HR AI Index
September 2026 Edition · The permanent record of this edition. The unqualified address always carries the latest edition.
Index › Onboarding and employee experience › Internal communications › Small business › September 2026 Edition

Internal communications and intranet for small business buyers

Asked as “employee intranet”, and as “internal communications platform”, on behalf of a small B2B company. 42 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, twelve models each.
Standing
Microsoft SharePoint and Slack
Contested
24% of first choices, contested.
ShowinginAll 50 categories in the September 2026 Edition →

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 businessMicrosoft SharePoint24%ContestedThis pageMid-marketHappeo16%ContestedStanding →EnterpriseSimpplr24%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
01Microsoft SharePoint24%24%49accepted challenger
02Slack24%0%15accepted challenger
03Connecteam7%0%28accepted challenger
04Happeo7%0%21accepted challenger
05Notion5%5%19accepted challenger
06Google Sites5%0%14accepted challenger
07MyHub Intranet5%0%11accepted challenger
08Jostle2%0%23accepted challenger
09Microsoft Teams2%0%14accepted challenger
Show the five products at 0%, ordered by negative rate
14Simpplr0%89%19criticized challenger
11Unily0%80%10criticized challenger
12Staffbase0%71%14criticized challenger
13Workvivo0%65%20criticized challenger
10Zoho Connect0%0%12accepted 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
Happeo vs Microsoft TeamsHappeo vs SimpplrMicrosoft Teams vs Simpplr

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
12
13
14
Accepted challengerEndorsed leader
0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative40%
Key
01Microsoft SharePoint24%
02Slack24%
03Connecteam7%
04Happeo7%
05Notion5%
06Google Sites5%
07MyHub Intranet5%
08Jostle2%
09Microsoft Teams2%
10Zoho Connect0%
11Unily0%
12Staffbase0%
13Workvivo0%
14Simpplr0%

02What they warned about

Zero of twelve models held their first choice under the paraphrase. 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 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.
Microsoft SharePoint
24%
12 of 49 labels negative · 10 of 12 models · 5 hard negative
“Often criticized for its complex setup, ongoing maintenance demands, and poor mobile experience... making it less suitable for small businesses” Mistral Small, negative prompt
Simpplr
89%
17 of 19 labels negative · 10 of 12 models · 4 hard negative
“Enterprise-Only Platforms (Simpplr, LumApps, Staffbase, Workvivo, Unily) ... should avoid or approach with extreme caution” DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt
Workvivo
65%
13 of 20 labels negative · 8 of 12 models · 5 hard negative
“a small business should avoid or approach with extreme caution... Workvivo is explicitly designed for mid-market and large organizations” GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt
Staffbase
71%
10 of 14 labels negative · 6 of 12 models · 5 hard negative
“many "enterprise" products (Simpplr, Staffbase, Workvivo) have user minimums that make them irrelevant for you” DeepSeek V4 Flash, scale 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

60 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. 5 of those lists are Google grounding redirects that name no site and are left out of the counts. 796 links across 177 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page.

learn.g2.com
35 answers · 36 citations · 10 models
oak.com
vendor site · Oak32 answers · 42 citations · 9 models
guideflow.com
vendor site · Guideflow28 answers · 28 citations · 10 models
simpplr.com
vendor site · Simpplr27 answers · 37 citations · 10 models
workvivo.com
vendor site · Workvivo26 answers · 46 citations · 11 models
happeo.com
vendor site · Happeo26 answers · 35 citations · 10 models
peoplemanagingpeople.com
vendor site · People Managing People26 answers · 32 citations · 9 models
firsthr.app
vendor site · FirstHR25 answers · 27 citations · 10 models
mangoapps.com
vendor site · MangoApps19 answers · 25 citations · 10 models
agilityportal.io
vendor site · AgilityPortal18 answers · 20 citations · 10 models
softr.io
vendor site · Softr17 answers · 18 citations · 7 models
g2.com
13 answers · 24 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.

