HR help desk and case management
Asked as “HR help desk software”, and as “HR case management and employee service portal”, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. 42 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
Show the one product at 0%, ordered by negative rate
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
09Accepted challengerEndorsed leader
0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative40%
Key
01Zoho Desk26%
Zoho Desk26%02Freshservice24%
Freshservice24%03Zendesk12%
Zendesk12%04HR Acuity7%
HR Acuity7%05ServiceNow HR Service Delivery5%
ServiceNow HR Service Delivery5%06HappyFox Help Desk5%
HappyFox Help Desk5%07BambooHR5%
BambooHR5%08Jira Service Management2%
Jira Service Management2%09ServiceNow0%
ServiceNow0%02What they warned about
Three of twelve models held their first choice under the paraphrase. Claude Haiku 4.5, Perplexity Sonar, Grok 4.1 Fast, Mistral Small, DeepSeek V4 Flash, Llama 4 Maverick, 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.
Zendesk33%
9 of 27 labels negative · 6 of 12 models · 3 hard negative
“Many organizations try to use their IT ticketing system (like Zendesk or Jira Service Management) to handle HR tickets. Why to avoid” Qwen 3.7 Flash, negative prompt
ServiceNow HR Service Delivery24%
6 of 25 labels negative · 6 of 12 models · 1 hard negative
“One buyer guide explicitly says not to buy ServiceNow HR Service Delivery in that case.” Perplexity Sonar, negative prompt
ServiceNow69%
9 of 13 labels negative · 5 of 12 models · 1 hard negative
“**Avoid ServiceNow** unless you have complex, cross-department enterprise needs... overkill for most mid-market companies” Kimi K2, direct prompt
Jira Service Management19%
3 of 16 labels negative · 3 of 12 models · 3 hard negative
“The Culprit: Using standard IT ticketing platforms (like basic configurations of Jira Service Management, ServiceNow ITSM, or legacy IT help desks) to handle human resources.” Gemini 3.5 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
68 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. 815 links across 216 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page.
vendor site · People Managing People34 answers · 41 citations · 10 models
vendor site · Guideflow32 answers · 38 citations · 10 models
26 answers · 64 citations · 11 models
vendor site · Featurebase26 answers · 31 citations · 10 models
vendor site · Zendesk24 answers · 25 citations · 10 models
20 answers · 22 citations · 9 models
17 answers · 23 citations · 10 models
16 answers · 20 citations · 7 models
vendor site · Moveworks14 answers · 16 citations · 8 models
vendor site · Salesforce12 answers · 13 citations · 9 models
11 answers · 12 citations · 8 models
vendor site · Siit11 answers · 11 citations · 5 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.
27 answers · 10 models
21 answers · 10 models
20 answers · 8 models
15 answers · 6 models
14 answers · 9 models
11 answers · 9 models
11 answers · 9 models
11 answers · 5 models
11 answers · 9 models
11 answers · 7 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 HR help desk software for a mid-market B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which HR case management and employee service portal would you recommend to a mid-sized B2B company?”Comparative“What are the top HR service delivery tools and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best HR help desk software for a company with a limited budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 500 person company evaluating a HR help desk software. What should we look at?”Negative“Which HR service delivery tools should I avoid or be cautious about?”
