HRIS and HCM platforms
Asked as “HRIS”, and as “human capital management platform”, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. 40 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, twelve models each.
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.
01The standing
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. Ordered by share.
ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrant
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.
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 →
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12Accepted challengerEndorsed leader
0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative40%
Key
01Rippling22%
Rippling22%02Zoho People22%
Zoho People22%03HiBob15%
HiBob15%04ADP Workforce Now15%
ADP Workforce Now15%05BambooHR8%
BambooHR8%06Deel5%
Deel5%07Paycor5%
Paycor5%08Gusto2%
Gusto2%09Paylocity2%
Paylocity2%10Workday HCM2%
Workday HCM2%11UKG Pro0%
UKG Pro0%12Paycom0%
Paycom0%02What they warned about
Two of twelve models held their first choice under the paraphrase. Claude Haiku 4.5, GPT-5.4 mini, Grok 4.1 Fast, Mistral Small, DeepSeek V4 Flash, 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.
Workday HCM42%
15 of 36 labels negative · 8 of 12 models · 6 hard negative
“Avoid enterprise-heavy like Workday unless >500 employees (too costly/complex for most mid-market).” Grok 4.1 Fast, direct prompt
Paycor44%
7 of 16 labels negative · 7 of 12 models · 4 hard negative
“Multiple sources indicate significant concerns: **Customer service issues**: Described as "awful,"” Kimi K2, negative prompt
UKG Pro31%
8 of 26 labels negative · 7 of 12 models · 2 hard negative
“UKG (UltiPro / Kronos): Since the merger, users have expressed frustration regarding integration issues... Why avoid them?” GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt
Paycom50%
6 of 12 labels negative · 6 of 12 models · 4 hard negative
“Often cited as the **most disappointing** by HR professionals... **Payroll/tax errors** are the dominant complaint” DeepSeek V4 Flash, 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
67 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. 716 links across 183 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page.
35 answers · 36 citations · 10 models
vendor site · HiBob22 answers · 34 citations · 9 models
18 answers · 20 citations · 9 models
16 answers · 17 citations · 9 models
vendor site · People Managing People15 answers · 15 citations · 9 models
12 answers · 19 citations · 8 models
vendor site · Paylocity12 answers · 13 citations · 8 models
12 answers · 12 citations · 7 models
vendor site · Reddit11 answers · 52 citations · 8 models
vendor site · Lattice10 answers · 13 citations · 7 models
vendor site · Rippling10 answers · 11 citations · 7 models
vendor site · Workforce.com10 answers · 10 citations · 6 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.
33 answers · 10 models
14 answers · 9 models
12 answers · 8 models
11 answers · 7 models
10 answers · 7 models
10 answers · 7 models
9 answers · 6 models
9 answers · 9 models
9 answers · 7 models
8 answers · 6 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 HRIS for a mid-market B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which human capital management platform would you recommend to a mid-sized B2B company?”Comparative“What are the top HRIS platforms and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best HRIS for a company with a limited budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 500 person company evaluating a HRIS. What should we look at?”Negative“Which HRIS platforms should I avoid or be cautious about?”
Claude Haiku 4.5HiBobPaycorChangedWorkday HCMZoho Peopleno first choiceagainst: ADP Workforce Now, Namely, SAP SuccessFactors, UKG Ready, Zoho People
Three alternatives
Namely, Paylocity, RipplingThree alternatives
BambooHR, HiBob, Workday HCMSeven alternatives
ADP Lyric HCM, BambooHR, Gusto, Oracle, Paychex Flex, Paycom, RipplingThree alternatives
BambooHR, Gusto, JustworksGPT-5.4 miniRipplingagainst: BambooHRWorkday HCMChangedno first choiceGustoagainst: BambooHRno first choicenothing named
Two alternatives
ADP Workforce Now, HiBobTwo alternatives
Dayforce, UKG ReadyOne alternative
Zoho PeopleGemini 3.5 FlashRipplingagainst: SAP SuccessFactors, Workday HCMRipplingHeldagainst: Workday HCMRipplingDeelagainst: Zoho PeopleRipplingagainst: BambooHR, Gusto, SAP SuccessFactors, Workday HCMagainst: ADP Workforce Now, BambooHR, Gusto, Paycom, Paylocity, SAP SuccessFactors, UKG Ready, Workday HCM
Three alternatives
BambooHR, HiBob, PaylocityThree alternatives
ADP Workforce Now, HiBob, PaylocitySeven alternatives
ADP Workforce Now, BambooHR, Deel, Gusto, HiBob, Paylocity, Workday HCMFour alternatives
Gusto, Homebase, OnPay, TalentHRSix alternatives
ADP Workforce Now, HiBob, Lattice, Leapsome, Paycor, PaylocityPerplexity SonarHiBobHiBobHeldagainst: BambooHRno first choiceZoho Peopleagainst: BambooHRno first choiceagainst: ADP, Namely, Oracle, Paycom, Paycor, Paylocity, SAP, UKG Pro, Workday HCM
Four alternatives
ADP Workforce Now, BambooHR, Paylocity, RipplingTwo alternatives
ADP Workforce Now, RipplingSeven alternatives
BambooHR, Deel, Gusto, HiBob, Rippling, SAP SuccessFactors, Workday HCMOne alternative
GustoGrok 4.1 FastADP Workforce Nowagainst: Workday HCMRipplingChangedagainst: Gusto, SAP, UKG Pro, Workday HCMRipplingZoho Peopleagainst: BambooHRRipplingagainst: ADP, Namely, Paychex Flex, Paycom, Paycor, Paylocity, UKG Pro, Workday HCM
