Index › Workforce planning and analytics › Workforce planning › Small business › September 2026 Edition
Workforce planning for small business buyers
Asked as “workforce planning software”, and as “headcount planning tool”, on behalf of a small B2B company. 45 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 small B2B company. Ordered by share.
ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrant
Show the five products 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
09
10
11
12Accepted challengerEndorsed leader
0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative40%
Key
01Homebase22%
Homebase22%02Rippling18%
Rippling18%03ChartHop13%
ChartHop13%04BambooHR4%
BambooHR4%05Gusto4%
Gusto4%06Connecteam4%
Connecteam4%07Runn2%
Runn2%08Zoho People0%
Zoho People0%09When I Work0%
When I Work0%10Cube0%
Cube0%11Workday Adaptive Planning0%
Workday Adaptive Planning0%12Anaplan0%
Anaplan0%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.
Anaplan94%
16 of 17 labels negative · 8 of 12 models · 10 hard negative
“Tools like Anaplan, Workday Adaptive Planning, or Vena are built for enterprises (500+ employees)... costs ... that you'd never recoup at 30 people” DeepSeek V4 Flash, scale prompt
Workday Adaptive Planning92%
11 of 12 labels negative · 7 of 12 models · 6 hard negative
“built for enterprises (500+ employees), come with heavy implementation, custom quotes, and costs ... that you'd never recoup at 30 people” DeepSeek V4 Flash, scale prompt
SAP SuccessFactors100%
7 of 7 labels negative · 6 of 12 models · 5 hard negative
“Enterprise-level, feature-heavy suites (e.g., SAP SuccessFactors, Oracle PeopleSoft, Workday) are usually overkill for companies under ~200 employees.” MiniMax M2.5, negative prompt
Workday100%
9 of 9 labels negative · 6 of 12 models · 5 hard negative
“Enterprise solutions like Workday can take 3-12 months and require dedicated project management, which is impractical for small businesses” Claude Haiku 4.5, 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
62 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. 784 links across 203 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page.
vendor site · Thrivea47 answers · 56 citations · 10 models
32 answers · 43 citations · 10 models
30 answers · 33 citations · 9 models
vendor site · People Managing People29 answers · 40 citations · 10 models
vendor site · Guideflow26 answers · 27 citations · 10 models
23 answers · 25 citations · 7 models
vendor site · Select Software Reviews21 answers · 23 citations · 9 models
19 answers · 19 citations · 10 models
18 answers · 21 citations · 8 models
vendor site · Rippling15 answers · 17 citations · 7 models
vendor site · FirstHR14 answers · 16 citations · 8 models
vendor site · Personio13 answers · 14 citations · 4 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.
47 answers · 10 models
32 answers · 10 models
30 answers · 9 models
23 answers · 10 models
20 answers · 9 models
19 answers · 7 models
19 answers · 10 models
14 answers · 8 models
14 answers · 6 models
13 answers · 5 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 small B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which headcount planning tool would you recommend to a small business that sells to other businesses?”Comparative“What are the top workforce planning tools for a small team and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best workforce planning software for a small company with a tight budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 30 person company evaluating a workforce planning software. What should we look at?”Negative“Which workforce planning tools should a small business avoid or be cautious about?”
