UKG is sold as three product lines, Pro for large employers, Pro Workforce Management for time and scheduling, and Ready for small and medium businesses, and buyers who search for a replacement usually want one of two things: a smaller system that is quicker to run, or a suite that sits closer to their own country's payroll rules. This page covers the people, benefits, payroll and talent side of UKG. Replacements come from Nordic, French, Dutch and Spanish vendors as well as from the US suites UKG is normally compared with.
Sebastiaan SmitsFounderShort answer: The first three places are kept for challengers when the category has enough of them; the best-known brands come after that, in ranked order. For UKG users, the top three picks from our HR software ranking are Sympa, Kenjo and AlexisHR. Pick Sympa if you want the HR record and a fixed per-employee price without a separate implementation fee. All 12 alternatives below are ranked products from Best HR Software in 2026, and each says where it differs from UKG.
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UKG's developer hub separates Pro HCM, Pro Workforce Management and Ready, each with its own API documentation. A buyer who asks for UKG therefore has to say which one is meant, and the answer changes the cost, the implementation and the partner involved. Vendors that sell one product with modules, such as Sympa or AlexisHR, make that decision shorter.
We found no price list for any UKG line on pages we could read, and the vendor site sits behind a bot check that blocked our automated requests. Kenjo (EUR 6 and EUR 10 per employee per month), Lucca (indicative rates per module) and Factorial (from USD 8 per user) publish figures, so a finance team can build a comparison before anyone books a call.
UKG's own site describes its suite in US terms, and the developer hub lists tax groups, earnings codes and insurance rates as configuration objects. An employer whose payroll runs through a local provider in France, the Netherlands or the Nordics may prefer a system built round that country. AFAS, Lucca and Sympa are examples.
| Alternative | Headquarters | Free option | Pricing model | Switch if | Our rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sympa | Finland | No free tier | On request | you want the HR record and a fixed per-employee price without a separate implementation fee | #3 |
| Kenjo | Germany | No free tier | Published | you run a European company with shift staff and want a published monthly price | #1 |
| AlexisHR | Sweden | No free tier | On request | you are a Nordic employer who wants all HR modules in one quote | #9 |
| AFAS Software | Netherlands | No free tier | On request | you are a Dutch organisation that wants HR, payroll and finance in one system | #11 |
| Lucca | France | No free tier | Published | you are a French company that wants to buy HR modules one at a time | #2 |
| Factorial | Spain | No free tier | Published | you want one subscription for HR, time and IT with a stated entry price | #6 |
| HiBob | United Kingdom | No free tier | On request | you are a mid-market company with salaried staff in the US and UK | #5 |
| Keka | India | No free tier | Published | most of your employees are in India or you run IT services with project billing | #10 |
| Employment Hero | Australia | No free tier | Published | you employ in Australia, the UK or Southeast Asia and want payroll and rostering with HR | #12 |
| SAP SuccessFactors | Germany | No free tier | On request | you are a multinational that wants an enterprise HR suite with local payroll in many countries | #20 |
| Paycom | United States | No free tier | On request | you are a US employer that wants payroll, HR and time from one database | #16 |
| Workday | United States | No free tier | On request | you want HR and finance on one enterprise platform and have the budget for a long project | #19 |
Finland · On request
A Finnish HR system sold at one price per employee per month with set-up, onboarding and one payroll connector per country included, plus connections to more than 40 payroll providers. It targets mid-sized and enterprise HR teams in the Nordics and beyond. Time and attendance depth is far below UKG's workforce management.
Switch from UKG if you want the HR record and a fixed per-employee price without a separate implementation fee.
Germany · Published
Publishes three plans: Starter at EUR 6 and Growth at EUR 10 per employee per month, and Connect on request, with a 14-day trial. Shift planning and absence handling are first-class, and offices are in Berlin, Zurich and Madrid. Break and maximum-hours alerts only arrive in Connect, and nothing here approaches UKG's accrual rules.
Switch from UKG if you run a European company with shift staff and want a published monthly price.
Kenjo comes 1 of 21 when HR software products are ranked here →
Sweden · On request
A Stockholm platform that lists every module on its pricing page, among them salary reviews, whistleblowing, e-signing, handbooks and payroll reports, and states that everything is included in the quote. It leans on Nordic integrations such as Fortnox and Teamtailor. No figure is published, and it has no time clocks or labour scheduling engine.
Switch from UKG if you are a Nordic employer who wants all HR modules in one quote.
AlexisHR comes 9 of 21 when HR software products are ranked here →
Netherlands · On request
A Dutch vendor in Leusden that puts HRM, payroll, financials, CRM, order management and projects into one standard product tailored without programming. It states more than 14,000 customer organisations and 3.8 million people paid through it each month. That makes it an ERP decision, unlike UKG, and its site is aimed at the Dutch market.
Switch from UKG if you are a Dutch organisation that wants HR, payroll and finance in one system.
Read our review of AFAS Software (position 11 of 21 on the HR software list) →
France · Published
A French vendor with fifteen separate products, each priced per employee per month. For companies above 100 staff its page lists absences at 3.11 euros and the HR core at 3.21 euros, excluding VAT and set-up. Payroll is limited to preparation help and payslip distribution, not a payroll engine, which is a clear gap against UKG Pro.
Switch from UKG if you are a French company that wants to buy HR modules one at a time.
Spain · Published
States that plans start at USD 8 per user per month, tailored by quote, and bundles time off, time tracking, shift management, performance, recruiting, payroll, e-signature and IT device management in one subscription. Spanish in origin, it is built for growing small and mid-sized firms. Scheduling rules are lighter than UKG's workforce engine.
