Five of fourteen models named SalaryCube first on the direct prompt; zero named Radford. SalaryCube was named by nine of the fourteen models and Radford by twelve and SalaryCube carries 12 labels and Radford 28, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in two categories this edition.
Named in three categories this edition.
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen 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 compensation benchmarking data page.
Across every category in the October 2026 Edition, SalaryCube and Radford were named in the same answer twenty times, of the 37 answers naming SalaryCube and the 97 naming Radford. In those answers Radford took the first choice three times and SalaryCube five.
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | ||||||
| GPT-5.4 mini | RA | RA | ||||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | RA | RA | RA | |||
| Perplexity Sonar | RA | |||||
| Grok 4.1 Fast | RA | |||||
| Mistral Small | RA | RA | ||||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | RA | RA | ||||
| Llama 4 Maverick | ||||||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | RA | RA | RA | |||
| Kimi K2 | ||||||
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | ||||||
| MiniMax M2.5 | RA | |||||
| GPT-6 Luna | RA | |||||
| Muse Glimmer 30B | RA |
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.
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Four of four in this category shown.
“Good modern alternative, but less brand recognition and narrower vendor ecosystem.” DeepSeek V4 Flash · direct prompt · soft negative
“SalaryCube "leads for most U.S. organizations due to its daily-updated Bigfoot Live system, transparent pricing, and fast implementation."” Muse Glimmer 30B · direct prompt · first choice
“SalaryCube and Ravio are frequently recommended due to their comprehensive data, ease of use, and fit for mid-market needs.” Mistral Small · direct prompt · first choice
“start with SalaryCube—it's highlighted as the deepest fit in multiple independent comparisons for your scale” Grok 4.1 Fast · direct prompt · first choice
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of six in this category shown.
“"Why you should avoid traditional providers (Mercer, Radford, Willis Towers Watson)"” Muse Glimmer 30B · negative prompt · hard negative
“incredibly robust but requires manual survey participation, a higher budget, and more administrative effort than modern API-based systems” Gemini 3.5 Flash · paraphrase prompt · soft negative
“$15K–$80K+/yr with mandatory survey participation. Overkill for most mid-market B2B unless you're in tech/life sciences specifically.” DeepSeek V4 Flash · direct prompt · soft negative
“This makes Radford a top pick for companies looking for reliable, free salary benchmarking data without a significant financial investment.” Mistral Small · budget prompt · first choice
“Radford or Mercer are the top choices due to their industry-specific data and reliability” Mistral Small · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“1. Radford (Aon) — *Best for B2B Tech/SaaS*” Kimi K2 · paraphrase prompt · first choice
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.