BambooHR® vs. UKG Ready

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
BambooHR®
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
BambooHR is an cloud-based human resources solution that provides onboarding, payroll, and benefits management. It also offers automated time-off management and employee self-service.
$10
per month per user
UKG Ready
Score 8.0 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 functions by centralizing…N/A
Pricing
BambooHR®UKG Ready
Editions & Modules
Core
$10
per month per user
Pro
Contact Sales
per month
Elite
Contact Sales
per month
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
BambooHR®UKG Ready
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesYes
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalRequired
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
BambooHR®UKG Ready
Considered Both Products
BambooHR®
Chose BambooHR®
I needed a system that was easy to use from an admin level as well as employee level. We run a pretty simple operation as we do not have shift diffs or multiple approval levels. Some of the systems reviewed were too much for us and, as a result, too expensive. BambooHR® fit our …
UKG Ready
Chose UKG Ready
It has a better user-friendly experience, better reviews, and more value for your money.
Chose UKG Ready
So far I think the ADP products are competitive in their offerings. The new feel of Bamboo HR is much more appealing, but it doesn't do nearly enough function-wise.
Features
BambooHR®UKG Ready
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
7.8
255 Ratings
4% below category average
UKG Ready
8.4
247 Ratings
4% above category average
Employee demographic data8.3228 Ratings8.9217 Ratings
Employment history8.1233 Ratings8.4211 Ratings
Job profiles and administration7.9228 Ratings8.3211 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.7.7215 Ratings8.3197 Ratings
Organizational charting7.5235 Ratings8.0161 Ratings
Organization and location management8.1226 Ratings8.2186 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)7.2131 Ratings8.8159 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
7.6
172 Ratings
7% below category average
UKG Ready
8.4
240 Ratings
3% above category average
Pay calculation8.3125 Ratings8.6222 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors6.892 Ratings8.0135 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment7.493 Ratings8.0116 Ratings
Benefit plan administration7.0131 Ratings8.5176 Ratings
Direct deposit files8.4128 Ratings8.6182 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management8.0140 Ratings8.8166 Ratings
Reimbursement management7.582 Ratings00 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
8.7
221 Ratings
6% above category average
UKG Ready
7.9
216 Ratings
3% below category average
Approval workflow8.5215 Ratings7.4198 Ratings
Balance details8.3206 Ratings7.5206 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment9.2129 Ratings8.9177 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
8.5
248 Ratings
4% above category average
UKG Ready
8.2
229 Ratings
0% below category average
View and generate pay and benefit information8.6167 Ratings8.1209 Ratings
Update personal information8.9244 Ratings8.3216 Ratings
View company policy documentation8.3216 Ratings7.9177 Ratings
Employee recognition7.9156 Ratings00 Ratings
View job history8.8233 Ratings8.4185 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
9.0
74 Ratings
11% above category average
UKG Ready
8.9
88 Ratings
10% above category average
Tracking of all physical assets9.074 Ratings8.988 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
7.1
209 Ratings
6% below category average
UKG Ready
8.2
232 Ratings
8% above category average
Report builder7.2202 Ratings8.0225 Ratings
Pre-built reports7.4200 Ratings8.4225 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data6.6144 Ratings00 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
8.1
212 Ratings
2% above category average
UKG Ready
7.8
161 Ratings
2% below category average
New hire portal8.3202 Ratings8.1159 Ratings
Manager tracking tools7.8189 Ratings7.6131 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
7.9
142 Ratings
2% below category average
UKG Ready
6.9
99 Ratings
15% below category average
Corporate goal setting7.0103 Ratings00 Ratings
Individual goal setting7.9136 Ratings6.991 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility9.069 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance tracking7.5130 Ratings6.998 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
7.8
160 Ratings
1% below category average
UKG Ready
7.5
125 Ratings
5% below category average
Performance plans7.3145 Ratings6.7113 Ratings
Performance improvement plans7.2122 Ratings6.7103 Ratings
Review status tracking8.597 Ratings8.3112 Ratings
Review reminders8.0101 Ratings8.5116 Ratings
Multiple review frequency7.8139 Ratings7.1101 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
8.9
81 Ratings
13% above category average
UKG Ready
6.7
51 Ratings
15% below category average
Create succession plans/pools8.646 Ratings5.743 Ratings
Candidate ranking8.967 Ratings6.624 Ratings
Candidate search8.868 Ratings7.330 Ratings
Candidate development9.159 Ratings7.225 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
8.0
180 Ratings
3% above category average
UKG Ready
7.5
131 Ratings
4% below category average