Claude Haiku 4.5ThriveaBambooHRChangedChartHop, Cubeagainst: ExcelRipplingno first choiceagainst: Anaplan, Visier, Workday
Three alternatives
Cube, Monday.com, Soteria HRFive alternatives
CandorIQ, Cube, Drivetrain, Pigment, RunnTwo alternatives
BambooHR, HomebaseThree alternatives
Homebase, Keka, PlandayGPT-5.4 miniRipplingagainst: Anaplan, Workday Adaptive PlanningChartHopChangedPlanfulagainst: AnaplanRipplingagainst: Anaplan, Workday Adaptive Planningno first choicenothing named
Two alternatives
Built, HiBobThree alternatives
Airtable, Google Sheets, PaveThree alternatives
Pigment, UKG Pro, Workday Adaptive PlanningTwo alternatives
Connecteam, FindmyshiftGemini 3.5 FlashChartHop, RunnAgentnoon, ForecastioChangedagainst: ChartHopFloatChartHop, Connecteamagainst: Anaplan, BambooHR, Pigment, Ripplingno first choiceagainst: Anaplan, Orgvue, Workdayagainst: Anaplan, Excel, Google Sheets, Orgvue, SAP SuccessFactors, Workday Adaptive Planning
Four alternatives
Agentnoon, Float, Rippling, Toggl PlanFive alternatives
Drivetrain, Float, Mosaic, Rippling, RunnSix alternatives
ChartHop, Connecteam, Homebase, Parallel, Resource Guru, Teamwork.comSix alternatives
Excel, Google Sheets, Homebase, Parallel, Sling, TalentHRTen alternatives
Agentnoon, ChartHop, Deputy, Float, Homebase, Productive, Resource Guru, Rippling, Runn, When I WorkPerplexity SonarRipplingHomebaseChangedBambooHR, Homebaseagainst: Quinyx, Workday, Workday Adaptive PlanningHomebaseagainst: BambooHRno first choiceagainst: Anaplan, Paylocity, Workday
Three alternatives
BambooHR, Deel, HomebaseTwo alternatives
ChartHop, PersonioTwo alternatives
Connecteam, Google Sheets/Excel templatesTwo alternatives
Connecteam, GustoGrok 4.1 FastRipplingGustoChangedagainst: WorkdayHomebaseagainst: Visier, WorkdayHomebasePersonioagainst: Anaplanagainst: ADP Workforce Now, Anaplan, Dayforce, Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM, Paylocity, Pigment, SAP SuccessFactors, UKG Pro, Visier, Workday Adaptive Planning
Three alternatives
BambooHR, Deputy, HomebaseFour alternatives
BambooHR, ChartHop, Deel, RunwayFour alternatives
BambooHR, Paymo, Rippling, RunnFour alternatives
Connecteam, Sling, When I Work, Zoho PeopleFour alternatives
ADP Workforce Now, Cube, Hubstaff, LeapsomeMistral SmallKeka, ThriveaChartHopChangedHomebaseHomebaseno first choiceagainst: Paylocity, Workday
One alternative
RipplingTwo alternatives
Gusto, LativeFour alternatives
7shifts, BambooHR, Paymo, QuinyxTwo alternatives
7shifts, When I WorkDeepSeek V4 FlashRipplingagainst: Anaplan, Board, Pigment, Workday Adaptive PlanningGustoChangedagainst: Anaplan, Workday Adaptive PlanningFloat, Homebaseagainst: Anaplan, SAP, WorkdayConnecteamAgentnoon, ChartHop, TeamOhanaagainst: Anaplan, Vena, Workday Adaptive Planningagainst: BambooHR, Dayforce, Effy, Homebase, One Model, Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM, Paylocity, Quinyx, SAP SuccessFactors, UKG Pro, Visier, Workday
Four alternatives
ChartHop, Cube, Homebase, LativeThree alternatives
ChartHop, Excel/Google Sheets templates, RipplingSeven alternatives
7shifts, BambooHR, Deel HR, Deputy, Productive, Rippling, RunnThree alternatives
Deputy, When I Work, Zoho PeopleFour alternatives
BambooHR, Deel, Gusto, RipplingLlama 4 Maverickno first choiceRipplingChangedHomebaseHomebaseno first choiceagainst: Paylocity
Three alternatives
ChartHop, Cube, NextinHRThree alternatives
Excel/Google Sheets with a skills matrix template, Keka, PaymoTwo alternatives
Thrivea, Zoho PeopleQwen 3.7 FlashFloatScoroChangedPlannableagainst: Google Sheets / ExcelHomebaseHays, Lodeaagainst: SAP SuccessFactorsagainst: IBM Workday, Microsoft Project, Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM, SAP SuccessFactors, Spreadsheets
Four alternatives
BambooHR, BigTime, Homebase, When I WorkFour alternatives
Airtable, Fathom, Float, LivePlanFour alternatives
Airtable, ClickUp, Monday.com, RipplingThree alternatives
Connecteam, Gusto, Zoho PeopleFour alternatives
BambooHR, Deputy, Homebase, RipplingKimi K2BambooHRJiravChangedFloatHomebaseno first choiceagainst: Anaplan, Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM, Paylocity, SAP SuccessFactors, Workday Adaptive Planning
Four alternatives
Gusto, Homebase, Rippling, Zoho PeopleThree alternatives
ChartHop, Cube, FirstHRFour alternatives
ClickUp, Resource Guru, Runn, TeamhoodTwo alternatives