learn.g2.com/best-employee-intranet-software
32 answers · 10 models
firsthr.app/compare/general/company-intranet-software
24 answers · 10 models
oak.com/blog/best-small-business-intranet-software-in-2026
24 answers · 8 models
simpplr.com/blog/2024/best-intranet-platforms
23 answers · 10 models
guideflow.com/blog/employee-intranet-software
20 answers · 10 models
peoplemanagingpeople.com/tools/best-intranet-software-for-small-businesses
17 answers · 8 models
happeo.com/blog/the-best-intranet-platforms-for-small-and-mid-sized-compani…
16 answers · 10 models
workvivo.com/modern-intranet/platforms-comparison
14 answers · 9 models
softr.io/blog/best-intranets-for-small-businesses
13 answers · 7 models
agilityportal.io/blog/intranet-solutions-comparison
12 answers · 9 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 employee intranet for a small B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which internal communications platform would you recommend to a small business that sells to other businesses?”Comparative“What are the top intranet platforms for a small team and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best employee intranet for a small company with a tight budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 30 person company evaluating an employee intranet. What should we look at?”Negative“Which intranet platforms should a small business avoid or be cautious about?”
Claude Haiku 4.5no first choice
Four alternativesClinked, Guru, Happeo, MangoApps
Microsoft Teams, SlackChangedJostle
Two alternativesHappeo, ThoughtFarmer
Pebb
Two alternativesBitrix24, Connecteam
no first choiceagainst: Microsoft SharePoint, Simpplr, Workvivo
GPT-5.4 miniMicrosoft SharePoint
Two alternativesClickUp, Workvivo
SlackChanged
Two alternativesGoogle Chat, Microsoft Teams
Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft Viva Connections
Two alternativesAtlassian Confluence, Notion
against: LumApps, Simpplr, WorkvivoGoogle Sites, Google Workspace
Three alternativesMicrosoft 365, Microsoft SharePoint, Notion
no first choicenothing named
Gemini 3.5 FlashHappeo
Five alternativesClinked, Guru, Jostle, Microsoft SharePoint, Notion
SlackChanged
Three alternativesBasecamp, Google Chat, Microsoft Teams
Happeo
Four alternativesJostle, Notion, Nuclino, Workvivo
against: Microsoft SharePoint/VivaGoogle Sites, Microsoft SharePoint
Four alternativesBlink, Jostle, Notion, Softr
Microsoft SharePoint
Five alternativesConnecteam, Google Sites, Happeo, Jostle, Notion
against: LumApps, Unilyagainst: Atlassian Confluence, Drupal, GitHub Wiki, LumApps, Microsoft SharePoint, Notion, Simpplr, Unily, WordPress, Workplace from Meta
Perplexity SonarHappeo
Three alternativesInteract, Oak Engage, Zoho Connect
SlackChanged
Five alternativesConnecteam, Happeo, Microsoft Teams, Staffbase, Workvivo
Google Sites
Five alternativesConnecteam, Jostle, Microsoft SharePoint, MyHub Intranet, Softr
against: Simpplr, WorkvivoPebb
Two alternativesMicrosoft SharePoint, MyHub Intranet
no first choiceagainst: Axero, Drupal, Joomla, LumApps, Microsoft SharePoint, Simpplr, Staffbase, Unily, WordPress, Workvivo
Grok 4.1 FastMicrosoft SharePoint
Three alternativesConnecteam, Jostle, Zoho Connect
SlackChanged
Three alternativesConnecteam, Google Chat, Microsoft Teams
Connecteam
Five alternativesBlink, Jostle, Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Slack
against: Simpplr, StaffbaseBitrix24
Three alternativesConnecteam, Notion, Zoho Connect
against: Microsoft SharePointno first choice
Five alternativesHappeo, Jostle, Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft Viva, Simpplr
against: Jive, LumApps, Microsoft SharePoint, Simpplr, Staffbase, Unily
Mistral SmallMicrosoft SharePoint
One alternativeInteract
no first choiceChangedno first choiceConnecteam
One alternativeMicrosoft Teams
no first choiceagainst: Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft Viva
DeepSeek V4 FlashJostle
Two alternativesHappeo, Zoho Connect
against: Microsoft SharePointSlackChanged
One alternativeMicrosoft Teams
Connecteam, Jostle
Four alternativesAtlassian Confluence, Bitrix24, Microsoft SharePoint, Notion
against: Simpplr, Staffbase, WorkvivoPebb
Three alternativesGoogle Sites, Microsoft SharePoint, Zoho Connect
Google Workspace, Microsoft SharePoint
Two alternativesConnecteam, Jostle
against: Simpplr, Staffbase, Workvivoagainst: Atlassian Confluence, LumApps, Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft Viva Engage, Simpplr, Staffbase, Unily, Workvivo
Llama 4 MaverickMicrosoft SharePoint
Two alternativesHappeo, Interact
no first choiceChanged
Three alternativesConnecteam, ContactMonkey, Workshop
Connecteam, Jostle
One alternativeMicrosoft SharePoint
against: Simpplr, Unily, WorkvivoMicrosoft SharePoint
