Employee onboarding
Asked as “employee onboarding software”, and as “new hire onboarding platform”, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. 55 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, twelve models each.
Standing · first-choice share
25%
Contested · BambooHR 22%
25Rippling22BambooHR15Zoho People38others
25% 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 mid-market B2B company. Ordered by share.
ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrant
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 ten head-to-head pages: the top five 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
10
11
12Accepted challengerEndorsed leader
0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative40%
Key
01Rippling25%
Rippling25%02BambooHR22%
BambooHR22%03Zoho People15%
Zoho People15%04HiBob11%
HiBob11%05Personio5%
Personio5%06Connecteam5%
Connecteam5%07Gusto4%
Gusto4%08Deel2%
Deel2%09Paycor2%
Paycor2%10Enboarder0%
Enboarder0%11Paylocity0%
Paylocity0%12Workday0%
Workday0%What they warned about
One of twelve models held their first choice under the paraphrase. Claude Haiku 4.5, 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.
BambooHR13%
8 of 63 labels negative · 7 of 12 models
“Limited workflow customization for complex processes, some advanced features paywalled behind higher tiers, no native global payroll” DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt
Workday33%
6 of 18 labels negative · 5 of 12 models · 1 hard negative
“What to Avoid - **Workday:** Overbuilt and overpriced for mid-sized companies” Kimi K2, paraphrase prompt
Rippling8%
4 of 48 labels negative · 4 of 12 models
“No free tier (must commit to paid plan) ... Some small businesses find it **over-featured** for simple needs” Kimi K2, negative prompt
ADP RUN100%
2 of 2 labels negative · 2 of 12 models · 1 hard negative
“**RUN Powered by ADP**: Users report frequent inability to reach help, automated responses that don't resolve issues, and payroll problems due to rigid templates” GLM 4.7 FlashX, 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
76 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. 1018 links across 247 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page.
vendor site · HR Cloud36 answers · 41 citations · 11 models
vendor site · G235 answers · 37 citations · 12 models
26 answers · 31 citations · 11 models
25 answers · 35 citations · 11 models
vendor site · Personio25 answers · 29 citations · 9 models
vendor site · Zapier23 answers · 23 citations · 10 models
22 answers · 23 citations · 10 models
vendor site · Lever22 answers · 22 citations · 10 models
vendor site · HiBob20 answers · 30 citations · 11 models
20 answers · 20 citations · 8 models
vendor site · Rippling19 answers · 26 citations · 12 models
vendor site · G219 answers · 24 citations · 10 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.
33 answers · 11 models
33 answers · 12 models
25 answers · 9 models
23 answers · 10 models
22 answers · 10 models
22 answers · 10 models
22 answers · 9 models
20 answers · 8 models
17 answers · 8 models
17 answers · 9 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 employee onboarding software”, “employee onboarding software”, “onboarding 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rippling rippling.com | 25% | 1260 | 301,000 | 17,886 | 712,399 | $42,013 | 115 | |
| BambooHR bamboohr.com | 22% | 1082 | 90,500 | 551 | 1,055,247 | $44,698 | 106 | 1 |
| Zoho parent site Zoho People 15% | 15% | 277 | 6,600 | 50 | ||||
| HiBob hibob.com | 11% | 337 | 14,800 | 154 | 266,143 | $54 | 120 | 4 |
| Personio personio.com | 5% | 106 | 2,400 | 37 | 224,863 | |||
| Connecteam connecteam.com | 5% | 573 | 49,500 | 288 | 312,449 | $13,504 | 120 | |
| Gusto gusto.com | 4% | 870 | 673,000 | 10,560 | 1,629,483 | 118 | ||
| Deel deel.com | 2% | 526 | 40,500 | 1,210 | 307,175 | $330,608 | 118 | |
| Paycor paycor.com | 2% | 228 | 673,000 | 1,818 | 1,002,900 | 120 | 1 | |
| Trainual trainual.com | 2% | 93 | 22,200 | 94 | 40,498 | 10 |
Google's top ten for the three searches hold 20 sites; 2 of them are among the sites the models cited here (hibob.com, zapier.com). The first result for “best employee onboarding software” is paycor.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 employee onboarding software for a mid-market B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which new hire onboarding platform would you recommend to a mid-sized B2B company?”Comparative“What are the top onboarding platforms and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best employee onboarding software for a company with a limited budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 500 person company evaluating an employee onboarding software. What should we look at?”Negative“Which onboarding platforms should I avoid or be cautious about?”
