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What Is UKG? UKG Features, Pricing, and Alternatives

What Is UKG? UKG Features, Pricing, and Alternatives

  • Ola Rybacka
  • January 26, 2026
  • 9 min read
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Contents hide
1 What is UKG and Why Do Enterprises Use It?
1.1 Additional Tools in the UKG’s Offer
1.1.1 Bryte AI
1.1.2 UKG Talk
1.1.3 UKG Beacon
2 How Does UKG Work in Enterprise Environments?
3 What Types of Organizations Benefit Most from UKG
4 How Much Does UKG Cost for Enterprise Teams?
5 Which Popular Business Tools Integrate with UKG?
6 How Do Enterprises Get Started With UKG workforce management solutions?
7 What Are the Best Alternatives to UKG?
7.1 Get to know where your time goes with TimeCamp!
8 What Support and Resources Does UKG Offer Enterprises?
9 Frequently Asked Questions About UKG
9.1 How does UKG help with payroll?
9.2 How does UKG help with compliance?
9.3 Are there any self-service options available?
9.4 Are there any options for smaller companies?
9.5 Is UKG secure?
9.6 How does the UKG mobile app help?
10 Is UKG the Right Enterprise Solution for Your Organization?
10.1 Get to know where your time goes with TimeCamp!

What Is UKG?

UKG is a cloud-based workforce management platform designed to help large organizations manage their people, processes, and payroll. UKG stands for Ultimate Kronos Group, which is a global technology company providing workforce management solutions (UKG was formed in April 2020 through a merger of Ultimate Software and Kronos Incorporated). In fact, UKG is considered one of the largest HR technology vendors in the market. Today, UKG serves over 80,000 organizations in 150 countries as of 2026. The merger of Ultimate Software and Kronos created a company valued at $22 billion.

screenshot from ukg pro app

UKG has been built primarily for enterprise needs; the platform comprises three main modules:

  • Human Capital Management (HCM)

  • Workforce Management

  • Payroll software

All those capabilities are available in a single workforce operating platform that supports HR, operations, and finance teams and works for many different industries. At its core, UKG aims to simplify typical challenges that enterprises have to deal with in terms of their workforce, such as:

  1. Compliance

  2. Employee scheduling

  3. Talent management, and more

With this tool in your tech stack, you can manage your entire workforce, support your employees across different locations and roles (including field and frontline workers), manage how people are scheduled and paid, and give HR and operations teams real-time visibility into labor costs, performance, and compliance regulations.

What is UKG and Why Do Enterprises Use It?

As we’ve mentioned, UKG helps your company streamline HR and payroll processes, improve workforce planning, and obtain data-driven workforce insights. UKG provides AI-led HR solutions that help HR, operations, payroll, and frontline teams address workforce challenges. All to enable you to improve your day-to-day HR operations. UKG offers three main modules that give you the ability to enhance your company’s operations and increase your workers’ productivity.

UKG offers a unified platform through solutions like UKG Pro and UKG Ready, using AI to streamline payroll, compliance, scheduling, and talent management.

Area

Description

Human Capital Management

It’s UKG’s the most comprehensive module. It connects connects HR, payroll, and workforce management so that your company can manage people and operations without switching between many different tools. HCM collects and processes employee, time, attendance, and compensation data, thus allowing you to manage payroll, track labor costs, manage schedules, and administer HR processes from one platform, within one login and password. In fact, UKG offers a comprehensive suite of HRIS modules that cover the entire employee lifecycle from hire to retire.

Workforce Management

This module is strictly for WFM solutions. It focuses on tracking employee time and attendance, scheduling employees, and controlling labor costs. It records work hours and absences and provides scheduling tools that use automated rules to assign shifts based on staffing requirements and employee availability.

Payroll

The last module is for payroll and compliance purposes. With this tool, you can ensure that every paycheck is accurate and on time and that your payroll policies are compliant with legal regulations. What’s especially useful is that this module also comes with proactive alerts and automated updates to keep you ahead of changing laws. UKG proactively manages evolving labor laws with automated updates and alerts, reducing compliance risk. Additionally, payroll also comes with employee communication features to streamline your HR service delivery.

UKG Pro includes modules for Payroll, Benefits Administration, HR/Employee Files, Time & Attendance, Onboarding, Recruiting/ATS, Performance, Compensation & Succession, Engagement, and Learning.

Additional Tools in the UKG’s Offer

To make this tool even more useful, UKG gives you access to some additional tools and products. They give you a better understanding of your employees’ performance, help you distribute company news, and build an employee-focused company culture.

