Paylocity vs. UKG Ready

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Paylocity
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
Paylocity provides 24/7 access to your online payroll and human resource data management. Paylocity offers highly customizable payroll functionality, as well as HR, benefits administration, and time and talent management programs.N/A
UKG Ready
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
The UKG Ready® software suite is a centralized HCM solution designed for small to mid-sized businesses. It automates and streamlines HR, payroll, benefits, time, talent, and scheduling processes. UKG Ready's suite of tools offer actionable insights while helping to ensure compliance. Using AI, it draws on work, people, and culture data to boost efficiency and productivity. For example, UKG Ready streamlines core HR…N/A
Pricing
PaylocityUKG Ready
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
PaylocityUKG Ready
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeRequired
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
PaylocityUKG Ready
Considered Both Products
Paylocity
Chose Paylocity
My predecessor selected Paylocity, however I prefer it over the other HRIS products that I have used in the past. The only platform that I might prefer more is the UKG Ready system. It has a lot of customizable options that allow the end user to set up the system based on their …
Chose Paylocity
At the time we went with Paylocity - it was the feedback from other clients that made me go with Paylocity.
Chose Paylocity
We were a previous client of UKG and had a horrible implementation followed by several years of problematic software. Everything is "bolted" on, so nothing talks to each other despite what sales will tell you. They have merged so many products that one incorrect field can break …
Chose Paylocity
Pricing and ease of use were much better with Paylocity.
Chose Paylocity
I have been with my current employer for less than a year. Coming into a Paylocity environment for the 1st time I am impressed with what Paylocity has to offer.
I would like to see Paylocity offer an in person "Meeting of the Minds" style meeting for networking and learning …
Chose Paylocity
UKG was very robust and customizable but expensive and hard to manage without a very experienced HRIS/IT person on staff.
ADP was archaic and choppy.
Chose Paylocity
UKG and Paylocity were fairly similar, but we thought the user experience seemed simpler with Paylocity. Paycom did not have as great of customer service and was much more expensive.
Chose Paylocity
We left ADP because of their horrific customer service. Although Paylocity's can certainly improve, I would say it's easier to communicate with their support staff than with ADP. The only thing I miss from ADP is our time off balances were never affected by the fact we pay …
Chose Paylocity
Paylocity by far has the best reporting, during a time import it can break out into multiple payrates, I really like the ACA reporting.

GoCo Had a really good clint management system would meet on a weekly bases.
Chose Paylocity
Paylocity was a good value for our agency and we wish the recruiting and applicant tracking was more robust, but given the value of the product, we have chosen to work around that area.
Chose Paylocity
I felt like Paylocity had more to offer and would be more intuitive for our employees at the time. I do like UKG's platform and have seriously considered it. Paylocity was levels above Paychex when I used that.
Chose Paylocity
Paylocity is easily the worst one. It's clunky and the modules do not talk to each other well. It requires a lot of manual work, the user interface is horrible, and the system is glitchy.
UKG Ready
Chose UKG Ready
Not allowing me to list Ultimate Software (most likely due to the merger), but there is a comparison to be had. UKG Ready HR management is a great product and stacks up above Paylocity. I would say it is similar to Ultimate software (not listed as I assume that you are …
Chose UKG Ready
UKG is great for reporting and for having a pleasant UI. I find that Paylocity has a lot more innovation, but sometimes its reach exceeds its grasp when it comes to implementation of those features. ADP is bog standard, and it works pretty well, but there's little interest in …
Chose UKG Ready
UKG Ready reporting is one of their best features. If you enter data into the system you can run a report on it and export it in multiple formats. It is an invaluable tool which most other payroll/HR platforms lack.
Chose UKG Ready
A huge benefit to having Kronos is the Resources available. Our organization has received so much assistance from Michelle.
