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IBM Kenexa vs UKG comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 4, 2024

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

IBM Kenexa
Ranking in Benefits Administration
13th
Ranking in Talent Management
18th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.3
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
Applicant Tracking and Recruiting Software (8th)
UKG
Ranking in Benefits Administration
3rd
Ranking in Talent Management
6th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
125
Ranking in other categories
Employee Scheduling Software (1st), Cloud HCM (6th), Employee Time Tracking Software (2nd), HR Analytics Software (2nd), Talent Acquisition (6th), AI-Agents for HR (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Benefits Administration category, the mindshare of IBM Kenexa is 1.9%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of UKG is 6.6%, down from 7.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Benefits Administration Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
UKG6.6%
IBM Kenexa1.9%
Other91.5%
Benefits Administration
 

Featured Reviews

Karan Grover - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The ease of scaling is one of BrassRing's biggest strengths, making it a trusted choice for large companies."
"For us in particular, I love how configurable the system is; I can use the same technology for different parts of my business."
"I think the advantage of Kenexa is the degree to which we can configure to meet our specific needs."
"I think one of the biggest benefits that Kenexa brings is the scalability."
"We acquired a pharmacy retailer three years ago, and Kenexa enabled us to actually standardize our employee engagement across both of those organizations, helping us understand at an enterprise level what was going on and, most importantly, how people were starting to feel about being acquired and joining the broader company space."
"This tool is very powerful and the ability to tweak it in order to meet desired processes and controls is valuable."
"We use the Viewpoint and that is an absolutely powerful tool; it is extremely helpful to get more insights, and to start a conversation with our employees to grow and improve."
"The streamlined, simplicity approach of Kenexa makes it simple for me to navigate."
"Customer service is very good and technical support is very good."
"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."
"Payroll is reliable."
"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."
"Technical support is excellent."
"Customer service is great."
"We made the right decision to switch to Ultimate Software."
 

Cons

"I think there is some administrative things that could be easier in terms of Workbench and streamlining that process; configuration of different things."
"There were functions we couldn't customize and needed to."
"There are tools that actually are not there where clients need them, especially the survey analytics to analyze verbatim in different languages."
"My rating is not higher because of the support, honestly; the global service center model."
"The reporting feature currently is our biggest struggle point; getting the data we need and in the fashion that we need it is a current struggle point for us."
"IBM Kenexa has a lot of room for improvement. The solution is not advancing anymore in terms of the user experience and in the workflows."
"The downside of Kenexa is that they're constantly reinventing, so they have constant releases with new features and upgrades. The downside of that is that they do experience fairly regular issues with stability that they're not always as quick to respond to as we'd like them to."
"Improvements can be made from the back end, with the workbench."
"I would like to see more options for automating 401k feeds/imports."
"The system is slow sometimes."
"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 submit button sometimes does not work and the timesheet stays in the "In Progress" mode."
"A chat feature for customer support would be great. Some questions are simple that we shouldn't have to create a case just to get an answer for (emails do not get answered for several days, if at all)."
"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."
"Too many updates"
"Customer service is fair. There have been times that I created a case, a few days go by and I hear nothing."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"The platform is not affordable but also not the most expensive."
"If you're going for the full suite, it can be fairly pricey."
"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."
"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."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
17%
Outsourcing Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Construction Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Outsourcing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise28
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business48
Midsize Enterprise43
Large Enterprise48
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
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...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

IBM Smarter Workforce, Outstart
UKG Pro, UKG Dimensons, UKG Ready
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Sweet Spot International (SSI), Leo Burnett Worldwide (LBW), Sika AG, Legacy Health, Apollo Group Inc., Regeneron, Transurban Group, National Health Service, New Zealand Police, Overland Footwear, Yealands, Johnson Controls, Allscripts, Kerry Foods, Masterpet, AMD, Balfour Beatty
Tesla, Marriott, Yamaha, Aramark, Feeding America, Samsung, Sony Music, Dave & Buster's, Revlon
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Kenexa vs. UKG and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
908,834 professionals have used our research since 2012.