Small business▼−2Since September 2026: 32% → 30%, −2 points. Inside the 13-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.
30%from 32% in September 2026
Inside the floor by 11 pointsRank 1 of 143, unchanged
6 categories · RankedPave
219Judge labels
64First choices
20Negative labels
14 / 14Models named it
6Categories
October 2026 Edition. Every number here is derived from the raw labels under vendor table v2026-10.7, every buyer segment counted.
Best standing
30% in Compensation benchmarkin for small business buyers
Rank 1 of 148 in the mid-market standingaccepted challenger
3 of 14 models made it the first choice on the direct prompt; 4% of its 27 labels there were negative.
What the models named instead of Pave →By buyer segmentStrongest at small business.
Small business1 of 155
30%34 labels
endorsed leader
Mid-market1 of 148
19%27 labels
accepted challenger
Enterprise3 of 130
5%19 labels
accepted challenger
In compensation benchmarkin · each standing computed within its segment · bars are 0 to 100 · the accent bar is the product's own best reading
Standing by category
Every category where a model named Pave for a mid-market B2B company. Share is first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts; rank is within every product named in that category.
| Category | Function | Share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Quadrant | Since September 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compensation benchmarking data | Compensation and total rewards | 19% | 1 of 148 | 4% | 27 | accepted challenger | =heldSince September 2026: 20% → 20%, ±0 points. Inside the 13-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. |
| Compensation management | Compensation and total rewards | 18% | 1 of 140 | 6% | 34 | accepted challenger | =heldSince September 2026: 18% → 18%, ±0 points. Inside the 13-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. |
| Pay equity | Compensation and total rewards | 5% | 8 of 73 | 19% | 16 | accepted challenger | ▼−3Since September 2026: 10% → 7%, −3 points. Inside the 13-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. |
| Flexible benefits and lifestyle spending accounts | Compensation and total rewards | 0% | 45 of 90 | 0% | 1 | under 10 labels · led by Compt at 40% | newNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 0% now. |
| HRIS and HCM platforms | Core HR and payroll | 0% | 44 of 66 | 0% | 1 | under 10 labels · led by Rippling at 26% | newNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 0% now. |
| Internal talent marketplace | Performance and talent management | 0% | 47 of 102 | 0% | 1 | under 10 labels · led by Fuel50 at 47% | newNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 0% now. |
Movement
Since September 2026, Pave held within the floor in all six categories: no change cleared 13 points.
Best category · Compensation benchmarkin · by segment
Mid-market=heldSince September 2026: 20% → 20%, ±0 points. Inside the 13-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.
20%from 20% in September 2026
Inside the floor by 13 pointsRank 2 of 138, unchanged
Enterprise▼−2Since September 2026: 8% → 6%, −2 points. Inside the 13-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.
6%from 8% in September 2026
Inside the floor by 11 pointsRank 4 → 3 of 115
All categories · Mid-market
| Category | September 2026 | Now | Change | Reading | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay equity | 10% | 7% | ▼−3Since September 2026: 10% → 7%, −3 points. Inside the 13-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. | Within noise | Rank 4 → 8 of 73 |
| Compensation management | 18% | 18% | =heldSince September 2026: 18% → 18%, ±0 points. Inside the 13-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. | Within noise | Rank 1 of 140, unchanged |
| Compensation benchmarkin | 20% | 20% | =heldSince September 2026: 20% → 20%, ±0 points. Inside the 13-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. | Within noise | Rank 2 → 1 of 148 |
| Flexible benefits | 0% | 0% | newNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 0% now. | New this edition | Rank 45 of 90, unchanged |
| HRIS and HCM platforms | 0% | 0% | newNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 0% now. | New this edition | Rank 44 of 66, unchanged |
| Internal talent marketpl | 0% | 0% | newNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 0% now. | New this edition | Rank 47 of 102, unchanged |
Shares here are read over the models both editions asked, so they can differ by a point or two from the standing above, which counts every model in this edition.
The floor is 13 points of share, measured: how far the models move a leader on their own when the same questions are asked twice with nothing changed. A larger change is movement; a smaller one is noise, and both are shown. Movement is read over the twelve models both editions asked; GPT-6 Luna, Muse Glimmer 30B joined this edition and are in the standing but not yet in the comparison. How the floor is measured · The editions
By model
How each model treated Pave across every prompt where it was named for a mid-market B2B company. Fourteen models, six prompts per category.ShowHide
By model
How each model treated Pave across every prompt where it was named for a mid-market B2B company. Fourteen models, six prompts per category.
ShowHide| Model | First choice | Alternative | Mention | Negative | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| GPT-5.4 mini | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11 |
| Perplexity Sonar | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Grok 4.1 Fast | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Mistral Small | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Kimi K2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| MiniMax M2.5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| GPT-6 Luna | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
By framing
Which of the six questions produced the naming. By model says how often; this says asked what. The first-choice count on the right carries the marks of the models that produced it.
