# Workforce planning: what AI models recommend, October 2026

HR AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition. Asked as "workforce planning software" and as "headcount planning tool", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. Page: https://hr-ai-index.com/planning/workforce-planning/

**Standing:** ChartHop leads with 37% of first choices; verdict contested. 57 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| # | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ChartHop | 37% | 5% | 39 |
| 2 | Homebase | 12% | 0% | 10 |
| 3 | Abacum | 9% | 8% | 12 |
| 4 | Workday Adaptive Planning | 5% | 25% | 36 |
| 5 | TeamOhana | 5% | 0% | 13 |
| 6 | Planful | 5% | 7% | 15 |
| 7 | HiBob | 5% | 9% | 11 |
| 8 | Rippling | 4% | 10% | 29 |
| 9 | Paylocity | 4% | 0% | 18 |
| 10 | Visier | 2% | 10% | 20 |
| 11 | Pigment | 0% | 0% | 14 |
| 12 | Vena | 0% | 0% | 10 |

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: ChartHop, HiBob; alternatives Paylocity, Planful, Visier
- GPT-5.4 mini: Workday Adaptive Planning; alternatives Anaplan, HiBob, Rippling
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: ChartHop; alternatives Aleph, Cube, Lative, Mosaic
- Perplexity Sonar: Paylocity; alternatives ChartHop, Drivetrain, HiBob, Workday Adaptive Planning
- Grok 4.1 Fast: HiBob, Rippling; alternatives ChartHop
- Mistral Small: ChartHop; alternatives Anaplan, Paylocity, Visier
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Abacum, Planful; alternatives ADP Workforce Now, Workday Adaptive Planning
- Llama 4 Maverick: no first choice
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: ChartHop; alternatives Planful, Rippling, Visier
- Kimi K2: ChartHop; alternatives Abacum, Paylocity, Planful, Workday Adaptive Planning
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: ChartHop; alternatives Anaplan, Paylocity, Visier, Workday Adaptive Planning
- MiniMax M2.5: HiBob; alternatives ChartHop, Paylocity, Rippling
- GPT-6 Luna: TeamOhana; alternatives Pigment, Workday Adaptive Planning
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Abacum, Planful; alternatives ChartHop, Paylocity, Vena, Visier

## Sources the answers cite

76 of 84 answers came back with a source list, from 14 of 14 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- guideflow.com: 52 answers, 64 citations
- peoplemanagingpeople.com: 39 answers, 50 citations
- learn.g2.com: 33 answers, 39 citations
- firsthr.app: 23 answers, 27 citations
- g2.com: 22 answers, 33 citations
- intervue.io: 20 answers, 20 citations
- resources.rework.com: 19 answers, 20 citations
- selectsoftwarereviews.com: 19 answers, 20 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://guideflow.com/blog/workforce-planning-software (47 answers)
- https://peoplemanagingpeople.com/tools/best-workforce-planning-software (32 answers)
- https://learn.g2.com/best-workforce-planning-software (29 answers)
- https://firsthr.app/compare/core-hr/workforce-planning-software (23 answers)
- https://intervue.io/blog/best-workforce-planning-software (19 answers)
- https://hrtechsaas.com/blog/workforce-planning-software (18 answers)
- https://cubesoftware.com/blog/workforce-planning-software (17 answers)
- https://g2.com/categories/workforce-planning (17 answers)
- https://selectsoftwarereviews.com/buyer-guide/workforce-planning-software (17 answers)
- https://resources.rework.com/tools/workforce-management/best-workforce-planning-software-2026 (16 answers)

## Warned against

- Anaplan: 20 of 42 labels negative. "avoid enterprise options like Anaplan ($50K+/year) that overkill for your scale" (Grok 4.1 Fast, paraphrase prompt)
- Workday Adaptive Planning: 9 of 36 labels negative. "Avoid jumping straight to enterprise platforms like ... Workday Adaptive Planning" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, paraphrase prompt)
- SAP SuccessFactors Workforce Planning: 5 of 13 labels negative. "What to be cautious about: Embedded planning tools within massive ERPs like SAP SuccessFactors, Oracle HCM, or NetSuite." (Qwen 3.7 Flash, negative prompt)
- ADP Workforce Now: 4 of 9 labels negative. "Generic workforce planning and HR platforms such as Workday, ADP Workforce Now, SAP SuccessFactors, and Oracle HCM were intentionally excluded for professional services use cases" (Muse Glimmer 30B, negative prompt)

## Movement since September 2026

Floor: 13 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: ChartHop at 39%.

- ChartHop: 31% to 39%, +8. Inside the floor by 5 points · rank 1 of 93, unchanged.
- Rippling: 10% to 4%, −6. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 3 → 6 of 93.
- Homebase: 17% to 12%, −5. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 2 of 93, unchanged.
- Paylocity: 0% to 4%, +4. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 16 → 7 of 93.
- Planful: 8% to 4%, −4. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 5 → 8 of 93.
- Abacum: 4% to 6%, +2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 8 → 4 of 93.
- HiBob: 4% to 6%, +2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 7 → 5 of 93.
- Workday Adaptive Planning: 8% to 6%, −2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 4 → 3 of 93.
- Visier: 2% to 2%, ±0. Inside the floor by 13 points · rank 9 → 11 of 93.
- Pigment: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 13 points · rank 15 → 16 of 93.
- SAP SuccessFactors Workforce Planning: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 13 points · rank 65 → 30 of 93.
- ADP Workforce Now: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 13 points · rank 29 → 79 of 93.

## Record

- Method: https://hr-ai-index.com/methodology/
- Raw judge labels and full responses: https://hr-ai-index.com/data/
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as HR AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition, hr-ai-index.com.