Dayforce HCM vs IBM Kenexa vs UKG comparison

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89% willing to recommend

Dayforce HCM

IBM Kenexa

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Dayforce HCM, IBM Kenexa, and UKG based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Workday, SAP, Oracle and others in Talent Management.

To learn more, read our detailed Talent Management Report (Updated: June 2025).

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Talent Management

June 2025

Helped 862,514 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Talent Management category, the mindshare of Dayforce HCM is 2.6%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Kenexa is 0.9%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of UKG is 5.1%, up from 4.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Talent Management

Featured Reviews

TracyBritan

Manager, Learning & Development at Ampersand

Frustrating support and difficult customization prevent optimal use of learning system

Customizing the home screen was difficult; I could not remove certain tabs that were irrelevant to our users. The search functionality is poor as there's no way for administrators to tag keywords to training courses, making it hard for people to find content. Additionally, there is no way to send a direct link to training if someone asks about it. The reporting is subpar; you can only report by course and not by person unless you go into specific Dayforce reports, which do not match the fields in the learning module. The support is also terrible, with slow response times and a lack of useful knowledge-based articles.

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Karan Grover

Senior Manager at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Suitable for larger-scale companies aiming to streamline and automate their processes digitally

The deployment of the solution took between six to eight months. When we introduced BrassRing at my company, we encountered several challenges. First, moving data from our old system to BrassRing was tough because it needed reformatting. Second, connecting BrassRing with our HR data was tricky due to manual processes for roles and departments. Third, setting up the workflow in BrassRing was complex. Fourth, configuring user access and approval levels was a detailed task. We also had to manage the change process, including running both old and new systems in parallel, communicating changes, and training users. Lastly, monitoring and reporting were needed to ensure data accuracy and proper system usage once everything was in place. We had a team of six to eight people managing the project from our side during the BrassRing deployment. I'm not sure about the size of the BrassRing team, and we also had our own technical team, which had three to four members. The solution required maintenance, particularly from my side as the administrator. Maintenance responsibilities were divided into two parts: some tasks we, as end-users, could control, while others were the responsibility of the BrassRing team. Payment-related tasks were a regular part of our responsibilities. I wasn't the only person maintaining the solution. There were three power users from Infosys, each responsible for a specific geography. My counterpart managed it in the US, and I, along with my colleague in India, managed it for other geographies.

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Talia Jean Paul

Global HR UKG Specialist at a outsourcing company with 10,001+ employees

Affordable but needs to improve its stability

Our company is testing the UKG Ready Mobile App, but there are some glitches. I feel that in the system when you log on to Kronos, UKG Dimensions, and UKG Workforce Central, we have different modules in different versions. With regards to the newer version, I feel the older version, which was UKG Workforce Central, was more user-friendly for the end user as opposed to the newer version, which looks a bit more complicated. When training someone who wants implementations to be done, it would be easier if you could hover above certain things, and it shows you or tells you exactly what it is. There are certain SAP modules that can be audible. If you click on it if someone is being a bit slow with regards to training, the tool will tell you what needs to be done and what needs not to be done by you, but for us, it is fine because we are in the back end with configuration and the administrators. I am talking about the need for improvements in the tool for the benefit of the end users. The explanation on UKG's community consists of training manuals and some of the other stuff that we use, and we send to our supervisors at the site. With the tool in place, catching onto white-collared employees is quicker. The tool is not quick to catch onto certain blue-collared employees in the plant or supervisors who are actually working with machinery and stuff because they are not as computer-centric as white-collared employees. If I could scan the tool across the globe with our site supervisors, there are a few loopholes in the tool. There are some issues with the tool's stability. For me, I would like someone who is building the system in the back end to know if a front-end user can manipulate the system. I am not going to rate the tool's scalability to be high. I would rate the tool's scalability to be at a mediocre level or at something like 50 percent, so there is a lot of room for improvement.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The tool has improved a lot in the area of its mobile application, especially considering its added security features, like single sign-on capabilities."

