Global payroll and employer of record for small business buyers
Asked as “employer of record”, and as “global payroll provider”, on behalf of a small B2B company. 49 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, twelve models each.
Standing · first-choice share
33%
Contested · RemoFirst 31%
33Deel31RemoFirst12Remote24others
33% 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 twelve models, for a small B2B company. Ordered by share.
ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrant
Show the three 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 product page.
All twenty-eight head-to-head pages: the top eight products, each against each
Deel vs RemoteDeel vs RipplingDeel vs MultiplierDeel vs G-PPapaya Global vs OysterPapaya Global vs RemoFirstPapaya Global vs RemotePapaya Global vs RipplingPapaya Global vs MultiplierPapaya Global vs G-POyster vs RemoFirstOyster vs RemoteOyster vs RipplingOyster vs MultiplierOyster vs G-PRemoFirst vs RemoteRemoFirst vs RipplingRemoFirst vs MultiplierRemoFirst vs G-PRemote vs RipplingRemote vs MultiplierRemote vs G-PRippling vs MultiplierRippling vs G-PMultiplier vs G-P
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
09Accepted challengerEndorsed leader
0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative50%
Key
01Deel33%
Deel33%02RemoFirst31%
RemoFirst31%03Remote12%
Remote12%04Rippling8%
Rippling8%05Multiplier4%
Multiplier4%06Native Teams4%
Native Teams4%07Oyster0%
Oyster0%08Gusto0%
Gusto0%09Papaya Global0%
Papaya Global0%What they warned about
Three of twelve models held their first choice under the paraphrase. Claude Haiku 4.5, Perplexity Sonar, Grok 4.1 Fast, Mistral Small, 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.
Deel22%
14 of 65 labels negative · 12 of 12 models · 2 hard negative
“Deel has faced allegations from a California State Senator that it's intentionally misclassifying employees” Claude Haiku 4.5, negative prompt
Remote16%
9 of 56 labels negative · 8 of 12 models · 2 hard negative
“Recent decline in service quality ... payroll delays ... unreliable for ongoing SMB needs” Grok 4.1 Fast, negative prompt
Papaya Global25%
7 of 28 labels negative · 6 of 12 models · 3 hard negative
“Papaya Global (for very small headcounts) ... uses headcount-tiered bands, meaning smaller businesses pay significantly higher per-employee fees” Gemini 3.5 Flash, negative prompt
Oyster17%
6 of 35 labels negative · 6 of 12 models · 2 hard negative
“High pricing with hidden fees creeping in; complaints of shallow partner networks” Grok 4.1 Fast, negative prompt
What they cite
Citations exist only for the models that return a source list: fourteen of the twelve in this edition, and all six flagship models on the expanded tier.
Sites the answers cite
79 of 84 answers in this category came back with a source list, from 14 of 12 models: citations where the model returns them, or the search results it consulted. 1087 links across 198 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page.
51 answers · 70 citations · 12 models
vendor site · Deel32 answers · 46 citations · 11 models
vendor site · Remote31 answers · 36 citations · 13 models
vendor site · Teamed25 answers · 41 citations · 10 models
vendor site · Oyster HR25 answers · 33 citations · 11 models
25 answers · 26 citations · 10 models
vendor site · RemoFirst21 answers · 35 citations · 10 models
vendor site · Playroll20 answers · 24 citations · 10 models
vendor site · G219 answers · 22 citations · 10 models
19 answers · 19 citations · 9 models
18 answers · 24 citations · 9 models
vendor site · Rippling17 answers · 22 citations · 11 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.
