Index › Core HR and payroll › Global payroll › Small business › September 2026 Edition

Global payroll and employer of record for small business buyers

Asked as “employer of record”, and as “global payroll provider”, on behalf of a small B2B company. 42 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, twelve models each.

Standing

Deel

Contested

29% of first choices, contested.

ShowinginAll 50 categories →

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment; they sit side by side and are never added together.

Small business

Deel29%ContestedThis page Mid-market

Deel22%ContestedStanding →Enterprise

Remote19%ContestedStanding →

01The standing

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, over all twelve models, for a small B2B company. Ordered by share.

ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrant

Deel18%55accepted challenger

RemoFirst12%26accepted challenger

Remote13%47accepted challenger

Oyster24%42accepted challenger

Rippling36%36criticized challenger

Show the two products at 0%, ordered by negative rate

Papaya Global46%26criticized challenger

Multiplier19%26accepted challenger

Bars are the share of first choices, 0 to 100Every product with at least 10 labels here. Every product name links to its vendor page.

Head to head

Deel vs Papaya Global Deel vs Oyster Papaya Global vs Oyster

Recommended versus criticized

Every product with at least 10 labels here, on both axes. The 30% line names a quadrant, not the verdict above: that one needs more than 40%.

Criticized challengerCriticized default

Negative label rate →

Accepted challengerEndorsed leader

0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative40%

Key

Deel29%

RemoFirst21%

Remote14%

Oyster12%

Rippling7%

Multiplier0%

Papaya Global0%

02What they warned about

Three of twelve models held their first choice under the paraphrase. Claude Haiku 4.5, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Grok 4.1 Fast, Mistral Small, Llama 4 Maverick, Qwen 3.7 Flash, Kimi K2, GLM 4.7 FlashX and MiniMax M2.5 changed. A high negative share on a product with few labels is a warning. A low share on a product with many labels is salience, not sentiment.

Rippling

36%

13 of 36 labels negative · 9 of 12 models · 1 hard negative

“**95 BBB complaints** in the last 3 years; ... Users report **implementation disasters**” Kimi K2, negative prompt

Papaya Global

46%

12 of 26 labels negative · 8 of 12 models · 3 hard negative

“Who should avoid: Small businesses with fewer than 10 global employees, those needing a simple self-serve dashboard” DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt

Deel

18%

10 of 55 labels negative · 8 of 12 models · 1 hard negative

“High Caution... Who should avoid: Small businesses that need accurate cost forecasting” DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt

Oyster

24%

10 of 42 labels negative · 8 of 12 models · 1 hard negative

“The biggest complaints revolve around limited human support... better suited for mid-size and larger companies” Claude Haiku 4.5, negative prompt

03What they cite

Citations exist only for the models that return a source list: twelve of the twelve in this edition, and all six flagship models on the expanded tier.

Sites the answers cite

64 of 72 answers in this category came back with a source list, from 12 of 12 models: citations where the model returns them, or the search results it consulted. 6 of those lists are Google grounding redirects that name no site and are left out of the counts. 851 links across 171 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page.

peoplemanagingpeople.com

vendor site · People Managing People31 answers · 45 citations · 10 models

gartner.com

vendor site · Gartner21 answers · 21 citations · 10 models

remofirst.com

vendor site · RemoFirst19 answers · 28 citations · 9 models

remote.com

vendor site · Remote19 answers · 22 citations · 11 models

teamed.global

vendor site · Teamed17 answers · 27 citations · 7 models

eorhq.com

16 answers · 19 citations · 9 models

globaleorservices.org

16 answers · 18 citations · 9 models

g2.com

15 answers · 25 citations · 8 models

oysterhr.com

vendor site · Oyster HR15 answers · 21 citations · 10 models

deel.com

vendor site · Deel15 answers · 16 citations · 6 models

hr.software

14 answers · 17 citations · 8 models

forbes.com

14 answers · 16 citations · 9 models

Pages the answers cite

The ten pages named in the most answers, by full address. A page here is one the models returned with a recommendation, not one the index endorses.

gartner.com/reviews/market/employer-of-record-eor

18 answers · 10 models

peoplemanagingpeople.com/tools/best-eor-for-small-business

17 answers · 7 models

remote.com/blog/payroll/best-global-payroll-providers

17 answers · 11 models

peoplemanagingpeople.com/tools/best-global-payroll-solutions

13 answers · 9 models

remofirst.com/post/employer-of-record-companies

13 answers · 8 models

eco.com/support/en/articles/16402404-best-global-payroll-software-2026

11 answers · 9 models

herohunt.ai/blog/the-best-employer-of-record-providers

10 answers · 7 models

teamed.global/compare/best-eor-providers-2026

10 answers · 5 models

forbes.com/advisor/business/best-international-payroll-services

9 answers · 8 models

getthera.com/blog/best-employer-of-record-services

9 answers · 5 models

04How they answered

Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.

ModelDirect“What is the best employer of record for a small B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which global payroll provider would you recommend to a small business that sells to other businesses?”Comparative“What are the top EOR and global payroll platforms for a small team and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best employer of record for a small company with a tight budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 30 person company evaluating an employer of record. What should we look at?”Negative“Which EOR and global payroll platforms should a small business avoid or be cautious about?”