Job Requisition Management7.8137 Ratings7.5111 Ratings
Company Website Posting7.7148 Ratings7.8107 Ratings
Publish to Social Media9.291 Ratings7.383 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting7.4144 Ratings7.689 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention7.588 Ratings7.484 Ratings
Applicant Tracking8.1164 Ratings7.8112 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts8.0171 Ratings7.2120 Ratings
Best Alternatives
BambooHR®UKG Ready
Small Businesses
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.3 out of 10
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.3 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.1 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 10.0 out of 10
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 10.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
BambooHR®UKG Ready
Likelihood to Recommend
8.2
(245 ratings)
8.3
(259 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.8
(17 ratings)
7.9
(19 ratings)
Usability
8.6
(173 ratings)
8.7
(138 ratings)
Availability
9.3
(5 ratings)
5.1
(4 ratings)
Performance
8.7
(5 ratings)
5.0
(8 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(137 ratings)
5.1
(75 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
7.8
(2 ratings)
Online Training
9.2
(4 ratings)
6.0
(4 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.6
(6 ratings)
5.0
(11 ratings)
Configurability
8.7
(4 ratings)
5.1
(5 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
8.4
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.6
(2 ratings)
6.4
(111 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.9
(5 ratings)
3.1
(4 ratings)
Professional Services
9.2
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.9
(4 ratings)
5.1
(4 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.1
(4 ratings)
5.1
(4 ratings)
User Testimonials
BambooHR®UKG Ready
Likelihood to Recommend
BambooHR
Performance management - the prompt questions are really helpful in distilling thoughts! Though it would still be great to have an optional box for additional feedback that might not be directly related to the prompt questions. The clean interface and user friendliness is a definite plus! But some specific features, eg. on TOIL application - it would be helpful to ensure it is intuitive to use, rather than confusing with the input process.
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UKG
I might recommend UKG to a larger organization than ours. The complexity is rich, but perhaps it is too powerful a tool for what we need. That or it's a bit messy in its construction, having so many tools available but difficult to find or not working appropriately. UKG Ready processes payroll efficiently and with ease, but unless you are using a simple accounting platform it may not be able to easily integrate with yours
Read full review
Pros
BambooHR
  • Recruiting- communications are easy for both the internal team and candidates
  • Onboarding- the onboarding tasks are great. I love being able to attach documents as well as delay sending out tasks
  • Communication- the employee community is a great tool to keep our communications clean and organized. I love that we now have insight as to who has viewed the comms
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
BambooHR
  • The biggest issue is on performance assessments. We are not able to customize the reminder dates so the automated reminder dates shown to people and on the email reminders is often misaligned with our actual internal deadlines. This causes a lot of confusion each review cycle.
  • Also on performance management, there is no way to push feedback to a supervisor for their direct report. The only way is if the manager requests the feedback from you. This limits the opportunity for people to give real time feedback throughout the half.
  • I wish we had a way to track notes from employee 1:1s in BambooHR® so when we do our performance reviews we can track. That may be a module we didn't purchase but it would facilitate more continuous and comprehensive evaluation of people at review time.
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.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
BambooHR
There's nothing wrong with this platform. I would recommend it to any business starting with more than 10 employees. I will continue to use the program for as long as I need to, hoping they continue being tremendous and finding other ways to incorporate more technology.
Read full review
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
BambooHR
Just because there's a little complex with everything that's rolling out and so I have had to walk some people through functionality because there's just so much to click at this point. Another thing is the review process doesn't allow for ratings with a number scale, and I know we're kind of getting away from that as an industry, but with our previous system we have been rating people for their merit percent increase on their wages at the end of the year and it doesn't have the functionality to do that.
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UKG
UKG is the platform with the best overall usability on both an admin and user side. Employees find it easy to update personal information, the dashboards are clear and easy to follow, and the navigation of it is also easy to follow. Overall my favorite platform to use and learn more about.