20 answers · 11 models
19 answers · 9 models
18 answers · 8 models
17 answers · 11 models
15 answers · 9 models
14 answers · 10 models
13 answers · 10 models
13 answers · 7 models
12 answers · 6 models
11 answers · 8 models
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 employer of record”, “employer of record”, “eor and global payroll platforms”. 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 products | Share | Own site cited | Name searches, Google | AI search demand, est. | Organic visits | Paid search a month, est. | Google ads, last 30 days | Best Google position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deel deel.com Deel 33%, Deel Payroll 0% | 33% | 526 | 40,500 | 1,210 | 307,175 | $330,608 | 118 | |
| RemoFirst remofirst.com | 31% | 77 | 1,600 | 21 | 17,414 | $701 | 36 | 1 |
| Remote remote.com Remote 12%, Remote People 2% | 14% | 213 | 110,000 | 426,655 | 766,598 | $15,858 | 88 | 3 |
| Rippling rippling.com | 8% | 1260 | 301,000 | 17,886 | 712,399 | $42,013 | 115 | |
| Multiplier usemultiplier.com | 4% | 69 | 9,900 | 71,234 | 69,887 | $4,584 | 120 | |
| Native Teams nativeteams.com | 4% | 20 | 320 | 86 | 47,722 | $12,206 | 30 | 2 |
| Justworks justworks.com | 2% | 282 | 60,500 | 452 | 236,868 | $2,424 | 120 | |
| Multiplier Global Payroll | 2% | |||||||
| Tarmack tarmack.com | 2% | 1 | ||||||
| Oyster oysterhr.com | 0% | 95 | 301,000 | 109,205 | 379,211 | $14,169 | 65 | 5 |
Google's top ten for the three searches hold 23 sites; 4 of them are among the sites the models cited here (oysterhr.com, remofirst.com, remote.com, selectsoftwarereviews.com). The first result for “best employer of record” is hrtechedge.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
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.
ShowHideModelDirect“What is the best employer of record for a small B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which global payroll provider would you recommend to a small business that sells to other businesses?”Comparative“What are the top EOR and global payroll platforms for a small team and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best employer of record for a small company with a tight budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 30 person company evaluating an employer of record. What should we look at?”Negative“Which EOR and global payroll platforms should a small business avoid or be cautious about?”
Claude Haiku 4.5no first choiceRipplingChangedDeelRemoFirstno first choiceagainst: Deel, Multiplier, Omnipresent, Oyster, Papaya Global, Remote, Velocity Global
Five alternatives
Deel, Gusto, Gusto Global, OnPay, OysterFour alternatives
Gusto, Multiplier, Oyster, Papaya GlobalOne alternative
MultiplierGPT-5.4 miniDeelagainst: RemoFirstDeelHeldOyster, RemoteRemoFirstagainst: Deelno first choiceagainst: Deel, Native Teams, Remote People, RemoteFirst/Remofirst, SurePayroll
One alternative
OysterTwo alternatives
Oyster, RemoteTwo alternatives
Deel, RipplingTwo alternatives
Oyster, RemoteGemini 3.5 FlashRipplingRipplingHeldRemoFirstagainst: RipplingRemoFirstno first choiceagainst: Deel, G-P, Lano, Papaya Global, Rippling, Safeguard Global, Velocity Global
Three alternatives
Deel, RemoFirst, RemoteFour alternatives
Deel, Multiplier, RemoFirst, RemoteThree alternatives
Deel, Oyster, RemoteFour alternatives
Deel, Hire with Columbus, Multiplier, RemotePerplexity SonarDeelRemoteChangedDeel, RemoteRemoFirstno first choiceagainst: Oyster, Remote
Two alternatives
RemoFirst, RipplingOne alternative
DeelFive alternatives
Justworks, Native Teams, Oyster, RemoFirst, RipplingThree alternatives
Justworks, Playroll, Remote PeopleGrok 4.1 FastRemoFirstRipplingChangedDeel, RemoFirstagainst: ADP Workforce Now, Workday PayrollRemoFirstno first choiceagainst: ADP, Deel, G-P, Oyster, Papaya Global, Remote
Two alternatives
Deel, OysterThree alternatives
Deel, Papaya Global, RemoteThree alternatives
Papaya Global, Remote, RipplingOne alternative
Native TeamsMistral SmallDeelDeel, RemoteChangedDeelDeelno first choiceagainst: Deel, Employment Hero, Mercans, Remote, Wisemonk
Two alternatives
RemoFirst, Remote PeopleFour alternatives
Oyster, RemoFirst, Remote, RipplingOne alternative
MultiplierDeepSeek V4 FlashDeelagainst: Papaya GlobalDeelHeldDeelRemoFirstno first choiceagainst: Deel, Oyster, Papaya Global, Remote
Two alternatives
RemoFirst, RemoteTwo alternatives
Remote, RipplingFive alternatives
Multiplier, Oyster, RemoFirst, Remote, RipplingFour alternatives
Deel, Multiplier, Playroll, RemoteLlama 4 Maverickno first choiceDeelChangedDeel, RemoteRemoFirstno first choicenothing named
Two alternatives
Justworks, RUN PoweredTwo alternatives
