Payroll by Wave vs. UKG Pro

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Payroll by Wave
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Wave Accounting headquartered in Toronto now offers Payroll by Wave, a payroll app for small businesses.N/A
UKG Pro
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
UKG delivers cloud-based HCM solutions including UKG Pro that help businesses simplify payroll computations, accelerate talent acquisition, manage time and attendance, and support proactive, strategic talent management on a global level.N/A
Pricing
Payroll by WaveUKG Pro
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Payroll by WaveUKG Pro
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Features
Payroll by WaveUKG Pro
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Payroll by Wave
9.4
3 Ratings
15% above category average
UKG Pro
8.6
746 Ratings
7% above category average
Pay calculation10.03 Ratings9.0709 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors9.02 Ratings8.2336 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment9.02 Ratings8.8231 Ratings
Benefit plan administration9.01 Ratings8.1643 Ratings
Direct deposit files10.03 Ratings9.3702 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management9.03 Ratings8.8573 Ratings
Reimbursement management10.01 Ratings8.057 Ratings
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
Payroll by Wave
-
Ratings
UKG Pro
8.3
803 Ratings
6% above category average
Employee demographic data00 Ratings8.7731 Ratings
Employment history00 Ratings8.7762 Ratings
Job profiles and administration00 Ratings8.6733 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.00 Ratings8.3721 Ratings
Organizational charting00 Ratings7.7643 Ratings
Organization and location management00 Ratings8.2656 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)00 Ratings8.1517 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
Payroll by Wave
-
Ratings
UKG Pro
8.4
563 Ratings
4% above category average
Approval workflow00 Ratings8.8504 Ratings
Balance details00 Ratings8.4529 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment00 Ratings8.1434 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
Payroll by Wave
-
Ratings
UKG Pro
8.5
798 Ratings
5% above category average
View and generate pay and benefit information00 Ratings8.8769 Ratings
Update personal information00 Ratings8.9776 Ratings
View company policy documentation00 Ratings8.5564 Ratings
Employee recognition00 Ratings7.4287 Ratings
View job history00 Ratings8.9759 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
Payroll by Wave
-
Ratings
UKG Pro
8.5
189 Ratings
9% above category average
Tracking of all physical assets00 Ratings8.5189 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Payroll by Wave
-
Ratings
UKG Pro
7.7
734 Ratings
1% above category average
Report builder00 Ratings7.7714 Ratings
Pre-built reports00 Ratings7.9724 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data00 Ratings7.5495 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
Payroll by Wave
-
Ratings
UKG Pro
8.6
557 Ratings
7% above category average
New hire portal00 Ratings8.6554 Ratings
Manager tracking tools00 Ratings8.6444 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
Payroll by Wave
-
Ratings
UKG Pro
7.9
377 Ratings
3% below category average
Corporate goal setting00 Ratings8.1293 Ratings
Individual goal setting00 Ratings7.7359 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility00 Ratings7.9251 Ratings
Performance tracking00 Ratings7.8333 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
Payroll by Wave
-
Ratings
UKG Pro
8.1
465 Ratings
2% above category average
Performance plans00 Ratings7.8415 Ratings
Performance improvement plans00 Ratings7.7326 Ratings
Review status tracking00 Ratings8.3436 Ratings
Review reminders00 Ratings8.3397 Ratings
Multiple review frequency00 Ratings8.3337 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
Payroll by Wave
-
Ratings
UKG Pro
8.4
187 Ratings
6% above category average
Create succession plans/pools00 Ratings8.5155 Ratings
Candidate ranking00 Ratings8.3164 Ratings
Candidate search00 Ratings8.4163 Ratings
Candidate development00 Ratings8.5152 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Payroll by Wave
-
Ratings
UKG Pro
8.5
456 Ratings
9% above category average
Job Requisition Management00 Ratings8.8434 Ratings
Company Website Posting00 Ratings9.1422 Ratings
Publish to Social Media00 Ratings8.7333 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting00 Ratings8.8390 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention00 Ratings7.1323 Ratings
Applicant Tracking00 Ratings8.6421 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts00 Ratings8.4388 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Payroll by WaveUKG Pro
Small Businesses
Patriot Software
Patriot Software
Score 9.0 out of 10
Patriot Software
Patriot Software
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.5 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.3 out of 10
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Payroll by WaveUKG Pro
Likelihood to Recommend
10.0
(4 ratings)
8.3
(928 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
8.9
(194 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
8.5
(188 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(74 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
9.4
(331 ratings)
Support Rating
8.9
(2 ratings)
6.6
(492 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
9.6
(87 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(202 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.9
(86 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
9.9
(76 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
9.9
(65 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
9.4
(93 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(55 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.9
(48 ratings)
User Testimonials
Payroll by WaveUKG Pro
Likelihood to Recommend
Wave
Great for small business payroll needs. Reports and taxes are taken care of, everything is automated and once you're set up it's literally just a matter of minutes to run payroll each time. You also get email reminders which is helpful. There are premium features available for companies with larger/more robust needs, and I would definitely recommend looking into this software if you are searching for a user friendly payroll solution
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UKG
UKG did well when we had issues with employees working for both agencies. We called the Rapid Response Team, and they fixed those issues on their back end. Another example is with the Amended W-2 form; they gave us instructions to do it ourselves, but it was not working, and need to make phone calls to get help.
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Pros
Wave
  • An intuitive, clear UI helps you know where everything is, what options are at your disposal. Calendars and timelines show that Wave really thought out how to provide you with useful tool.
  • Pay day can be automated and straightforward.