Four alternatives
BambooHR, Paylocity, Rippling, UKG ProOne alternative
BambooHRSeven alternatives
ADP Workforce Now, BambooHR, Gusto, Paycor, Paylocity, UKG Pro, Workday HCMThree alternatives
Deel, Gusto, TalentHRMistral SmallADP Workforce NowHiBobChangedWorkday HCMZoho Peopleno first choiceagainst: ADP, Paychex Flex, Paycom, Paycor
Three alternatives
BambooHR, HiBob, PaylocityThree alternatives
BambooHR, Dayforce, PaylocityFour alternatives
ADP Workforce Now, BambooHR, Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM, RipplingTwo alternatives
BambooHR, GustoDeepSeek V4 FlashRipplingHiBob, PaylocityChangedagainst: BambooHR, Gusto, Oracle, SAP, Workday HCMno first choiceDeel, Zoho Peopleno first choiceagainst: BambooHRagainst: ADP Workforce Now, BambooHR, Oracle Taleo, Paychex Flex, Paycom, Paycor, UKG Pro
Four alternatives
ADP Workforce Now, BambooHR, HiBob, PaylocityTwo alternatives
ADP Workforce Now, DayforceNine alternatives
ADP Workforce Now, BambooHR, Deel, Gusto, HiBob, Paylocity, Rippling, UKG Pro, Workday HCMTwo alternatives
BambooHR, PaylocityLlama 4 MaverickADP Workforce NowBambooHRChangedagainst: Workday HCMno first choiceRipplingno first choiceagainst: ADP, Namely, Paycor, Paylocity, SAP, UKG Pro, Workday HCM
Three alternatives
BambooHR, HiBob, PaylocityTwo alternatives
BambooHR, GustoQwen 3.7 FlashBambooHRHiBobChangedno first choiceZoho Peopleno first choiceagainst: BambooHR, JD Edwards, Lawson, Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM, Oracle PeopleSoft, SAP SuccessFactors, Workday HCM
Three alternatives
ADP Workforce Now, HiBob, RipplingTwo alternatives
ADP Workforce Now, BambooHREight alternatives
ADP Workforce Now, BambooHR, Deel, GoCo, Gusto, Rippling, UKG Pro, Workday HCMTwo alternatives
Gusto, TalentHRKimi K2RipplingADP Workforce NowChangedagainst: Workday HCMGusto, RipplingZoho Peopleno first choiceagainst: ADP, Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM, Paycor, Personio, SAP SuccessFactors, UKG Pro, Workday HCM
Three alternatives
ADP Workforce Now, BambooHR, Workday HCMThree alternatives
BambooHR, HiBob, UKG ProEleven alternatives
ADP Workforce Now, BambooHR, Dayforce, Deel, GoCo, Justworks, Paycom, Paycor, RemoFirst, UKG Pro, Workday HCMFour alternatives
Deel, Gusto, Homebase, OdooGLM 4.7 FlashXADP Workforce NowPaycorChangedno first choiceZoho Peopleagainst: Jibble, Ripplingno first choiceagainst: ADP Workforce Now, UKG Pro
Eight alternatives
BambooHR, Dayforce, HiBob, Paycor, Paylocity, Personio, Rippling, UKG ProFour alternatives
ADP Workforce Now, BambooHR, HiBob, PaylocityFive alternatives
BambooHR, Eddy, Gusto, Homebase, OnPayMiniMax M2.5ADP Workforce NowBambooHRChangedagainst: Workday HCMGustoZoho Peopleno first choiceagainst: Paycom, Paycor, UKG Pro
Two alternatives
HiBob, Workday HCMTwo alternatives
Rippling, UKG ProSix alternatives
ADP Workforce Now, BambooHR, Deel, Rippling, UKG Pro, Workday HCMTwo alternatives
BambooHR, GustoBold 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 17:21 | yes | 10 | 9 s |
| Direct recommendation | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-17 17:06 | yes | 3 | 5 s |
| Direct recommendation | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-17 17:04 | yes | 11 | 22 s |
| Direct recommendation | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-17 17:16 | yes | 20 | 6 s |
| Direct recommendation | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-09-17 17:18 | yes | 33 | 17 s |
| Direct recommendation | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-17 17:03 | yes | 5 | 5 s |
| Direct recommendation | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-09-17 17:16 | yes | 21 | 72 s |
| Direct recommendation | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-17 17:18 | yes | 5 | 3 s |
| Direct recommendation | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-17 17:17 | yes | 5 | 32 s |
| Direct recommendation | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-17 17:02 | yes | 10 | 47 s |
| Direct recommendation | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-17 17:19 | yes | 13 | 19 s |
| Direct recommendation | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-17 17:03 | yes | 5 | 18 s |
| Paraphrase | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-09-17 17:20 | yes | 9 | 9 s |
| Paraphrase | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-17 17:19 | yes | 3 | 6 s |
| Paraphrase | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-17 17:02 | yes | 7 | 22 s |
| Paraphrase | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-17 17:19 | yes | 20 | 5 s |
| Paraphrase | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-09-17 17:09 | yes | 23 | 17 s |
| Paraphrase | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-17 17:04 | yes | 5 | 7 s |
| Paraphrase | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks | 2026-09-17 17:07 | yes | 20 | 20 s |
| Paraphrase | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-17 17:08 | yes | 5 | 3 s |
| Paraphrase | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-17 17:03 | yes | 5 | 18 s |
| Paraphrase | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-17 16:57 | yes | 9 | 17 s |
| Paraphrase | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-17 17:14 | yes | 15 | 13 s |
| Paraphrase | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-17 17:10 | yes | 5 | 25 s |
