Index › HR › Compensation and total rewards › 401(k) providers › ADP Retirement Services vs Employee Fiduciary 401(k) Plan
401(k) providers · November 2026 Edition
ADP Retirement Services vs Employee Fiduciary 401(k) Plan
One of fourteen models named ADP Retirement Services first on the direct prompt; zero named Employee Fiduciary 401(k) Plan. ADP Retirement Services was named by fourteen of the fourteen models and Employee Fiduciary 401(k) Plan by twelve and ADP Retirement Services carries 34 labels and Employee Fiduciary 401(k) Plan 18, so the shares are not directly comparable.
ADP Retirement Services
accepted challengerNamed in one category this edition.
Employee Fiduciary 401(k) Plan
accepted challengerNamed in one category this edition.
First-choice share8%6%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate9%0%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#4#7A position in a field of 18; printed, not drawn.
Labels3418A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, ADP Retirement Services reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Human Interest was named alongside these two in ten of the fourteen direct answers. Human Interest vs ADP Retirement Services · Human Interest vs Employee Fiduciary 401(k) Plan · Fidelity Workplace Investing vs ADP Retirement Services
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 401(k) providers page.
By framing
How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
ADP Retirement ServicesFirst choices, of fourteen modelsEmployee Fiduciary 401(k) Plan
Direct101 against ADP Retirement Services
Paraphrase20
Comparative001 against ADP Retirement Services
Budget-constrained131 against ADP Retirement Services
Scale-constrained00
Negative00
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 ADP Retirement Services and Employee Fiduciary 401(k) Plan stood in it.
| Model | DirectAREF | ParaphraseAREF | ComparativeAREF | Budget-constrainedAREF | Scale-constrainedAREF | NegativeAREF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | EF | |||||
| GPT-5.4 mini | AR | AR | AR | |||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | AR | AR | EF | EF | ||
| Perplexity Sonar | AR | AR | EF | |||
| Grok 4.20 | AR | AREF | AREF | AR | ||
| Mistral Small | AR | AREF | ||||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | AR | EF | ||||
| Llama 4 Maverick | EF | |||||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | AR | |||||
| Kimi K2 | AR | AR | EF | |||
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | AR | AR | EF | AREF | ||
| MiniMax M2.5 | AR | AR | EF | |||
| GPT-6 Luna | AR | AR | EF | |||
| Muse Glimmer 30B | AR | AR | AR | EF |
AR ADP Retirement ServicesEF Employee Fiduciary 401(k) PlanAR first choiceAR named as an alternativeAR argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, ADP Retirement Services on the left and Employee Fiduciary 401(k) Plan on the right.
The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where ADP Retirement Services and Employee Fiduciary 401(k) Plan stood in it.
ADP Retirement Services first, Employee Fiduciary 401(k) Plan not the choice
1 of 14 modelsEmployee Fiduciary 401(k) Plan was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Mistral SmallADP Retirement Services, Empower Retirement, Fidelity Advantage 401, Vanguard Workplace Solutions alternatives: ForUsAll, Guideline, Human Interest, Paychex Retirement Services, Vestwell
Neither was the first choice, one was named
6 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.GPT-5.4 miniEmpower Retirement alternatives: ADP Retirement Services, Guideline, Gusto Retirement, Human Interest
Gemini 3.5 FlashFidelity Investments alternatives: ADP Retirement Services, Empower Retirement, Principal Financial Group
Grok 4.20Human Interest alternatives: ADP Retirement Services, Betterment at Work, Fidelity Workplace Investing, Guideline, Vestwell
GLM 4.7 FlashXBetterment for Business, Human Interest alternatives: ADP Retirement Services, Empower Retirement, Fidelity Workplace Investing, Vanguard Workplace Solutions
GPT-6 LunaEmpower Retirement, Fidelity Advantage 401 alternatives: ADP Retirement Services, Principal
Muse Glimmer 30BEmpower Retirement, Fidelity Workplace Investing alternatives: ADP Retirement Services, Betterment at Work, Human Interest, Paychex Retirement Services, Vanguard Workplace Solutions
Neither was named
7 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Claude Haiku 4.5no first choice
Perplexity SonarFidelity Workplace Investing alternatives: Betterment at Work, Human Interest
DeepSeek V4 FlashHuman Interest alternatives: Empower Retirement, Fidelity Advantage 401
Llama 4 Maverickno first choice
Qwen 3.7 FlashFidelity Workplace Investing, Human Interest alternatives: Empower Retirement, Vanguard Workplace Solutions
Kimi K2Fidelity Workplace Investing, Human Interest alternatives: Betterment at Work, Empower Retirement, ForUsAll, Vanguard Workplace Solutions, Vestwell
MiniMax M2.5Human Interest alternatives: Betterment at Work, Fidelity Workplace Investing
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
ADP Retirement Services leads by four points.
ADP Retirement Services14%#3 of 11
Employee Fiduciary 401(k) Plan11%#4 of 11
The full small business standing →Mid-marketThe figures above
ADP Retirement Services leads by two points.
ADP Retirement Services8%#4 of 18
Employee Fiduciary 401(k) Plan6%#7 of 18
The full mid-market standing →Enterprise
Employee Fiduciary 401(k) Plan is not named for this buyer.
ADP Retirement Services6%#5 of 11
Employee Fiduciary 401(k) Plan—not named
The full enterprise standing →What the models said about ADP Retirement Services
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of seven in this category shown.
“Often charge higher administrative fees or embed proprietary, higher-cost fund options compared to standalone recordkeepers.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · comparative prompt · soft negative
“These are reliable but can edge higher in total cost compared to the specialists above for limited-budget scenarios.” Grok 4.20 · budget prompt · soft negative
“Convenient if you already use ADP, but bundled pricing often costs more than standalone providers” Kimi K2 · direct prompt · soft negative
“For absolute lowest cost & simplicity: Start with ADP Starter-k Complete ($100/month).” Qwen 3.7 Flash · budget prompt · first choice
“ADP Retirement Services would be the strongest default recommendation” Perplexity Sonar · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“Empower, Vanguard, Fidelity, and ADP are frequently cited as top choices” Mistral Small · direct prompt · first choice
What the models said about Employee Fiduciary 401(k) Plan
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Three of four in this category shown.
“If you have 6–30 employees: Choose Employee Fiduciary. The flat annual fee ($1,500) is the best value proposition in the market.” GLM 4.7 FlashX · budget prompt · first choice
“For most small businesses with limited budgets, Employee Fiduciary offers the best combination of low cost and transparency.” Kimi K2 · budget prompt · first choice
“I'd get a quote from Employee Fiduciary first.” GPT-6 Luna · budget prompt · first choice
Also compared
Human Interest vs ADP Retirement ServicesHuman Interest vs Employee Fiduciary 401(k) PlanFidelity Workplace Investing vs ADP Retirement ServicesFidelity Workplace Investing vs Employee Fiduciary 401(k) PlanGuideline vs ADP Retirement ServicesGuideline vs Employee Fiduciary 401(k) PlanADP Retirement Services vs Empower RetirementADP Retirement Services vs Fidelity Advantage 401ADP Retirement Services vs Fidelity InvestmentsEmpower Retirement vs Employee Fiduciary 401(k) PlanFidelity Advantage 401 vs Employee Fiduciary 401(k) PlanEmployee Fiduciary 401(k) Plan vs Fidelity InvestmentsAll twenty-eight head-to-head pages and the full 401(k) providers standing
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.