Three alternativesClickUp, MyHub Intranet, Zoho Connect
no first choiceagainst: Axero, Simpplr, Staffbase, Workvivo
Qwen 3.7 FlashNotion
Three alternativesSlite, Staffbase, Tugboat App
against: Microsoft SharePoint/VivaSlackChanged
Four alternativesConnecteam, GoAnywhere, Microsoft Teams, Notion
against: Staffbase, Tangy, WorkvivoConnecteam, Jostle
Three alternativesClickUp, Google Sites, Microsoft SharePoint
against: Simpplr, UnilyMyHub Intranet
Three alternativesClickUp, Microsoft SharePoint, Zoho Connect
no first choiceagainst: WordPressagainst: Atlassian Confluence, Firstup, Igloo Software, Interact, Microsoft SharePoint, Poppulo, Simpplr, Snapcomms, Staffbase, Unily
Kimi K2Happeo
Four alternativesConnecteam, Igloo Software, Microsoft SharePoint, Zoho Connect
SlackChanged
One alternativeMicrosoft Teams
Notion
Four alternativesAtlassian Confluence, Connecteam, Google Sites, Microsoft SharePoint
Connecteam, Notion
Three alternativesAtlassian Confluence, Jostle, Microsoft SharePoint
no first choiceagainst: Simpplragainst: Jive, Microsoft SharePoint, Workplace from Meta, Workvivo
GLM 4.7 FlashXMicrosoft SharePoint
Five alternativesConnecteam, Interact, Jostle, MyHub Intranet, Oak Engage
against: SimpplrSlackChanged
Two alternativesFlock, Microsoft Teams
Connecteam
Seven alternativesGoogle Sites, Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft Viva, MyHub Intranet, Notion, Softr, Zoho Connect
Microsoft SharePoint, MyHub Intranet
Two alternativesBitrix24, Open Intranet
no first choiceagainst: Google Workspace / Sites, Workvivoagainst: Alfresco, Drupal, Liferay, Microsoft SharePoint, Simpplr, Staffbase, Workvivo
MiniMax M2.5Interact
Two alternativesHappeo, Microsoft SharePoint
SlackChanged
Two alternativesGoogle Workspace, Microsoft Teams
Connecteam
Four alternativesHappeo, Jostle, Microsoft SharePoint, ThoughtFarmer
Bitrix24, Connecteam
Two alternativesMicrosoft SharePoint, MyHub Intranet
no first choiceagainst: Microsoft SharePoint
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.
PromptModelVersion stringTime (UTC)SearchedSourcesLatency
Direct recommendationClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-09-17 21:40yes97 s
Direct recommendationGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-09-17 19:05yes38 s
Direct recommendationGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-09-17 18:26yes1722 s
Direct recommendationPerplexity Sonarsonar2026-09-17 20:43yes209 s
Direct recommendationGrok 4.1 Fastspacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex2026-09-17 19:48yes3921 s
Direct recommendationMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-09-17 21:28yes53 s
Direct recommendationDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks2026-09-17 21:35yes2011 s
Direct recommendationLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-09-17 20:04yes53 s
Direct recommendationQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-09-17 20:47no028 s
Direct recommendationKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-09-17 20:58yes932 s
Direct recommendationGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-09-17 18:12yes1174 s
Direct recommendationMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-09-17 17:59yes919 s
ParaphraseClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-09-17 19:32no05 s
ParaphraseGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-09-17 18:04no02 s
ParaphraseGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-09-17 18:01no013 s
ParaphrasePerplexity Sonarsonar2026-09-17 17:54yes206 s
ParaphraseGrok 4.1 Fastspacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex2026-09-17 20:37yes159 s
ParaphraseMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-09-17 19:31no01 s
ParaphraseDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks2026-09-17 18:37yes2017 s
ParaphraseLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-09-17 19:00yes53 s
ParaphraseQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-09-17 17:54yes647 s
ParaphraseKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-09-17 19:23yes1541 s
ParaphraseGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-09-17 19:07yes2334 s
ParaphraseMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-09-17 21:18yes521 s
ComparativeClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-09-17 20:43yes99 s
ComparativeGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-09-17 19:11yes311 s
ComparativeGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-09-17 18:55yes1622 s
ComparativePerplexity Sonarsonar2026-09-17 19:30yes209 s
ComparativeGrok 4.1 Fastspacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex2026-09-17 21:20yes2114 s
ComparativeMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-09-17 20:51yes57 s
ComparativeDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks2026-09-17 21:17yes1819 s
ComparativeLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-09-17 18:19yes53 s
ComparativeQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-09-17 20:37yes530 s
ComparativeKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-09-17 18:08yes1544 s
ComparativeGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-09-17 19:15yes10107 s
ComparativeMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-09-17 20:36yes1526 s
Budget constrainedClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-09-17 21:24yes97 s
Budget constrainedGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-09-17 19:22no04 s
Budget constrainedGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-09-17 18:11yes30266 s
Budget constrainedPerplexity Sonarsonar2026-09-17 19:04yes206 s
Budget constrainedGrok 4.1 Fastspacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex2026-09-17 19:49yes3918 s
Budget constrainedMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-09-17 20:44yes55 s
Budget constrainedDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks2026-09-17 21:36yes1917 s
Budget constrainedLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-09-17 21:01yes53 s
Budget constrainedQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-09-17 19:05yes523 s
Budget constrainedKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-09-17 18:34yes1327 s
Budget constrainedGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-09-17 19:43yes10114 s
Budget constrainedMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-09-17 19:05yes1227 s
Scale constrainedClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-09-17 20:50no06 s
Scale constrainedGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-09-17 21:41no05 s
Scale constrainedGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-09-17 19:19yes1023 s
Scale constrainedPerplexity Sonarsonar2026-09-17 18:54yes209 s
Scale constrainedGrok 4.1 Fastspacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex2026-09-17 19:57yes2011 s
Scale constrainedMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-09-17 19:09no07 s
Scale constrainedDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks2026-09-17 19:41yes2025 s
Scale constrainedLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-09-17 18:58yes53 s
Scale constrainedQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-09-17 19:05no029 s
Scale constrainedKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-09-17 21:24yes1525 s
Scale constrainedGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-09-17 21:04yes1463 s
Scale constrainedMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-09-17 19:11no08 s
Negative framingClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-09-17 21:36yes3511 s
Negative framingGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-09-17 18:50no05 s
Negative framingGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-09-17 19:27yes1518 s
Negative framingPerplexity Sonarsonar2026-09-17 20:41yes205 s
Negative framingGrok 4.1 Fastspacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex2026-09-17 19:06yes3017 s
Negative framingMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-09-17 20:32yes1028 s
Negative framingDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks2026-09-17 21:47yes2739 s
Negative framingLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-09-17 19:06yes53 s
Negative framingQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-09-17 20:17yes847 s
Negative framingKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-09-17 18:22yes2433 s
Negative framingGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-09-17 19:22yes28190 s
Negative framingMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-09-17 21:02yes1330 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
Confluence read as Atlassian Confluence
Confluence (Atlassian) read as Atlassian Confluence
Fresh Intranet read as Fresh
Igloo read as Igloo Software
MyHub read as MyHub Intranet
Oak read as Oak Engage
Powell read as Powell Intranet
SAP SuccessFactors HCM read as SAP SuccessFactors
SharePoint read as Microsoft SharePoint
SharePoint (Microsoft) read as Microsoft SharePoint
Workplace by Meta read as Workplace from Meta
Unresolved, counted raw
Alfresco
Basecamp
ClickUp Docs
GitHub Wiki
GoAnywhere
Google Sites/Workspace
Google Workspace / Sites
Intranet Connections
Nuclino
Open Intranet (Drupal-based)
Slab
Tangy
Tugboat App
Workmates
Discontinued, still offered
No shut-down product was recommended here.

Also in onboarding and employee experience

The other categories of this function, with the leader in each.
← HR help deskRecognition and rewards →