Index › Equity and corporate › September 2026 Edition

ESG and carbon reporting

Asked as “ESG reporting software”, and as “carbon accounting platform”, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. 52 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, twelve models each.

Standing

Sweep

Contested

25% of first choices, contested.

ShowinginAll 41 categories in the September 2026 Edition →

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.

Small business

Greenly41%Clear leaderStanding →Mid-market

Sweep25%ContestedThis page Enterprise

Workiva38%ContestedStanding →

01The 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

Sweep3%37accepted challenger

Greenly8%26accepted challenger

Novisto7%27accepted challenger

Plan A7%14accepted challenger

Coolset0%19accepted challenger

EcoOnline ESG0%12accepted challenger

Persefoni4%28accepted challenger

Workiva29%35criticized challenger

Show the seven products at 0%, ordered by negative rate

Salesforce Net Zero Cloud55%11criticized challenger

IBM Envizi36%25criticized challenger

Watershed17%18accepted challenger

SAP Sustainability Control Tower17%12accepted challenger

Normative10%10accepted challenger

Pulsora10%10accepted challenger

Diligent ESG9%11accepted challenger

Bars are the share of first choices, 0 to 100Every product with at least 10 labels here. Every product name links to its vendor page.

Head to head

Sweep vs Greenly Sweep vs Novisto Greenly vs Novisto

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 →

Accepted challengerEndorsed leader

0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative40%

Key

Sweep25%

Greenly13%

Novisto10%

Plan A10%

Coolset8%

EcoOnline ESG8%

Persefoni6%

Workiva4%

Watershed0%

Diligent ESG0%

SAP Sustainability Control Tower0%

Normative0%

Pulsora0%

IBM Envizi0%

Salesforce Net Zero Cloud0%

02What they warned about

One of twelve models held their first choice under the paraphrase. Claude Haiku 4.5, GPT-5.4 mini, Gemini 3.5 Flash, 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.

IBM Envizi

36%

9 of 25 labels negative · 7 of 12 models · 3 hard negative

“Some consultants and industry observers recommend steering clear of ESG solutions from major tech firms” Mistral Small, negative prompt

Workiva

29%

10 of 35 labels negative · 5 of 12 models · 4 hard negative

“| **Workiva** | $50K–$150K+ (likely overkill) | Skip unless you need integrated financial + ESG reporting |” DeepSeek V4 Flash, scale prompt

Salesforce Net Zero Cloud

55%

6 of 11 labels negative · 5 of 12 models · 1 hard negative

“recommend steering clear of ESG solutions from major tech firms, as these may not be as specialized or effective” Mistral Small, negative prompt

Watershed

17%

3 of 18 labels negative · 3 of 12 models

“Some enterprise platforms like Watershed assume dedicated sustainability staff and full custom pricing with no standard SMB tier or transparent pricing.” Claude Haiku 4.5, paraphrase prompt

03What they cite

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

Sites the answers cite

68 of 72 answers in this category came back with a source list, from 12 of 12 models: citations where the model returns them, or the search results it consulted. 6 of those lists are Google grounding redirects that name no site and are left out of the counts. 865 links across 224 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page.

guideflow.com

vendor site · Guideflow39 answers · 41 citations · 10 models

coolset.com

vendor site · Coolset34 answers · 41 citations · 10 models

gartner.com

31 answers · 35 citations · 10 models

emissiontwin.com

vendor site · Emission Twin22 answers · 22 citations · 10 models

pulsora.com

vendor site · Pulsora21 answers · 22 citations · 10 models

g2.com

20 answers · 36 citations · 9 models

sustaenia.com

15 answers · 15 citations · 9 models

esg-one.co

14 answers · 15 citations · 7 models

onestopesg.com

13 answers · 14 citations · 7 models

horizonesg.global

vendor site · Horizon ESG12 answers · 16 citations · 5 models

fanruan.com

12 answers · 13 citations · 8 models

sopact.com

12 answers · 12 citations · 9 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.

