One of twelve models named Remote first on the direct prompt; one named Gusto. Remote was named by twelve of the twelve models and Gusto by eleven and Remote carries 28 labels and Gusto 37, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in one category this edition.
Named in one category this edition.
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; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the contractor payments page.
Across every category in the September 2026 Edition, Remote and Gusto were named in the same answer forty-seven times, of the 82 answers naming Remote and the 107 naming Gusto. In those answers Gusto took the first choice sixteen times and Remote six.
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | ||||||
| GPT-5.4 mini | ||||||
| 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 | ||||||
| MiniMax M2.5 |
Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Three of four in this category shown.
“Global contractors, moderate volume | Remote (contractor plan) + Deel for niche regions” GLM 4.7 FlashX · direct prompt · first choice
“Deel, Remote, and Worksuite are the most comprehensive all‑in‑one choices” GLM 4.7 FlashX · comparative prompt · first choice
“Deel or Remote for broad global coverage” MiniMax M2.5 · scale prompt · first choice
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“Gusto/QuickBooks are fine for small businesses but get strained at mid-market contractor scale.” DeepSeek V4 Flash · direct prompt · soft negative
“They lack the sophisticated bulk processing and deep ERP integration found in Tipalti or Routable.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · direct prompt · soft negative
“Gusto is widely considered the best user experience, but it costs more.” GLM 4.7 FlashX · budget prompt · soft negative
“Request demos from Gusto (mixed W-2/1099), Rippling (HR-integrated), Remote/Deel (global), OnPay (simple payroll).” Grok 4.1 Fast · scale prompt · first choice
“Bill.com or Gusto are the leading choices” Kimi K2 · direct prompt · first choice
“Choose Gusto if you operate in the U.S. and simply need an easy, affordable way to pay a mix of local 1099 contractors” Gemini 3.5 Flash · comparative prompt · alternative
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.