FramingLabels by classFirst choices
Direct46 labels17
Paraphrase34 labels12
Comparative40 labels19not counted in share
Budget-constrained49 labels27
Scale-constrained27 labels8
Negative23 labels5not counted in share
First choiceAlternativeMentionNegative219 labels in all, every segment counted; 64 of the 88 first choices count toward share, since the comparative and negative framings do not. The bar is one segment per label class, to scale within the framing.
What the models said for it
Verbatim evidence the judge attached to positive labels.
“Pave (Best for Modern B2B & Tech Companies) ... Mid-market companies find the sweet spot in platforms like CaptivateIQ (for sales) and Pave or HiBob” Gemini 3.5 Flash · Compensation management · direct prompt · first choice
“If you need real-time tech benchmarking and want to heavily recruit with transparent visual equity breakdowns, Pave is a frontrunner.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · Compensation management · comparative prompt · first choice
“Pave is the most practical choice for many early-stage companies because it is explicitly called out as a free benchmarking option” Perplexity Sonar · Compensation benchmarkin · budget prompt · first choice
“Best for: real-time market pricing + modern comp planning ... Best for modern comp teams wanting speed and analytics: Pave” GPT-5.4 mini · Compensation management · comparative prompt · first choice
And against it
Verbatim evidence attached to negative labels. A warning on a product with few labels is a warning; on a product with many, it is one voice among them.
“smaller/low-cost options like Barley, Deel basic tiers, Pave, or Equity.com basic... "avoid for scale"” Grok 4.1 Fast · Pay equity · negative prompt · hard negative
“"Examples to Avoid: Pave, Barley, Equity.com (basic tiers)."” Muse Glimmer 30B · Pay equity · negative prompt · hard negative
“well-known platforms (e.g., Pave, Equity.com) may have basic tiers that are not suitable for comprehensive pay equity analysis” Mistral Small · Pay equity · negative prompt · soft negative
“These are generally considered "comp-only" tools and are better suited for companies with fewer than 1,000 employees.” Mistral Small · Compensation management · negative prompt · soft negative
Named alongside
The products named in the same answers as Pave, over the 219 answers that named it. Took the first choice instead counts the answers where the other product was the first choice and Pave was named but was not.ShowHide
Named alongside
The products named in the same answers as Pave, over the 219 answers that named it. Took the first choice instead counts the answers where the other product was the first choice and Pave was named but was not.
ShowHideProductSame answerTook the first choice insteadHead to head
A head-to-head page exists where both products are among a category's top eight. The other rows are the same fact without a page behind them, so they link to the product instead.
What carried it into the answer
The sites and pages cited by the answers that named Pave. A fact about retrieval, not a lever on the model.
Citations exist only for the models that return a source list, five of the fourteen in this edition, so these counts come from 213 of the 219 answers that named Pave and are not a share of its labels.
Domains cited
ravio.com145
comprehensive.io100
peoplemanagingpeople.com95
g2.com81
captivateiq.com73
firsthr.app71
pave.comYour site64
pin.com62
learn.g2.com61
figures.hr58
746 of the 810 domain citations in answers naming Pave came from somebody else's page.
Pages cited
Pages are listed as the models cited them.
Search and answers
Where Pave stands in Google search beside where it stands in the models' answers.ShowHide
Search and answers
Where Pave stands in Google search beside where it stands in the models' answers.
ShowHideIn search
Google, US estimatesPosition for “benchmarking providers”
–
not in the top ten
Position for “salary benchmarking data provider”
–
not in the top ten
- Searches for its name, Google
- 27,100 a month (“pave”)
- AI search demand for its name, est.
- 28,423 a month
- Organic visits to its site
- about 7,645 a month
- Searches its site ranks for
- 1,319 · 81 in the top three
- Sites linking to it
- 2,586
- Paid Google search
- 2 searches its ads show for, about 3 clicks and $91 a month (estimate)
In answers
This editionShare of first choices
19%
rank 1 of 148 in compensation benchmarkin
First choices
64
across its categories
- Named in
- 219 answers
- Its own site cited
- in 213 of the answers that named it
Search figures are US estimates from DataForSEO, read September 28, 2026; AI search demand is its modeled, directional estimate, not a count of queries to any assistant. The answers are this edition's. Two measurements side by side: neither is read as the cause of the other.
