Index › Workforce planning and analytics › September 2026 Edition

Workforce planning

Asked as “workforce planning software”, and as “headcount planning tool”, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. 52 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, twelve models each.

Standing

ChartHop

Contested

31% of first choices, contested.

ShowinginAll 50 categories →

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 business

Homebase22%ContestedStanding →Mid-market

ChartHop31%ContestedThis page Enterprise

Anaplan47%Clear leaderStanding →

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

ChartHop3%37endorsed leader

Homebase0%11accepted challenger

Rippling8%26accepted challenger

Workday Adaptive Planning21%39accepted challenger

Planful4%23accepted challenger

HiBob7%14accepted challenger

Abacum0%11accepted challenger

Visier22%27accepted challenger

Show the five products at 0%, ordered by negative rate

Anaplan44%34criticized challenger

ADP Workforce Now30%10criticized challenger

Orgvue9%11accepted challenger

Paylocity8%13accepted challenger

Pigment0%13accepted 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

ChartHop vs Homebase ChartHop vs Rippling Homebase vs Rippling

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 →

Accepted challengerEndorsed leader

0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative50%

Key

ChartHop31%

Homebase17%

Rippling10%

Workday Adaptive Planning8%

Planful8%

HiBob4%

Abacum4%

Visier2%

Pigment0%

Paylocity0%

Orgvue0%

ADP Workforce Now0%

Anaplan0%

02What they warned about

One of twelve models held their first choice under the paraphrase. Claude Haiku 4.5, GPT-5.4 mini, 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.

Workday Adaptive Planning

21%

8 of 39 labels negative · 6 of 12 models

“you do not need the extreme complexity, high licensing costs, and long implementation times of enterprise legacy tools like Anaplan or Workday Adaptive Planning” Gemini 3.5 Flash, direct prompt

Anaplan

44%

15 of 34 labels negative · 5 of 12 models

“Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) systems—such as Anaplan, Board, or IBM Planning Analytics... Why to be cautious: ... these tools can become a massive "spreadsheet on steroids" trap.:” Gemini 3.5 Flash, negative prompt

Spreadsheets

100%

3 of 3 labels negative · 3 of 12 models · 2 hard negative

“**Avoid if:** Your organization is beyond a small, stable team... **Error-prone:** Studies show up to **88% of spreadsheets contain errors**” GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt

Visier

22%

6 of 27 labels negative · 3 of 12 models · 1 hard negative

“rather than a full enterprise suite like Visier (which is expensive and aimed at larger companies)” DeepSeek V4 Flash, budget 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. 761 links across 204 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page.

learn.g2.com

36 answers · 42 citations · 11 models

guideflow.com

vendor site · Guideflow31 answers · 36 citations · 10 models

peoplemanagingpeople.com

vendor site · People Managing People30 answers · 36 citations · 10 models

selectsoftwarereviews.com

vendor site · Select Software Reviews26 answers · 26 citations · 10 models

hrtechsaas.com

vendor site · HRTechSaaS25 answers · 28 citations · 9 models

g2.com

19 answers · 36 citations · 9 models

cubesoftware.com

17 answers · 19 citations · 9 models

resources.rework.com

vendor site · Rework17 answers · 18 citations · 8 models

articsledge.com

14 answers · 14 citations · 8 models

charthop.com

vendor site · ChartHop13 answers · 14 citations · 10 models

rippling.com

vendor site · Rippling12 answers · 16 citations · 7 models

worldmetrics.org

12 answers · 14 citations · 7 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-workforce-planning-software

33 answers · 11 models

peoplemanagingpeople.com/tools/best-workforce-planning-software

29 answers · 10 models

selectsoftwarereviews.com/buyer-guide/workforce-planning-software

26 answers · 10 models

hrtechsaas.com/blog/workforce-planning-software

24 answers · 9 models

guideflow.com/blog/workforce-planning-software

23 answers · 9 models

cubesoftware.com/blog/workforce-planning-software

16 answers · 8 models

articsledge.com/post/workforce-planning-software

14 answers · 8 models

charthop.com/resource/best-headcount-planning-software

13 answers · 10 models

resources.rework.com/tools/workforce-management/best-workforce-planning-sof…

13 answers · 8 models

g2.com/categories/workforce-planning

12 answers · 8 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 workforce planning software for a mid-market B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which headcount planning tool would you recommend to a mid-sized B2B company?”Comparative“What are the top workforce planning tools and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best workforce planning software for a company with a limited budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 500 person company evaluating a workforce planning software. What should we look at?”Negative“Which workforce planning tools should I avoid or be cautious about?”