TimeplanGo, Zoho PeopleGLM 4.7 FlashXHomebaseagainst: Visier, Workday Adaptive PlanningChartHopChangedHomebaseagainst: Vena, VisierHomebaseno first choiceagainst: Anaplan, Cube, Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM, UKG Pro, Vena, Workday Adaptive Planning
Six alternatives
BambooHR, ChartHop, ClickUp, Deel HR, Monday.com, RipplingTwo alternatives
BambooHR, RipplingSeven alternatives
BambooHR, ChartHop, Deel HR, Deel Workforce Planning, Monday.com, Planday, QuinyxThree alternatives
Connecteam, When I Work, Zoho PeopleMiniMax M2.5ThriveaRipplingChangedHomebaseHomebaseno first choiceagainst: Excel, Google Sheets, Microsoft Dynamics 365 HR, Oracle PeopleSoft, SAP SuccessFactors, Workday HCM
Three alternatives
BambooHR, Keka, SaviomFour alternatives
ChartHop, Lative, Runway, ThriveaFive alternatives
7shifts, BambooHR, Keka, Paymo, QuinyxThree alternatives
Keka, OnTheClock, ThriveaBold 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 20:00 | yes | 9 | 8 s |
| Direct recommendation | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-17 19:44 | yes | 1 | 6 s |
| Direct recommendation | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-17 18:39 | yes | 12 | 20 s |
| Direct recommendation | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-17 21:31 | yes | 20 | 6 s |
| Direct recommendation | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-09-17 19:21 | yes | 29 | 16 s |
| Direct recommendation | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-17 20:30 | yes | 9 | 8 s |
| Direct recommendation | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks | 2026-09-17 18:03 | yes | 16 | 22 s |
| Direct recommendation | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-17 19:42 | yes | 5 | 3 s |
| Direct recommendation | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-17 21:47 | yes | 17 | 62 s |
| Direct recommendation | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-17 18:59 | yes | 14 | 28 s |
| Direct recommendation | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-17 20:19 | yes | 14 | 81 s |
| Direct recommendation | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-17 19:45 | yes | 9 | 26 s |
| Paraphrase | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-09-17 20:33 | yes | 9 | 7 s |
| Paraphrase | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-17 18:15 | no | 0 | 3 s |
| Paraphrase | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-17 22:05 | yes | 18 | 62 s |
| Paraphrase | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-17 18:22 | yes | 20 | 6 s |
| Paraphrase | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-09-17 19:50 | yes | 26 | 15 s |
| Paraphrase | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-17 18:38 | yes | 9 | 10 s |
| Paraphrase | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-09-17 19:04 | yes | 22 | 47 s |
| Paraphrase | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-17 21:06 | yes | 5 | 3 s |
| Paraphrase | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-17 20:35 | no | 0 | 30 s |
| Paraphrase | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-17 21:47 | yes | 28 | 47 s |
| Paraphrase | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-17 17:56 | yes | 22 | 150 s |
| Paraphrase | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-17 18:39 | yes | 7 | 28 s |
| Comparative | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-09-17 18:49 | yes | 9 | 9 s |
| Comparative | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-17 18:38 | yes | 5 | 9 s |
| Comparative | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-17 19:31 | yes | 13 | 22 s |
| Comparative | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-17 19:53 | yes | 20 | 11 s |
| Comparative | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-09-17 20:27 | yes | 24 | 16 s |
| Comparative | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-17 18:42 | yes | 9 | 10 s |
| Comparative | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks | 2026-09-17 20:32 | yes | 16 | 24 s |
| Comparative | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-17 19:25 | yes | 5 | 3 s |
| Comparative | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-17 18:59 | no | 0 | 30 s |
| Comparative | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-17 20:59 | yes | 14 | 32 s |
| Comparative | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-17 19:03 | yes | 8 | 71 s |
