SAP SuccessFactors HCM vs UKG comparison

Read 125 UKG reviews

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SAP SuccessFactors HCM

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 22, 2026

UKG and SAP SuccessFactors HCM are leading solutions in the human capital management category. SAP SuccessFactors HCM seems to have the upper hand with its extensive range of functionalities, comprehensive feature set, and advanced customization options.

Features: UKG offers an intuitive design with efficient workforce management, payroll solutions, and seamless third-party integrations. SAP SuccessFactors HCM provides robust talent management, extensive customization, and flexible analytics.

Room for Improvement: UKG could enhance its advanced analytics and customization features. Some users find the UKG interface could be better, and the setup process more streamlined. SAP SuccessFactors HCM could benefit from a simpler deployment process and improved MDF-based reporting, and its recruitment module may need periodic updates for evolving needs.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: UKG provides straightforward deployment with dedicated support renowned for efficiency. SAP SuccessFactors HCM involves a more complex setup but is backed by extensive support structures and expert teams.

Pricing and ROI: UKG is cost-effective with swift ROI, catering to mid-sized businesses with competitive pricing. SAP SuccessFactors HCM has higher initial costs but offers substantial ROI over time owing to its scalability and detailed features.

To learn more, read our detailed SAP SuccessFactors HCM vs. UKG Report (Updated: April 2026).

SAP SuccessFactors HCM vs. UKG

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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 HCM

Ranking in Cloud HCM

7th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

4.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

UKG

Ranking in Cloud HCM

6th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

125

Ranking in other categories

Benefits Administration (2nd), Talent Management (5th), Employee Scheduling Software (1st), Employee Time Tracking Software (2nd), HR Analytics Software (2nd), Talent Acquisition (5th), AI-Agents for HR (4th)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Cloud HCM category, the mindshare of SAP SuccessFactors HCM is 1.3%. The mindshare of UKG is 5.0%, down from 5.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud HCM Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
UKG	5.0%
SAP SuccessFactors HCM	1.3%
Other	93.7%

Cloud HCM

Featured Reviews

Stuti Ghosh

VP – Skills Architecture And Management at Standard Chartered Bank

Unified talent workflows have streamlined performance reviews and continuous feedback

Based on my experience with SAP SuccessFactors HCM, there are a lot of improvements needed. They are improving definitely, but SAP SuccessFactors HCM needs a lot more integrated flow of data and information across different modules because it is sitting in a lot of places. The biggest improvement is that SAP SuccessFactors HCM is very plain and vanilla and is not very engaging in terms of UI/UX. From a UI/UX perspective, it is not very intuitive. You need to know where to go and navigate and what information is sitting there. Therefore, we have to do a lot of change management education, a lot of guidance work, and a lot of change management to get higher adoption and engagement on the platform. Something that would be really intuitive could fit better with the flow.

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Harish_Mahanta

Works

Streamlined time tracking boosts operational efficiency across multiple regions

The time tracking feature is the most effective for employee management. UKG is used in Europe, the United States, Australia, and East Asian countries for HR activities like payroll. The application is like an ERP, providing comprehensive features for organizations, simplifying their processes, and reducing the need to use multiple software solutions.

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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 SAP SuccessFactors HCM tool is a fantastic platform to work with, offering end-to-end employee lifecycle coverage."

"The employee experience management tools have had a very positive impact on employee satisfaction and well-being within our organization."

"SAP SuccessFactors HCM has positively impacted my customer's environment by ensuring they are digital; we promote using DocuSign for document signing and ensuring effective onboarding, and post-implementation we provide hyper-care and digital adoption reports after six months or a year to show how much more paperless and workflow-enabled their organization has become after SAP SuccessFactors HCM implementation."

"Using SAP SuccessFactors HCM analytics and insights helps my customers in data-driven decision-making."

"Regarding how SAP SuccessFactors HCM has helped my organization, we have timelines that work with the platform in terms of when we set up our goals and record them, performance reviews, check-ins, and everything work seamlessly."

"The feature I appreciate the most about this solution is the integration with SAP S/4HANA system."

"Ultimate is cute and fun."

"The payroll function is immaculate; we rely on it 100%."

"All aspects of the employee lifecycle can be handled within the Ultipro system: Recruiting/onboarding, employment validation, payroll processing, performance plans and reviews, and salary planning."

"UltiPro is far and away the leader in SaaS products, especially when a $1M solution is not appropriate."

"The employee self-service feature is most valuable, with a mobile app that allows employees in the restaurant industry to manage their own data, including direct deposit accounts and emergency contacts, which is definitely the biggest benefit."

"It has helped with keeping track of employees time sheets, wage garnishments, and 401(k) deferrals."

"Platform configuration."

"Benefits, Life Events and OE have allowed us to move away from paper and integrate and track our data with our benefit providers, allowing us to better focus on improving benefits and communications versus data entry."

More UKG pros

Cons

"The main area for improvement would be implementing a better pricing model. It is expensive, and with people discussing Workday more frequently, SAP needs to compete by becoming more free-flowing and dynamic compared to traditional SAP systems."