Claude Haiku 4.5ChartHop

Four alternatives

Deel, HiBob, Paylocity, Pigment

RipplingChanged

Two alternatives

Aleph, Workday

no first choiceAPS, Rippling

Two alternatives

Excel, HiBob

no first choiceagainst: Visier

GPT-5.4 miniHiBob

Three alternatives

Anaplan, Rippling, Workday Adaptive Planning

PlanfulChanged

Two alternatives

Anaplan, Workday Adaptive Planning

Anaplan

Two alternatives

SAP Analytics Cloud / SAP Workforce Analytics, Workday Adaptive Planning

against: Excel / Google Sheets + BI toolsRippling

Three alternatives

Calamari, Homebase, When I Work

against: PlanGuru, Planful, Workday Adaptive Planningno first choicenothing named

Gemini 3.5 FlashChartHop

Five alternatives

Abacum, Mosaic, Pigment, Rippling, TeamOhana

against: Anaplan, Workday Adaptive PlanningChartHopHeld

Four alternatives

Lative, Pigment, Rippling, TeamOhana

against: Anaplan, Workday Adaptive PlanningWorkday Adaptive Planning

Seven alternatives

ChartHop, Connecteam, Dayforce, Deputy, Orgvue, UKG Pro / Dimensions, Visier

against: AnaplanChartHop, Connecteam, Homebase

Three alternatives

Airtable, Cube, Sling

against: Anaplan, WorkdayChartHop, TeamOhana

Six alternatives

Dayforce, HiBob, Paycor, Pigment, Rippling, Vena

against: Anaplan, Workday Strategic Planningagainst: Anaplan, Board, IBM Planning Analytics

Perplexity SonarWorkday Adaptive Planning

Four alternatives

Abacum, HiBob, Paylocity, Visier

ChartHopChanged

Four alternatives

Abacum, Paylocity, Planful, Workday Adaptive Planning

Anaplan

Eight alternatives

ChartHop, Deel, Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM, Orgvue, Planful, SAP SuccessFactors, Visier, Workday Adaptive Planning

Connecteam

Four alternatives

Deel HR, Jibble, Keka, Time Champ

no first choicenothing named

Grok 4.1 FastRippling

Four alternatives

ChartHop, Paylocity, Planful, Workday Adaptive Planning

against: VisierChartHopChanged

Three alternatives

Abacum, Planful, Rippling

against: Workday Adaptive Planningno first choiceHomebase

Four alternatives

Connecteam, Deputy, When I Work, Zoho People

against: Excel, Monday.comno first choice

Four alternatives

Anaplan, HiBob, Paylocity, Rippling

against: ADP Workforce Now, Amazon's scrapped tool, Dayforce, Eightfold AI, Mewurk, Spreadsheets, Visier, Workday, older SAP/Oracle modules

Mistral SmallWorkday Adaptive Planning

Five alternatives

ADP Workforce Now, HiBob, Paylocity, Planful, Visier

ChartHopChanged

Four alternatives

ADP Workforce Now, Paylocity, Rippling, Workday Adaptive Planning

no first choiceHomebase

Three alternatives

Deel HR, Keka, Thrivea

no first choiceagainst: Spreadsheets

DeepSeek V4 FlashPlanful, Workday Adaptive Planning

Five alternatives

ADP Workforce Now, ChartHop, Paylocity, Pigment, Visier

against: Anaplan, OrgvueChartHopChanged

Two alternatives

Cube, Rippling

against: Visier, Workday Adaptive Planningno first choice

Fourteen alternatives

Agentnoon, Anaplan, ChartHop, Connecteam, Dayforce, Deputy, Homebase, Orgvue, Rippling, SAP SuccessFactors, UKG Pro, Visier, When I Work, Workday Adaptive Planning

against: ADP Workforce NowConnecteam, Homebase

Four alternatives

Monday.com, Planday, Runn, Zoho People

against: ChartHop, Deel, VisierChartHop

Three alternatives

BambooHR, Pigment, Rippling

against: Anaplan, Visier, Workday Adaptive Planning, Workday HCMagainst: ADP Workforce Now, Anaplan, Asana, Custom-built Excel/Spreadsheet ecosystems, Monday.com, Trello, UKG Pro, Workday HCM / Adaptive Planning

