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Should I use UKG?

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Depends. Buy if you're a large organization with complex payroll, time, and frontline scheduling needs plus budget for implementation and admins. Skip if you're a small team wanting simple, published pricing — it's overkill.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 40+ public sources including G2, Trustpilot, Reddit, breach filings, and UKG's own pages.

Ratings

  • Value for moneyQuote-only pricing; no cost evidence
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support quality
  • Security posture

Pricing

Quote-based

UKG Ready (SMB bundles)

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierNo
UKG Pro (enterprise HCM)Quote-based

Best for

  • Large enterprises (1,000+ employees)
  • Frontline, shift-heavy industries
  • Complex payroll plus time tracking
  • Orgs with dedicated HR/IT admins

Not for

  • Small teams needing simple scheduling or a contact list
  • Startups wanting predictable published pricing
  • Buyers without admin/IT resources for rollout
  • Anyone needing self-serve onboarding

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

2021 ransomware disrupted customer payroll for weeks; up to $6M settlement followed

medium

Quote-only pricing; expect negotiated multi-year contracts, no self-serve

medium

Migration and configuration demand dedicated HR/IT resources

medium

Trustpilot shows unresolved employee clock-in complaints

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Full HCM suite: payroll, HR, time, and scheduling in one
  • 4.4/5 across 4,887 G2 seller reviews
  • Handles complex payroll and time at enterprise scale
  • UKG Ready offers bundled tiers aimed at SMBs
  • Ranked #1 in G2's 2025 Best Software Awards

Cons

  • No public pricing; sales-quoted contracts only
  • Long, resource-heavy setup and configuration
  • Users report clock-in failures and outages
  • Strong user backlash over app usability
  • Complex; effectively requires dedicated admins

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/30/2026 - 10 sources - Mature enterprise security program, but a major 2021 ransomware outage and a 2024 breach filing are on record.

official x2review x4security x3news x1
  • 2021 Kronos cloud ransomware attack, Ransomware hit UKG/Kronos cloud solutions, leaving customers without payroll for weeks.
  • $6M breach settlement, UKG agreed to pay up to $6M in a lawsuit tied to the 2021 ransomware breach.
  • 2024 data breach filing, Massachusetts assigned data breach number 2024-075 to a UKG incident in January 2024.

Key stats

  • Ease of use: 2/5

    Rating

  • Quote-based

    Starting price

  • 10

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money. Quote-only pricing; no cost evidence
  • Ease of use: 2/5. Widespread user complaints about app usability
  • Feature depth: 5/5. Full HCM suite: payroll, HR, time, scheduling
  • Support quality: 2/5. Unresolved outage complaints on Trustpilot
  • Security posture: 2/5. 2021 ransomware outage; 2024 breach filing
  • 4.4/5 G2 seller rating 4,887 reviews
  • 19,000+ Organizations on UKG Pro third-party tracker
  • No Free tier quote-based pricing only
  • 2020 Formed Kronos + Ultimate Software merger

Pricing

UKG Ready (SMB bundles)

Quote-based

  • HR, time, scheduling bundles
  • Published bundle tiers, no public prices

UKG Pro (enterprise HCM)

Quote-based

  • Full HCM plus payroll
  • Targets larger organizations

Security

Mature enterprise security program, but a major 2021 ransomware outage and a 2024 breach filing are on record.

  • 2021 Kronos cloud ransomware attackRansomware hit UKG/Kronos cloud solutions, leaving customers without payroll for weeks.⁵
  • $6M breach settlementUKG agreed to pay up to $6M in a lawsuit tied to the 2021 ransomware breach.⁶
  • 2024 data breach filingMassachusetts assigned data breach number 2024-075 to a UKG incident in January 2024.⁷

Companies that use it

  • Community Health System
  • TravelBrands
  • Heluna Health
  • Target
  • Apple
Full analysis

Based on 40+ public sources including G2, Trustpilot, Reddit, breach filings, and UKG's own pages.

Enterprise HCM built for big orgs; powerful payroll/time at scale, but quote-priced overkill for small teams.

Methodology

Based on 40+ public sources including G2, Trustpilot, Reddit, breach filings, and UKG's own pages.

Sources

  1. UKG Products on G2 (4,887 reviews)g2.com
    review
  2. UKG Reviews on Trustpilottrustpilot.com
    review
  3. Downsides of UKG — r/humanresourcesreddit.com
    review
  4. UKG Pro vs Workday thread — r/humanresourcesreddit.com
    review
  5. HR Platform UKG ransomware attackbankinfosecurity.com
    security
  6. UKG agrees to pay up to $6M in breach lawsuitcybersecuritydive.com
    security
  7. Massachusetts breach filing 2024-075mass.gov
    security
  8. UKG Ready plans (pricing page)ukg.com
    official
  9. UKG Pro or UKG Ready guideukg.com
    official
  10. UKG Pricing Guide 2026peoplemanagingpeople.com
    news

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