guideflow.com/blog/esg-reporting-software

39 answers · 10 models

coolset.com/academy/best-esg-reporting-software-tools

31 answers · 10 models

gartner.com/reviews/market/esg-management-and-reporting-software

31 answers · 10 models

pulsora.com/blog/best-esg-reporting-software

21 answers · 10 models

emissiontwin.com/blog/best-esg-reporting-software

18 answers · 10 models

esg-one.co/blog/esg-reporting-software-comparison

13 answers · 7 models

sopact.com/use-case/esg-reporting-platforms

12 answers · 9 models

sustaenia.com/learn/the-best-esg-tools

11 answers · 7 models

aibusinessgeek.com/articles/ai-esg-reporting-software-2026

10 answers · 8 models

horizonesg.global/best-esg-reporting-software

10 answers · 5 models

04How 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.

ModelDirect“What is the best ESG reporting software for a mid-market B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which carbon accounting platform would you recommend to a mid-sized B2B company?”Comparative“What are the top ESG reporting platforms and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best ESG reporting software for a company with a limited budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 500 person company evaluating a ESG reporting software. What should we look at?”Negative“Which ESG reporting platforms should I avoid or be cautious about?”

Claude Haiku 4.5EcoOnline ESG

Four alternatives

Greenstone, Normative, Sphera, Sweep

GreenlyChanged

Three alternatives

Emitwise, Plan A, Sumday

against: Watershedno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named

GPT-5.4 miniWorkiva

Three alternatives

IBM Envizi, Novisto, Sphera

GreenlyChanged

Two alternatives

Watershed, Workiva

no first choiceEcoOnline ESG

One alternative

Futureproof

against: Diligent ESGno first choicenothing named

Gemini 3.5 FlashGreenly, Sweep

Two alternatives

Coolset, Novata

against: SAP Sustainability Control Tower, Salesforce Net Zero Cloud, WorkivaGreenlyChanged

Four alternatives

Seedling, Sweep, Watershed, Workiva Carbon

Workiva

Five alternatives

Diligent ESG, Persefoni, Sweep, Watershed, Wolters Kluwer

ExecutESG

Four alternatives

ESG Lift, GRI–ESG KPI Tracker, Greenly, Persefoni

against: IBM Envizi, Pulsora, WorkivaCoolset, ESG:ONE, Plan A, Sweep

Two alternatives

ExecutESG, Greenly

against: IBM Envizi, Persefoni, Workivaagainst: G17 Eco, IBM Envizi, Microsoft Sustainability Manager, Salesforce Net Zero Cloud, Workiva

Perplexity SonarNovisto

Four alternatives

EcoOnline ESG, Greenly, Novata, Sweep

Plan AChanged

Two alternatives

Coolset, Sweep

Workiva

Six alternatives

Diligent ESG, IBM Envizi, Novisto, Persefoni, SAP Sustainability Control Tower, Watershed

Persefoni

Three alternatives

Aclymate, Greenly, Sweep

against: Workivano first choicenothing named

Grok 4.1 FastSweep

Two alternatives

Coolset, Novisto

Greenly, SweepChanged

Three alternatives

CarbonTool, Coolset, Plan A

Workiva

Six alternatives

IBM Envizi, Novisto, Persefoni, SAP Sustainability Control Tower, Sphera, Watershed

ExecutESG

Two alternatives

Aclymate, Horizon ESG

Coolset

Three alternatives

ESG:ONE, Persefoni, Workiva

against: IBM Envizi, Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability, Plan A, SAP Sustainability Control Tower, Salesforce Net Zero Cloud, Sphera, Sweep

Mistral SmallSweep

Two alternatives

Coolset, EcoOnline ESG

Plan A, SweepChanged

Two alternatives

CarbonTool, Greenly

no first choiceSustain.Life, Wardnno first choiceagainst: IBM Envizi, Salesforce Net Zero Cloud

