Guides

Ten categories, walked product by product

A guide takes one category's standing from the September 2026 Edition and walks the top eight products in order: the share and rank each holds for each buyer, what the twelve models said for and against it in their own words, and where the answer changes with the framing or the size of the company asking. Every figure is the category page's own; a guide adds no opinion, only the reading.

Core HR and payroll

HRIS and HCM platforms

Rippling leads at 22% of first choices, contested. The top eight of ten ranked products, with what the models said for and against each.

Core HR and payroll

Payroll software

Rippling leads at 28% of first choices, contested. The top eight of eight ranked products, with what the models said for and against each.

Talent acquisition

Applicant tracking systems

Greenhouse leads at 47% of first choices, clear leader. The top eight of eight ranked products, with what the models said for and against each.

Learning and development

Learning management systems

TalentLMS leads at 48% of first choices, clear leader. The top six of six ranked products, with what the models said for and against each.

Performance and talent management

Performance management

Lattice leads at 41% of first choices, clear leader. The top eight of nine ranked products, with what the models said for and against each.

Onboarding and employee experience

Employee engagement surveys

Culture Amp leads at 40% of first choices, clear leader. The top five of five ranked products, with what the models said for and against each.

Core HR and payroll

Benefits administration

PlanSource leads at 23% of first choices, contested. The top eight of eight ranked products, with what the models said for and against each.

Core HR and payroll

Time and attendance

UKG Ready leads at 15% of first choices, contested. The top eight of eleven ranked products, with what the models said for and against each.

Onboarding and employee experience

Employee onboarding

BambooHR leads at 29% of first choices, contested. The top five of five ranked products, with what the models said for and against each.

Compensation and total rewards

Compensation management

Pave leads at 18% of first choices, contested. The top eight of nineteen ranked products, with what the models said for and against each.

Why these ten

Guides are added a few categories at a time and measured before more follow. Every category has its standing, its warnings and every answer on its own page whether or not a guide exists for it yet.