Claude Haiku 4.5BambooHRHiBobChangedno first choiceGoCo, Zoho Peopleno first choicenothing named
Two alternatives
HiBob, RipplingTwo alternatives
BambooHR, RipplingTwo alternatives
CharlieHR, HomebaseGPT-5.4 miniRipplingRipplingHeldRipplingBambooHRno first choicenothing named
Three alternatives
BambooHR, Deel, HiBobTwo alternatives
BambooHR, SaplingFour alternatives
BambooHR, Deel, Gusto, WorkdayOne alternative
WorkBrightGemini 3.5 FlashHiBob, RipplingRipplingChangedRipplingConnecteam, Zoho Peopleagainst: Freshteamno first choiceagainst: SAP SuccessFactors, Workdayagainst: Appcues, BambooHR, Pendo, Rippling, Userpilot, WalkMe, Workday
Four alternatives
Deel, Enboarder, Tango, TrainualFour alternatives
BambooHR, Deel, Enboarder, HiBobFour alternatives
BambooHR, Deel, Enboarder, RemoteFour alternatives
Homebase, Notion, Trello, Workleap OnboardingSeven alternatives
BambooHR, Deel, HiBob, Remote, Rippling, Tango, TrainualPerplexity SonarRipplingBambooHRChangedRipplingConnecteamno first choicenothing named
Two alternatives
BambooHR, HiBobThree alternatives
ADP Workforce Now, Paylocity, RocketlaneSix alternatives
BambooHR, Click Boarding, Enboarder, Gusto, HR Cloud, Jira Service ManagementThree alternatives
CharlieHR, Homebase, Zoho PeopleGrok 4.1 FastRipplingBambooHRChangedBambooHRagainst: WalkMeConnecteamBambooHR, Ripplingagainst: BambooHR, Connecteam, Freshservice, Shufti
Three alternatives
BambooHR, HiBob, PaycorThree alternatives
Enboarder, Rippling, WorkBrightEight alternatives
ADP, Appcues, Gusto, Paycor, Rocketlane, UKG Pro, UserGuiding, WorkdaySix alternatives
BambooHR, Gusto, Innform, Rippling, WebHR, Zoho PeopleFour alternatives
Gusto, Paycor, Personio, WorkdayMistral SmallPaycorHiBob, PersonioChangedRipplingGusto, Homebaseno first choiceagainst: Gusto, Rippling, Workday
Three alternatives
BambooHR, HiBob, PersonioTwo alternatives
ADP Workforce Now, Process StreetThree alternatives
BambooHR, Enboarder, SAP SuccessFactorsTwo alternatives
BambooHR, RipplingDeepSeek V4 FlashHiBob, RipplingRipplingChangedno first choiceZoho Peopleno first choiceagainst: Enboarder, HiBob, Saplingagainst: ADP, ADP RUN, BambooHR, Gusto, Rippling, SAP SuccessFactors, Workday
Two alternatives
BambooHR, PaylocityThree alternatives
ADP Workforce Now, BambooHR, DeelNine alternatives
BambooHR, Enboarder, Gusto, Lever, Rippling, SAP SuccessFactors, Trainual, WorkBright, WorkdayTwo alternatives
Connecteam, FreshteamTwo alternatives
BambooHR, RipplingLlama 4 MaverickBambooHR, HiBob, TrainualBambooHRChangedno first choiceGusto, Zoho Peopleno first choicenothing named
Three alternatives
Lever, Paylocity, TrainualQwen 3.7 FlashBambooHRRipplingChangedBambooHR, RipplingZoho Peopleno first choiceagainst: Airtable, BambooHR, Excel templates, Freshservice, Monday.com, Workday
Four alternatives
Lumos, Paycor, Personio, RipplingFour alternatives
BambooHR, Enboarder, Personio, WorkRampTwo alternatives
Deel, GustoThree alternatives
BambooHR, Breezy HR, GustoKimi K2HiBob, Ripplingagainst: BambooHRBambooHRChangedagainst: WorkdayBambooHRDeelno first choiceagainst: BambooHR, Boardsi, Paycom, Paycor, Rippling, Shine.com
One alternative
PaycorThree alternatives
HiBob, Paycor, RipplingFour alternatives
Gusto, Rippling, Workday, ZenefitsFour alternatives
BambooHR, Connecteam, Gusto, TalentHRGLM 4.7 FlashXPersonioRipplingChangedRipplingTalentHR, Zoho Peopleno first choiceagainst: ADP RUN
Five alternatives
BambooHR, Deel, HiBob, Paycor, RipplingOne alternative
BambooHREight alternatives
BambooHR, CloudEagle.ai, Deel, Greenhouse, HiBob, Namely, Oyster, PersonioFour alternatives
BambooHR, Connecteam, Deel, FreshteamMiniMax M2.5BambooHRPersonioChangedno first choiceagainst: ZenefitsZoho Peopleno first choicenothing named
Three alternatives
Paylocity, Personio, RipplingTwo alternatives
SAP SuccessFactors, WorkdayTwo alternatives
BambooHR, GustoBold 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 11:14 | yes | 9 | 8 s |
| Direct recommendation | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-10-01 08:32 | yes | 2 | 4 s |
| Direct recommendation | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-10-01 10:41 | yes | 19 | 29 s |