DeepSeek V4 FlashSweep

Four alternatives

Coolset, Greenly, Plan A, Tanso

against: WorkivaSweepHeld

Three alternatives

Aclymate, Normative, Plan A

against: Watershedno first choice

Eight alternatives

Diligent ESG, IBM Envizi, Novisto, Persefoni, SAP Sustainability Control Tower, Salesforce Net Zero Cloud, Watershed, Workiva

ESG Lift

Three alternatives

ExecutESG, Multiplye, Sustain.Life

against: Novisto, Sphera, Workivano first choice

Five alternatives

Briink, Novisto, Persefoni, Plan A, Sweep

against: Workivanothing named

Llama 4 MaverickEcoOnline ESG, Novisto, SweepPlan AChanged

Three alternatives

Coolset, Greenly, Sweep

no first choiceno first choiceno first choiceagainst: IBM Envizi, Salesforce Net Zero Cloud

Qwen 3.7 FlashNovisto

Three alternatives

Gravity, LogicGate, Sweep

CoolsetChanged

Three alternatives

Greenly, Seedling, Sweep

Workiva

Six alternatives

IBM Envizi, Novisto, Persefoni, Pulsora, SAP Sustainability Control Tower, Watershed

ExecutESG, Persefoni

Two alternatives

EFRAG Excel Templates, Sweep

against: IBM Envizi, WorkivaWorkivaagainst: Greenly, Normative

Kimi K2Novisto

Four alternatives

Coolset, Sustain.Life, Sweep, Workiva

Greenly, SweepChanged

One alternative

Plan A

Workiva

Six alternatives

IBM Envizi, Novisto, Persefoni, Pulsora, SAP Sustainability Control Tower, Watershed

Sustain.Life

Four alternatives

AeternumAlly, ExecutESG, OpenESG, OpenEco

no first choiceagainst: ISS, MSCI, Sustainalytics

GLM 4.7 FlashXNovisto

Four alternatives

EcoOnline ESG, Greenly, Sustain.Life, Sweep

SweepChanged

Six alternatives

Greenly, Normative, Persefoni, Plan A, Watershed, Workiva Carbon

Watershed, Workiva

Five alternatives

IBM Envizi, Novisto, Persefoni, SAP Sustainability Control Tower, Salesforce Net Zero Cloud

APLANET, Greenly, Sweep

Four alternatives

ESG Lift, EcoOnline ESG, ExecutESG, Persefoni

against: Watershed, Workivano first choiceagainst: Conservice ESG, Greenly, IBM Envizi, Novisto, Salesforce Net Zero Cloud

MiniMax M2.5EcoOnline ESG, Sweep

Four alternatives

Coolset, Normative, Novisto, Plan A

Coolset, Plan AChanged

One alternative

Greenly

Pulsora

Five alternatives

IBM Envizi, Novisto, Persefoni, Watershed, Workiva

Persefoni

Three alternatives

Aclymate, Sustain Suite, Sweep

no first choiceagainst: Assent, EcoVadis, IBM Envizi

Bold is the first choiceAlternatives are counted; the count opens them.What the answer argued against