Bryte AI

it’s UKG’s own people-first AI engine. UKG includes AI-driven insights integrated with UKG Bryte, providing predictive analytics and real-time guidance. This AI tool helps both managers and employees. Managers can use it to make better hiring and scheduling decisions. Moreover, UKG’s advanced AI capabilities help leaders anticipate staffing needs and predict turnover. Employees, on the other hand, can use it to get the insights they need help them manage their shifts, schedules, and locations.

Does it work? According to UKG’s own research, AI can help automate or streamline up to 62% of the repetitive/administrative tasks that companies need to deal with on a daily basis.

UKG Talk

And speaking of employees, UKG comes with a tool that can be used for easy, real-time communications with your entire team. It’s called UKG Talk, and you can use it for two-way communication with your team. UKG Talk is great for company-wide updates and collecting feedback from your team (employees can let their voice be heard through pulse surveys in the UKG Pro mobile app).

UKG Beacon

It’s the newest tool in UKG’s quiver. It was introduced in late 2025. UKG Beacon integrates Mo, an advanced employee recognition and culture-building platform recently acquired by UKG, with UKG Ready’s comprehensive workforce data to deliver intelligent, data-driven employee engagement solutions.

UKG mobile app

The UKG Pro mobile app provides instant, secure access to relevant employee information, tools, and insights. The UKG Pro mobile app allows employees to clock in and out of work, and employees can view and update personal HR and pay information through the UKG Pro mobile app.

How Does UKG Work in Enterprise Environments?

While UKG works with both small and large businesses, it’s been designed to handle the complexity of enterprise organizations. It’s an all-in-one platform designed to support large, distributed organizations with complex organizational structures, operating models, and regulatory requirements.

UKG can be implemented across many different countries, branches, and job types. UKG can easily handle high employee volumes, multiple currencies, and varying labor regulations. This is also where UKG’s AI-based functions make a case for themselves. They support scheduling, analytics, and workforce planning, thus improving your productivity and saving your manager many hours of work every month. UKG also provides implementation services, technical support, and access to the customer community and many additional resources to support seamless long-term system use for the largest clients.

What Types of Organizations Benefit Most from UKG

While UKG can work with almost any type of both mid-sized and large business, there are six main sectors that can especially benefit from what UKG offers:

  • Financial Services: UKG helps banks and insurance companies Automate pay and scheduling processes, reduce compliance risk, and improve workforce retention.

  • Healthcare: UKG supports hospitals and health systems in AI-assisted HR, scheduling, and communication features so that your team has less administrative work.

  • Hospitality and food services: UKG helps those clients with AI-powered scheduling, mobile self-service, and real-time insights so that hospitality companies can respond to ever-changing circumstances with ease.

  • Logistics and distribution: Those companies benefit especially from managing warehouse staffing and mobile teams, to navigating compliance and labour shortages with conflict-free scheduling.

  • Manufacturing: UKG helps manufacturers with solutions that enable intelligent decision making and simplify the complexities of managing hourly and salaried workforce.

  • Public sector: UKG provides all-in-one HR, scheduling, time, and payroll tools that public institutions can use to manage their employees.

UKG tailors tools for healthcare, retail, manufacturing, and public sector industries to address unique regulatory and operational challenges.

How Much Does UKG Cost for Enterprise Teams?

UKG is an enterprise-grade tool, and as such, it doesn’t come with fixed, publicly available pricing. If you are interested in implementing this tool in your company, you need to reach out to UKG and ask them for a tailor-made pricing plan for your business. In many cases, UKG charges companies on a quarterly or annual subscription basis.

Other sources indicate that the monthly cost typically ranges from $27 to $37 per employee per month (PEPM). Additionally, some sources mention that UKG requires a one-time implementation fee that can range from 40% to 70% of the annual software fees. However, keep in mind these are general details that don’t take your specific situation into account. So, for large companies, the implementation fee for UKG can be approximately $40-70K on a $100K annual purchase.

Which Popular Business Tools Integrate with UKG?

If you’re looking for a tool such as UKG, it is likely you’re already using some other tools in your company to facilitate daily processes and boost your productivity. That said, it’s important to look for a tool that can be integrated with other third-party software. This way, you can create a comprehensive ecosystem that provides you with everything you need to build trust among your employees, make the most of your expertise, and run your business in an optimized manner.

UKG understands the importance of integrating your WFM platform with other tools that you use. The company works with technology, services, and AI partners, and their products/integrations are available in the UKG Marketplace. Currently, there are over 400 such integrations available on the platform.

Some of the available integrations include:

  • Sage Intacct

  • When

  • Nintex

  • Disclo

  • Udemy and more

In the Marketplace, you can browse integrations by industry, regions, categories, and UKG products.

How Do Enterprises Get Started With UKG workforce management solutions?

