SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central vs UKG comparison

SAP and UKG are both solutions in the Cloud HCM category. SAP is ranked #19 with an average rating of 8.0, while UKG is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.0. Additionally, 100% of SAP users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 89% of UKG users who would recommend it.

SAP SuccessFactors Employee...

Read 1 SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central review

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28 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

UKG

Read 125 UKG reviews

5,232 Views
3,348 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

SAP SuccessFactors Employee...

UKG

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Executive SummaryUpdated on May 7, 2025

UKG and SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central are competing in the human capital management space. UKG has the upper hand in pricing and support, while SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central is more feature-rich.

Features: UKG offers robust workforce management, effective time tracking capabilities, and focuses on practical functionality. SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central enhances core HR processes, integrates well for broader reach, and provides scalable solutions.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: UKG features a straightforward deployment model tailored for smaller organizations' needs, with more direct support. SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central requires a more involved deployment due to its extensive configurability and offers a wide range of online resources.

Pricing and ROI: UKG is more affordable, desirable for mid-sized organizations seeking quicker ROI. SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central justifies its higher setup costs with an extensive feature set, leading to better long-term ROI when fully utilized.

To learn more, read our detailed Cloud HCM Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cloud HCM

July 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

SAP SuccessFactors Employee...

Ranking in Cloud HCM

19th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

UKG

Ranking in Cloud HCM

5th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

125

Ranking in other categories

Benefits Administration (5th), Talent Management (6th), Employee Scheduling Software (1st), Employee Time Tracking Software (2nd), HR Analytics Software (2nd), Talent Acquisition (6th)

Featured Reviews

MaliniRamesh

SAP Consultant at NoblQ

Offers a user-friendly interface with seamless access and flexibility

The features of this solution I have found most valuable include that it is a cloud product, providing easy access without any T-codes. We can easily manage profiles and everything. I find SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central to be user-friendly, with a good UI, accessible through Fiori, making it easy to navigate without using T-codes.

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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

"I find SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central to be user-friendly, with a good UI, accessible through Fiori, making it easy to navigate without using T-codes."

"The product's most valuable feature is the ability to establish connectivity between the front and the back end, particularly the single point of data entry, to minimize mistakes."

"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."

"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."

"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."

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

"The solution has improved our organization by helping us cut hours and lessen our labor force. It saved us probably over $100,000 in just the last couple of years."

"The setup process is straightforward."

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

More UKG pros

Cons

"SAP can improve RDP and reports by making them more user-friendly, as there are complex processes in understanding and handling them."

"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."

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

"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 system is slow sometimes."

"One area where UKG could improve is in its ability to understand its own competency and then work hard to improve it."

"The solution could improve by simplifying it even more core reports, such as more sample reports, more generic reports that you can edit and improve on yourself."

"The navigation on the screen could be better. Sometimes, I have to dig a little bit deep to find what I need. Everything is there. It just needs to be a little bit smoother."

"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."

More UKG cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"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."

"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."

"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."

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

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

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Educational Organization

29%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central?

The areas of SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central that need improvement include the voice breaking issue in communications. SAP can improve RDP and reports by making them more user-friendly, as ther...

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What is your primary use case for SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central?

I was working as an integration consultant, and in the integration project, I worked as a functional consultant. My role in this project was field mapping, integrating between SAP cloud and SAP HCM...

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What advice do you have for others considering SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central?

I am a certified consultant in both SAP HCM and SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central, working specifically with SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central for the past two years. The deployment time depend...

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What needs improvement with UKG?

UKG needs more publicity. It is a productive ERP ( /categories/erp ) application, but many people in the IT market are not aware of it. Greater awareness could increase its adoption.

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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 track employee timesheets, capturing accurate swipe-in and swipe-out data. UKG ( /pr...

See all answers

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 it. Expanding the awareness is essential for greater adoption. Overall, I would...

See all answers

Comparisons

No data available

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

Dayforce HCM vs UKG

Compared 8% of the time

PeopleSoft vs UKG

Compared 7% of the time

More UKG Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cloud HCM

July 2025

SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central report

Download SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central product report

Buyer's Guide

UKG

June 2025

Download UKG product report

Also Known As

No data available

UKG Pro, UKG Dimensons, UKG Ready

Overview

SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central is a cloud-based HRIS designed to streamline global HR processes and provide real-time insights for informed HR decisions.

With automated workflows and intelligent services, SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central facilitates end-to-end HR management rather than treating tasks individually. It enhances operational efficiency, delves into deeper insights, and strengthens business results by standardizing HR functions worldwide.

What are the key features of SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central?

Employee Profile & Org Structures: Effectively manage employee data and organizational setups.
Global HR Compliance: Maintain HR compliance across over 100 countries and industries.
Self-Service Tools: Enhance productivity with intuitive self-service functionalities and notifications.
Benefits & Absence Management: Simplify management with built-in capabilities for benefits and absence handling.

What benefits or ROI should users look for?

Increased Efficiency: Streamlined HR processes lead to improved time and resource management.
Improved Decision-Making: Real-time insights aid in making informed HR decisions.
Global Scalability: Capability to seamlessly manage HR functions worldwide.

SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central is implemented across various industries to support HR processes tailored to specific industry needs. Its flexibility allows for adaptation, ensuring HR compliance and boosting productivity in diverse business sectors.

SAP

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.

UKG

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Tesla, Marriott, Yamaha, Aramark, Feeding America, Samsung, Sony Music, Dave & Buster's, Revlon

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