Llama 4 MaverickWorkday Adaptive Planning

Five alternatives

Abacum, HiBob, Paylocity, Planful, Visier

ChartHopChanged

Two alternatives

Abacum, Rippling

no first choiceHomebase

One alternative

Thrivea

no first choice

Two alternatives

Abacum, Planful

nothing named

Qwen 3.7 FlashPlanful

Five alternatives

Abacum, Orgvue, Paylocity, Visier, Workday Adaptive Planning

ChartHopChanged

Five alternatives

Pigment, Planful, Rippling, Visier, Workday Adaptive Planning

no first choice

Four alternatives

Anaplan, ChartHop, Visier, Workday Adaptive Planning

Homebase

Three alternatives

Connecteam, Deputy, When I Work

against: Anaplan, UKG ProChartHop

Four alternatives

Divalent, IBM Planning Analytics, PeopleInsight, Workday Adaptive Planning

against: Microsoft Power BI, Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM, SAP SuccessFactors, Tableauagainst: Deel, NICE WFM, Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM, Planetally, Rippling, SAP SuccessFactors

Kimi K2Rippling

Five alternatives

ADP Workforce Now, HiBob, Paylocity, Pigment, Workday Adaptive Planning

Abacum, ChartHopChanged

Two alternatives

Pigment, Rippling

against: Anaplan, Workday Adaptive PlanningAnaplan

Six alternatives

AG5, ChartHop, Deel, Runn, Visier, Workday Adaptive Planning

Homebase

Four alternatives

ChartHop, Keka, Thrivea, Zoho People

against: Anaplan, WorkdayAgentnoon, ChartHop

Four alternatives

HiBob, Pigment, Planful, Rippling

against: SAP SuccessFactors, Workdayagainst: Anaplan, symplr Workforce

GLM 4.7 FlashXHiBob

Two alternatives

Planful, Visier

against: AnaplanAbacumChanged

Five alternatives

ChartHop, Cube, One Model, Visier, Workday Adaptive Planning

Anaplan

Eleven alternatives

Aeqium, ChartHop, Deel, Lightcast, Pigment, Planday, Rippling, Rotageek, Vena, Visier, Workday Adaptive Planning

Connecteam, Homebase

Eight alternatives

Agentnoon, ChartHop, Deel HR, Deel Workforce Planning, Keka, OrgChart, Sling, Zoho People

no first choiceagainst: Anaplan, HiBob, Paylocity, Rippling, Spreadsheets, Workday Adaptive Planning

MiniMax M2.5Dayforce, Visier

One alternative

Workday

ChartHop, PlanfulChanged

Two alternatives

Rippling, Workday Adaptive Planning

no first choiceHomebase, Zoho People

Three alternatives

Connecteam, OrangeHRM, Shifton

no first choicenothing named

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.

