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Index Compensation and total rewards Compensation management › Aeqium vs Salary.com CompAnalyst
Compensation management · September 2026 Edition

Aeqium vs Salary.com CompAnalyst

One of twelve models named Aeqium first on the direct prompt; zero named Salary.com CompAnalyst. Aeqium was named by nine of the twelve models and Salary.com CompAnalyst by seven and Aeqium carries 23 labels and Salary.com CompAnalyst 16, so the shares are not directly comparable.

Aeqium

accepted challenger

Named in three categories this edition.

Salary.com CompAnalyst

accepted challenger

Named in three categories this edition.

First-choice share6%5%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate0%0%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#3#7A position in a field of 29; printed, not drawn.
Labels2316A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Aeqium reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Payscale Ascent was named alongside these two in eight of the twelve direct answers. Pave vs Aeqium · Pave vs Salary.com CompAnalyst · Comprehensive vs Aeqium

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 compensation management page.

By framing

How many of the twelve models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
AeqiumFirst choices, of twelve modelsSalary.com CompAnalyst
Direct10
Paraphrase20
Comparative10
Budget-constrained34
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 Aeqium and Salary.com CompAnalyst stood in it.
ModelDirectParaphraseComparativeBudget-constrainedScale-constrainedNegative
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
Aeqium Salary.com CompAnalyst first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Aeqium on the left and Salary.com CompAnalyst on the right.

The direct prompt

The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Aeqium and Salary.com CompAnalyst stood in it.

Aeqium first, Salary.com CompAnalyst not the choice

1 of 12 modelsSalary.com CompAnalyst was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.
GLM 4.7 FlashXAeqium, CompLogix, SalaryCube alternatives: HiBob, Pave, Payscale Ascent, SalaryCube Comp Planning

Neither was the first choice, one was named

3 of 12 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.
Gemini 3.5 FlashCaptivateIQ, Everstage, Pave alternatives: Aeqium, CompLogix, Compport, Comprehensive, Pequity, Performio, Qobra, QuotaPath
Grok 4.1 FastCompLogix alternatives: Comprehensive, HiBob, Paylocity, Payscale Ascent, Salary.com CompAnalyst, SimplyMerit
Kimi K2CompLogix, Comprehensive, Pave, Pequity alternatives: Aeqium, CompUp, Compport, Everstage, HiBob, Lattice Compensation

Neither was named

8 of 12 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.
Claude Haiku 4.5HiBob HRIS, Payscale Ascent, QuotaPath alternatives: Everstage, Lattice, Paycom, Paylocity, Payscale, Xactly
GPT-5.4 miniCaptivateIQ, Lattice Compensation alternatives: HRSoft, Payscale, SAP SuccessFactors Compensation, Varicent, Xactly, Xactly Incent, beqom
Perplexity SonarComprehensive, HiBob alternatives: CaptivateIQ, CompLogix, Payscale Ascent, Performio, QuotaPath, SalaryCube
Mistral SmallEverstage, HiBob, Payscale Ascent alternatives: CompLogix, Compport, Paylocity, QuotaPath
DeepSeek V4 FlashLattice, Pave, QuotaPath alternatives: CaptivateIQ, CompLogix, Compport, Everstage, HiBob, Lattice Compensation, Payscale
Llama 4 MaverickEverstage alternatives: HiBob HRIS, Payscale Ascent
Qwen 3.7 FlashDeel, HiBob alternatives: Figures, Lattice, Payfactors, Payscale Ascent, Qommet, Salary.com
MiniMax M2.5CompLogix, HiBob HRIS, Paylocity, Payscale Ascent alternatives: HiBob, Pave

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
Salary.com CompAnalyst leads by two points.
Salary.com CompAnalyst4%#9 of 22
Aeqium2%#11 of 22
The full small business standing →
Mid-marketThe figures above
The order flips: Aeqium leads at mid-market.
Aeqium6%#3 of 29
Salary.com CompAnalyst5%#7 of 29
The full mid-market standing →
Enterprise
Level: the same share of first choices.
Aeqium1%#– of 22
Salary.com CompAnalyst1%#17 of 22
The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about Aeqium

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Three of three in this category shown.

“Aeqium (Best for Overall Compensation Planning) ... offers a completely free plan specifically designed for smaller teams transitioning away from spreadsheets.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · budget prompt · first choice
“Built from the ground up as an *execution* platform... AI-assisted cycles, no-code config, audit trails... Fast rollout.” DeepSeek V4 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
“Best low‑cost solution: Aeqium (free basic plan) or Empxtrack (free HR offerings).” GLM 4.7 FlashX · budget prompt · first choice

What the models said about Salary.com CompAnalyst

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Three of four in this category shown.

“Salary.com CompAnalyst is often recommended as the best compensation management software for companies with a limited budget” Mistral Small · budget prompt · first choice
“The best compensation management software for a company with a limited budget is Salary.com CompAnalyst for market data.” Llama 4 Maverick · budget prompt · first choice
“Choose Empxtrack for process management or Salary.com CompAnalyst purely for data benchmarking.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · budget prompt · first choice
Also compared

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.