BambooHR® vs. UKG Ready

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
BambooHR®
Score 8.5 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.
$250
per month
UKG Ready
Score 8.9 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…N/A
Pricing
BambooHR®UKG Ready
Editions & Modules
Core
$250
per month
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
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalRequired
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
BambooHR®UKG Ready
Considered Both Products
BambooHR®
Chose BambooHR®
None. We used our own self made folders and spreadsheets prior to Bamboo.
Chose BambooHR®
scalability is an issue with BambooHR (missing lot of competent), integration with other tools (EDI feed, compliance etc)
Chose BambooHR®
BambooHR® is not in the same category as others that I have used. BambooHR is truly comprehensive and if you pay for all the extras, you wouldn't need anything else. The parts we use are great for us and the fact that we can add custom fields means that our unique needs are …
Chose BambooHR®
Lattice is much more oriented towards performance management. It includes many more advanced performance management features from building actual assessments to also performance development planning. BambooHR® for us was a place to centralize our data and build from within as …
Chose BambooHR®
In my experience, I prefer overall reporting and functionality of Rippling, Gusto, and Ease.
It is on par with Employee Navigator and Paycom (due to more user friendly design)
Prefer to Worklio, Paylocity, and ADP Workforce.
Chose BambooHR®
I used to use workday at a past company and BambooHR® is less extensive but very easy to use. Again, the features and functionality on the former were more fleshed out and readily available but the functions that I use most often are more easily accessible via BambooHR®.
Chose BambooHR®
Not as well as any of them. I am not a QBO Payroll fan either but they are better than BambooHR®.
Chose BambooHR®
We have tried other system, but they were less user friendly and they were doing so much other stuff that they were not fulfilling correctly our needs. BambooHR® is a really nice tool to use, user friendly, and just the functions we need from an HR tool. It's great for the …
Chose BambooHR®
Used them before and wanted to try something new, overall it was a much easier product to use and get a handle on.
Chose BambooHR®
Bamboo HR is so so much more user-friendly and easier to navigate on both the admin and employee side of things. This significantly helps reduce headaches and frustration when something needs correction. There is always something that will need to be fixed, so having a platform …
Chose BambooHR®
BambooHR is the best, but unfortunately, it doesn't currently have an adequate payroll module for our needs.
Chose BambooHR®
We switch our clients from the other HRIS platforms to BambooHR, because they do everything better and have amazing customer support.
Chose BambooHR®
Less expensive than ADP and much more up to date and efficient than Heartland
Chose BambooHR®
At my previous employer, I evaluated over 20 HRIS platforms before choosing and implementing BambooHR® (in 2019). I love it! The continuous improvements are promising and I actually feel like product feedback is reviewed and, at times, implemented.

With BambooHR®, it truly …
Chose BambooHR®
BambooHR® was able to provide excellent value for money when compared to the other options we looked at when we carried out a review of them. A previous member of the team had also used BambooHR® at another company and rated them highly which influenced our decision greatly. …
Chose BambooHR®
Different companies and each proved to be beneficial for the particular company that had it implemented.
Chose BambooHR®
The platform for both employees and employer were way easier to use and navigate. Additionally, VensureHR generated many errors which we did not see with BambooHR.
Chose BambooHR®
We moved to BambooHR time tracking from Clicktime once BambooHR's functionality improved and we prefer to have all functions on the same platform.
UKG Ready
Chose UKG Ready
UKG Pro, ADP Workforce Now, EMP Trust HR, Employee Navigator and Greenhouse
Chose UKG Ready
The only one on the same playing field in my opinion is Workday. However, workday cannot tailor to a smaller company like UKG Ready does. The rest had some good points but lacked a component or had a very dysfunctional component.
Chose UKG Ready
UKG Ready has far better integration across modules and offers more customization for different use needs. We could not find another system that checked all those boxes for us.
Chose UKG Ready
We have used UKG Ready for the last 6 years.
Chose UKG Ready
You cannot compare the two products and how much more we get as an organization from Ready than we did with ADP: more visibility, transparency, and ease of use.
Chose UKG Ready
UKG Ready is truly the full package. While many systems excel at one functional area of HR, Ready delivers across lines of service.
Chose UKG Ready
There is really no comparison, as the previous system was outdated. It had very minimal features and used black-screen AS400 technology. We were in need of a more robust system, and Kronos offered features we had not had before. So, from a comparison standpoint, it is not like …
Chose UKG Ready
It has a better user-friendly experience, better reviews, and more value for your money.
