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Skills intelligence · September 2026 Edition
TalentGuard vs Lightcast Open Skills
Eight of twelve models named TalentGuard first on the direct prompt; zero named Lightcast Open Skills. TalentGuard was named by twelve of the twelve models and Lightcast Open Skills by ten and TalentGuard carries 15 labels and Lightcast Open Skills 12, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in three categories this edition.
Named in one category this edition.
First-choice share19%9%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate0%8%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#1#4A position in a field of 16; printed, not drawn.
Labels1512A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, TalentGuard reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.TalentGuard vs Skills Base · TalentGuard vs iMocha · TalentGuard vs TechWolf
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; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the skills intelligence page.
By framing
How many of the twelve models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
TalentGuardFirst choices, of twelve modelsLightcast Open Skills
Direct80
Paraphrase14
Comparative00
Budget-constrained001 against Lightcast Open Skills
Scale-constrained00
Negative00
Bars are first choices, 0 to 12 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to twelve.
Every model, every framing
The seventy-two answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where TalentGuard and Lightcast Open Skills stood in it.
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | | |
TalentGuard Lightcast Open Skills first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, TalentGuard on the left and Lightcast Open Skills on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where TalentGuard and Lightcast Open Skills stood in it.
TalentGuard first, Lightcast Open Skills not the choice
8 of 12 modelsLightcast Open Skills was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Claude Haiku 4.5TalentGuard alternatives: Amplemarket, iMocha
Perplexity SonarTalentGuard alternatives: INOP, SkillPanel, Skills Base, iMocha
Grok 4.1 FastTalentGuard, iMocha alternatives: Fuel50
Mistral SmallTalentGuard, iMocha alternatives: Bryq, INOP
DeepSeek V4 FlashFuel50, TalentGuard alternatives: MuchSkills, Skills Base
Llama 4 MaverickTalentGuard alternatives: Criteria Corp, Engagedly, iMocha
Kimi K2TalentGuard alternatives: 365Talents, Engagedly, Fuel50, TechWolf
MiniMax M2.5TalentGuard alternatives: 365Talents, Gloat
Neither was the first choice, one was named
2 of 12 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Qwen 3.7 FlashEightfold AI alternatives: Clad.io, DeepSkill, Gloat, Lightcast Open Skills
GLM 4.7 FlashXiMocha alternatives: MuchSkills, Skills Base, TalentGuard
Neither was named
2 of 12 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.GPT-5.4 miniEightfold AI, SkillPanel alternatives: Fuel50, Retrain.ai, Workday Skills Cloud
Gemini 3.5 FlashCareer Bird alternatives: Docebo, Fuel50, Workera
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
Lightcast Open Skills leads by twelve points.
Lightcast Open Skills12%#– of 10TalentGuard0%#– of 10Mid-marketThe figures above
The order flips: TalentGuard leads at mid-market.
TalentGuard19%#1 of 16Lightcast Open Skills9%#4 of 16Enterprise
The order flips: Lightcast Open Skills leads at enterprise.
Lightcast Open Skills9%#4 of 10TalentGuard0%#– of 10What the models said about TalentGuard
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Three of four in this category shown.
“TalentGuard is best suited for mid-market companies that need structured competency frameworks and career pathing without the enterprise complexity” Claude Haiku 4.5 · direct prompt · first choice
“My top pick for most mid-market B2B companies: TalentGuard for its balance of functionality, implementation ease, and mid-market focus” Kimi K2 · direct prompt · first choice
“TalentGuard and iMocha are the top choices due to their balance of features, ease of use, and pricing.” Mistral Small · direct prompt · first choice
What the models said about Lightcast Open Skills
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Four of five in this category shown.
“Enterprise platforms like ... Lightcast, etc. tend to be stronger but usually not the best fit for a tight budget.” GPT-5.4 mini · budget prompt · soft negative
“The Industry Standard: Lightcast Skills Taxonomy (formerly Emsi Burning Glass)... The absolute gold standard in labor market data.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“I'd recommend Lightcast Open Skills as the skills taxonomy paired with TechWolf as the inference tool” Grok 4.1 Fast · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“I'd usually recommend Lightcast Skills Taxonomy + a Lightcast-based inference layer as the default choice” GPT-5.4 mini · paraphrase prompt · first choice
Also compared
TalentGuard vs Skills BaseTalentGuard vs iMochaTalentGuard vs TechWolfTalentGuard vs 365TalentsTalentGuard vs Eightfold AITalentGuard vs Fuel50Skills Base vs Lightcast Open SkillsiMocha vs Lightcast Open SkillsLightcast Open Skills vs TechWolfLightcast Open Skills vs 365TalentsLightcast Open Skills vs Eightfold AILightcast Open Skills vs Fuel50All twenty-eight head-to-head pages and the full skills intelligence standing
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.