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 7.8 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 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®
BambooHR was selected for being user friendly. This is critical as our workforce is not the most tech savvy. It needs to be easy to use.
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®
7.9
296 Ratings
3% below category average
UKG Ready
8.3
252 Ratings
2% above category average
Employee demographic data8.3265 Ratings8.9222 Ratings
Employment history8.1266 Ratings8.3213 Ratings
Job profiles and administration8.1268 Ratings8.2216 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.7.7249 Ratings8.1202 Ratings
Organizational charting7.7273 Ratings7.9164 Ratings
Organization and location management8.1262 Ratings8.2191 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)7.4156 Ratings8.8164 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
7.6
205 Ratings
7% below category average
UKG Ready
8.3
245 Ratings
2% above category average
Pay calculation8.0150 Ratings8.5227 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors7.0110 Ratings7.9139 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment7.4111 Ratings7.9121 Ratings
Benefit plan administration7.1159 Ratings8.4180 Ratings
Direct deposit files8.2148 Ratings8.6186 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management7.9166 Ratings8.8171 Ratings
Reimbursement management7.5101 Ratings7.74 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
8.8
256 Ratings
8% above category average
UKG Ready
7.9
221 Ratings
3% below category average
Approval workflow8.6250 Ratings7.4203 Ratings
Balance details8.5238 Ratings7.5211 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment9.2129 Ratings8.7182 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
8.5
287 Ratings
4% above category average
UKG Ready
7.5
234 Ratings
8% below category average
View and generate pay and benefit information8.5195 Ratings8.0214 Ratings
Update personal information8.9281 Ratings8.3221 Ratings
View company policy documentation8.4248 Ratings8.0181 Ratings
Employee recognition7.9176 Ratings4.72 Ratings
View job history8.8262 Ratings8.3188 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
9.1
74 Ratings
13% above category average
UKG Ready
8.7
90 Ratings
8% above category average
Tracking of all physical assets9.174 Ratings8.790 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
7.2
232 Ratings
4% below category average
UKG Ready
7.5
237 Ratings
0% below category average
Report builder7.4224 Ratings8.1230 Ratings
Pre-built reports7.5222 Ratings8.4230 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data6.9165 Ratings6.15 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
8.2
243 Ratings
3% above category average
UKG Ready
7.9
164 Ratings
1% below category average
New hire portal8.4230 Ratings8.1161 Ratings
Manager tracking tools7.9215 Ratings7.6134 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
7.9
171 Ratings
2% below category average
UKG Ready
6.8
102 Ratings
17% below category average
Corporate goal setting7.0127 Ratings7.31 Ratings
Individual goal setting7.9165 Ratings6.894 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility9.169 Ratings6.41 Ratings
Performance tracking7.5158 Ratings6.8100 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
7.8
190 Ratings
1% below category average
UKG Ready
7.5
128 Ratings
5% below category average
Performance plans7.3175 Ratings6.7115 Ratings
Performance improvement plans7.3151 Ratings6.7105 Ratings
Review status tracking8.697 Ratings8.3113 Ratings
Review reminders8.1101 Ratings8.5119 Ratings
Multiple review frequency7.7166 Ratings7.1103 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
9.0
81 Ratings
14% above category average
UKG Ready
6.9
52 Ratings
13% below category average
Create succession plans/pools8.946 Ratings6.144 Ratings
Candidate ranking9.067 Ratings6.825 Ratings
Candidate search9.068 Ratings7.430 Ratings
Candidate development9.359 Ratings7.225 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
7.9
202 Ratings
1% above category average
UKG Ready
7.6
132 Ratings
3% below category average
Job Requisition Management7.7155 Ratings7.6112 Ratings
Company Website Posting7.6164 Ratings7.8108 Ratings
Publish to Social Media9.291 Ratings7.484 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting7.4161 Ratings7.690 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention7.588 Ratings7.585 Ratings
Applicant Tracking8.0183 Ratings7.8113 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts8.1193 Ratings7.2121 Ratings
User Ratings
BambooHR®UKG Ready
Likelihood to Recommend
8.3
(304 ratings)
8.2
(278 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.9
(17 ratings)
8.0
(19 ratings)
Usability
8.7
(231 ratings)
8.4
(161 ratings)
Availability
9.3
(5 ratings)
5.0
(4 ratings)
Performance
8.7
(5 ratings)
5.0
(8 ratings)
Support Rating
8.2
(151 ratings)
5.0
(75 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
7.8
(2 ratings)
Online Training
8.3
(5 ratings)
6.0
(4 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.6
(6 ratings)
5.0
(11 ratings)
Configurability
7.5
(5 ratings)
5.0
(5 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
8.4
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.6
(2 ratings)
6.1
(125 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.9
(5 ratings)
3.0
(4 ratings)
Professional Services
9.2
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.9
(4 ratings)
5.0
(4 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.1
(4 ratings)
5.0
(4 ratings)
User Testimonials
BambooHR®UKG Ready
Likelihood to Recommend
BambooHR
The best use of it is for employee tracking and vacation requests. It can also be used for payroll; however, my company uses a separate program for that. The best use for it, in my opinion, is staff performance management. All the notes and documents can be added/attached to the employee. You can click on an employee's profile and see what days they have been off, how close they are to achieving goals, etc.