Claude Haiku 4.5HappyFox Help DeskHR AcuityChangedServiceNow HR Service DeliveryZoho Deskno first choicenothing named
Two alternatives
InvGate Service Management, Zoho DeskThree alternatives
Applaud, BambooHR, UKG ReadyTwo alternatives
SAP SuccessFactors, Workday Human Capital ManagementTwo alternatives
HappyFox Help Desk, monday serviceGPT-5.4 miniServiceNow HR Service DeliveryServiceNow HR Service DeliveryHeldServiceNow HR Service Deliveryagainst: SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Service CenterZoho Deskagainst: Zendeskno first choicenothing named
Two alternatives
Dovetail Software, ZendeskOne alternative
SAP SuccessFactors Enterprise Service ManagementThree alternatives
Oracle HR Help Desk / Oracle HCM service tools, SAP SuccessFactors Enterprise Service Management, Workday HelpOne alternative
FreshdeskGemini 3.5 FlashFreshserviceagainst: ServiceNow, Workday HelpFreshserviceHeldagainst: ServiceNowServiceNow HR Service DeliveryJira Service Managementagainst: ServiceNow, ZendeskFreshserviceagainst: Jira, ServiceNow, Workday, Zendeskagainst: Freshdesk, HubSpot Service Hub, Jira Service Management, ServiceNow HR Service Delivery, ServiceNow ITSM, Workday Help, Zendesk
Four alternatives
Hiver, Jira Service Management, UKG HR Service Delivery, ZendeskFour alternatives
HR Acuity, Helpdesk 365 / Desk365, Jira Service Management, SiitFive alternatives
Agentforce HR Service, Dovetail Software, Freshservice, Neocase HR, UKG HR Service DeliveryFour alternatives
FreeScout, Hiver, Suptask, Zoho DeskSix alternatives
Dovetail Software, Featurebase, HR Acuity, HappyFox Help Desk, Moveworks, eesel AIPerplexity SonarFreshdeskDovetail SoftwareChangedServiceNow HR Service Deliveryagainst: ADP HR AssistZoho Deskagainst: HelpDesk.comno first choiceagainst: ServiceNow HR Service Delivery
Four alternatives
Featurebase, Freshservice, HappyFox Help Desk, Zoho DeskFour alternatives
Case IQ, Freshservice, HR Acuity, ServiceNow HR Service DeliveryFive alternatives
Applaud, Leena AI, SAP SuccessFactors, Workday, ZendeskFour alternatives
Freshdesk, Jira Service Management, Spiceworks, Zoho PeopleGrok 4.1 FastFreshserviceagainst: ZendeskBambooHRChangedagainst: ServiceNowServiceNow HR Service Deliveryagainst: Leena AIZoho Deskagainst: Spiceworksno first choiceagainst: ADP, Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM, ServiceNow HR Service Delivery, Workday
One alternative
HappyFox Help DeskThree alternatives
AllVoices, HR Acuity, ZendeskSeven alternatives
ADP HR Assist, Applaud, Freshservice, Paylocity, SAP SuccessFactors, UKG Pro, Workday Human Capital ManagementFour alternatives
Freshservice, Jira Service Management, Pipefy, ProProfs Help DeskMistral SmallHappyFox Help Desk, ZendeskFreshserviceChangedServiceNow HR Service DeliveryZoho Deskno first choicenothing named
Two alternatives
HR HelpDesk, ServiceNow HR Service DeliveryFour alternatives
ADP HR Assist, Applaud, Freshservice, SAP SuccessFactorsDeepSeek V4 FlashZendeskBambooHR, HR Acuity, ZendeskChangedagainst: ServiceNowServiceNow HR Service Deliveryagainst: BambooHRZoho Deskagainst: Freshserviceno first choiceagainst: ServiceNow HR Service Deliveryagainst: MOVEit Transfer, Oracle E‑Business Suite, SAP SuccessFactors, ServiceNow, Tyler Technologies, UKG Pro
Four alternatives
HappyFox Help Desk, HiBob, Siit, Zoho PeopleFive alternatives
AllVoices, Case IQ, Freshservice, Jira Service Management, NAVEX OneFour alternatives
Gusto, Rippling, SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central, Workday Human Capital ManagementThree alternatives
Freshdesk, Spiceworks, osTicketFive alternatives
HappyFox Help Desk, Hiver, InvGate Service Management, SysAid, ZendeskLlama 4 MaverickFreshserviceDovetail SoftwareChangedno first choiceZoho Deskno first choiceagainst: ServiceNow HR Service Delivery
One alternative
HappyFox Help DeskThree alternatives
Freshservice, HR Acuity, ServiceNow HR Service DeliveryTwo alternatives
Jira, SpiceworksQwen 3.7 FlashFreshserviceFreshserviceHeldServiceNowZoho Deskagainst: Spiceworksno first choiceagainst: Zendeskagainst: Jira Service Management, SAP SuccessFactors Service Delivery, ServiceNow HR Service Delivery, Zendesk
Four alternatives
HappyFox Help Desk, Personio, Rippling, ServiceNowThree alternatives
Applaud, Dovetail Software, ServiceNow HR Service DeliveryFive alternatives
BambooHR, Microsoft Viva, Rippling, Workday People, ZendeskTwo alternatives
Jira Service Management, ProProfs Help DeskKimi K2Freshserviceagainst: ServiceNow, ZendeskZendeskChangedServiceNow HR Service DeliveryZoho Deskno first choiceagainst: Workday
Three alternatives
HappyFox Help Desk, SysAid, Zoho DeskTwo alternatives
Leena AI, ServiceNow HR Service DeliverySeven alternatives
ADP Workforce Now, BambooHR, Gusto, Rippling, SAP SuccessFactors, UKG Pro, Workday Human Capital ManagementThree alternatives