"We have been able to automate many of our manual processes."

"Ceridian Dayforce HCM is a stable product."

"Statutory holiday pay is calculated automatically."

"The product has a pretty clean look."

"It has created efficiencies in HR and Payroll by eliminating double entry into two systems, implementing a time clock feature for hourly employees, and by having a downloadable general ledger (G/L) constructing journal entering for payroll."

"The solution's payroll portion is very streamlined."

"The integrated time clock has provided efficiencies in payroll, as we no longer have to decipher handwritten time sheets and input them into the system."

More Dayforce HCM pros

"The most valuable features are that we can upload documents and download them on demand."

"The ease of scaling is one of BrassRing's biggest strengths, making it a trusted choice for large companies."

"It is extremely user friendly. It is very flexible in managing recruitment, especially when you have thousands of applicants as we did. We easily had over 20,000 applicants within a year for some of our positions, so it made it very easy to manage a large application pool. It was very easy to customize by recruiter preference. When you open up someone's profile to see their experience, education, or other things, you can customize that for yourself. It was flexible in that, and each recruiter could set up their preferences. It didn't have to be set up so that everyone had to have the same landing platform, which was very helpful. As someone who trained other HR people on how to use the system, it was very easy to pick up and learn."

"IBM Kenexa is fairly stable. We don't have any downtime."

"The tool improved employee onboarding efficiency, especially in healthcare, where timely onboarding is crucial. This change directly impacted retention rates positively. It was a massive project that involved various teams working together. It took about a year to revamp the entire process and ensure compliance. However, once implemented, it improved employee satisfaction by saving them two whole days in the onboarding process."

"UKG allows us to customize our home screen so that we can easily monitor important items on a daily basis."

"The fact that I can see the whole HR information in a single point is valuable. There is a unified view of everything, which is good. Previously, we had many different systems for each part of the information. Now, it is all centralized. It is very good."

"We use the tool for various functions, including payroll, HR, recruiting, onboarding, and workforce management. We've implemented all these modules across all the clients I've worked with."

"It is much easier to use and the customer service is better than our previous solution."

"I have found the most valuable feature to be business intelligence and Cognos reporting."

"The pay policies and approvals are valuable features."

"The most valuable feature is being able to get time management reports which break out reclassified jobs and departments to separate areas of the company. This allows for better tracking of hours spent in certain jobs and where more hours may be needed."

More UKG pros

Cons

"I would like to see more built-in forms. This would save a lot of time during the year-end process."

"I would like the solution to improve its customer service communication."

"The reporting could be improved."

"Many things are presented as though they will be included with the system but then require costly upgrades."

"I would also like to see some improvement in standard reports. A standard report should be available to pull the required information for Affirmative Action Plans. I do not think I should have to build or create one."

"Customizing the home screen was difficult; I could not remove certain tabs that were irrelevant to our users."

"The solution has a lot of glitches."

"One area to be improved is the solution's reporting function, which can be cumbersome."

More Dayforce HCM cons

"I would not recommend IBM Kenexa to others."

"I would like to have a better and more user-friendly interface."

"It needs to update its reporting and analytics tools."

"The reporting tool is helpful, but it is not the easiest to train on or is not as understandable for other HR pros. Their Workbench site, which is the administrator site that you use to update your website, is not user-friendly. When updates are required, it is not that easy to manage because Workbench is not user friendly. It required more work from the admins. They have Workbench training, which actually was very unhelpful. It took eight hours to complete, and it was not very helpful. Their customer service when it comes specifically to their Workbench site is not helpful."

"The platform's features need enhancement while being used as a recruiting tool."

"The system is slow sometimes."

"I would like the capability to use UKG as a single platform without the need to alternate between systems."

"I would like to see more functionality in the next release to be able to get hours and dollars per calendar month rather than just by payroll in the Business Intelligence reports."

