck - PeerSpot reviewer
Helps us establish system front-end and back-end connectivity, but the recruiting features need improvement
I used UKG to track applicants and create job descriptions. We built the electronic onboarding system to be used nationwide and created a path to integrate with the backend The product's most valuable feature is the ability to establish connectivity between the front and the back end,…

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The technical support is quite good."
"I feel SAP HCM is very competitive and worth the investment given its capability to integrate modules and provide comprehensive value."
"The tool's best feature is SAP SuccessFactors."
"The stability of the solution is good."
"The valuable features of SAP HCM include managing employee data from hiring to retirement."
"We are satisfied with the reporting by SAP HCM."
"The compliance management functionality is quite good."
"Payroll processing is my favorite HCM feature, and I like all the SuccessFactors talent modules also. SAP is making good progress on enhancements to the features in the SF modules."
"The employee self-service feature is most valuable. This is the restaurant industry, and they have a mobile app that allows employees to go in and manage their data. So, employees can manage direct deposit accounts, emergency contacts, and other things in the app. That's definitely the biggest benefit."
"The solution's employee experience is pretty good."
"It is much easier to use and the customer service is better than our previous solution."
"The pay policies and approvals are valuable features."
"The setup process is straightforward."
"The solution has improved our organization by helping us cut hours and lessen our labor force. It saved us probably over $100,000 in just the last couple of years."
"The most valuable feature is being able to get time management reports which break out reclassified jobs and departments to separate areas of the company. This allows for better tracking of hours spent in certain jobs and where more hours may be needed."
"UKG allows us to customize our home screen so that we can easily monitor important items on a daily basis."
 

Cons

"The talent modules are lacking in HCM, so I would recommend switching to SuccessFactors for talent management, but HCM excels at time management and payroll."
"It would be very helpful for our company if a new version was released with the ability to contain all of the things that we have newly introduced in our company."
"The breadth of functionality offered by SAP HCM comes at a cost."
"We are able to optimize a lot of processes but there is always room for improvement."
"In my experience, SAP HCM and similar products are very good, but the focus now should be on providing features to encourage employee adoption. For example, accessing pay slips is a task that naturally drives adoption. However, AI tools that can prompt employees at the right time through the right application are needed for actions such as conducting surveys or gathering performance feedback."
"The setup comes with a set of challenges as well."
"The product's learning and development features could be better, including new exclusive LMS tools."
"The organizational structure visualization could be improved in future releases. The solution has a very poor interface."
"Reporting is always a hurdle for any user just because it is so extensive. They provide a lot of out-of-the-box reports, but it is something that you always need to work on because you need more advanced writing of reports."
"I would like to see more functionality in the next release to be able to get hours and dollars per calendar month rather than just by payroll in the Business Intelligence reports."
"The system is slow sometimes."
"I would like the capability to use UKG as a single platform without the need to alternate between systems."
"The solution could improve by simplifying it even more core reports, such as more sample reports, more generic reports that you can edit and improve on yourself."
"UKG has complex clock-in and clock-out features. It changes things too often, and it feels like the tool is constantly changing things without testing before implementing changes in production. Additionally, it doesn't communicate these changes very well."
"One area where UKG could improve is in its ability to understand its own competency and then work hard to improve it."
"The navigation on the screen could be better. Sometimes, I have to dig a little bit deep to find what I need. Everything is there. It just needs to be a little bit smoother."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The terms on which you buy licenses might change due to the way they license in a particular product."
"I believe HCM is a little expensive, but I don't know the exact price because I'm involved with the sales team. However, I think the price must be reasonable because many organizations are migrating their current ERPs to SAP. It's excellent software, and the price is competitive."
"For implementation, SAP offers little support unless you buy SAP Safeguarding from SAP Consulting."
"The pricing depends upon the specific model and number of user accounts included in a bundle."
"Licensing is pretty complex. SAP does not have a straight forward way of licensing, and it differs from client to client."
"The cost of SAP HCM is high, the license should be reduced. SAP HCM has a lot of hidden costs."
"Be careful and guard against future changes in licensing."
"The cost depends on the size of the organization. Compared to others, I'd say Oracle is number one, followed by Workday and SAP HCM."
"The platform is not affordable but also not the most expensive."
"UKG's pricing and licensing model involves ongoing expenses based on the number of employees paid. The initial implementation cost is low when UKG implements it directly. However, when partners handle the implementation, it becomes more expensive since partners don't receive the monthly recurring fees."
"The pricing depends on the number of licenses we buy."
"If you're going for the full suite, it can be fairly pricey."
"I wasn't involved in the pricing part. I'm a user, and I believe it is based on the user count. One thing that is nice about Ultimate is that you can learn how to use the system without additional fees. The learning aspect is the life of a product, and the training was a huge reason why we went with Ultimate. We did have some integration costs. They were a part of the implementation because of the integrations to other systems that we included in our implementation."
"While I am unsure of the licensing cost itself, the total cost of implementation and licensing for a company with over 5000 employees would be around 6,00,000. So, there are additional costs beyond licensing."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Retailer
5%
Educational Organization
90%
Computer Software Company
1%
Healthcare Company
1%
Manufacturing Company
1%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about SAP HCM?
SAP HCM is the one of the best ERP for an organization with a small to large scale business. It has the most efficient payroll functionality. Regards : SAP HR classes in pune
What do you like most about SAP HCM?
HCM is a very important module that each organization should want to use. It will help any organization to calculate and control the cost of their human resources.
What is better, SAP HCM or SAP SuccessFactors?
When it comes to user experience, SuccessFactors is unquestionably superior, as it provides end users with a new experience and an advanced user interface. Additionally, the entire concept of SF is...
What needs improvement with UKG?
Our company is testing the UKG Ready Mobile App, but there are some glitches. I feel that in the system when you log on to Kronos, UKG Dimensions, and UKG Workforce Central, we have different modul...
What is your primary use case for UKG?
I worked with UKG globally, assisting with its implementation in 59 countries. In my company, we use it for the timekeeping aspect offered, payroll purposes, and other stuff like that. It is used f...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

SAP Human Capital Management
UKG Pro, UKG Dimensons, UKG Ready
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

City of Cape Town, ADAMA Agricultural Solutions Ltd., TransAlta Corporation, Keolis, PT XL Axiata Tbk, National Football League (NFL), Plan International, Yoh, A Day & Zimmermann Company, China Talent Group (CTG TMO), Umicore S.A., Butterfield Bank, Skrill Group Ltd.
Tesla, Marriott, Yamaha, Aramark, Feeding America, Samsung, Sony Music, Dave & Buster's, Revlon
Find out what your peers are saying about SAP HCM vs. UKG and other solutions. Updated: February 2025.
837,501 professionals have used our research since 2012.