Five of twelve models named Oyster first on the direct prompt; one named G-P. Oyster was named by twelve of the twelve models and G-P by nine and Oyster carries 27 labels and G-P 11, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in six categories this edition.
Named in two categories this edition.
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all twelve models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the global payroll and employer of record page.
Across every category in the September 2026 Edition, Oyster and G-P were named in the same answer twenty-three times, of the 96 answers naming Oyster and the 48 naming G-P. In those answers G-P took the first choice two times and Oyster zero.
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | ||||||
| GPT-5.4 mini | ||||||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | ||||||
| Perplexity Sonar | ||||||
| Grok 4.1 Fast | ||||||
| Mistral Small | ||||||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | ||||||
| Llama 4 Maverick | ||||||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | ||||||
| Kimi K2 | ||||||
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | ||||||
| MiniMax M2.5 |
Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Five of six in this category shown.
“Payroll delays: Reviewers report invoices that swing month-to-month and payroll landing days late” Kimi K2 · negative prompt · hard negative
“Best avoided if: Needing fast support or strong APAC coverage.” Grok 4.1 Fast · negative prompt · hard negative
“Oyster positions itself as a user-friendly EOR platform with a focus on the mid-market — companies with 50-500 employees hiring internationally” Claude Haiku 4.5 · direct prompt · first choice
“Especially strong for mid-market companies (50-500 employees) looking to hire internationally... a top choice for B2B firms expanding globally.” Mistral Small · direct prompt · first choice
“Specifically positioned for mid-market companies (50-500 employees), focused on international hiring with a user-friendly platform” MiniMax M2.5 · direct prompt · first choice
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Five of six in this category shown.
“G-P (180+ countries, typically $700\u2013900/mo) targets risk-averse enterprises... often overkill” DeepSeek V4 Flash · direct prompt · soft negative
“G-P: ticket support slowness, premium pricing) but fewer red flags” Grok 4.1 Fast · negative prompt · soft negative
“For broad global coverage with compliance depth: Safeguard Global or Globalization Partners.” GLM 4.7 FlashX · direct prompt · first choice
“Lower-risk: Providers with wholly owned local entities (e.g., Globalization Partners has 100+ owned entities)” Kimi K2 · negative prompt · alternative
“Safeguard Global and G-P focus on white-glove, strategic consulting” Gemini 3.5 Flash · comparative prompt · alternative
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.