Features
PaylocityUKG Ready
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
7.9
1146 Ratings
1% above category average
UKG Ready
9.3
196 Ratings
17% above category average
Employee demographic data8.61088 Ratings9.7172 Ratings
Employment history8.21050 Ratings9.4167 Ratings
Job profiles and administration8.0980 Ratings9.5168 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.7.6993 Ratings9.4157 Ratings
Organizational charting7.2923 Ratings8.1127 Ratings
Organization and location management7.9899 Ratings9.4149 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)7.6770 Ratings9.6125 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
8.2
1115 Ratings
3% above category average
UKG Ready
9.5
194 Ratings
17% above category average
Pay calculation8.71087 Ratings9.6182 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors7.5533 Ratings9.2112 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment8.6822 Ratings9.282 Ratings
Benefit plan administration7.6752 Ratings9.6141 Ratings
Direct deposit files9.01084 Ratings9.8145 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management8.1866 Ratings9.6133 Ratings
Reimbursement management8.0543 Ratings00 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
7.5
943 Ratings
6% below category average
UKG Ready
9.5
175 Ratings
17% above category average
Approval workflow7.5841 Ratings9.5159 Ratings
Balance details7.4900 Ratings9.3167 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment7.7709 Ratings9.6142 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
8.5
1127 Ratings
5% above category average
UKG Ready
8.7
183 Ratings
7% above category average
View and generate pay and benefit information8.61097 Ratings9.6163 Ratings
Update personal information8.81117 Ratings9.6170 Ratings
View company policy documentation8.1899 Ratings6.0143 Ratings
Employee recognition8.3811 Ratings00 Ratings
View job history8.5963 Ratings9.6146 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
7.1
349 Ratings
13% below category average
UKG Ready
9.8
67 Ratings
19% above category average
Tracking of all physical assets7.1349 Ratings9.867 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
7.4
1038 Ratings
1% below category average
UKG Ready
8.7
191 Ratings
15% above category average
Report builder7.5993 Ratings8.2184 Ratings
Pre-built reports7.61013 Ratings9.1185 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data7.3645 Ratings00 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
8.4
975 Ratings
6% above category average
UKG Ready
7.8
129 Ratings
1% below category average
New hire portal8.5969 Ratings7.3127 Ratings
Manager tracking tools8.2778 Ratings8.3102 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
7.8
536 Ratings
2% below category average
UKG Ready
8.3
74 Ratings
5% above category average
Corporate goal setting7.9422 Ratings00 Ratings
Individual goal setting7.7493 Ratings8.466 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility7.8371 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance tracking7.8499 Ratings8.373 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
7.5
678 Ratings
4% below category average
UKG Ready
7.3
93 Ratings
7% below category average
Performance plans7.5614 Ratings6.383 Ratings
Performance improvement plans7.5526 Ratings6.376 Ratings
Review status tracking7.5625 Ratings8.284 Ratings
Review reminders7.7629 Ratings8.787 Ratings
Multiple review frequency7.6526 Ratings6.873 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
7.3
352 Ratings
7% below category average
UKG Ready
7.0
27 Ratings
11% below category average
Create succession plans/pools6.7235 Ratings5.826 Ratings
Candidate ranking7.2289 Ratings7.56 Ratings
Candidate search8.0322 Ratings7.47 Ratings
Candidate development7.5261 Ratings7.45 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Paylocity
8.0
644 Ratings
3% above category average
UKG Ready
7.2
100 Ratings
7% below category average
Job Requisition Management8.0550 Ratings7.186 Ratings
Company Website Posting8.2573 Ratings9.283 Ratings
Publish to Social Media8.0451 Ratings6.162 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting8.0546 Ratings7.265 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention7.6466 Ratings5.764 Ratings
Applicant Tracking8.2595 Ratings7.988 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts7.9592 Ratings6.893 Ratings
Best Alternatives
PaylocityUKG Ready
Small Businesses
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.5 out of 10
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.7 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.7 out of 10
Enterprises
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 9.9 out of 10
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 9.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
PaylocityUKG Ready
Likelihood to Recommend
8.5
(1213 ratings)
8.8
(221 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.0
(118 ratings)
7.1
(18 ratings)
Usability
8.8
(78 ratings)
8.9
(103 ratings)
Availability
9.8
(17 ratings)
9.0
(3 ratings)
Performance
9.6
(17 ratings)
9.3
(7 ratings)
Support Rating
7.9
(105 ratings)
6.8
(74 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.5
(2 ratings)
7.8
(2 ratings)
Online Training
7.8
(15 ratings)
6.0
(4 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.2
(55 ratings)
6.0
(10 ratings)
Configurability
8.0
(13 ratings)
8.0
(4 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
8.8
(13 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
8.2
(15 ratings)
5.2
(75 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.2
(16 ratings)
8.0
(3 ratings)
Professional Services
9.7
(9 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.2
(17 ratings)
8.0
(3 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.7
(16 ratings)
8.0
(3 ratings)
User Testimonials
PaylocityUKG Ready
Likelihood to Recommend
Paylocity
Paylocity appears to be well-suited for startups to large businesses. As with any product, finding the right price point for the services provided is the challenge. Always remember that one small company that would really appreciate the "benefits essentials" or some other part of the platform but can't afford them right now, may be the ones to get you that large company through word of mouth...IF they had been able to experience that part of the product and refer it to others.
Read full review
UKG
There’s not much for me to share here other than multiple mobile apps for employees to download for different functions. We have the learning function activated and employees had to download a second mobile app (HCMToGo Learning) to be able to access the Learning portal on the go. Concerned that if we continue to add more functionality, there will be more apps to download.