If you are looking for a tool that empowers you to manage all HR and WFM processes from one place, it is likely you’re already running a large business. Therefore, it’s immensely important to consider your needs and future plans first. Whether you want to open offices in other parts of the world or expand to new market niches, you need a tool that aligns with your business profile and helps you solve your typical challenges.

For starters, analyze what kind of support you actually need at the moment. Consider how many managers and employees will need access to this tool. What is your business specificity? Do you have any non-standard needs? What core functionalities would have to be in place to support your company’s development? Getting those questions answered will help you prepare for the onboarding process.

And speaking of the onboarding process, UKG doesn’t offer any self-service option. If you want to start using this tool, you need to send the contact form or call the company and ask them for access. They will guide the process for you.

What Are the Best Alternatives to UKG?

Here, everything depends on what your goals are. There are many WFM and HR products out there. Some of them focus on workforce management, while others focus on time and productivity tracking. If WFM is your main focus, you may also try Deputy, ADP, or ActivTrak.

If payroll is your number-one priority, consider Workday or Paylocity. And if you want to improve time tracking and productivity monitoring, TimeCamp is your best bet. Our platform comes with many features, including employee management and activity tracking.

timecamp windows time tracker app promotional image

We offer three main modules:

Our platform has been designed to be flexible and useful for both small and large companies. We even offer a free plan if you’re looking for just basic functions. If you’d like to give TimeCamp a try, we offer a free trial. You can start even today! And even if you’re looking for something else, it’s still vital to use TimeCamp to understand how effective your company is and if there are any bottlenecks hindering your growth; that’s what TimeCamp excels at!

Get to know where your time goes with TimeCamp!

Track time in projects and tasks, create reports, and bill your clients in just one tool.

Sign up for free

What Support and Resources Does UKG Offer Enterprises?

UKG offers several support features, with UKG Community being the most important one. It’s an online space where you can go to look for answers to your questions. You can browse older discussions or ask a brand-new question, and UKG Community members are here to support you with their knowledge.

Apart from the Community, UKG offers product demos you can watch to understand how this platform works; you also get access to guides, reports, and other resources. And if you want to talk to the UKG team, there’s a hotline number you can call.

Frequently Asked Questions About UKG

How does UKG help with payroll?

UKG offers automated payroll processing, including tax filing, direct deposit, and garnishment management. Also, UKG automates routine tasks such as payroll calculations and leave approvals to reduce administrative burdens and errors.

How does UKG help with compliance?

UKG automatically applies labor regulations across multiple locations and countries to ensure compliance.

Are there any self-service options available?

Yes. UKG provides self-service portals for pay, accruals, and shift swaps, increasing employee engagement and trust. Also, UKG provides self-service portals, analytics, and AI-driven insights to improve workforce engagement.

Are there any options for smaller companies?

Yes, UKG Ready is an all-in-one platform designed for smaller HR teams to manage the entire employee lifecycle.

Is UKG secure?

UKG provides robust security features like role-based access controls, data encryption, and audit trails to protect sensitive employee data.

How does the UKG mobile app help?

The UKG Pro mobile app allows employees to engage and chat with teammates, teams, and groups. Users can manage time off requests using the UKG Pro mobile app, and managers can take action in real-time from push notifications through the UKG Pro mobile app. What’s also important is that the UKG Pro mobile app provides insight with reports and dashboards for managers. Lastly, the app supports the creation and joining of employee resource groups focused on work, hobbies, and interests.

Is UKG the Right Enterprise Solution for Your Organization?

It all depends on your needs. In general, UKG is a good tool for WMF and HR processes. You need to be aware that UKG has a strong focus on HR and talent management, providing solutions that are well-rounded in both Core HR and Payroll.

Whether it’s the right fit depends on your business profile and requirements. That’s why we always recommend you analyze your needs first, because there are many tools out there that check all of your boxes. And if you’re looking to improve your operational effectiveness and productivity, TimeCamp is a good alternative to consider.

With TimeCamp, you can analyze your employees’ time and activity (even for field or remote workers), eliminate ineffective processes, and automate billing and invoicing. If that’s something you could use in your company, start today with either a free trial or a free plan. Visit our pricing page for details!

Get to know where your time goes with TimeCamp!

Track time in projects and tasks, create reports, and bill your clients in just one tool.

Sign up for free

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Ola Rybacka Product Marketer and Content Specialist at TimeCamp. Remote worker advocate; has been working from home for 10+ years so far. Knows TimeCamp far and wide and does her best to translate the technical jargon into reader-friendly English to help users gain better understanding of our time tracker. Feels best in writing, but is also open for creating short video explainers. Privately, passionate about any form of Japanese culture and has been learning 日本語 for 4 years so far to devour animes and mangas in their native language.

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