Switch from UKG if you want one subscription for HR, time and IT with a stated entry price.
Factorial comes 6 of 21 when HR software products are ranked here →
United Kingdom · On request
Says 5,500 companies and about 1.23 million people use it. Alongside core HR it sells US payroll, UK payroll, a payroll hub, benefits administration, time planning and workforce planning with finance dashboards. Strength is the employee-facing side, not rule-heavy hourly pay. Pricing is not shown on its pricing page, and its payroll pages name only the US and the UK.
Switch from UKG if you are a mid-market company with salaried staff in the US and UK.
India · Published
An Indian vendor whose site splits into payroll, HR, talent and project services suites, with separate price tabs for India, the USA, the European Union and Asia Pacific. Its Foundation and Strength plans add employees at stated rupee rates on the India tab. It is strongest in India, and its European coverage is thinner than UKG's.
Switch from UKG if most of your employees are in India or you run IT services with project billing.
Australia · Published
An Australian platform that combines HR, payroll, hiring and rostering, with country sites for Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Singapore, Malaysia and Canada and an employer-of-record service called HeroForce. It is built for small and medium employers, and its payroll content follows local awards, so it replaces UKG Ready at the lower end only.
Switch from UKG if you employ in Australia, the UK or Southeast Asia and want payroll and rostering with HR.
Where Employment Hero stands: place 12 of 21 in the HR software ranking →
Germany · On request
SAP describes more than 110,000 employees in 157 countries and lists core HR and payroll, talent, workforce management and analytics as separate applications. The closest match to UKG Pro by size, it is bought by multinational groups, with Volkswagen Group named for 430,000 staff. It takes a long implementation, and the vendor does not publish any price.
Switch from UKG if you are a multinational that wants an enterprise HR suite with local payroll in many countries.
#20 out of 21 HR software products: read the SAP SuccessFactors review →
United States · On request
A US vendor in Oklahoma City, listed on the NYSE, that says it has more than 39,000 clients and sells payroll, talent acquisition, talent management, HR management and time and labour management from a single database. Its Global HCM product reaches over 190 countries. Pricing is not on its site, and its strength is US payroll and tax.
Switch from UKG if you are a US employer that wants payroll, HR and time from one database.
United States · On request
Workday sells HCM as part of a larger platform with finance and an AI layer it calls Sana, and its site lists agents for talent acquisition, workforce management and payroll. It competes with UKG Pro at the top end of the market. We found no price on the page we read, and its scope is wider than a buyer of only HR needs.
Switch from UKG if you want HR and finance on one enterprise platform and have the budget for a long project.
#19 out of 21 HR software products: read the Workday review →
UKG is still the right place for an employer with a large hourly workforce that needs scheduling, accruals and payroll to feed each other, which is the case the Pro Workforce Management and Ready lines were written for. Vendors in our list that suit salaried office staff, such as Kenjo, AlexisHR or Sympa, do not replace that. A company already live on UKG with a stable configuration and a partner who knows it has little to gain from moving, because the cost of re-keying pay rules is high and the replacement systems cover time and attendance more lightly.
Before asking for a quote elsewhere, write down whether you use Pro HCM, Pro Workforce Management or Ready, since UKG documents them as separate API sets. Many customers use HR and time from different lines, and the replacement may cover one of them only. Map each module to a candidate before the first demo.
Earnings codes, accrual policies and overtime rules are configuration in UKG, not data you can export as a file. Rebuild them in the new system and run parallel pay periods before cutting over. Smaller HR systems may not hold the rules at all, in which case a separate time tool is needed.
UKG's developer hub documents APIs, webhooks and a people-data layer called People Fabric, in beta. If your payroll or ERP depends on those feeds, list them first and check what the new vendor offers. Sympa, for instance, states connections to over 40 payroll providers.
UKG's own pages we could read use the product names UKG Pro, UKG Pro Workforce Management and UKG Ready.
Our existing entry for the workforce management product says it carries the Kronos inheritance, but we could not confirm the company history from a UKG page because its main site blocked our requests.
Kenjo lists EUR 6 and EUR 10 per employee per month plus a quoted Connect plan. Factorial says plans start at USD 8 per user per month.
Lucca shows indicative monthly rates per module, and Sympa states one price per employee including set-up. UKG, SAP SuccessFactors, Workday and Paycom did not show a price on the pages we read.
UKG describes Ready as the line for small and medium businesses. Kenjo, Factorial and Employment Hero fit the size and publish more about price. None of them has UKG Ready's accrual rules, so a business with union agreements or layered overtime should test that first.
Sympa, Kenjo, AlexisHR, Lucca and AFAS are European vendors and describe local payroll connections or legislation. AFAS is the only one that also covers finance and ERP. SAP SuccessFactors is the choice for multinational groups.
Few do. Kenjo and Factorial offer shift planning, and Paycom lists time clocks, terminals and geofencing in its time and labour suite. For heavy scheduling, see the workforce management category and our UKG Pro Workforce Management entry before choosing an HR system alone.
UKG documents Pro HCM and Pro Workforce Management as separate API sets, so a split is technically possible. Whether your contract and data flows allow it depends on how payroll receives hours, which a UKG partner or the vendor has to confirm.
Founder of The Knowledge Engineers and of 2 Steps Ahead, an AI search visibility agency. Editorially responsible for every page on this site; research and drafting are AI-assisted.
Author and fact-checker: Sebastiaan Smits. This page was last reviewed on 31 October 2026; our review process is public.