| Comparative | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-17 20:15 | yes | 11 | 28 s |
| Budget constrained | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-09-17 19:37 | yes | 9 | 7 s |
| Budget constrained | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-17 19:15 | yes | 2 | 5 s |
| Budget constrained | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-17 21:53 | yes | 14 | 40 s |
| Budget constrained | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-17 21:04 | yes | 20 | 6 s |
| Budget constrained | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-09-17 20:54 | yes | 34 | 17 s |
| Budget constrained | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-17 21:45 | yes | 5 | 3 s |
| Budget constrained | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks | 2026-09-17 20:14 | yes | 20 | 20 s |
| Budget constrained | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-17 21:19 | yes | 5 | 2 s |
| Budget constrained | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-17 20:04 | yes | 5 | 18 s |
| Budget constrained | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-17 18:48 | yes | 9 | 17 s |
| Budget constrained | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-17 20:11 | yes | 27 | 109 s |
| Budget constrained | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-17 21:17 | yes | 10 | 20 s |
| Scale constrained | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-09-17 20:15 | no | 0 | 6 s |
| Scale constrained | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-17 19:33 | no | 0 | 8 s |
| Scale constrained | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-17 21:52 | yes | 12 | 43 s |
| Scale constrained | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-17 18:25 | yes | 20 | 10 s |
| Scale constrained | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-09-17 20:47 | yes | 12 | 10 s |
| Scale constrained | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-17 19:04 | no | 0 | 6 s |
| Scale constrained | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks | 2026-09-17 19:06 | yes | 17 | 31 s |
| Scale constrained | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-17 19:12 | yes | 5 | 4 s |
| Scale constrained | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-17 20:47 | yes | 9 | 43 s |
| Scale constrained | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-17 21:07 | yes | 9 | 19 s |
| Scale constrained | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-17 19:35 | yes | 17 | 208 s |
| Scale constrained | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-17 21:32 | no | 0 | 54 s |
| Negative framing | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-09-17 20:32 | yes | 16 | 10 s |
| Negative framing | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-17 20:31 | no | 0 | 4 s |
| Negative framing | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-17 19:34 | yes | 21 | 23 s |
| Negative framing | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-17 21:33 | yes | 20 | 8 s |
| Negative framing | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-09-17 18:23 | yes | 34 | 18 s |
| Negative framing | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-17 19:28 | yes | 5 | 5 s |
| Negative framing | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks | 2026-09-17 19:13 | yes | 16 | 25 s |
| Negative framing | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-17 20:32 | yes | 7 | 5 s |
| Negative framing | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-17 19:07 | no | 0 | 28 s |
| Negative framing | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-17 21:26 | yes | 16 | 40 s |
| Negative framing | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-17 18:32 | yes | 23 | 103 s |
| Negative framing | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-17 20:33 | no | 0 | 52 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
Excel Templates read as Excel
Excel templates read as Excel
HiBob HRIS read as HiBob
Microsoft Excel read as Excel
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
Power BI read as Microsoft Power BI
Productive.io read as Productive
monday AI Workspace read as Monday.com
Unresolved, counted raw
Breathe HR
Excel/Google Sheets with a skills matrix template
ExcelGuru
Google Data Studio
IBM Workday
Lodea
NextinHR
Plannable
SwipeClock
Teamwork.com
The VC Corner
Discontinued, still offered
No shut-down product was recommended here.