"Reporting is always a hurdle for any user just because it is so extensive. They provide a lot of out-of-the-box reports, but it is something that you always need to work on because you need more advanced writing of reports."

"Since UKG is a SaaS software, other parts of the application or add-on solutions are not the best in class or very configurable."

"Certainly, the time and attendance and the payroll integration need a lot of work. They are disjointed pieces, and they don't work smoothly together. That's the main drawback."

"The product's integration features need improvement."

More UKG cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"In terms of pricing, the product is expensive. However, it is crucial to take into account the manner in which the solution will be utilized and the availability of other alternatives."

"The XOXO program associated with Dayforce allows you to earn credits towards registration and accommodations at their annual Insight Conferences, which can be a real savings to the company when sending employees to the conference."

"Negotiate for everything you want."

"We paid for the implementation costs in the first year with the money that we saved by switching to Dayforce HCM."

"Earlier, the price of the product was reasonable. Under present circumstances, the price or cost of the product has been increased."

"We found the setup costs and pricing to be very reasonable."

"I rate the solution's pricing a seven on a scale where one is the lowest and ten is the most expensive."

"Ceridian continually enhances Dayforce HCM. Some of these enhancements they charge for and some are just straight enhancements with no extra charge."

"Kenexa was fairly priced. However, in 2019, before I left my previous organization, they significantly increased their pricing. It can be affordable, but their pricing is going up. It is not just licensing; it is how many applicants you have in your system on the database side."

"If you're going for the full suite, it can be fairly pricey."

"The pricing depends on the number of licenses we buy."

"I wasn't involved in the pricing part. I'm a user, and I believe it is based on the user count. One thing that is nice about Ultimate is that you can learn how to use the system without additional fees. The learning aspect is the life of a product, and the training was a huge reason why we went with Ultimate. We did have some integration costs. They were a part of the implementation because of the integrations to other systems that we included in our implementation."

"UKG's pricing and licensing model involves ongoing expenses based on the number of employees paid. The initial implementation cost is low when UKG implements it directly. However, when partners handle the implementation, it becomes more expensive since partners don't receive the monthly recurring fees."

"While I am unsure of the licensing cost itself, the total cost of implementation and licensing for a company with over 5000 employees would be around 6,00,000. So, there are additional costs beyond licensing."

"The platform is not affordable but also not the most expensive."

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862,514 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Educational Organization

Financial Services Firm

12%

Comms Service Provider

12%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

29%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Ceridian Dayforce HCM?

The solution's payroll portion is very streamlined.

What needs improvement with Ceridian Dayforce HCM?

Customizing the home screen was difficult; I could not remove certain tabs that were irrelevant to our users. The sea...

What is your primary use case for Ceridian Dayforce HCM?

We have used Dayforce HCM for our HR functionalities and for the learning module over the last five years. We actuall...

What do you like most about IBM Kenexa?

The ease of scaling is one of BrassRing's biggest strengths, making it a trusted choice for large companies.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Kenexa?

As a large company, we first bought the complete BrassRing package, which had various features. Later on, we paid ext...

What needs improvement with IBM Kenexa?

BrassRing needs improvement in a few areas. First, it should update how it tracks where candidates come from and avoi...

What needs improvement with UKG?

UKG needs more publicity. It is a productive ERP ( /categories/erp ) application, but many people in the IT market ar...

What is your primary use case for UKG?

I worked for a healthcare organization and a university. Most organizations use UKG ( /products/ukg-reviews ) to trac...

What advice do you have for others considering UKG?

Publicity is very important for any software. If people aren't aware of UKG, despite its productivity, they won't use...