| Direct recommendation | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-10-01 10:08 | yes | 19 | 4 s |
| Direct recommendation | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-10-01 10:31 | yes | 24 | 8 s |
| Direct recommendation | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-10-01 08:50 | yes | 14 | 12 s |
| Direct recommendation | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-10-01 11:31 | yes | 23 | 35 s |
| Direct recommendation | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-10-01 11:13 | yes | 5 | 2 s |
| Direct recommendation | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-10-01 12:00 | yes | 8 | 33 s |
| Direct recommendation | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-10-01 08:56 | yes | 13 | 18 s |
| Direct recommendation | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-10-01 09:30 | yes | 14 | 89 s |
| Direct recommendation | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-10-01 09:19 | yes | 8 | 18 s |
| Paraphrase | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-10-01 10:15 | yes | 17 | 9 s |
| Paraphrase | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-10-01 08:39 | yes | 3 | 4 s |
| Paraphrase | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-10-01 11:18 | yes | 12 | 26 s |
| Paraphrase | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-10-01 10:21 | yes | 20 | 2 s |
| Paraphrase | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-10-01 09:56 | yes | 23 | 8 s |
| Paraphrase | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-10-01 08:32 | yes | 5 | 5 s |
| Paraphrase | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-10-01 11:09 | yes | 23 | 28 s |
| Paraphrase | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-10-01 08:30 | yes | 5 | 2 s |
| Paraphrase | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-10-01 09:12 | no | 0 | 35 s |
| Paraphrase | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-10-01 09:58 | yes | 20 | 18 s |
| Paraphrase | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-10-01 09:25 | yes | 21 | 59 s |
| Paraphrase | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-10-01 08:24 | yes | 15 | 18 s |
| Comparative | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-10-01 09:19 | yes | 10 | 8 s |
| Comparative | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-10-01 07:30 | yes | 5 | 6 s |
| Comparative | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-10-01 08:50 | yes | 16 | 25 s |
| Comparative | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-10-01 07:44 | yes | 20 | 4 s |
| Comparative | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-10-01 10:13 | yes | 22 | 12 s |
| Comparative | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-10-01 09:14 | yes | 13 | 8 s |
| Comparative | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-10-01 10:15 | yes | 23 | 51 s |
| Comparative | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-10-01 10:38 | yes | 5 | 4 s |
| Comparative | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-10-01 08:59 | yes | 14 | 56 s |
| Comparative | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-10-01 09:14 | yes | 15 | 23 s |
| Comparative | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-10-01 11:45 | yes | 22 | 39 s |
| Comparative | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-10-01 11:05 | yes | 17 | 30 s |
| Budget constrained | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-10-01 11:41 | yes | 10 | 9 s |
| Budget constrained | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-10-01 10:39 | yes | 5 | 5 s |
| Budget constrained | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-10-01 09:24 | yes | 16 | 21 s |
| Budget constrained | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-10-01 11:29 | yes | 17 | 4 s |
| Budget constrained | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-10-01 08:17 | yes | 22 | 7 s |
| Budget constrained | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-10-01 11:43 | yes | 5 | 3 s |