What it publishes
ShowHide
What it publishes
ShowHideAddresses on pave.com
903
subdomains included
Content
443
counted in the table below
Documentation
228
Product · Integration
12 · 111
| Kind | Pages | Last 90 days | 2025-10 to 2026-09 | Latest | Categories named |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blog | 384 | 9 | 2026-09-23 | Compensation management, Pay equity | |
| Case study | 22 | 0 | 2026-06-22 | ||
| Glossary or explainer | 17 | 0 | 2026-05-22 | Pay equity | |
| Comparison | 12 | 0 | 2026-06-10 | Pay equity | |
| Webinar or virtual event | 4 | 0 | 2025-05-16 | ||
| Conference or event | 1 | 1 | 2026-09-11 | ||
| Report or ebook | 1 | 0 | 2022-03-23 | ||
| Podcast or video | 1 | 0 | 2022-10-25 | ||
| News or press | 1 | undated |
Most recent
- 2026-09-23Compensation analysis blog
- 2026-09-23Equity grant blog
- 2026-09-21Putting the pave agent to work blog
- 2026-09-15Eu pay transparency directive blog
- 2026-09-15The pave agent web sourced compensation insights blog
- 2026-09-14Market data release aerospace defense expanded equity coverage blog
Events in person
Last twelve months
- October 6, 2026Total Rewards LiveSan Francisco, US · took part
As the event pages on pave.com state them, read September 28, 2026.
How it is countedHide how it is counted
Every page pave.com exposes, subdomains included. Kind is read from the address and title. The last 90 days, the latest date and the twelve months count pages by when they were published, from the site's feeds, a date in the address, or the page's own publication date, read from up to a hundred of its most recently changed pages; a page that says only when it last changed is counted in its kind but not in when, so the recent counts are a floor, and a kind none of whose pages gives a publication date reads undated. An event counts as online when its address or title says so (webinar, on demand, virtual or online summit); a conference, summit, trade show, expo or roadshow that does not say so is counted as a conference or event, which on a vendor's site is mostly in person. Read September 29, 2026.
Names read as Pave
What the judge wrote, as written, with how often. The vendor table decides that these count as Pave; a claim can dispute any of them.
Pave (Market Data Lite) 2Carta / Pave 1Pave (Market Data Launch Tier) 1
Follow Pave
An email the morning each edition publishes: where this product moved, where it held, and by how much against the noise floor. One address, confirmed by a click; a stop link in every email.
Already following? Everything you follow, with a stop for each.
The company
Pave is its own company.ShowHide
The company
Pave is its own company.
ShowHideIn its own words
Stated by the vendor, not checked- Positioning
- AI-native compensation management software
- For
- Compensation leaders
- Price stated
- Compare packages across the whole platform pave.com
- Starting price
- free salary and equity benchmarks pave.com/pricing
- Free plan or trial
- Get Started for Free pave.com
- Certifications
- SOC 2SOC 2 Type IISOC 1 Type IIISO/IEC 27001:2022CCPAGDPR
- Customers named
- McDonald’sDatabricksDropboxClioWorkdayInstacartXeroCockroach Labs
- Not stated on the pages read
- Integrations, hosting
What Pave's own pages state, read September 28, 2026: pave.com, pave.com/pricing, trust.pave.com, pave.com/products/api, pave.com/customers. A claimed page can correct any of them.
Is this your product?
Claim this page
Claiming is free and changes nothing in the data. A claimed page shows a verified contact who is told when each edition publishes and when Pave's standing changes by more than the noise floor; the right to propose corrections to the vendor table, meaning names the judge wrote that should or should not read as Pave, applied by version and listed in the change log; and a one-line description supplied by the vendor and marked as such.
What a new claim receivesHide what a new claim receives
A new claim receives the current edition's vendor brief for Pave by email, built from the raw record of the edition. It shows:
- where Pave is named, by buyer and by framing, and which cells hold its first choices;
- the claims the models make when they name it, ranked, with the strongest and the weakest quoted;
- its vocabulary against the segment leader's, and the pages the models cited;
- who was chosen in the answers that did not name Pave, and every reason the record gives;
- a battlecard for each top rival: the head-to-head split, why they win, and the reservation quoted against them;
- one page of published figures cleared to show a buyer.
Badges
Wins only: a badge exists where Pave is ranked in a category's top three this edition. Three sizes, one file each, light and dark; the code is under each.ShowHide
Badges
Wins only: a badge exists where Pave is ranked in a category's top three this edition. Three sizes, one file each, light and dark; the code is under each.
ShowHideCompensation benchmarking data
AI models recommend Pave first in Compensation benchmarking data this edition. Each badge says so in the buyer's words, names the edition, and links to the standing. The next edition issues a new badge; this one stays true as a record of October 2026.
Wide · 320 × 104 Website, beside other badges
Square · 240 × 240 LinkedIn, slides
Compact · 200 × 56 Email signature, footer
Compensation management
AI models recommend Pave first in Compensation management this edition. Each badge says so in the buyer's words, names the edition, and links to the standing. The next edition issues a new badge; this one stays true as a record of October 2026.
Wide · 320 × 104 Website, beside other badges
Square · 240 × 240 LinkedIn, slides
Compact · 200 × 56 Email signature, footer
Badges read on light and dark pages. Alt text carries the claim, the category, the edition and the index, so it stays a citation where the image does not load.