AI Indexes
HR AI Index
October 2026 Edition · The permanent record of this edition. The unqualified address always carries the latest edition.
Index › Compensation and total rewards › HSA & FSA admin › Small business › October 2026 Edition

HSA and FSA administrators for small business buyers

Asked as “HSA and FSA administrator”, and as “consumer-directed benefits administrator”, on behalf of a small B2B company. 59 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, fourteen models each. Added to the October 2026 Edition on October 4, 2026; its answers are read by the distilled judge (ai-indexes-judge-qwen3-14b-run3), not the claude-opus-5 judge of the earlier categories: how the two compare.
Standing · first-choice share
37%
Contested · Gusto 10%
37Lively10Gusto08HealthEquity44others

37% of first choices, contested.

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.

The standing

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, over all fourteen models, for a small B2B company. Ordered by share.
ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrant
01Lively37%4%48endorsed leader
02Gusto10%0%13accepted challenger
03HealthEquity8%25%44criticized challenger
04Fidelity HSA7%0%32accepted challenger
05WEX Benefits7%15%27accepted challenger
06Alegeus3%10%10accepted challenger
07Navia Benefit Solutions2%14%14accepted challenger
08WEX Health2%15%13accepted challenger
Show the one product at 0%, ordered by negative rate
09HSA Bank0%17%24accepted challenger
Bars are the share of first choices, 0 to 100Every product with at least 10 labels here. Every product name links to its product page.
All twenty-eight head-to-head pages: the top eight products, each against each

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
Accepted challengerEndorsed leader
0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative50%
Key
01Lively37%
02Gusto10%
03HealthEquity8%
04Fidelity HSA7%
05WEX Benefits7%
06Alegeus3%
07Navia Benefit Solutions2%
08WEX Health2%
09HSA Bank0%

What they warned about

Two of fourteen models held their first choice under the paraphrase. Claude Haiku 4.5, GPT-5.4 mini, Perplexity Sonar, Grok 4.1 Fast, Mistral Small, Llama 4 Maverick, Qwen 3.7 Flash, Kimi K2, GLM 4.7 FlashX, MiniMax M2.5, GPT-6 Luna and Muse Glimmer 30B 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.
HealthEquity
25%
11 of 44 labels negative · 9 of 14 models · 5 hard negative
“Consumer sentiment is repeatedly negative. Trustpilot ratings for healthequity.com are shown as "Bad" with ~1.2 / 5” Muse Glimmer 30B, negative prompt
Sterling Administration
100%
5 of 5 labels negative · 5 of 14 models · 3 hard negative
“**Verdict:** **Avoid.** The severity of complaints regarding withheld funds poses a significant liability for employers.” Qwen 3.7 Flash, negative prompt
HSA Bank
17%
4 of 24 labels negative · 4 of 14 models · 1 hard negative
“Most reviewers reported being let down by their overall experience, with many expressing deep frustration with the customer service department” Claude Haiku 4.5, negative prompt
WEX Benefits
15%
4 of 27 labels negative · 4 of 14 models · 1 hard negative
“"Not great" online reviews, user-unfriendly interfaces, expense approval issues, and slow callbacks/proposals” Grok 4.1 Fast, negative prompt

What they cite

Citations exist only for the models that return a source list: fourteen of the fourteen in this edition, and all six flagship models on the expanded tier.

Sites the answers cite

82 of 84 answers in this category came back with a source list, from 14 of 14 models: citations where the model returns them, or the search results it consulted. 1216 links across 236 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page. None of the 252 answers across every segment cited this index's own page for the category.

47 answers · 52 citations · 11 models
36 answers · 40 citations · 10 models
36 answers · 38 citations · 11 models
vendor site · Soteria HR36 answers · 36 citations · 10 models
35 answers · 41 citations · 13 models
32 answers · 40 citations · 10 models
29 answers · 55 citations · 12 models
29 answers · 29 citations · 12 models
26 answers · 33 citations · 10 models
vendor site · G225 answers · 42 citations · 11 models
25 answers · 32 citations · 12 models
23 answers · 27 citations · 8 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.