| Budget constrained | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-10-01 07:44 | yes | 23 | 34 s |
| Budget constrained | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-10-01 07:59 | yes | 5 | 1 s |
| Budget constrained | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-10-01 11:02 | yes | 5 | 37 s |
| Budget constrained | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-10-01 10:07 | yes | 15 | 26 s |
| Budget constrained | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-10-01 07:57 | yes | 12 | 31 s |
| Budget constrained | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-10-01 08:40 | yes | 13 | 24 s |
| Scale constrained | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-10-01 08:32 | no | 0 | 6 s |
| Scale constrained | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-10-01 09:26 | no | 0 | 7 s |
| Scale constrained | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-10-01 10:41 | yes | 8 | 22 s |
| Scale constrained | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-10-01 10:35 | yes | 16 | 4 s |
| Scale constrained | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-10-01 08:37 | yes | 14 | 10 s |
| Scale constrained | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-10-01 10:32 | no | 0 | 6 s |
| Scale constrained | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-10-01 11:27 | yes | 20 | 55 s |
| Scale constrained | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-10-01 11:14 | yes | 5 | 3 s |
| Scale constrained | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-10-01 11:03 | no | 0 | 27 s |
| Scale constrained | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-10-01 11:15 | yes | 13 | 19 s |
| Scale constrained | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-10-01 11:21 | yes | 14 | 17 s |
| Scale constrained | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-10-01 07:43 | yes | 5 | 16 s |
| Negative framing | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-10-01 07:40 | no | 0 | 2 s |
| Negative framing | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-10-01 09:41 | yes | 5 | 9 s |
| Negative framing | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-10-01 12:14 | yes | 27 | 29 s |
| Negative framing | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-10-01 07:49 | yes | 20 | 3 s |
| Negative framing | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-10-01 11:47 | yes | 22 | 11 s |
| Negative framing | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-10-01 08:34 | yes | 5 | 5 s |
| Negative framing | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-10-01 09:58 | yes | 23 | 35 s |
| Negative framing | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-10-01 08:11 | yes | 5 | 2 s |
| Negative framing | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-10-01 11:22 | yes | 12 | 47 s |
| Negative framing | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-10-01 10:49 | yes | 24 | 24 s |
| Negative framing | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-10-01 11:46 | yes | 23 | 89 s |
| Negative framing | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-10-01 11:39 | yes | 17 | 28 s |
Noise floor in this category
Flips between the edition run and its calibration repeat. Six prompts per model is a small sample; the index-wide floor is the number to trust.
ShowHide
Claude Haiku 4.5
3 of 4 flipped
GPT-5.4 mini
2 of 4 flipped
Gemini 3.5 Flash
2 of 5 flipped
Perplexity Sonar
2 of 4 flipped
Grok 4.1 Fast
5 of 6 flipped
Mistral Small
4 of 4 flipped
DeepSeek V4 Flash
3 of 3 flipped
Llama 4 Maverick
3 of 3 flipped
Qwen 3.7 Flash
4 of 5 flipped
Kimi K2
3 of 4 flipped
GLM 4.7 FlashX
4 of 4 flipped
MiniMax M2.5
2 of 3 flipped
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
Absorb read as Absorb LMS
Deel HR read as Deel
HiBob HRIS read as HiBob
RUN Powered by ADP read as ADP RUN
SAP read as SAP SuccessFactors
ServiceNow read as ServiceNow HR Service Delivery
Workday HCM read as Workday
Unresolved, counted raw
Boardsi
Homebase All-in-One
Kin HR
Lumos
Shine.com
Shufti
Workleap Onboarding
Discontinued, still offered
No shut-down product was recommended here.