Claude Haiku 4.5no first choicePaycomChanged

Seven alternatives

1-800Accountant, Deel, Gusto, Intuit QuickBooks, OnPay, Patriot Software, Rippling

no first choiceHire with Columbus, Remote People

One alternative

Playroll

against: RemoFirstno first choiceagainst: Oyster, RemoFirst, Rippling, Skuad

GPT-5.4 miniDeel

Two alternatives

Justworks, Remote

DeelHeld

Three alternatives

Oyster, Papaya Global, Remote

Deel, Remote

Three alternatives

Oyster, Papaya Global, Rippling

against: Multiplier, Velocity GlobalPlayroll

One alternative

Deel

against: Remoteno first choiceagainst: Deel, G-P, Oyster, Papaya Global, Rippling

Gemini 3.5 FlashRemote

Three alternatives

Deel, RemoFirst, Rippling

RipplingChanged

Two alternatives

Deel, Remote

RemoFirst

Three alternatives

Deel, Playroll, Remote

against: RipplingRemoFirst

Five alternatives

Deel, Hire with Columbus, Multiplier, Playroll, Remote

Rippling

Three alternatives

Deel, Oyster, Remote

against: Papaya Globalagainst: Deel, Oyster, Papaya Global, Rippling

Perplexity SonarDeel

Two alternatives

RemoFirst, Remote

DeelHeld

Two alternatives

Gusto, Oyster

Deel

Six alternatives

Multiplier, Oyster, Papaya Global, RemoFirst, Remote, Rippling

RemoFirst

Two alternatives

Hire with Columbus, Tarmack

against: Deel, Remoteno first choicenothing named

Grok 4.1 FastDeel

Four alternatives

Multiplier, Oyster, RemoFirst, Remote

RemoteChanged

Three alternatives

Deel, Multiplier, Oyster

against: Papaya GlobalDeel, Remote

Five alternatives

Native Teams, Oyster, Papaya Global, RemoFirst, Rippling

RemoFirst

One alternative

Remote People

against: Deel, Multiplier, Native Teams, Remoteno first choiceagainst: ADP, Deel, Gusto, Oyster, Papaya Global

Mistral SmallDeel

Two alternatives

Oyster, Rippling

Deel, RemoteChanged

Two alternatives

Justworks, Papaya Global

Deel, Remote

Three alternatives

Multiplier, Oyster, Rippling

RemoFirstno first choiceagainst: ADP GlobalView Payroll, CloudPay, Deel, Gusto, Multiplier, Oyster, Papaya Global, Remote, Rippling

DeepSeek V4 FlashDeel

Three alternatives

Multiplier, RemoFirst, Remote

against: RipplingDeelHeld

Three alternatives

Gusto, Justworks, Remote

against: RipplingDeel, Multiplier

Four alternatives

Native Teams, Oyster, RemoFirst, Remote

against: RipplingRemoFirst

One alternative

Remote People

against: Deel, Remoteno first choiceagainst: Deel, Gusto, Multiplier, Oyster, Papaya Global, RemoFirst, Remote

Llama 4 MaverickDeel

Two alternatives

Oyster, Rippling

OysterChanged

Two alternatives

Deel, Remote

no first choiceRemoFirst

One alternative

Multiplier

no first choicenothing named

Qwen 3.7 FlashDeel, Rippling

Two alternatives

Oyster, Remote

OysterChanged

Two alternatives

Deel, Remote

against: ADP, Papaya GlobalDeel

Three alternatives

Oyster, Papaya Global, Remote

against: Centrical, SurePayrollOyster

Two alternatives

Deel, Rippling

no first choiceagainst: G-P, Lano, Multiplier, Rippling, Rivermate

Kimi K2Remote

Four alternatives

Deel, Oyster, Pilot, RemoFirst

Oyster, RemoteChanged

Two alternatives

Deel, Rippling

Deel, Remote

Four alternatives

Multiplier, Oyster, Papaya Global, RemoFirst

against: GustoRemoFirst

One alternative

Multiplier

against: Tarmackno first choiceagainst: ADP, Deel, Oyster, Papaya Global, Paycor, Rippling

GLM 4.7 FlashXRemoFirst

Four alternatives

Deel, Oyster, Papaya Global, Remote

RemoteChanged

One alternative

Deel

against: Oyster, Papaya Global, RipplingDeel, Multiplier

One alternative

Remote

against: Oyster, Papaya GlobalHire with Columbus

Two alternatives

RemoFirst, Tarmack

against: Deelno first choiceagainst: ADP Global Payroll, Oyster, Papaya Global, Rippling

MiniMax M2.5RemoFirst, Remote People

Two alternatives

Deel, Oyster

Deel, OysterChanged

One alternative

Remote

against: RipplingDeel, Remote

Four alternatives

Knit People, One Global Payroll, Rippling, Tarmack

Tarmack

Three alternatives

Hire with Columbus, Native Teams, RemoFirst

no first choiceagainst: ADP Global Payroll, Gusto

Bold is the first choiceAlternatives are counted; the count opens them.What the answer argued against

05The record

One row per call: the version string exactly as returned, whether the model searched, sources cited, and latency. Full answer text is in the free responses file. Download the record

Seventy-two rows: every prompt, every model, every answer.