05The 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`	2026-09-17 19:40	yes	9	7 s
Direct recommendation	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 19:26	yes	3	7 s
Direct recommendation	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 21:19	yes	18	54 s
Direct recommendation	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 19:07	yes	20	5 s
Direct recommendation	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 20:31	yes	34	19 s
Direct recommendation	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 20:20	yes	5	31 s
Direct recommendation	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra`	2026-09-17 18:32	yes	22	47 s
Direct recommendation	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 18:41	yes	5	2 s
Direct recommendation	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 18:13	yes	20	41 s
Direct recommendation	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 18:57	yes	13	30 s
Direct recommendation	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 20:44	yes	11	42 s
Direct recommendation	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 19:20	yes	9	21 s
Paraphrase	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 18:54	yes	9	9 s
Paraphrase	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 19:08	yes	2	5 s
Paraphrase	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 20:01	yes	18	27 s
Paraphrase	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 21:06	yes	16	8 s
Paraphrase	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 18:00	yes	20	15 s
Paraphrase	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 17:59	yes	5	4 s
Paraphrase	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 19:35	yes	27	24 s
Paraphrase	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 17:55	yes	5	3 s
Paraphrase	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 20:45	yes	5	32 s
Paraphrase	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 21:06	yes	10	17 s
Paraphrase	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 20:48	yes	15	69 s
Paraphrase	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 19:25	yes	5	21 s
Comparative	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 19:23	yes	13	11 s
Comparative	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 18:48	yes	6	11 s
Comparative	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 19:23	yes	13	23 s
Comparative	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 18:53	yes	20	9 s
Comparative	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 21:06	yes	26	15 s
Comparative	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 19:39	yes	5	7 s
Comparative	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 19:04	yes	16	22 s
Comparative	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 19:06	yes	7	3 s
Comparative	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 20:03	yes	15	30 s
Comparative	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 19:20	yes	14	37 s
Comparative	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 19:00	yes	21	99 s
Comparative	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 19:38	yes	5	26 s
Budget constrained	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 18:51	yes	9	7 s
Budget constrained	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 19:59	yes	4	6 s
Budget constrained	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 21:16	yes	12	45 s
Budget constrained	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 17:57	yes	20	5 s
Budget constrained	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 19:24	yes	39	21 s
Budget constrained	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 18:29	yes	15	8 s
Budget constrained	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 20:34	yes	15	14 s
Budget constrained	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 19:47	yes	5	2 s
Budget constrained	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 18:22	yes	18	70 s
Budget constrained	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 19:20	yes	15	26 s
Budget constrained	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 19:50	yes	13	99 s
Budget constrained	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 20:31	yes	5	17 s
Scale constrained	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 19:39	no	0	7 s
Scale constrained	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 18:38	no	0	9 s
Scale constrained	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 18:51	yes	10	22 s
Scale constrained	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 18:25	yes	20	9 s
Scale constrained	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 18:01	yes	11	9 s
Scale constrained	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 20:00	no	0	8 s
Scale constrained	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra`	2026-09-17 19:20	yes	24	84 s
Scale constrained	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 19:40	yes	5	3 s
Scale constrained	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 20:00	no	0	29 s
Scale constrained	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 19:57	yes	8	24 s
Scale constrained	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 20:36	yes	14	66 s
Scale constrained	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 20:36	yes	10	22 s
Negative framing	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 19:30	yes	18	9 s
Negative framing	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 17:54	yes	4	7 s
Negative framing	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 21:17	yes	17	55 s
Negative framing	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 20:42	yes	20	6 s
Negative framing	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 18:50	yes	32	19 s
Negative framing	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 21:01	yes	5	4 s
Negative framing	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 20:05	yes	27	47 s
Negative framing	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 21:03	yes	5	2 s
Negative framing	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 18:13	yes	10	62 s
Negative framing	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 18:52	yes	27	36 s
Negative framing	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 18:31	yes	26	91 s
Negative framing	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 17:56	yes	23	51 s

Normalization in this category

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

Category-scoped readings

Diligent read as Diligent ESG

EcoOnline read as EcoOnline ESG

IBM read as IBM Envizi

Salesforce read as Salesforce Net Zero Cloud

Unresolved, counted raw

AeternumAlly

Assent

Briink

Carbon Footprint

Conservice ESG

Credibl ESG

Dcycle

EFRAG Excel Templates

ESGuru

G17 Eco

GRI–ESG KPI Tracker

Gravity

Greenstone

ISS

MSCI

MSCI ESG Manager

Microsoft Sustainable Planner

Minimum

OpenESG

OpenEco

Sedex

Sopact

StepChange

Sumday

Tanso

Verra

Discontinued, still offered

No shut-down product was recommended here.

ESG and carbon reporting

By buyer segment

01The standing

Recommended versus criticized

02What they warned about

03What they cite

Sites the answers cite

Pages the answers cite

04How they answered

05The record

Normalization in this category

Also in equity and corporate