Prompt	Model	Version string	Time (UTC)	Searched	Sources	Latency
Direct recommendation	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 18:02	yes	9	8 s
Direct recommendation	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 20:48	yes	2	8 s
Direct recommendation	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 19:21	yes	20	21 s
Direct recommendation	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 20:48	yes	20	6 s
Direct recommendation	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 18:45	yes	35	16 s
Direct recommendation	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 20:39	yes	5	4 s
Direct recommendation	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 19:16	yes	9	13 s
Direct recommendation	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 19:25	yes	5	3 s
Direct recommendation	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 18:47	yes	5	19 s
Direct recommendation	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 18:34	yes	8	38 s
Direct recommendation	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 18:51	yes	13	41 s
Direct recommendation	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 21:28	no	0	12 s
Paraphrase	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 21:25	yes	9	9 s
Paraphrase	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 18:15	yes	3	6 s
Paraphrase	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 21:56	yes	8	40 s
Paraphrase	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 19:24	yes	20	6 s
Paraphrase	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 17:56	yes	11	8 s
Paraphrase	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 21:22	yes	5	7 s
Paraphrase	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 19:38	yes	16	20 s
Paraphrase	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 20:59	yes	5	3 s
Paraphrase	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 19:38	yes	5	23 s
Paraphrase	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 19:27	yes	14	33 s
Paraphrase	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 21:04	yes	13	39 s
Paraphrase	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 21:27	yes	5	20 s
Comparative	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 18:16	yes	9	10 s
Comparative	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 17:59	yes	6	11 s
Comparative	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 21:56	yes	18	48 s
Comparative	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 21:03	yes	20	11 s
Comparative	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 21:16	yes	19	14 s
Comparative	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 21:43	yes	5	7 s
Comparative	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 18:37	yes	19	22 s
Comparative	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 17:53	yes	5	3 s
Comparative	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 20:49	yes	5	26 s
Comparative	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 18:28	yes	10	25 s
Comparative	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 18:14	yes	24	144 s
Comparative	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 19:22	yes	5	17 s
Budget constrained	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 20:43	yes	9	7 s
Budget constrained	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 19:21	yes	3	5 s
Budget constrained	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 18:46	yes	18	20 s
Budget constrained	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 20:39	yes	20	6 s
Budget constrained	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 19:46	yes	34	16 s
Budget constrained	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 21:38	yes	9	5 s
Budget constrained	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 18:48	yes	8	12 s
Budget constrained	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 21:19	yes	5	3 s
Budget constrained	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 19:26	yes	10	24 s
Budget constrained	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 18:34	yes	9	22 s
Budget constrained	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 17:59	yes	13	18 s
Budget constrained	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 18:48	yes	9	23 s
Scale constrained	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 20:40	no	0	5 s
Scale constrained	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 21:42	no	0	8 s
Scale constrained	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 21:58	yes	9	51 s
Scale constrained	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 19:02	yes	20	10 s
Scale constrained	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 20:37	yes	17	15 s
Scale constrained	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 17:56	no	0	8 s
Scale constrained	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra`	2026-09-17 18:10	yes	20	37 s
Scale constrained	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 18:39	yes	5	3 s
Scale constrained	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 19:55	no	0	25 s
Scale constrained	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 20:07	yes	15	53 s
Scale constrained	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 21:23	yes	14	64 s
Scale constrained	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 18:48	yes	5	15 s
Negative framing	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 21:42	yes	17	9 s
Negative framing	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 21:12	yes	4	8 s
Negative framing	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 20:16	yes	17	23 s
Negative framing	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 21:19	yes	20	8 s
Negative framing	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 19:58	yes	37	17 s
Negative framing	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 18:09	yes	5	6 s
Negative framing	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 19:58	yes	23	30 s
Negative framing	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 21:44	yes	10	4 s
Negative framing	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 20:57	yes	15	34 s
Negative framing	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 19:23	yes	24	29 s
Negative framing	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 21:39	yes	25	80 s
Negative framing	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 18:32	yes	12	36 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 read as ADP Workforce Now

HiBob HRIS read as HiBob

Oracle Cloud HCM read as Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM

Oracle HCM read as Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM

Oracle HCM Cloud read as Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM

Workday Adaptive read as Workday Adaptive Planning

monday AI Workspace read as Monday.com

Unresolved, counted raw

Amazon's scrapped tool

Core HR Platform

Custom-built Excel/Spreadsheet ecosystems

Excel / Google Sheets + BI tools

Mewurk

PeopleNeuron

Planetally

SAP Analytics Cloud / SAP Workforce Analytics

Time Champ

Workday HCM / Adaptive Planning

Workday Strategic Planning

older SAP/Oracle modules

symplr Workforce

Discontinued, still offered

No shut-down product was recommended here.

Workforce planning

By buyer segment

01The standing

Recommended versus criticized

02What they warned about

03What they cite

Sites the answers cite

Pages the answers cite

04How they answered

05The record

Normalization in this category

Also in workforce planning and analytics