Prompt	Model	Version string	Time (UTC)	Searched	Sources	Latency
Direct recommendation	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 18:10	no	0	4 s
Direct recommendation	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 19:08	yes	4	6 s
Direct recommendation	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 21:52	yes	19	48 s
Direct recommendation	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 17:54	yes	19	6 s
Direct recommendation	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 20:58	yes	30	15 s
Direct recommendation	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 18:55	yes	5	3 s
Direct recommendation	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 20:46	yes	28	22 s
Direct recommendation	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 20:10	yes	5	3 s
Direct recommendation	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 21:24	yes	5	17 s
Direct recommendation	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 21:07	yes	15	36 s
Direct recommendation	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 20:33	yes	18	48 s
Direct recommendation	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 19:22	yes	7	19 s
Paraphrase	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 20:13	yes	9	8 s
Paraphrase	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 21:00	yes	4	5 s
Paraphrase	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 18:58	yes	11	21 s
Paraphrase	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 21:35	yes	20	6 s
Paraphrase	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 17:56	yes	26	18 s
Paraphrase	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 20:06	yes	5	4 s
Paraphrase	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 20:47	yes	17	16 s
Paraphrase	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 17:58	yes	5	3 s
Paraphrase	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 18:21	yes	5	29 s
Paraphrase	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 21:36	yes	6	17 s
Paraphrase	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 21:24	yes	29	29 s
Paraphrase	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 18:42	yes	10	26 s
Comparative	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 18:44	yes	9	10 s
Comparative	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 20:07	yes	5	10 s
Comparative	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 19:44	yes	17	28 s
Comparative	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 19:43	yes	20	9 s
Comparative	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 21:05	yes	31	15 s
Comparative	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 20:11	yes	10	14 s
Comparative	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 19:36	yes	24	31 s
Comparative	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 21:24	yes	5	3 s
Comparative	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 17:57	no	0	38 s
Comparative	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 18:08	yes	20	44 s
Comparative	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 20:07	yes	25	147 s
Comparative	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 19:04	yes	15	52 s
Budget constrained	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 18:51	yes	9	7 s
Budget constrained	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 20:41	yes	4	5 s
Budget constrained	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 19:59	yes	14	22 s
Budget constrained	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 19:16	yes	20	5 s
Budget constrained	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 18:28	yes	34	20 s
Budget constrained	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 18:52	yes	5	3 s
Budget constrained	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 19:18	yes	18	15 s
Budget constrained	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 21:40	yes	5	3 s
Budget constrained	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 20:59	no	0	27 s
Budget constrained	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 21:35	yes	10	20 s
Budget constrained	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 21:45	yes	29	131 s
Budget constrained	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 18:09	yes	15	22 s
Scale constrained	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 19:01	no	0	7 s
Scale constrained	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 18:58	no	0	11 s
Scale constrained	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 21:54	yes	10	47 s
Scale constrained	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 18:00	yes	20	9 s
Scale constrained	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 18:27	yes	12	9 s
Scale constrained	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 20:56	no	0	10 s
Scale constrained	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 21:31	yes	9	19 s
Scale constrained	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 21:20	yes	5	3 s
Scale constrained	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 21:41	no	0	26 s
Scale constrained	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 18:44	yes	15	27 s
Scale constrained	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 18:20	yes	14	81 s
Scale constrained	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 21:32	no	0	8 s
Negative framing	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 21:44	yes	19	10 s
Negative framing	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 20:43	yes	5	7 s
Negative framing	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 21:55	yes	17	51 s
Negative framing	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 18:56	yes	20	11 s
Negative framing	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 19:54	yes	21	17 s
Negative framing	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 18:40	yes	5	7 s
Negative framing	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra`	2026-09-17 18:39	yes	28	83 s
Negative framing	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 21:41	yes	5	3 s
Negative framing	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 21:28	yes	15	57 s
Negative framing	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 21:11	yes	30	36 s
Negative framing	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 19:59	yes	28	54 s
Negative framing	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 21:26	yes	15	25 s

Normalization in this category

Every judgment call made between the raw labels and the numbers above, listed so it is visible and reversible.

Category-scoped readings

ADP GlobalView read as ADP GlobalView Payroll

Gust read as Gusto

Oyster HR read as Oyster

Papaya read as Papaya Global

Patriot read as Patriot Software

RemotePeople read as Remote People

Velocity read as Velocity Global

Unresolved, counted raw

1-800Accountant

Centrical

Intuit QuickBooks

Knit People

PamGro

PrimePay

Discontinued, still offered

No shut-down product was recommended here.

Global payroll and employer of record for small business buyers

By buyer segment

01The standing

Recommended versus criticized

02What they warned about

03What they cite

Sites the answers cite

Pages the answers cite

04How they answered

05The record

Normalization in this category

Also in core hr and payroll