Search against answers

Each company's standing in the answers beside its site's footprint in Google search, one row a site: the products the models named on it with their shares, and the share they add up to; monthly searches on Google, and DataForSEO's estimate of AI search demand (modeled from search signals, directional, not a count of queries to any assistant), for the most-searched of the company's and its products' names (the name is in each row's hover text); estimated monthly organic visits to the site; and its best position in Google's top ten for “best hsa and fsa administrator”, “hsa and fsa administrator”, “hsa and fsa administrators”. US estimates from DataForSEO and Google's Ads Transparency Center. A small company's site, or a mid-sized company's site for its flagship, is marked company; a product on a large parent's site (Google, Microsoft) has no site figures. A column with no figures for this category is left out, and an empty cell means none were seen, not none exist. Two measurements side by side: neither is read as the cause of the other.
Company and productsShareOwn site citedName searches, GoogleAI search demand, est.Organic visitsPaid search a month, est.Google ads, last 30 days
Lively livelyme.com37%10949,5007,526,22957,96824
Gusto gusto.com10%870673,00010,5601,629,483118
HealthEquity healthequity.com8%161450,0001,9031,323,750120
WEX wexinc.com
WEX Benefits 7%, WEX Health 2%
8%10540,5001,030229,187 company$18186
Fidelity HSA fidelity.com7%9649,50082254,604,127$1,17484
Hammock usehammock.co3%9
Alegeus alegeus.com3%321,90061
Ameriflex myameriflex.com3%1127,10017728,050
TASC tasconline.com3%3440,5002,09563,431$1,54418
Soteria soteriahr.com
Soteria 2%, Soteria HR 2%
3%7

Google's top ten for the three searches hold 24 sites; 1 of them are among the sites the models cited here (myshortlister.com). The first result for “best hsa and fsa administrator” is joinforma.com.

