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Talent intelligence · November 2026 Edition

Pin vs Phenom

Two of fourteen models named Pin first on the direct prompt; zero named Phenom. Pin was named by eleven of the fourteen models and Phenom by thirteen and Pin carries 15 labels and Phenom 40, so the shares are not directly comparable.

Pin

accepted challenger

Named in five categories this edition.

Phenom

criticized challenger

Named in ten categories this edition.

First-choice share12%4%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate0%40%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#3#7A position in a field of 15; printed, not drawn.
Labels1540A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Pin reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.SeekOut Recruit was named alongside these two in twelve of the fourteen direct answers. SeekOut Recruit vs Pin · SeekOut Recruit vs Phenom · Lessie AI vs Pin

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen 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 talent intelligence page.

By framing

How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
PinFirst choices, of fourteen modelsPhenom
Direct204 against Phenom
Paraphrase021 against Phenom
Comparative00
Budget-constrained405 against Phenom
Scale-constrained001 against Phenom
Negative005 against Phenom
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.

Every model, every framing

The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Pin and Phenom stood in it.
ModelDirectParaphraseComparativeBudget-constrainedScale-constrainedNegative
Claude Haiku 4.5
GPT-5.4 mini
Gemini 3.5 Flash
Perplexity Sonar
Grok 4.20
Mistral Small
DeepSeek V4 Flash
Llama 4 Maverick
Qwen 3.7 Flash
Kimi K2
GLM 4.7 FlashX
MiniMax M2.5
GPT-6 Luna
Muse Glimmer 30B
Pin Phenom first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Pin on the left and Phenom on the right.

The direct prompt

The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Pin and Phenom stood in it.

Pin first, Phenom not the choice

2 of 14 modelsPhenom was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.
Claude Haiku 4.5Arya, Pin alternatives: 365Talents, Eightfold AI, Gem, Loxo, iCIMS Talent Cloud
Kimi K2Pin, SeekOut Recruit alternatives: Ashby, Greenhouse

Neither was named

12 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.
GPT-5.4 miniSeekOut Recruit alternatives: Eightfold AI, hireEZ
Gemini 3.5 FlashFindem alternatives: Gem, Loxo, SeekOut Recruit
Perplexity SonarhireEZ alternatives: Gem, SeekOut Recruit
Grok 4.20Loxo alternatives: Eightfold AI, Gem, SeekOut Recruit
Mistral SmallEightfold AI, SeekOut Recruit alternatives: Sapia.ai, iCIMS Talent Cloud
DeepSeek V4 FlashSeekOut Recruit alternatives: Gem, hireEZ
Llama 4 Maverickno first choice
Qwen 3.7 FlashLessie AI, hireEZ alternatives: Gem, SeekOut Recruit
GLM 4.7 FlashXSeekOut Recruit alternatives: Ceipal, Talent.ai
MiniMax M2.5Greenhouse, SeekOut Recruit alternatives: Eightfold AI, hireEZ
GPT-6 LunaSeekOut Recruit alternatives: Lightcast
Muse Glimmer 30BSeekOut Recruit alternatives: Eightfold AI, Lessie AI, hireEZ

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.

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Pin leads by twelve points.
Pin14%#1 of 18
Phenom2%#12 of 18
The full small business standing →
Mid-marketThe figures above
Pin leads by eight points.
Pin12%#3 of 15
Phenom4%#7 of 15
The full mid-market standing →
Enterprise
The order flips: Phenom leads at enterprise.
Phenom2%#5 of 11
Pin0%#– of 11
The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about Pin

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Two of two in this category shown.

“Pin with its free tier / $99-100/mo plans and Lessie AI as the "fast, affordable, action-oriented sourcing" pick are the consensus budget options in 2026.” Muse Glimmer 30B · budget prompt · first choice
“Start with SeekOut or Pin if your primary need is sourcing intelligence at a reasonable price point.” Kimi K2 · direct prompt · first choice

What the models said about Phenom

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Four of four in this category shown.

“Why to Avoid: Despite its popularity among large enterprises, implementation is notoriously difficult.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · negative prompt · hard negative
“Phenom is often grouped with platforms to avoid due to negative user experiences and limitations” Mistral Small · negative prompt · hard negative
“Median contract ~$98K/year; full talent experience platform may be overkill” Kimi K2 · direct prompt · hard negative
“My default recommendation: Phenom—if you want one platform to connect external recruiting with internal mobility.” GPT-6 Luna · paraphrase prompt · first choice
Also compared

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.