UKG
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Buy if you're a large organization with complex payroll, time, and frontline scheduling needs plus budget for implementation and admins.
New check
Comparison
UKG vs When I Work
UKG lands on Depends, and When I Work lands on Worth it.
When I Work
Worth it
Confidence: Medium
Buy if you run hourly, shift-based teams and want scheduling, time clock, and messaging bundled at $2.50/user/month.
| Compare | UKG | When I Work |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Worth it |
| Best for | Large enterprises (1,000+ employees) | Hourly, shift-based teams |
| Who it's not for | Small teams needing simple scheduling or a contact list | Salaried office teams with no shifts to manage |
| Privacy | Mature enterprise security program, but a major 2021 ransomware outage and a 2024 breach filing are on record.⁵ | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.12 |
| Support quality | Unresolved outage complaints on Trustpilot | No support evidence in sources |
| Public sentiment | Praise for feature depth coexists with loud complaints about outages, clunky apps, and heavy implementations.¹ | Direct user feedback is thin in the sources reviewed; a reviewer calls the $2.50 entry price fair and one small retailer describes pre-software scheduling chaos.15 |
| Biggest gotcha | 2021 ransomware disrupted customer payroll for weeks; up to $6M settlement followed⁶ | $2.50/user is the entry floor; confirm which features sit in higher tiers before checkout11 |
Pick UKG when
- Large enterprises (1,000+ employees)
- Frontline, shift-heavy industries
- Complex payroll plus time tracking
- Orgs with dedicated HR/IT admins
When UKG is not a fit
- 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
Pick When I Work when
- Hourly, shift-based teams
- Restaurants, retail, hospitality
- Multi-site franchises
- Teams bundling scheduling with time clock
When When I Work is not a fit
- Salaried office teams with no shifts to manage
- Enterprises needing UKG- or Workday-class workforce management
- Tiny crews happy with a group chat or spreadsheet
- Teams needing a permanent free plan, not a trial
Sources
review
- UKG Reviews on Trustpilottrustpilot.comreview
- Downsides of UKG . r/humanresourcesreddit.comreview
review
- HR Platform UKG ransomware attackbankinfosecurity.comsecurity
- UKG agrees to pay up to $6M in breach lawsuitcybersecuritydive.comsecurity
security
official
- UKG Pro or UKG Ready guideukg.comofficial
- UKG Pricing Guide 2026peoplemanagingpeople.comnews
- Smarter Employee Scheduling Software | When I Workwheniwork.comofficial
- Product security pagewheniwork.comofficial
- When I Work Staff Scheduling - App Storeapps.apple.comofficial
- When I Work Review and Pricing in 2026business.comreview
- When I Work Pricing - Is It Worth Your Money?unrubble.comreview
review