How 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.
ShowHide
ModelDirect“What is the best HSA and FSA administrator for a small B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which consumer-directed benefits administrator would you recommend to a small business that sells to other businesses?”Comparative“What are the top HSA and FSA administrators for a small team and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best HSA and FSA administrator for a small company with a tight budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 30 person company evaluating a HSA and FSA administrator. What should we look at?”Negative“Which HSA and FSA administrators should a small business avoid or be cautious about?”
Claude Haiku 4.5Fidelity HSA
Three alternativesHSA Bank, Lively, TASC
AmeriflexChanged
Three alternativesDriven Benefit Administrators, Key Benefit Administrators, TRI-AD
Fidelity HSA
Three alternativesBASIC, HSA Bank, HealthEquity
Lively
Four alternativesAvidia Health, BASIC, Fidelity HSA, Inspira Financial
no first choiceagainst: Further, HSA Bank, Optum Bank / Optum Financial
GPT-5.4 miniGusto
One alternativeJustworks
HammockChanged
Four alternativesGusto, Inspira Financial, Navia Benefit Solutions, WEX Benefits
HSA Bank, HealthEquity
Two alternativesOptum Financial, WEX Benefits
Fidelity HSA, Lively
One alternativeHealthEquity
no first choiceagainst: HSA Bank, HealthEquity, Optum Financial, WEX Benefits, WageWorks
Gemini 3.5 FlashLively
Four alternativesBenepass, Elevate, Fidelity HSA, Gusto
LivelyHeld
Four alternativesBenepass, Forma, PeopleKeep, Thatch
Gusto, Rippling
Three alternativesFidelity HSA, Lively, Navia Benefit Solutions
against: HealthEquity, WEX Benefits
Gusto
Four alternativesAmeriflex, Fidelity HSA, Navia Benefit Solutions, OnPay
against: Lively
Gusto, Rippling
Four alternativesBenepass, Lively, Navia Benefit Solutions, WEX Benefits
against: HSA Bank, Optum Bank, TASC, WEX Health
Perplexity SonarSoteria HR
Three alternativesEmployerFlex, Fidelity HSA, Lively
Elevate, GustoChanged
Two alternativesAlegeus, Gravie
EmployerFlex, Lively
Three alternativesAvidia Bank, Fidelity HSA, HealthEquity
against: Flores
Avidia Bank, EmployerFlex
One alternativeBASIC
against: Lively
no first choicenothing named
Grok 4.1 FastLively
Three alternativesFidelity HSA, SoteriaHR, WEX Benefits
against: HealthEquity
HealthEquityChanged
Two alternativesAlegeus, WEX Health
against: HSA Bank
Fidelity HSA
Five alternativesBenepass, HSA Bank, Lively, TASC, WEX Benefits
against: HealthEquity
Lively
Two alternativesFidelity HSA, WEX Benefits
HealthEquity, Lively
Three alternativesBenepass, Fidelity HSA, Forma
against: HealthEquity, Optum, Sterling Administration, TASC, WEX Benefits
Mistral SmallHealthEquity, Lively
Two alternativesAlerus, WEX Benefits
HealthEquity, WEX HealthChanged
Two alternativesAlegeus, HSA Bank
Hammock
Four alternativesAdmin America, HSA Bank, Soteria, The HSA Authority
Livelyno first choiceagainst: Igoe Administrative Services, WageWorks
DeepSeek V4 FlashLively
Three alternativesFidelity HSA, Hammock, WEX Benefits
LivelyHeld
Two alternativesHealthEquity, WEX Benefits
Lively
Six alternativesFidelity HSA, HSA Bank, Hammock, HealthEquity, Inspira Financial, WEX Benefits
Lively, TASCagainst: Avidia HealthLively
Six alternativesAvidia, Avidia Bank, Benepass, HSA Bank, Navia Benefit Solutions, Optum Bank
against: Discovery Benefits, HealthEquity, PayFlex, Sterling Administration, WageWorks
Llama 4 MaverickSoteriano first choiceChangedno first choiceLively
One alternativeAlerus
no first choicenothing named
Qwen 3.7 FlashLively
Two alternativesFidelity HSA, WEX Health
Fidelity HSA, WEX BenefitsChanged
Two alternativesAlegeus, Lively
Lively
Two alternativesFidelity HSA, WEX Benefits
ThrivePass
One alternativeLively
no first choiceagainst: HealthEquity, Navia Benefits, Rocky Mountain Reserve, Sterling Administration
Kimi K2Lively, WEX Benefits
Two alternativesBenepass, HealthEquity
LivelyChanged
Three alternativesAlegeus, First Dollar, HealthEquity
Lively
Four alternativesFlores, HealthEquity, The HSA Authority, WEX Health
Lively
Three alternativesDiscovery Benefits, HealthEquity, Navia Benefit Solutions
no first choiceagainst: Discovery Benefits, HealthEquity, Navia Benefit Solutions, Sterling Administration
GLM 4.7 FlashXLively
Three alternativesHealthEquity, TASC, WEX Benefits
AlegeusChanged
Two alternativesBAS, Gusto
Fidelity HSA, HealthEquity
Four alternativesEmployerFlex, Flores, Navia Benefit Solutions, TMG
HealthEquity
Two alternativesFidelity HSA, Lively
no first choiceagainst: Alegeus, BASIC, BenefitWallet, Forma, WEX Health
MiniMax M2.5Alerus, WEX Benefits
One alternativeFidelity HSA
no first choiceChangedBenepass, Lively
Three alternativesAlerus, HealthEquity, WEX Benefits
Lively
Four alternativesAvidia Health, HSA Bank, Navia Benefit Solutions, WEX Health
Fidelity HSA
Three alternativesAlerus, HealthEquity, Lively
against: HealthEquity, Navia Benefits, PayFlex Systems USA, Rocky Mountain Reserve, Sterling Administration
GPT-6 LunaGusto
Three alternativesHealthEquity, Rippling, WEX Benefits
LivelyChangedHealthEquity, Lively, Navia Benefit Solutions
One alternativeWEX Benefits
Gusto
One alternativeHealthEquity
no first choiceagainst: HealthEquity, Navia Benefit Solutions, Optum Financial, WEX Benefits, WageWorks
Muse Glimmer 30BHammock, WEX Benefits
Three alternativesAlerus, Fidelity HSA, Lively
Alegeus, Navia Benefit SolutionsChanged
Five alternativesHSA Bank, HealthEquity, Lively, PeopleKeep, WEX Health
Fidelity HSA, Lively
Three alternativesHealthEquity, HealthEquity FSA, WEX Health
against: Flores
Ameriflex, Lively, TASC
Six alternativesAvidia Bank, Avidia Health, Fidelity HSA, Further, HealthEquity, WEX Health
no first choiceagainst: Alight Solutions, HealthEquity, Navia Benefits
Bold is the first choiceAlternatives are counted; the count opens them.What the answer argued against

