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Index › Core HR and payroll › Workforce management sui › Deputy vs Dayforce
Workforce management suites · October 2026 Edition

Deputy vs Dayforce

Zero of fourteen models named Deputy first on the direct prompt; one named Dayforce. Deputy was named by fourteen of the fourteen models and Dayforce by twelve and Deputy carries 28 labels and Dayforce 20, so the shares are not directly comparable.

Deputy

accepted challenger

Named in ten categories this edition.

Dayforce

accepted challenger

Named in fourteen categories this edition.

First-choice share4%4%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate18%15%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#6#7A position in a field of 17; printed, not drawn.
Labels2820A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Deputy reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Rippling was named alongside these two in eleven of the fourteen direct answers. Rippling vs Deputy · Rippling vs Dayforce · ADP Workforce Now vs Deputy

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen 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 workforce management suites page.

By framing

How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
DeputyFirst choices, of fourteen modelsDayforce
Direct01
Paraphrase211 against Deputy
Comparative00
Budget-constrained001 against Deputy
Scale-constrained001 against Dayforce
Negative013 against Deputy · 2 against Dayforce
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.

Every model, every framing

The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Deputy and Dayforce stood in it.
ModelDirectParaphraseComparativeBudget-constrainedScale-constrainedNegative
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
GPT-6 Luna
Muse Glimmer 30B
Deputy Dayforce first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Deputy on the left and Dayforce on the right.

The direct prompt

The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Deputy and Dayforce stood in it.

Dayforce first, Deputy not the choice

1 of 14 modelsDeputy was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.
Muse Glimmer 30BADP Workforce Now, Dayforce, UKG Pro / UKG Ready alternatives: Paycor, Rippling

Neither was the first choice, one was named

6 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.
GPT-5.4 miniADP Workforce Now alternatives: Dayforce, Legion WFM, UKG Pro
Perplexity SonarHiBob alternatives: Dayforce, Deputy, Rippling, SAP SuccessFactors
DeepSeek V4 FlashADP Workforce Now alternatives: Dayforce, Paycor, Rippling, UKG Pro
Qwen 3.7 FlashUKG Pro Workforce Management alternatives: ADP Workforce Now, ConnectWise Manage, Dayforce, Rippling, WhenWorked
Kimi K2Rippling alternatives: Dayforce, Paylocity, UKG Pro
GLM 4.7 FlashXRippling alternatives: ADP Workforce Now, BambooHR, Dayforce, Peopleware, Zoho People

Neither was named

7 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.
Claude Haiku 4.5Rippling alternatives: ADP Workforce Now, Paylocity, UKG Pro
Gemini 3.5 FlashKantata, Rippling alternatives: Float, Paycor, Paylocity, Productive
Grok 4.1 FastADP Workforce Now alternatives: Paylocity, Rippling, UKG Pro
Mistral SmallADP Workforce Now, Rippling alternatives: Paylocity, UKG Pro
Llama 4 Maverickno first choice
MiniMax M2.5ADP Workforce Now alternatives: Oracle Workforce Management, Paylocity, UKG Ready, Workday Workforce Management
GPT-6 LunaRippling alternatives: ADP Workforce Now, UKG Ready

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.

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Deputy leads by seven points.
Deputy7%#5 of 14
Dayforce0%#– of 14
The full small business standing →
Mid-marketThe figures above
Level: the same share of first choices.
Deputy4%#6 of 17
Dayforce4%#7 of 17
The full mid-market standing →
Enterprise
The order flips: Dayforce leads at enterprise.
Dayforce10%#3 of 13
Deputy2%#8 of 13
The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about Deputy

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Three of three in this category shown.

“Small-business / lightweight tools like Homebase, When I Work, Connecteam, Deputy, and similar SMB-first tools” Llama 4 Maverick · negative prompt · hard negative
“Great for very small teams, but they often hit "walls" when trying to integrate with larger ERP or Payroll ecosystems.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“if looking for the strongest all-around fit for a mid-sized operation, I recommend Deputy.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · paraphrase prompt · first choice

What the models said about Dayforce

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Four of four in this category shown.

“Highest Caution: Multiple Serious Complaints ... Customer service is repeatedly called "terrible"” Kimi K2 · negative prompt · hard negative
“Some heavy enterprise systems (like UKG Pro, Dayforce, or SAP SuccessFactors) might be overly complex and expensive to implement for 500 people.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · scale prompt · soft negative
“mid-market teams often land on ADP Workforce Now, Dayforce, or UKG Pro for strong payroll and workforce management” Muse Glimmer 30B · direct prompt · first choice
“with Dayforce as my default first choice if you want a more unified HR/pay/scheduling stack” GPT-5.4 mini · paraphrase prompt · first choice
Also compared

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.