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Pros
Paylocity
  • Payroll is made pretty easy. I love that we have the ability to log into payroll, we just upload the information from commissions, things like that where there are exceptions to a regular payroll run. It may make it very easy to do that, just a quick upload. Additionally, when we're in the payroll grid, it gives us the ability to just make quick changes to people's pay or their tax schedule, tax withholdings, things like that without having to go through a lot of different screens. It's just very easy to access just for the click of a button. Love that.
  • We talked about performance reviews, talked about payroll with benefits administration, it allows us to utilize EDI feeds with our benefit vendors so it creates a seamless, but we just enter the information into Paylocity and then it seamlessly provides that information to our vendors. That's been really helpful. And adjusting benefits is also very easy within Paylocity. I love the recent edition of compensation analysis information, so I'm able to go into the compensation module and look for jobs that are similar to a job title at our company. I can enter the job description, I give them what state that the person or the job is in, and it pops out compensation data. It gives me different options, so titles that might be similar. So if there's not something that's an exact fit, I'm able to find something really, really close. It's been a huge upgrade because before that I was having to use a different vendor and paying $400 per job and now it's significantly less expensive to Paylocity and I'm still getting great quality data. It's been very helpful.
Read full review
UKG
  • Support—UKG support, from the Account Managers to CSMs to Ready Support, is amazing. They are always willing to help!
  • Documentation—UKG has built-in online documentation, which is a live, easy-to-use version of a very lengthy manual.
  • Ease of use- the system is intuitive, easy to train others to use.
Read full review
Cons
Paylocity
  • We have had lots of year end issues specifically with Partners W2's.
  • We had an accrual issue that was causing 2 additional vacation/sick accruals per year.
  • When updating accruals- the paperwork to do so is confusing at times. I feel there is little support to assist you in filling the paperwork correctly to reflect what you need the accrual to actually do.
Read full review
UKG
  • We have had ongoing issues with our accruals.
  • Auto generate timesheets in the "Team Timesheets" view.
  • Granting manager access is cumbersome - access needs to be given in multiple places.
  • The sync between Pro and Ready in my opinion is terrible and needs much improvement.
  • Auto assign Employee Time Zones based on work location.
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Likelihood to Renew
Paylocity
There are several technical issues we have experienced this past year with the employee onboarding process that we are still waiting to have resolved. Overall our experience with Paylocity has been positive, and we love how user-friendly and easy to navigate the system is. It has made all of our HR processes much more streamlined and efficient.
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UKG
We plan to renew our support and use of UKG Ready each year unless it becomes unavailable or the district seeks another vendor. As of now, there are no plans to changes vendors. The district staff is now familiar with using UKG. Another vendor will need to meet the same expectations we have come to enjoy with using UKG
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Usability
Paylocity
I would give it that overall rating because we implemented in 2023 and so although that may feel like a lot of time, it still is, we still have a lot to learn and so I'm optimistic that as we learn more that rating will increase.
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UKG
The few challenges we have encountered have been with creating reports for the organization, managing performance goals and creating service tickets for urgent matters. Overall we have found UKG Ready to be super helpful and it has streamlined many of our HR processes for us but there could be some improvements on the items listed
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Reliability and Availability
Paylocity
Over the last 3 years, we've only had one major service issue that rendered Airbase unusable for us for about 24 hours. That said, they navigated the SVB bank crisis very well and made sure funds were available during that time.
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UKG
The system seems very stable. Being hosted in the cloud, we are vulnerable to internet speeds and busy times. The system has been down a couple times over the 3 months we have been live, but Kronos resolved the issues very quickly. To have access from a desktop, tablet, time clock, or phone app is one of the best features....users have almost NO REASON they can't clock in.
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Performance
Paylocity
We had some minor hiccups throughout the year but they have all been fixable. Paylocity integrates well with our 401k provider, Principal, and our benefits, OneDigital. It makes it simple to house everything and have it all connected. It doesn't slow anything down to have Principal integrated. It makes it more efficient
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UKG
We were always told that Kronos was the best, but there are reports that we got out of ADP and other payroll providers that we cannot get out of Kronos. One example is a report of Productive/Non-productive hours by department. We also need the dollar amount associated with the hours. This is information that is required on our cost report and we were told that that report is unavailable. It is very frustrating when I can't get what I need.
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Support Rating
Paylocity
It is very hard to get answers to your questions, you cannot speak to someone without days of requesting assistance or answers and then eventually can get a call back and then it is usually resolved fairly quickly. But NOT easy to get that help.
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UKG
If I was only rating support itself that would be a 10. Every support case I have entered has been addressed efficiently and with the desired result. On the implementation and transition to support there were multiple issues that those doing the implementation or transition could not answer or workflows and various settings left undone only to be discovered later. We implemented 3 different modules and the expertise we got for each one varied widely.