| Comparative | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-09-17 17:22 | yes | 9 | 9 s |
| Comparative | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-17 17:18 | yes | 4 | 10 s |
| Comparative | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-17 16:57 | yes | 9 | 19 s |
| Comparative | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-17 17:07 | yes | 19 | 9 s |
| Comparative | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-09-17 17:09 | yes | 26 | 14 s |
| Comparative | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-17 17:05 | yes | 5 | 7 s |
| Comparative | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks | 2026-09-17 17:05 | yes | 9 | 14 s |
| Comparative | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-17 17:07 | yes | 5 | 3 s |
| Comparative | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-17 17:16 | yes | 5 | 22 s |
| Comparative | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-17 17:20 | yes | 9 | 21 s |
| Comparative | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-17 16:58 | yes | 15 | 40 s |
| Comparative | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-17 17:00 | yes | 5 | 18 s |
| Budget constrained | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-09-17 17:17 | yes | 9 | 7 s |
| Budget constrained | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-17 16:59 | yes | 2 | 6 s |
| Budget constrained | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-17 17:10 | yes | 21 | 22 s |
| Budget constrained | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-17 17:12 | yes | 20 | 6 s |
| Budget constrained | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-09-17 17:04 | yes | 12 | 12 s |
| Budget constrained | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-17 17:03 | yes | 7 | 6 s |
| Budget constrained | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks | 2026-09-17 17:11 | yes | 9 | 10 s |
| Budget constrained | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-17 17:13 | yes | 5 | 2 s |
| Budget constrained | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-17 17:10 | yes | 5 | 32 s |
| Budget constrained | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-17 17:19 | yes | 8 | 17 s |
| Budget constrained | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-17 17:06 | yes | 13 | 38 s |
| Budget constrained | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-17 16:59 | yes | 5 | 20 s |
| Scale constrained | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-09-17 17:12 | no | 0 | 5 s |
| Scale constrained | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-17 17:00 | no | 0 | 6 s |
| Scale constrained | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-17 17:06 | yes | 11 | 29 s |
| Scale constrained | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-17 17:00 | yes | 20 | 9 s |
| Scale constrained | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-09-17 17:13 | yes | 17 | 15 s |
| Scale constrained | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-17 17:12 | no | 0 | 6 s |
| Scale constrained | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks | 2026-09-17 17:03 | yes | 8 | 11 s |
| Scale constrained | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-17 17:00 | yes | 5 | 3 s |
| Scale constrained | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-17 17:02 | yes | 5 | 40 s |
| Scale constrained | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-17 17:21 | yes | 14 | 21 s |
| Scale constrained | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-17 17:09 | yes | 14 | 44 s |
| Scale constrained | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-17 17:12 | yes | 5 | 13 s |
| Negative framing | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-09-17 17:04 | yes | 16 | 10 s |
| Negative framing | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-17 17:14 | no | 0 | 7 s |
| Negative framing | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-17 17:12 | yes | 28 | 29 s |
| Negative framing | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-17 17:01 | yes | 19 | 10 s |
| Negative framing | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-09-17 17:06 | yes | 41 | 20 s |
| Negative framing | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-17 17:21 | yes | 5 | 6 s |
| Negative framing | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks | 2026-09-17 17:22 | yes | 23 | 25 s |
| Negative framing | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-17 17:22 | yes | 5 | 3 s |
| Negative framing | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-17 17:20 | no | 0 | 35 s |
| Negative framing | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-17 17:05 | yes | 23 | 33 s |
| Negative framing | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-17 16:59 | yes | 26 | 45 s |
| Negative framing | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-17 17:13 | yes | 15 | 27 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 Lyric read as ADP Lyric HCM
Ceridian Dayforce read as Dayforce
Deel HR read as Deel
HiBob HRIS read as HiBob
Oracle HCM read as Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM
Oracle HCM Cloud read as Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM
Paychex read as Paychex Flex
PeopleSoft read as Oracle PeopleSoft
Workday read as Workday HCM
Workday GO read as Workday HCM
Unresolved, counted raw
Alexia.ai
JD Edwards
Discontinued, still offered
No shut-down product was recommended here.