"It is very difficult to purchase SAP SuccessFactors HCM over here for smaller or medium-sized organizations, mainly because of the price."

"The SAP SuccessFactors HCM has room for improvement in terms of product development nimbleness. Additionally, the speed of the application platform occasionally reduces, primarily due to data center related issues."

"Based on my experience with SAP SuccessFactors HCM, there are a lot of improvements needed."

"The pricing of the solution is very high concerning pricing, setup cost, and licensing of this tool."

"Customer service is awful. Technical support is awful."

"Reporting and the talent suite need improvement compared to other vendors."

"We have encountered scalability issues."

"I wish UltiPro had the functionality as an administrator to view a user's screen or what they are viewing when trying to help troubleshoot if the user is not onsite."

"There were issues with deployment. It was poorly launched due to a lack of personnel on our part."

"UTM and core connectivity: this should be way more straightforward!"

"Customer cases when we have problems."

"UKG has complex clock-in and clock-out features. It changes things too often, and it feels like the tool is constantly changing things without testing before implementing changes in production. Additionally, it doesn't communicate these changes very well."

More UKG cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"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."

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

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

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

"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."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

16%

Construction Company

11%

Educational Organization

10%

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

11%

Construction Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	48
Midsize Enterprise	43
Large Enterprise	48

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP SuccessFactors HCM?

The pricing of SAP SuccessFactors HCM is a bit expensive; its HCM without SuccessFactors was reasonable when it was on-site, but SuccessFactors is very expensive. On-premise HCM was good regarding ...

What needs improvement with SAP SuccessFactors HCM?

What is your primary use case for SAP SuccessFactors HCM?

I have hands-on experience with SAP SuccessFactors HCM and we use different modules. As an HR person, I work from that side of the platform. I am the customer of SAP SuccessFactors HCM. We utilize ...

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.

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...

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...

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Product Reports

SAP SuccessFactors HCM

Download SAP SuccessFactors HCM product report

Download UKG product report

Also Known As

No data available

UKG Pro, UKG Dimensons, UKG Ready

Overview

SAP SuccessFactors HCM provides cloud-based HR solutions covering core HR, payroll, talent management, and more. This suite helps organizations remain agile by focusing on people-centric strategies and AI-powered decision-making tools.

SAP SuccessFactors HCM offers a full suite of HR management tools designed to enhance every HR aspect, from core HR and payroll to comprehensive talent management, sales performance, and workforce planning. As work dynamics shift, the emphasis on placing people at the core of strategic planning helps drive agility and informed decisions, fortifying growth within organizations.

What are the most valuable features of SAP SuccessFactors HCM?

Comprehensive Core HR: Streamlines HR processes, ensuring efficiency and compliance across HR tasks.
Payroll Management: Delivers accurate and timely payroll processing, adaptable to diverse needs.
Talent Management: Empowers nurturing and development of talent, enhancing employee engagement.
People Analytics: Provides actionable insights into workforce trends with advanced analytics.
Workforce Planning: Facilitates strategic planning by forecasting workforce requirements effectively.

What benefits and ROI should be evaluated in SAP SuccessFactors HCM reviews?

Increased Agility: Ability to adapt quickly to changing business environments with flexible HR solutions.
Data-Driven Decision Making: Leveraging AI to make informed HR decisions that support growth.
Scalable Growth: Supports both current needs and future expansion with robust HR capabilities.
Enhanced Employee Engagement: Focus on employee needs leading to improved morale and productivity.

SAP SuccessFactors HCM sees extensive adoption across industries like retail, healthcare, and finance, where managing a diverse workforce and ensuring regulatory compliance are paramount. The suite’s adaptability to industry-specific requirements exemplifies its practical application in different sectors.

SAP

UKG offers a comprehensive suite for payroll processing, HR management, and business intelligence, integrating seamlessly with systems like PeopleSoft and Workday. Its cloud-based service enhances workforce management across industries with advanced customization and intuitive use.

UKG's extensive features include payroll processing, business intelligence reporting, and self-service options for employees and managers. The platform is designed for ease of integration, providing a user-friendly experience with extensive onboarding tools and robust data management. While UKG excels in configuration and reporting capabilities, it requires improvements in customer support and benefits administration flexibility. Implementation can be complex, and areas such as real-time support and automated processes need refinement.

What are UKG's most valued features?

Payroll Processing: Streamlined for accurate and efficient transactions.
Business Intelligence Reporting: Offers insightful data analytics to inform decision-making.
Employee and Manager Self-service: Empowers users with access to essential tools and information.
Benefits Administration: Manages employee benefits with ease.
Data Integration: Ensures seamless interaction with other systems, enhancing performance.

What benefits should users consider in reviews?

Improved Employee Satisfaction: Cloud-based updates foster an engaging environment.
Streamlined HR Activities: Integrates with existing systems to enhance operation efficiency.
Ease of Use: Users appreciate its intuitive design and customization options.

UKG is leveraged across multiple industries for its robust functionalities in payroll and HR management, supporting recruitment, onboarding, and workforce dynamics. The platform's integration with time management and learning modules supports comprehensive employee management and compliance across global deployments.

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

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

SAP SuccessFactors HCM vs. UKG