HelpDesk.com, Hiver, Zoho PeopleGLM 4.7 FlashXSysAidZendeskChangedServiceNow HR Service DeliverySpiceworks, Zoho Peopleno first choiceagainst: Freshservice, Jira Service Management, Zendesk
Seven alternatives
Featurebase, Freshservice, HappyFox Help Desk, Help Scout, Hiver, InvGate Service Management, Zoho DeskSeven alternatives
ADP Workforce Now, BambooHR, HR Acuity, Jira Service Management, Salesforce Service Cloud, ServiceNow HR Service Delivery, Zoho Desk + Zoho PeopleTen alternatives
ADP Workforce Now, Applaud, BambooHR, Gusto, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Human Resources, Rippling, SAP SuccessFactors, UKG Pro, Workday Human Capital Management, Zoho PeopleSeven alternatives
ClickUp, HESK, HelpDesk.com, Hiver, Pipefy, ProProfs Help Desk, osTicketMiniMax M2.5Zoho DeskFreshservice, HR AcuityChangedServiceNow HR Service DeliveryZoho Deskno first choiceagainst: Jira, ServiceNownothing named
Four alternatives
Featurebase, GoCo, HappyFox Help Desk, HiverFive alternatives
ADP Workforce Now, AllVoices, BambooHR, Case IQ, HiBobFive alternatives
ADP HR Assist, Applaud, Leena AI, SAP SuccessFactors, ZendeskThree alternatives
HelpDesk.com, LiveAgent, TidioBold 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 18:23 | yes | 9 | 7 s |
| Direct recommendation | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-17 21:38 | yes | 3 | 9 s |
| Direct recommendation | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-17 20:06 | yes | 20 | 25 s |
| Direct recommendation | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-17 19:21 | yes | 20 | 6 s |
| Direct recommendation | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-09-17 20:57 | yes | 29 | 18 s |
| Direct recommendation | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-17 20:24 | yes | 14 | 7 s |
| Direct recommendation | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks | 2026-09-17 17:59 | yes | 9 | 10 s |
| Direct recommendation | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-17 21:20 | yes | 5 | 3 s |
| Direct recommendation | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-17 20:57 | yes | 8 | 35 s |
| Direct recommendation | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-17 18:42 | yes | 12 | 21 s |
| Direct recommendation | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-17 18:15 | yes | 10 | 33 s |
| Direct recommendation | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-17 21:37 | yes | 5 | 9 s |
| Paraphrase | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-09-17 20:24 | yes | 17 | 8 s |
| Paraphrase | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-17 20:59 | yes | 4 | 5 s |
| Paraphrase | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-17 18:37 | yes | 22 | 28 s |
| Paraphrase | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-17 19:06 | yes | 20 | 6 s |
| Paraphrase | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-09-17 21:39 | yes | 42 | 18 s |
| Paraphrase | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-17 18:00 | yes | 5 | 6 s |
| Paraphrase | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks | 2026-09-17 19:53 | yes | 19 | 23 s |
| Paraphrase | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-17 19:47 | yes | 5 | 4 s |
| Paraphrase | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-17 20:11 | yes | 10 | 42 s |
| Paraphrase | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-17 20:05 | yes | 20 | 33 s |
| Paraphrase | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-17 18:22 | yes | 15 | 44 s |
| Paraphrase | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-17 20:25 | yes | 8 | 22 s |
| Comparative | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-09-17 18:12 | yes | 9 | 8 s |
| Comparative | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-17 18:18 | yes | 4 | 7 s |
| Comparative | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-17 19:15 | yes | 19 | 25 s |
| Comparative | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-17 19:42 | yes | 20 | 6 s |
| Comparative | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-09-17 20:10 | yes | 17 | 15 s |
| Comparative | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-17 18:14 | yes | 7 | 34 s |
| Comparative | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks | 2026-09-17 21:37 | yes | 16 | 23 s |
| Comparative | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-17 20:30 | yes | 5 | 2 s |
| Comparative | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-17 18:41 | no | 0 | 31 s |
| Comparative | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-17 21:22 | yes | 24 | 41 s |
| Comparative | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-17 18:29 | yes | 26 | 59 s |
| Comparative | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-17 18:08 | yes | 5 | 23 s |
| Budget constrained | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-09-17 19:50 | yes | 9 | 7 s |