Deel, PlaneQwen 3.7 FlashDeelDeel, MultiplierChangedDeel, RemoFirstRemoFirstno first choiceagainst: Deel, Oyster, Remote, Rippling
Three alternatives
Oyster, RemoFirst, RipplingTwo alternatives
Remote, RipplingThree alternatives
Gusto, Native Teams, RemoteTwo alternatives
Deel, MultiplierKimi K2DeelDeel, RemoFirstChangedDeel, RemoteRemoFirstno first choiceagainst: Deel, Papaya Global, Rippling
Four alternatives
Papaya Global, RemoFirst, TriNet, WisemonkTwo alternatives
Multiplier, RipplingSix alternatives
ADP, Multiplier, Native Teams, Oyster, RemoFirst, RipplingThree alternatives
Gusto, Payoneer Workforce Management, RivermateGLM 4.7 FlashXDeel, RemoFirstMultiplier Global PayrollChangedDeelRemoFirst, Remote Peopleagainst: Deel, Remoteno first choiceagainst: ADP GlobalView Payroll, Remote People, TopSource
Three alternatives
Oyster, Papaya Global, RemoteFour alternatives
Deel Payroll, Gusto, Remote, RipplingSix alternatives
Multiplier, Oyster, Playroll, RemoFirst, Remote, RipplingThree alternatives
Multiplier, Papaya Global, RivermateMiniMax M2.5Deel, Remoteagainst: RemoFirstJustworks, MultiplierChangedOysterNative Teams, Tarmackagainst: Deel, Remoteno first choiceagainst: Deel, Multiplier, Remote, Rippling
One alternative
OysterFive alternatives
Deel, Native Teams, Payoneer Workforce Management, Remote, RipplingOne alternative
MultiplierBold 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
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 | 2026-10-01 09:49 | no | 0 | 4 s |
| Direct recommendation | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-10-01 09:40 | yes | 5 | 7 s |
| Direct recommendation | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-10-01 08:38 | yes | 10 | 21 s |
| Direct recommendation | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-10-01 10:02 | yes | 20 | 3 s |
| Direct recommendation | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-10-01 08:49 | yes | 22 | 9 s |
| Direct recommendation | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-10-01 11:43 | yes | 9 | 4 s |
| Direct recommendation | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-10-01 08:07 | yes | 21 | 28 s |
| Direct recommendation | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-10-01 10:01 | yes | 5 | 2 s |
| Direct recommendation | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-10-01 10:32 | yes | 5 | 27 s |
| Direct recommendation | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-10-01 11:08 | yes | 9 | 12 s |
| Direct recommendation | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-10-01 07:47 | yes | 25 | 25 s |
| Direct recommendation | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-10-01 09:57 | yes | 10 | 37 s |
| Paraphrase | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-10-01 12:07 | yes | 19 | 9 s |
| Paraphrase | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-10-01 11:27 | yes | 4 | 4 s |
| Paraphrase | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-10-01 10:55 | yes | 13 | 23 s |
| Paraphrase | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-10-01 11:44 | yes | 20 | 2 s |
| Paraphrase | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-10-01 11:21 | yes | 22 | 10 s |
| Paraphrase | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-10-01 08:38 | yes | 5 | 3 s |
| Paraphrase | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-10-01 10:14 | yes | 21 | 26 s |
| Paraphrase | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-10-01 08:31 | yes | 5 | 2 s |
| Paraphrase | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-10-01 08:31 | yes | 10 | 27 s |
| Paraphrase | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-10-01 08:18 | yes | 20 | 22 s |
| Paraphrase | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-10-01 11:51 | yes | 13 | 25 s |
| Paraphrase | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-10-01 10:56 | yes | 5 | 23 s |
| Comparative | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-10-01 10:06 | yes | 9 | 9 s |
| Comparative | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-10-01 09:11 | yes | 10 | 11 s |
| Comparative | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-10-01 09:21 | yes | 23 | 27 s |
| Comparative | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-10-01 12:09 | yes | 19 | 8 s |
| Comparative | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-10-01 11:55 | yes | 24 | 9 s |
| Comparative | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-10-01 09:39 | yes | 10 | 10 s |
| Comparative | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-10-01 08:20 | yes | 25 | 31 s |
| Comparative | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-10-01 08:23 | yes | 5 | 3 s |