SAP SuccessFactors vs Dayforce HCM

Comparisons

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Compared 13% of the time

PeopleSoft vs Dayforce HCM

Compared 5% of the time

Netsuite SuitePeople vs Dayforce HCM

Compared 4% of the time

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SAP SuccessFactors vs IBM Kenexa

Compared 30% of the time

HR Software Solutions vs IBM Kenexa

Compared 25% of the time

NuView vs IBM Kenexa

Compared 13% of the time

Workday vs IBM Kenexa

Compared 10% of the time

Avature vs IBM Kenexa

Compared 10% of the time

More IBM Kenexa Competitors

Workday vs UKG

Compared 25% of the time

SAP SuccessFactors vs UKG

Compared 16% of the time

SAP HCM vs UKG

Compared 11% of the time

PeopleSoft vs UKG

Compared 7% of the time

WhentoWork vs UKG

Compared 2% of the time

More UKG Competitors

Product Reports

Download Dayforce HCM product report

Dayforce HCM

July 2025

Download IBM Kenexa product report

IBM Kenexa

July 2025

Download UKG product report

June 2025

Also Known As

Ceridian Dayforce HCM, Ascender Talent Management, Ceridian Ideal

IBM Smarter Workforce, Outstart

UKG Pro, UKG Dimensons, UKG Ready

Overview

Dayforce HCM is a global, cloud-based human capital management (HCM) software platform for managing the complete employee lifecycle. This solution was designed to improve the employee experience by bringing together data from across the employment cycle to help managers make better decisions at all levels.

Dayforce HCM is an HR, payroll, benefits, workforce management, and talent management platform. The scalable software uses a single, flexible rules engine, as well as real-time updates and calculations, to help you meet complicated regulatory requirements.

Dayforce reduces the burden of disconnected applications by delivering a single application for all of your human capital management needs. All transactions made anywhere within the application flow seamlessly across all functional areas in real time, eliminating the need for repeated data entry, manual workarounds, and batch operations. This is thanks to a single employee record and a single rule engine. Organizations can achieve shorter training time, faster user adoption, and a faster return on investment.

With Dayforce HCM, users can view all HR data in real time in one place.

Here are some key tasks companies can do with the solution:

Hire the right people
Design work/life balance plans
Manage employee development
Handle payments
Administer benefits
Track compliance throughout the employee lifecycle

Dayforce HCM Features

Dayforce HCM has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

Continuous payroll for staff: Dayforce HCM aids in paying staff accurately and on schedule. Give your payroll staff the ability to access and audit data at any time during the pay cycle.

Personnel management: Empower and engage your frontline employees while keeping labor expenses and compliance under control. Make proactive, data-driven decisions that can help you run your business more efficiently.

Optimized staff benefits: Assist employees in selecting the best benefit plans while streamlining administrative tasks. With the help of analytics, you can maximize the value of your benefits investments and gain a better understanding of your costs.

Streamlined human resources: With a single consolidated, real-time solution, you can eliminate HR information silos. Improve HR productivity by streamlining administrative tasks and gaining access to key HR analytics.

Dayforce HCM Benefits

There are many benefits to implementing Dayforce HCM. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

Dayforce HCM aids in planning, hiring, retaining, and building your team, whether they be full-time employees or hourly workers. Insights based on data can help you see around corners and predict the future.

Dayforce HCM helps you keep track of compliance everywhere in order to reduce risk. Simplify compliance in a global workplace. Keep up with complicated payroll and tax requirements from different regions and countries, as well as internal policies and processes. Dayforce can help you reduce the risk – and the cost – of noncompliance.

Dayforce HCM empowers your workforce by improving your employee experience with always-on technologies like Dayforce Wallet. Transform pay, enable self-service, and assist your employees in developing future skills, no matter where they are or what device they are using.

Dayforce

Kenexa provides business solutions for human resources. We help global organizations multiply business success by identifying the best individuals for every job and fostering optimal work environments for every organization.

IBM

At UKG, our purpose is people — real people with real challenges, and a simple request. Help me keep my employees productive, connected, and happy. So that’s what we did.

We’ve created an unmatched suite of HR and workforce management solutions, backed by our people who care about yours. Our solutions deliver global workforce experiences that truly reflect the connection between life and work today. That means insights are deeper. Work is easier. And interactions are more meaningful.