| Budget constrained | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-17 19:28 | yes | 2 | 5 s |
| Budget constrained | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-17 21:56 | yes | 17 | 46 s |
| Budget constrained | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-17 19:17 | yes | 20 | 6 s |
| Budget constrained | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-09-17 20:08 | yes | 15 | 9 s |
| Budget constrained | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-17 18:17 | yes | 5 | 4 s |
| Budget constrained | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks | 2026-09-17 21:07 | yes | 18 | 15 s |
| Budget constrained | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-17 20:09 | yes | 5 | 3 s |
| Budget constrained | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-17 20:53 | yes | 5 | 28 s |
| Budget constrained | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-17 18:24 | yes | 10 | 18 s |
| Budget constrained | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-17 19:05 | yes | 14 | 18 s |
| Budget constrained | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-17 18:19 | yes | 10 | 18 s |
| Scale constrained | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-09-17 18:12 | no | 0 | 7 s |
| Scale constrained | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-17 19:15 | no | 0 | 7 s |
| Scale constrained | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-17 22:04 | yes | 11 | 55 s |
| Scale constrained | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-17 20:11 | yes | 20 | 6 s |
| Scale constrained | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-09-17 20:11 | yes | 12 | 11 s |
| Scale constrained | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-17 21:12 | no | 0 | 5 s |
| Scale constrained | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks | 2026-09-17 21:31 | yes | 9 | 15 s |
| Scale constrained | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-17 20:49 | yes | 5 | 3 s |
| Scale constrained | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-17 18:27 | yes | 5 | 24 s |
| Scale constrained | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-17 20:33 | yes | 10 | 19 s |
| Scale constrained | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-17 19:14 | yes | 11 | 39 s |
| Scale constrained | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-17 18:24 | yes | 5 | 17 s |
| Negative framing | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-09-17 21:25 | yes | 18 | 10 s |
| Negative framing | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-17 21:12 | yes | 8 | 6 s |
| Negative framing | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-17 21:58 | yes | 19 | 57 s |
| Negative framing | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-17 18:47 | yes | 20 | 10 s |
| Negative framing | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-09-17 20:43 | yes | 42 | 18 s |
| Negative framing | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-17 21:11 | yes | 5 | 6 s |
| Negative framing | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks | 2026-09-17 21:22 | yes | 24 | 32 s |
| Negative framing | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-17 19:54 | yes | 8 | 5 s |
| Negative framing | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-17 18:46 | yes | 19 | 40 s |
| Negative framing | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-17 18:30 | yes | 25 | 58 s |
| Negative framing | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-17 19:40 | yes | 26 | 82 s |
| Negative framing | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-17 18:14 | yes | 8 | 39 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
Dovetail read as Dovetail Software
HappyFox read as HappyFox Help Desk
HubSpot read as HubSpot Service Hub
InvGate read as InvGate Service Management
Neocase read as Neocase HR
Oracle HCM Cloud read as Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM
Oracle HCM Cloud (Global HR) read as Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM
ProProfs read as ProProfs Help Desk
SAP read as SAP SuccessFactors
ServiceNow HR read as ServiceNow HR Service Delivery
ServiceNow HRSD read as ServiceNow HR Service Delivery
Spiceworks Help Desk read as Spiceworks
Workday HCM read as Workday Human Capital Management
Zendesk Employee Service Suite read as Zendesk
Unresolved, counted raw
Agentforce HR Service (by Salesforce)
Boozt
HESK
HR HelpDesk
Helpdesk 365 / Desk365
HiBob HR Service Management
MHC Software
MOVEit Transfer
Native HCM Help Desk
Oracle HR Help Desk / Oracle HCM service tools
Resolve (formerly Espressive Barista)
Salesforce Service Cloud
ServiceNow ITSM
Sympa
UKG People Assist
UKG Pro Workforce Management and HR Service Requests
Workday People
Discontinued, still offered
No shut-down product was recommended here.