# Contractor payments for small business buyers: what AI models recommend, September 2026

Gane Index, September 2026 Edition. Asked as "contractor payments and 1099 platform" and as "freelancer payout software", six framings each, to twelve models with search on, on behalf of a small B2B company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/spend/contractor-payments/2026-09/smb

This is the permanent record of the September 2026 Edition, published September 17, 2026 and superseded since. The current standing: https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/spend/contractor-payments/smb/index.md

**Standing:** Gusto leads with 59% of first choices; verdict clear leader. 46 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Gusto](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/gusto/index.md) | 59% | 2% | 55 |
| 2 | [Square Payroll](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/square-payroll/index.md) | 11% | 19% | 16 |
| 3 | [QuickBooks Contractor Payments](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/quickbooks-contractor-payments/index.md) | 4% | 0% | 13 |
| 4 | [Wingspan](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/wingspan/index.md) | 4% | 0% | 12 |
| 5 | [BILL](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/bill/index.md) | 4% | 17% | 12 |
| 7 | [Wise Business](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/wise-business/index.md) | 2% | 9% | 23 |
| 13 | [Deel](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/deel/index.md) | 0% | 9% | 45 |
| 14 | [Remote](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/remote/index.md) | 0% | 5% | 21 |
| 15 | [Rippling](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/rippling/index.md) | 0% | 18% | 17 |
| 16 | [Melio](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/melio/index.md) | 0% | 15% | 13 |
| 19 | [Tipalti](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/tipalti/index.md) | 0% | 23% | 13 |
| 68 | [PayPal MassPay](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/paypal-masspay/index.md) | 0% | 82% | 11 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 68 products named; products with the same share are tied, and the order among them carries no meaning. The table lists those with at least 10 labels.

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

- Claude Haiku 4.5: Gusto; alternatives QuickBooks Contractor Payments, SurePayroll
- GPT-5.4 mini: Gusto; alternatives BILL, Deel, QuickBooks Contractor Payments, QuickBooks Payroll
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Gusto; alternatives Deel, Melio, Square Payroll, Wingspan
- Perplexity Sonar: Gusto; alternatives ADP RUN, Deel, QuickBooks Contractor Payments, QuickBooks Payroll
- Grok 4.20: Gusto; alternatives BILL, Deel, QuickBooks Online, Rippling
- Mistral Small: Gusto, Wingspan; alternatives Deel, QuickBooks Contractor Payments, Tipalti
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Gusto; alternatives Deel, QuickBooks Contractor Payments
- Llama 4 Maverick: no first choice
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Gusto; alternatives Deel, Rippling, Wingspan
- Kimi K2: Gusto; alternatives BILL, Deel, Melio
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Routable; alternatives Deel, Gusto, Tipalti
- MiniMax M2.5: Gusto; alternatives Deel, Remote, Wingspan, Worksuite

## Sources the answers cite

67 of 72 answers came back with a source list, from 12 of 12 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- worksuite.com: 44 answers, 48 citations
- learn.g2.com: 37 answers, 38 citations
- wingspan.app: 33 answers, 39 citations
- remote.com: 32 answers, 33 citations
- gusto.com: 31 answers, 50 citations
- contractor-of-record.com: 30 answers, 30 citations
- relayfi.com: 21 answers, 21 citations
- wise.com: 18 answers, 25 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://worksuite.com/resources/insights/best-contractor-payment-software (44 answers)
- https://learn.g2.com/best-contractor-payment-software (37 answers)
- https://remote.com/blog/payroll/best-contractor-payment-tools (31 answers)
- https://contractor-of-record.com/software/contractor-payouts (29 answers)
- https://wingspan.app/articles/best-contractor-payroll-services (27 answers)
- https://relayfi.com/blog/best-1099-software-small-businesses-guide (20 answers)
- https://riseworks.io/blog/best-payroll-providers-for-automated-contractor-payments-and-1099s (18 answers)
- https://guideflow.com/blog/contractor-payment-software (16 answers)
- https://gusto.com/resources/guides/best-contractor-payroll-software (14 answers)
- https://bolto.com/blog/best-1099-software-for-small-business (13 answers)

## Warned against

- PayPal MassPay: 9 of 11 labels negative. "Small businesses should be cautious about PayPal, traditional bank wires, and any platform that does not explicitly address compliance" (Mistral Small, negative prompt)
- Venmo: 7 of 7 labels negative. "Consumer payment apps like PayPal and Venmo may seem convenient for small jobs, but they are often not ideal for growing businesses." (Claude Haiku 4.5, negative prompt)
- Cash App: 5 of 5 labels negative. "Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Consumer Apps (e.g., Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, Personal PayPal) ... Why to avoid them" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, negative prompt)
- Stripe Connect: 4 of 6 labels negative. "Frequent reports of holding funds in "reserves" for 6+ months, account freezes, and delays in payouts" (Grok 4.20, negative prompt)

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, September 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/finance.