Chose UKG Ready
UKG Ready reporting is one of their best features. If you enter data into the system you can run a report on it and export it in multiple formats. It is an invaluable tool which most other payroll/HR platforms lack.
Chose UKG Ready
We loved the system and the pricing as well. Very competitive.
Chose UKG Ready
We were down to Ultimate and Kronos when we chose Kronos; we chose it because of the timekeeping system, but Ultimate was a close second with a lot of functionality we really liked. I was very happy when they merged.
Chose UKG Ready
I like UKG Ready much better because I find it is more robust and easier to pick things up quickly than on ICIMS.
Chose UKG Ready
Very well. It is the most user-friendly system. The level of customer support from UKG is helpful. Having many options to engage support is helpful, like the ERM and the Krew Manager. Reporting can be made less complex, but once you learn it, it is not so bad.
Chose UKG Ready
Our organization has grown, and we needed a provider that had more to offer. UKG was cost-effective and met our current needs.
Chose UKG Ready
UKG stacks up fairly well with the recruitment tool but Taleo is a little more user friendly.
Chose UKG Ready
ADP was not as intuitive and, for the user, not as pleasant to navigate and look at.
Features
BambooHR®UKG Ready
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
7.6
Ratings
3% below category average
UKG Ready
9.4
Ratings
18% above category average
Employee demographic data8.20 Ratings9.80 Ratings
Employment history7.80 Ratings9.60 Ratings
Job profiles and administration7.90 Ratings9.60 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.7.50 Ratings9.60 Ratings
Organizational charting6.60 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Organization and location management8.00 Ratings9.60 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)7.10 Ratings9.70 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
6.6
Ratings
19% below category average
UKG Ready
9.6
Ratings
19% above category average
Pay calculation7.30 Ratings9.70 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors5.90 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment6.10 Ratings9.20 Ratings
Benefit plan administration5.80 Ratings9.70 Ratings
Direct deposit files7.10 Ratings9.80 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management7.90 Ratings9.70 Ratings
Reimbursement management6.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
8.7
Ratings
8% above category average
UKG Ready
9.6
Ratings
18% above category average
Approval workflow8.50 Ratings9.60 Ratings
Balance details8.50 Ratings9.50 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment9.30 Ratings9.70 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
8.0
Ratings
1% below category average
UKG Ready
8.7
Ratings
8% above category average
View and generate pay and benefit information7.80 Ratings9.70 Ratings
Update personal information8.80 Ratings9.70 Ratings
View company policy documentation8.20 Ratings5.70 Ratings
Employee recognition7.20 Ratings00 Ratings
View job history8.30 Ratings9.70 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
9.1
Ratings
12% above category average
UKG Ready
9.9
Ratings
20% above category average
Tracking of all physical assets9.10 Ratings9.90 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
6.8
Ratings
10% below category average
UKG Ready
8.7
Ratings
15% above category average
Report builder6.60 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Pre-built reports7.00 Ratings9.20 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data6.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
7.7
Ratings
3% below category average
UKG Ready
7.7
Ratings
3% below category average
New hire portal8.10 Ratings7.10 Ratings
Manager tracking tools7.40 Ratings8.30 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
7.5
Ratings
5% below category average
UKG Ready
8.3
Ratings
5% above category average
Corporate goal setting6.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Individual goal setting7.40 Ratings8.30 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility9.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance tracking6.80 Ratings8.30 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
7.5
Ratings
4% below category average
UKG Ready
7.1
Ratings
10% below category average
Performance plans6.90 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Performance improvement plans6.80 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Review status tracking8.60 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Review reminders8.00 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Multiple review frequency7.40 Ratings6.50 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
9.1
Ratings
15% above category average
UKG Ready
6.9
Ratings
12% below category average
Create succession plans/pools8.90 Ratings5.70 Ratings
Candidate ranking9.10 Ratings7.40 Ratings
Candidate search9.00 Ratings7.30 Ratings
Candidate development9.30 Ratings7.30 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
BambooHR®
7.8
Ratings
1% above category average
UKG Ready
7.1
Ratings
9% below category average
Job Requisition Management7.40 Ratings7.10 Ratings
Company Website Posting7.40 Ratings9.40 Ratings
Publish to Social Media9.30 Ratings6.10 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting7.20 Ratings7.20 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention7.60 Ratings5.50 Ratings
Applicant Tracking8.00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts8.00 Ratings6.60 Ratings
Best Alternatives
BambooHR®UKG Ready
Small Businesses
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.5 out of 10
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.7 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.7 out of 10
Enterprises
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 9.9 out of 10
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 9.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
BambooHR®UKG Ready
Likelihood to Recommend
8.3
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.8
(0 ratings)
7.1
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.3
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.3
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.7
(0 ratings)
9.3
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.8
(0 ratings)
6.3
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
7.8
(0 ratings)
Online Training
9.2
(0 ratings)
6.0
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.6
(0 ratings)
6.0
(0 ratings)
Configurability
8.7
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.6
(0 ratings)
5.4
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.9
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.9
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.1
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
BambooHR®UKG Ready
Likelihood to Recommend
I think if you're a small organization and you're trying to get out of paper, this is a really good first step to doing that. I've heard from other people that are in larger organizations where they have thousands of employees that there may be better platforms, but for smaller organization it's awesome.