The 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
Eighty-four rows: every prompt, every model, every answer.
PromptModelVersion stringTime (UTC)SearchedSourcesLatency
Direct recommendationClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-10-04 22:33yes168 s
Direct recommendationGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-10-04 22:15yes44 s
Direct recommendationGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-10-04 22:38yes1423 s
Direct recommendationPerplexity Sonarsonar2026-10-04 22:27yes175 s
Direct recommendationGrok 4.1 Fastspacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex2026-10-04 22:13yes2213 s
Direct recommendationMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-10-04 22:37yes148 s
Direct recommendationDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra2026-10-04 22:23yes2435 s
Direct recommendationLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-10-04 22:26yes52 s
Direct recommendationQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-10-04 22:18yes1853 s
Direct recommendationKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-10-04 22:15yes2424 s
Direct recommendationGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-10-04 22:30yes2330 s
Direct recommendationMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-10-04 22:21yes1017 s
Direct recommendationGPT-6 Lunagpt-6-luna2026-10-04 22:32yes415 s
Direct recommendationMuse Glimmer 30Bmeta/muse-glimmer-30b via togetherai2026-10-04 22:29yes2029 s
ParaphraseClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-10-04 22:23yes96 s
ParaphraseGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-10-04 22:21yes44 s
ParaphraseGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-10-04 22:24yes1925 s
ParaphrasePerplexity Sonarsonar2026-10-04 22:26yes183 s
ParaphraseGrok 4.1 Fastspacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex2026-10-04 22:34yes2112 s
ParaphraseMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-10-04 22:27yes127 s
ParaphraseDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra2026-10-04 22:35yes2330 s
ParaphraseLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-10-04 22:20yes52 s
ParaphraseQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-10-04 22:38yes951 s
ParaphraseKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-10-04 22:28yes2336 s
ParaphraseGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-10-04 22:37yes2328 s
ParaphraseMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-10-04 22:28yes1128 s
ParaphraseGPT-6 Lunagpt-6-luna2026-10-04 22:18yes317 s
ParaphraseMuse Glimmer 30Bmeta/muse-glimmer-30b via togetherai2026-10-04 22:17yes1427 s
ComparativeClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-10-04 22:17yes1912 s
ComparativeGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-10-04 22:13yes47 s
ComparativeGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-10-04 22:37yes2630 s
ComparativePerplexity Sonarsonar2026-10-04 22:27yes175 s
ComparativeGrok 4.1 Fastspacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex2026-10-04 22:37yes2110 s
ComparativeMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-10-04 22:37yes107 s
ComparativeDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra2026-10-04 22:15yes2142 s
ComparativeLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-10-04 22:36yes52 s
ComparativeQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-10-04 22:34yes1878 s
ComparativeKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-10-04 22:38yes2130 s
ComparativeGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-10-04 22:32yes1886 s
ComparativeMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-10-04 22:24yes1217 s
ComparativeGPT-6 Lunagpt-6-luna2026-10-04 22:26yes626 s
ComparativeMuse Glimmer 30Bmeta/muse-glimmer-30b via togetherai2026-10-04 22:37yes1940 s
Budget constrainedClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-10-04 22:24yes97 s
Budget constrainedGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-10-04 22:30yes56 s
Budget constrainedGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-10-04 22:20yes1533 s
Budget constrainedPerplexity Sonarsonar2026-10-04 22:28yes173 s