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In-Person Training
Paylocity
I didn't have in-person training, but I'm sure it was just as great as any other training/assistance Paylocity provides. Paylocity customer service is always available. You never have to be on hold and their answers are always accurate and timely. Documents in the help section are helpful as well. My in-person training was conducted y one of our employees who was involved in the initial set-up and training of all employees. She was excellent.
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UKG
Our in-person training was a hybrid. Live online training with an instructor. They were very knowledgeable of the product & the area they were training on. I asked several specific questions and if they didn't know the answer immediately they followed up after class.
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Online Training
Paylocity
The training was live online, but was with a group of other companies. We did not receive any personalized training with our team. Whenever we would ask for training, we would be sent a peak article link or a video. It felt like the reps we dealt with didn't know the answer to the questions.
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UKG
Pretty good online training, you have many how to options and can watch them several times. It can be hard at times to dig through the amount of data online but can usually find what you are looking for. Also you can download documentation for setting up the profiles and policies.
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Implementation Rating
Paylocity
Implementation was a bit bumpy and Paylocity team not always available for next steps and/or questions. I feel like Paylocity could have done a better job in their fact finding as far as what we were currently doing, our payroll policies and needs, etc. so that we would have run into less issues as we moved forward.
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UKG
Make sure the people who are doing the build have extensive knowledge on employment law and asking the right questions. I would bet that the people who helped with our builds did not read any of our employment contracts or ordinances; and when I asked questions about how other companies handled certain basic dictates from federal employment laws, they didn't have any idea what FMLA, FLSA, etc were.
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Alternatives Considered
Paylocity
We went through demos five years ago and we evaluated ADP and UKG in the past, and we used Paycor previously. In the past, I've used ADP and Kronos when it was still Kronos at other companies. So several different ones. One of the main reasons was that it was all one platform and you didn't have to log into other platforms for it to communicate with each other. Payroll talks to time that talks back to payroll and you don't have to log into anything separate. The reporting was also really easy and you didn't have to have a master's degree to do it.
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UKG
We currently use Paycom and are extremely dissatisfied with the lack of functionality and poor customer service. Rippling and ADP were other vendors we evaluated who performed well and offer a lot of functionality but we decided UKG was the best fit for our needs now and to scale with our strategic growth plans.
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Paylocity
I didn't help but I like the pricing
Read full review
UKG
No answers on this topic
Scalability
Paylocity
We have gone from a medium sized company to a larger company with no issues whatsoever with Paylocity being able to keep up or do what we need it to do for the size of our needs. In fact, it does more than we even use at this juncture
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UKG
Thus far we are able to add as many users as necessary, implement 3 different bargaining units, 5 different types of user groups. Very flexible.
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Professional Services
Paylocity
They are thorough, care about quality and success, take the time needed to implement properly, answer questions, build data feeds. A professional, caring, very skilled team there.
Read full review
UKG
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Paylocity
  • So when I first found Paylocity back in 2013 and was pitching it to the senior leadership company, my PowerPoint presentation, our return on investment was reducing errors in time and labor. We did paper time sheets back in the day back in 2007, 2008. So we were always running paper time sheets, Microsoft Excel or other standalone products, printing them out and hand keying them into a payroll system. So my ROI to our company was to save money and time on data entry and also to better manage the taxes. So we pay for the tax service, we're in 27 states having to manage that. Previously we were responsible for knowing what every state tax codes were, what every state tax compliance rules were. So with Paylocity we signed up for a tax service and that has been a huge return on investment.
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UKG
  • This is basic, but we finally know how many employees we have! It sounds ridiculous, but prior to UKG Ready we were on a payroll system that's reports were only as accurate as the last payroll cycle, so they were always 2 weeks behind and static. UKG Ready allows for realtime, daily reporting of information.
  • We are able to get salary data for our various locations to be able to compare them to each other, as well as across our "competitors" and external competition.
  • The data provided allows us to be able to understand the trends at individual locations including attrition, advancement, raise information, and other data points that we haven't historically done comparisons on
  • We can see the demographic and geographical information for our employees and the benefits that they elect
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ScreenShots

Paylocity Screenshots

Screenshot of a view of real-time employee data and performance metrics used to uncover and analyze trends. This creates an impactful understanding of the business, increase retention, understand labor costs, and plan for changes.Screenshot of where to automate manual processes with Paylocity's self-serve automation engine, Workflows. Users can implement routines for time-consuming manual tasks.Screenshot of where to manage and comply with employment law. Paylocity's HR Compliance solution helps users to stay on track and view important employee compliance items, from Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), healthcare, and compensation.Screenshot of how Paylocity Recruiting can automate hiring processes. amplify outreach, showcase a company's culture, and build stronger candidate connections to swiftly fill positions.Screenshot of recognition and rewards in Paylocity.

UKG Ready Screenshots

Screenshot of the employee mobile interface.Screenshot of trust index survey results.Screenshot of the manager dashboard.Screenshot of payroll analytics.