  • Wave onboarding provides guidance at what information to input next until you are all set up.
Read full review
UKG
  • UKG has an amazing support team to reach out to if assistance is needed
  • All add-ons of UKG Pro integrate seamlessly making it a powerful software program
  • UKG Pro is very configurable to meet the specific needs of companies
  • It is easy to use and navigate
  • The mobile app is loved by all employees and provides on-demand access
  • The Ultimate Community is amazing!! On-demand information on all products and how they are used. Connect with other companies that use UKG Pro and learn from each other.
  • The Learning Centre is also amazing!! Learning right at your fingertips anytime, anywhere.
Read full review
Cons
Wave
  • Additional filings such as WorkSafe, etc.
  • More flexibility when it comes to paying a director.
Read full review
UKG
  • As UKG is aware, the support for customers needs some improvement. As the recent changes to the staffing/support hierarchy take effect, I hope to see some relief to the current frustrations.
  • As the UKG Pro products evolve, they need to become more integrated and less segmented. Having to purchase multiple products that then need to coordinate for processing leads to issues.
  • As users, we have a lot of options for self-service and customization, but some simple fixes still require assistance from UKG support. Give us the power to help ourselves whenever possible.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Wave
No answers on this topic
UKG
We are overall happy with UltiPro and it works well for our organization and we have plans to expand our usage of it even more so we will definitely be continuing with the product. We are thinking of adding the functionality for training and recruiting as well, which is an add-on product
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Usability
Wave
No answers on this topic
UKG
Mobile App: Really easy to use and its nice to have an HR software that actually has an mobile application to be able to enter time and to take care of everything with. Web App: The system is relatively easy to use with maybe a little training at the beginning if you have used another system. But the site is really easy to use and a lot better having everything under one roof
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Reliability and Availability
Wave
No answers on this topic
UKG
I've found Ultipro to be completely reliable. Outages are typically planned to occur on weekends and only once did I have connections issues connecting Citrix to the server where our environment was housed, but within the hour connection was restored. I think that's a pretty good track record, considering I've used the suite daily for over three years. Especially when processing payroll--say the internet goes down in the middle of you performing a task... Ultipro is able to recognize that a connection error occurred and quickly restores the process that was running, avoiding lost productivity.
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Performance
Wave
No answers on this topic
UKG
Normally UKG Pro loads quickly. We had been having major issues with reports running in a timely manner but recently they broke out our virtual server to another instance where is wasn't sharing resources and that seems to have helped reporting run more efficiently.
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Support Rating
Wave
Quick response times, personalized service. They offer in-depth videos and guides for helping to get set up. Any time I have a question about taxes or reporting, they answer quickly and give comprehensive answers. Members of the team with whom I've interacted have been courteous, friendly, and helpful. Overall, great support.
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UKG
Support is quick to respond and helpful when you don't understand how to use or implement their response. They are great at following up and checking in as well as escalating cases when they are more urgent and need more attention.
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In-Person Training
Wave
No answers on this topic
UKG
I've been to a few in-person (hands on) training sessions and it is very similar to the online classes. You have the same reference material to look back on after the training. So regardless of in person training or online you really get the same thing.
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Online Training
Wave
No answers on this topic
UKG
Most of the online training was very generic (to be expected) but we had specific requirements for configuration that could have been better addressed with more individual sessions earlier on from our project team. However, we did finally begin booking training sessions with our implementation team which were recorded, and so provided additional information for how to correctly configure and test the system.
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Implementation Rating
Wave
No answers on this topic
UKG
Make sure you have all of your tax account information with all the states you are registered in available and that you are knowledgeable about the filing status, frequency, etc. We had some unique challenges with our state unemployment tax set up that I was not aware of and needed to be addressed prior to going live. Working with the state unemployment office can be a challenge.
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Alternatives Considered
Wave
We moved away from Wave as most of our contractors are time-based, and Wave flat out refuses to provide time tracking features. We tried integrations, but the pricing/complexity goes up and reliability goes down when integrating systems which were not intended to communicate. We since moved to Avaza and sacrificed Payroll for more robust time tracking, project management, and a very open feature development process
Read full review
UKG
My experience with HRIS systems is limited to UKG Pro. It is the only HRIS I have worked with. I have worked with other systems that perform the tasks of some of its models and have found that when used with the various modules the overall experience with UKG is great. The ability to have all of the modules on the same platform makes the integration between UKG Pro and the modules great!
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Scalability
Wave
No answers on this topic
UKG
Read full review
Return on Investment
Wave
  • Ensuring that I am compliant with my payroll obligations.
  • Less time spent on managing employee payroll.
Read full review
UKG
  • We have increased our HR activities to 85% through UKG. OSHA and Leave need to be pulled in
  • Reduced from a 1000 pieces of pay statements to @ 10 per pay roll through Direct deposit and cash pay cards.
  • Onboarding signoffs have improved audit records for signed job descriptions, i-9 forms, hand book sign off and policy sign off
Read full review
ScreenShots

UKG Pro Screenshots

Screenshot of UKG Pro People CenterScreenshot of UKG Pro PayrollScreenshot of UKG Pro Mobile AppScreenshot of UKG Pro RecruitingScreenshot of UKG Pro Employee Voice