Budget constrainedGrok 4.1 Fastspacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex2026-10-04 22:16yes2011 s
Budget constrainedMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-10-04 22:21yes137 s
Budget constrainedDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra2026-10-04 22:20yes2325 s
Budget constrainedLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-10-04 22:33yes52 s
Budget constrainedQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-10-04 22:22yes1452 s
Budget constrainedKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-10-04 22:35yes2329 s
Budget constrainedGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-10-04 22:24yes2491 s
Budget constrainedMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-10-04 22:35yes1732 s
Budget constrainedGPT-6 Lunagpt-6-luna2026-10-04 22:32yes421 s
Budget constrainedMuse Glimmer 30Bmeta/muse-glimmer-30b via togetherai2026-10-04 22:17yes2036 s
Scale constrainedClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-10-04 22:21yes1613 s
Scale constrainedGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-10-04 22:36no012 s
Scale constrainedGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-10-04 22:21yes1029 s
Scale constrainedPerplexity Sonarsonar2026-10-04 22:34yes185 s
Scale constrainedGrok 4.1 Fastspacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex2026-10-04 22:18yes117 s
Scale constrainedMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-10-04 22:25no07 s
Scale constrainedDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra2026-10-04 22:32yes2040 s
Scale constrainedLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-10-04 22:32yes52 s
Scale constrainedQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-10-04 22:24yes529 s
Scale constrainedKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-10-04 22:14yes1453 s
Scale constrainedGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-10-04 22:31yes1379 s
Scale constrainedMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-10-04 22:16yes519 s
Scale constrainedGPT-6 Lunagpt-6-luna2026-10-04 22:24yes322 s
Scale constrainedMuse Glimmer 30Bmeta/muse-glimmer-30b via togetherai2026-10-04 22:34yes1422 s
Negative framingClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-10-04 22:28yes3311 s
Negative framingGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-10-04 22:16yes65 s
Negative framingGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-10-04 22:33yes2026 s
Negative framingPerplexity Sonarsonar2026-10-04 22:15yes163 s
Negative framingGrok 4.1 Fastspacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex2026-10-04 22:36yes239 s
Negative framingMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-10-04 22:35yes94 s
Negative framingDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra2026-10-04 22:21yes2431 s
Negative framingLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-10-04 22:26yes54 s
Negative framingQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-10-04 22:29yes1936 s
Negative framingKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-10-04 22:26yes2221 s
Negative framingGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-10-04 22:33yes2365 s
Negative framingMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-10-04 22:24yes1933 s
Negative framingGPT-6 Lunagpt-6-luna2026-10-04 22:34yes432 s
Negative framingMuse Glimmer 30Bmeta/muse-glimmer-30b via togetherai2026-10-04 22:38yes2428 s

Normalization in this category

Every judgment call made between the raw labels and the numbers above, listed so it is visible and reversible.

ShowHide
Category-scoped readings
Fidelity read as Fidelity HSA
Fidelity Investments read as Fidelity HSA
Navia read as Navia Benefit Solutions
Navia (Navia Benefit Solutions) read as Navia Benefit Solutions
WEX read as WEX Benefits
WEX (formerly Discovery Benefits) read as WEX Benefits
Unresolved, counted raw
Avidia
Benegg
Driven Benefit Administrators
Gravie
Gusto's partnered providers
HealthEquity FSA
Key Benefit Administrators
MyMoney (Further)
PayFlex Systems USA
SimpleBenefit
TMG (The Medical Group)
The Harrison Group
ZipRecruiter's HSA partners
Discontinued, still offered
No shut-down product was recommended here.
← Flexible benefitsPay equity →