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The recruiting module has helped us to streamline the recruiting process from the candidate submitting an application to the candidate becoming and employee with the company. We have really enjoyed the recruiting module. The reporting option has presented some challenges when we export them. We spend extra time having to format the reports for company use
Read full review
Pros
  • BambooHR® allows you to preview as a user in a specific access level. This is VERY helpful for providing instructions to employees or double checking that information is secure.
  • BambooHR® customer support is unmatched. Any time I have a question, I can quickly get an answer as well as additional resources.
  • Employees are able to easily find their information without coming to HR for questions. This cuts down on the questions coming into HR departments, big and small.
Read full review
  • When you open a ticket, they research and test the answer before they contact you so they know it will work for you. There's no troubleshooting on the phone. All the work was done beforehand.
  • They are super knowledgeable and supportive. They are a pleasure to work with.
  • They are way ahead of the game when it comes to technology and innovation.
Read full review
Cons
  • Notices for approving hours don't always coincide with pay periods well.
  • Payroll reports are by pay period without the ability to combine hours, etc. into a monthly report.
  • There is not an easy way to fix payroll errors. Must get it right the first time.
Read full review
  • We have had ongoing issues with our accruals.
  • Auto generate timesheets in the "Team Timesheets" view.
  • Granting manager access is cumbersome - access needs to be given in multiple places.
  • The sync between Pro and Ready in my opinion is terrible and needs much improvement.
  • Auto assign Employee Time Zones based on work location.
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Likelihood to Renew
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.
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We have begun looking for other vendors to supply this products need as Kronos WFR cannot deliver the suite of applications which it should with this product. *6/5/17 Edit - We started the new year with a new application. WFR proved to be unable to correct the errors within the application. We are much happier with the new application as we can use it effectively.
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Usability
BambooHR® is helpful, but I still handle some tasks manually due to missing features relevant to my needs. Certain processes require additional functionality, limiting full automation. While it streamlines HR operations, gaps in usability mean I must supplement workflows with manual efforts to ensure efficiency and meet specific business demands.
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I like the payroll and HR functions for employee data and benefits management. However, we still have not implemented the ATS and performance management modules, and we need to get this rolling as soon as possible. I can't provide accurate feedback on all areas.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
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.
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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
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.
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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
The support can be slow as they are a US based company and therefore we often have to wait for them to be online before we can speak to somebody and they are not particularly responsive to emails. The service itself has always been helpful and in most cases, the issue was resolved.
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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
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).
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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
As far as I can recall, everything went well with doing it online and got questions answered. Was thankful to work with a dummy file to get used to some practices prior to getting our own domain within bamboo to then place our personnel information in the system, this helped a lot!
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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.
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Implementation Rating
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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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
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 needs and budget accordingly.
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UKG is much easier to use and customize for our business needs. I enjoy that the time piece is directly connected with the payroll function. This is something that we didn't see when working with Paylocity. There was a manual time data upload that we needed to process into the Payroll function to process payroll. UKG has this setup and it's just a click of a button, so simple!
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Scalability
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.
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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.
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Return on Investment
  • 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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  • The system has allowed us to understand what goes into background vendors and helped us transition in a troubled time.
  • The system has allows us to move forms to custom forms vs using Docusign.
  • The system has helped us cut back on paper usage and storing folders.
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ScreenShots

BambooHR® Screenshots

Screenshot of Job Info TabScreenshot of Onboarding TasksScreenshot of New Hire PacketScreenshot of 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.