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Reliability and Availability
BambooHR
Yes, there is a huge team in the back of the online platform or it looks like it because I have never been left without an answer when I have a question or waiting from a response on my chat .... There must be a huge team, this is so great and I always seem to have someone that is very knowledgeable too. So many times in the past I had to leave with customer service that would connect you with someone else because of the expertise, here everyone seems to be some kind of an expert in the HR function.
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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
BambooHR
I love BambooHR. Reports are easy to run and download and it usually covers any types of requests I get from the management team. You get excel or .csv downloads/reports and it is fast and simple, not too crowded so it is easy to read through. We don't integrate the tool yet but again, soon we will. we just did not had the time to utilize it yet but that's the plan.
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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
BambooHR
I use the chat feature most often and the wait times can be long, but often I do get right in. When they promise to follow up, they always do. It seems the "support hero's" are very well training and knowledgeable. There are lots of resources in the form of print or video, too.
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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
BambooHR
I didn't have in-person training besides teaching my managers how to use the program. However, I couldn't omit this question (maybe a system glitch).
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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
BambooHR
Overall this training was great and our implementation specialist was wonderful and very helpful. We felt really prepared once our training was completed, But we could get additional help immediately even when we were live. The continuation Support heros after implementation are wonderful and you can always get a LIVE person each time you call into their office.
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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
BambooHR
We implemented bambooHR in Fall, 2023 then implemented Payroll 1/1/24. A vital piece of information was not known or missed in that we are exempt from State Unemployment Tax and have a Reimbursement Set-up, so bambooHR did not send Payroll Reports to the State. Those reports need to be sent regardless if we are exempt or not.
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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
BambooHR
Lattice is much more oriented towards performance management. It includes many more advanced performance management features from building actual assessments to also performance development planning. BambooHR® for us was a place to centralize our data and build from within as well as connect to external integrations. PerformYard is what we used prior to BambooHR® for onboarding workflows and performance reviews, but BambooHR® is far superior.
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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
BambooHR
Since my organization has dropped with employees, I always find ways to reduce costs. I thought there would be a cheaper option, but I was glad that my package included a lot for the price, and downgrading would cost more. The rep could have let me downgraded and taken me to a higher package. I am thankful that didn't happen.
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UKG
No answers on this topic
Scalability
BambooHR
There is so much you can do with this platform, it is incredible and so welcoming. We don't utilize it 100% yet just because we are growing and the HR team has not been able to concentrate on other areas offered to us but but we will soon. Which is also why we got the product, specifically because what BambooHR can do to help us meet our growing business needs.
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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.
Read full review
Professional Services
BambooHR
VERY professional!
Read full review
UKG
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
BambooHR
  • Time Savings: Automating onboarding, payroll, and employee record management has cut HR admin time by up to 30%, allowing teams to focus on strategic initiatives instead of paperwork.
  • Improved Onboarding: Streamlined workflows have cut onboarding time by nearly 50%, ensuring new hires are productive faster, reducing turnover risk in the critical first months.
  • - Enhanced Informational Clarity: Centralized employee data means fewer errors and faster access to essential information, reducing compliance risks and increasing accuracy in reporting.
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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

BambooHR® Screenshots

Screenshot of the Job Info tabScreenshot of Onboarding TasksScreenshot of a New Hire PacketScreenshot of an Employee Performance ReportScreenshot of Employee Satisfaction (eNPS®)Screenshot of Open Enrollment

UKG Ready Screenshots

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