# People analytics for small business buyers: what AI models recommend, November 2026

Gane Index, November 2026 Edition. Asked as "people analytics platform" and as "HR analytics software", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of a small B2B company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/planning/people-analytics/2026-11/smb

**Standing:** BambooHR leads with 46% of first choices; verdict clear leader. 56 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [BambooHR](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/bamboohr/index.md) | 46% | 3% | 68 |
| 2 | [Rippling](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/rippling/index.md) | 9% | 7% | 42 |
| 3 | [TalentHR](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/talenthr/index.md) | 7% | 0% | 16 |
| 4 | [ChartHop](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/charthop/index.md) | 4% | 13% | 38 |
| 5 | [Gusto](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/gusto/index.md) | 4% | 10% | 20 |
| 6 | [HiBob](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/hibob/index.md) | 4% | 11% | 19 |
| 8 | [Leapsome](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/leapsome/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 17 |
| 9 | [ThriveSparrow](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/thrivesparrow/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 13 |
| 10 | [Zoho People](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/zoho-people/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 13 |
| 11 | [Personio](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/personio/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 10 |
| 20 | [Crunchr](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/crunchr/index.md) | 2% | 56% | 16 |
| 21 | [Lattice](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/lattice/index.md) | 0% | 9% | 33 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 100 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: BambooHR; alternatives ADP Workforce Now, Talenteo, ThriveSparrow
- GPT-5.4 mini: Rippling; alternatives BambooHR, Microsoft Power BI
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: ChartHop; alternatives Culture Amp, HiBob, Knoetic, Lattice
- Perplexity Sonar: BambooHR; alternatives Lattice, Rippling
- Grok 4.20: BambooHR; alternatives ChartHop, Primalogik, Rippling, TalentHR
- Mistral Small: BambooHR; alternatives ChartHop, TalentHR
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: BambooHR; alternatives ChartHop, Leapsome, Rippling, TalentHR
- Llama 4 Maverick: BambooHR; alternatives Justworks, Personio, TalentHR, ThriveSparrow
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: BambooHR; alternatives ChartHop, Lattice, TalentHR
- Kimi K2: BambooHR; alternatives 15Five, Lattice
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: ThriveSparrow; alternatives BambooHR, ChartHop, Lattice, Rippling
- MiniMax M2.5: BambooHR, Crunchr; alternatives Culture Amp, Lattice
- GPT-6 Luna: BambooHR; alternatives ChartHop
- Muse Glimmer 30B: BambooHR; alternatives ChartHop, TalentHR, ThriveSparrow

## Sources the answers cite

70 of 84 answers came back with a source list, from 14 of 14 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- thrivesparrow.com: 31 answers, 33 citations
- selectsoftwarereviews.com: 23 answers, 24 citations
- lister.ai: 23 answers, 23 citations
- softwareadvice.com: 19 answers, 31 citations
- g2.com: 18 answers, 32 citations
- peoplemanagingpeople.com: 17 answers, 18 citations
- capterra.com: 16 answers, 28 citations
- workhuman.com: 16 answers, 17 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://thrivesparrow.com/blog/best-people-analytics-software (31 answers)
- https://lister.ai/software/hr/people-analytics-software/best-people-analytics-software (23 answers)
- https://selectsoftwarereviews.com/buyer-guide/analytics-tools (23 answers)
- https://dupple.com/learn/best-hr-analytics-software (14 answers)
- https://thrivea.com/blog/best-hr-analytics-software (14 answers)
- https://bestdevops.com/top-10-workplace-people-analytics-tools-features-pros-cons-comparison (13 answers)
- https://hrbench.com/blog/best-people-analytics-software (13 answers)
- https://zimyo.com/insights/best-hr-analytics-software-for-small-businesses (13 answers)
- https://engagedly.com/blog/best-hr-analytics-softwares (12 answers)
- https://spotsaas.com/list/hr-analytics-software/for-small-business (12 answers)

## Warned against

- Visier: 35 of 40 labels negative. "Often enterprise-oriented with pricing that starts around $1/user/month but scales quickly into high annual commitments... Small business users report it's overkill" (Grok 4.20, negative prompt)
- Workday People Analytics: 19 of 20 labels negative. "platforms a small business should avoid or be extremely cautious about… Workday People Analytics… not designed as a standalone 'people analytics' platform for small teams" (Muse Glimmer 30B, negative prompt)
- One Model: 13 of 17 labels negative. "Enterprise People Analytics *(Avoid for now)* | Visier, One Model, Crunchr | Not recommended at 30 seats." (Gemini 3.5 Flash, scale prompt)
- Crunchr: 9 of 16 labels negative. "What I'd Avoid ... Visier, Crunchr, or Qualtrics ... likely overkill and over-budget for a small business." (Kimi K2, paraphrase prompt)

## Movement since October 2026

Floor: 13 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: BambooHR at 46%.

- BambooHR: 53% to 46%, −7. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 1 of 100, unchanged.
- TalentHR: 2% to 7%, +5. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 14 → 3 of 100.
- ChartHop: 8% to 4%, −4. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 2 → 4 of 100.
- Gusto: 0% to 4%, +4. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 15 → 5 of 100.
- Zoho People: 5% to 2%, −3. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 6 → 10 of 100.
- Personio: 5% to 2%, −3. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 4 → 11 of 100.
- Lattice: 3% to 0%, −3. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 7 → 21 of 100.
- Rippling: 7% to 9%, +2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 3 → 2 of 100.
- ThriveSparrow: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 16 → 9 of 100.
- Crunchr: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 78 → 20 of 100.
- HiBob: 5% to 4%, −1. Inside the floor by 12 points · rank 5 → 6 of 100.
- Factorial: 3% to 2%, −1. Inside the floor by 12 points · rank 8 → 14 of 100.

## Record

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