| Comparative | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-10-01 09:33 | yes | 5 | 32 s |
| Comparative | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-10-01 08:45 | yes | 20 | 39 s |
| Comparative | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-10-01 08:49 | yes | 15 | 31 s |
| Comparative | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-10-01 07:43 | yes | 14 | 25 s |
| Budget constrained | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-10-01 08:37 | yes | 9 | 8 s |
| Budget constrained | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-10-01 11:02 | yes | 5 | 6 s |
| Budget constrained | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-10-01 09:54 | yes | 17 | 18 s |
| Budget constrained | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-10-01 11:14 | yes | 21 | 4 s |
| Budget constrained | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-10-01 09:50 | yes | 23 | 8 s |
| Budget constrained | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-10-01 07:48 | yes | 5 | 2 s |
| Budget constrained | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-10-01 11:01 | yes | 24 | 26 s |
| Budget constrained | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-10-01 08:59 | yes | 5 | 1 s |
| Budget constrained | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-10-01 07:45 | yes | 5 | 31 s |
| Budget constrained | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-10-01 10:57 | yes | 13 | 16 s |
| Budget constrained | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-10-01 10:03 | yes | 15 | 41 s |
| Budget constrained | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-10-01 09:36 | yes | 5 | 15 s |
| Scale constrained | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-10-01 10:15 | yes | 18 | 14 s |
| Scale constrained | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-10-01 07:37 | no | 0 | 8 s |
| Scale constrained | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-10-01 08:47 | yes | 14 | 28 s |
| Scale constrained | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-10-01 08:07 | yes | 20 | 7 s |
| Scale constrained | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-10-01 10:10 | yes | 14 | 9 s |
| Scale constrained | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-10-01 10:58 | no | 0 | 7 s |
| Scale constrained | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-10-01 11:23 | yes | 19 | 42 s |
| Scale constrained | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-10-01 10:19 | yes | 5 | 3 s |
| Scale constrained | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-10-01 09:32 | no | 0 | 29 s |
| Scale constrained | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-10-01 10:31 | yes | 9 | 23 s |
| Scale constrained | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-10-01 09:44 | yes | 10 | 219 s |
| Scale constrained | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-10-01 08:22 | no | 0 | 11 s |
| Negative framing | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-10-01 10:00 | yes | 17 | 12 s |
| Negative framing | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-10-01 11:54 | yes | 7 | 6 s |
| Negative framing | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-10-01 11:07 | yes | 26 | 34 s |
| Negative framing | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-10-01 08:06 | yes | 16 | 5 s |
| Negative framing | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-10-01 08:44 | yes | 24 | 11 s |
| Negative framing | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-10-01 07:50 | yes | 13 | 6 s |
| Negative framing | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-10-01 08:44 | yes | 24 | 37 s |
| Negative framing | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-10-01 08:18 | yes | 5 | 2 s |
| Negative framing | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-10-01 11:59 | yes | 25 | 56 s |
| Negative framing | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-10-01 11:09 | yes | 25 | 26 s |
| Negative framing | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-10-01 10:25 | yes | 25 | 73 s |
| Negative framing | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-10-01 08:35 | yes | 20 | 35 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
ADP Global Payroll read as ADP GlobalView Payroll
ADP GlobalView read as ADP GlobalView Payroll
Oyster HR read as Oyster
Papaya read as Papaya Global
RemotePeople read as Remote People
TopSource Worldwide read as TopSource
Workday read as Workday Payroll
Unresolved, counted raw
Employer.co
Employsome
HRBS Global
RemoteFirst/Remofirst
Rippling Global Payroll / EOR
Workwellna
Discontinued, still offered
No shut-down product was recommended here.