Read full review
UKG
Overall, this is the most comprehensive and user friendly HRIS/payroll platform I have used throughout the past 10 years. I would highly recommend UKG Ready to colleagues because of not only how user friendly it is but the level of customer service provided through UKG community and service cases. UKG Ready is quick to acknowledge cases submitted and get back to customers.
Read full review
Pros
BambooHR
  • Ease of use for established staff and admins, all the way down to brand new hires.
  • Integrations, especially for posting and managing jobs during the hiring process.
  • Making regularly occurring things like meetings and assessments easy to customize and to action easily.
  • Being able to assign out tasks for onboarding and offboarding.
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
  • No file viewer (need to download the attachments).
  • No option to enable notifications if certain people are out (you can just check, but it would be nice to have).
  • No customization of my personal view (f.e., i can't have the PTO page be my default).
Read full review
UKG
  • Custom reporting is not intuitive
  • Learning and training is poor and has not provided our team with a way to approach our problems in a cost-effective and meaningful way
  • Consistent glitches in some areas result in errors that persist through multiple payrolls despite a thorough review of all settings
  • Reports don't live in the same place, multiple types of reports exist in multiple places with little explanation of the difference. We often build custom reports only to have them disappear or have to spend a long time trying to find them.
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
Read full review
Usability
BambooHR
It is pretty intuitive and easy to use for most functions! This is helped by the clean and simple interface. The drop down filters and prompts are definitely strong points, and could be easily enhanced with more AI/automation features built in in future to make it even more efficient. I also like the playful icons, making it less dull as a HR tool :)
Read full review
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.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
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
Support has always been excellent. I was skeptical about not having a dedicated account manager at first, but my concerns were quickly eased. I love the different options for communication. Being able to chat, send emails or call a representative are great so that my workflow isn't disrupted by having to complete a call. I have never had an issue reaching anyone and the email follow up is great!
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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).
Read full review
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.
Read full review
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
BambooHR® was a great fit for our organization of 75-100 people. We became too big for our small custom MS Access system but not big enough for Workday. Lattice was more of an employee engagement and performance management system and didn't have some of the HR management and API integration we wanted. BambooHR® was robust enough to scale with us and provided the features and functionality we needed.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
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
  • HR team members have been saved thousands of hours over the 3.5 years we've had BambooHR®. It saved me personally several hours a day once BambooHR® was set up. Specifically, onboarding, offboarding, and a formal Hiring system are the major time savers.
  • Employee Information is much easier to access and is all centralized. Employees are empowered to update their information when applicable, and we have designed custom access levels for different positions and managers to ensure every individual is seeing the appropriate types of information about employees.
  • We saved significant money by switching from Lattice to BambooHR®'s Performance Management solution. This solution is less advanced, but the simplicity meets our needs perfectly fine, and it even saves time for managers and employees by BambooHR®'s standard questions, carefully designed to get to the heart of performance and improvement.
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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
Read full review
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.