# 401(k) providers: what AI models recommend, November 2026

Gane Index, November 2026 Edition. Asked as "401(k) provider" and as "workplace retirement plan provider", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. Added to the November 2026 Edition. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/rewards/401k-providers

**Standing:** Human Interest leads with 27% of first choices; verdict contested. 51 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Human Interest](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/human-interest/index.md) | 27% | 7% | 41 |
| 2 | [Fidelity Workplace Investing](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/fidelity-workplace-investing/index.md) | 16% | 0% | 17 |
| 3 | [Guideline](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/guideline/index.md) | 10% | 4% | 25 |
| 4 | [ADP Retirement Services](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/adp-retirement-services/index.md) | 8% | 9% | 34 |
| 5 | [Empower Retirement](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/empower-retirement/index.md) | 8% | 14% | 37 |
| 6 | [Fidelity Advantage 401](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/fidelity-advantage-401/index.md) | 6% | 7% | 29 |
| 7 | [Employee Fiduciary 401(k) Plan](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/employee-fiduciary-401-k-plan/index.md) | 6% | 0% | 18 |
| 8 | [Fidelity Investments](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/fidelity-investments/index.md) | 6% | 0% | 13 |
| 10 | [Vanguard Workplace Solutions](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/vanguard-workplace-solutions/index.md) | 2% | 7% | 42 |
| 11 | [Betterment for Business](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/betterment-for-business/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 12 |
| 12 | [ShareBuilder 401k](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/sharebuilder-401k/index.md) | 2% | 8% | 12 |
| 15 | [Betterment at Work](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/betterment-at-work/index.md) | 0% | 0% | 20 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 81 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: no first choice
- GPT-5.4 mini: Empower Retirement; alternatives ADP Retirement Services, Guideline, Gusto Retirement, Human Interest
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Fidelity Investments; alternatives ADP Retirement Services, Empower Retirement, Principal Financial Group
- Perplexity Sonar: Fidelity Workplace Investing; alternatives Betterment at Work, Human Interest
- Grok 4.20: Human Interest; alternatives ADP Retirement Services, Betterment at Work, Fidelity Workplace Investing, Guideline
- Mistral Small: ADP Retirement Services, Empower Retirement, Fidelity Advantage 401, Vanguard Workplace Solutions; alternatives ForUsAll, Guideline, Human Interest, Paychex Retirement Services
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Human Interest; alternatives Empower Retirement, Fidelity Advantage 401
- Llama 4 Maverick: no first choice
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Fidelity Workplace Investing, Human Interest; alternatives Empower Retirement, Vanguard Workplace Solutions
- Kimi K2: Fidelity Workplace Investing, Human Interest; alternatives Betterment at Work, Empower Retirement, ForUsAll, Vanguard Workplace Solutions
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Betterment for Business, Human Interest; alternatives ADP Retirement Services, Empower Retirement, Fidelity Workplace Investing, Vanguard Workplace Solutions
- MiniMax M2.5: Human Interest; alternatives Betterment at Work, Fidelity Workplace Investing
- GPT-6 Luna: Empower Retirement, Fidelity Advantage 401; alternatives ADP Retirement Services, Principal
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Empower Retirement, Fidelity Workplace Investing; alternatives ADP Retirement Services, Betterment at Work, Human Interest, Paychex Retirement Services

## Sources the answers cite

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

- adp.com: 36 answers, 56 citations
- forbes.com: 34 answers, 35 citations
- leadchangegroup.com: 30 answers, 49 citations
- betterment.com: 22 answers, 31 citations
- employeefiduciary.com: 19 answers, 31 citations
- basiccapital.com: 17 answers, 27 citations
- reddit.com: 16 answers, 48 citations
- humaninterest.com: 16 answers, 27 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://forbes.com/advisor/retirement/best-401k-plans (32 answers)
- https://adp.com/what-we-offer/benefits/retirement/401k.aspx (29 answers)
- https://leadchangegroup.com/401k-providers/mid-market (23 answers)
- https://betterment.com/top-401ks-for-small-businesses-in-2026 (15 answers)
- https://leadchangegroup.com/401k-providers (15 answers)
- https://hrtechsaas.com/blog/best-401k-plan-administrators-mid-market-employers (13 answers)
- https://investmentnews.com/glossary/401k-companies/263041 (13 answers)
- https://401k.is/compare (8 answers)
- https://basiccapital.com/learn/best-401k-providers-for-mid-market-companies-fees-flexibility-support (8 answers)
- https://adp.com/what-we-offer/benefits/retirement.aspx (7 answers)

## Warned against

- John Hancock: 6 of 8 labels negative. "worst offenders are usually the insurance companies. John Hancock, Principal, Pru, T Rowe etc." (Muse Glimmer 30B, negative prompt)
- Prudential: 5 of 5 labels negative. "Specific Providers to Avoid or Be Cautious About ... consistently rank among the most expensive 401(k) providers" (GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt)
- Principal Financial Group: 4 of 11 labels negative. "Frequently cited in consumer complaints for high miscellaneous charges and expense ratios." (Qwen 3.7 Flash, negative prompt)
- AXA: 4 of 4 labels negative. "Specific Providers to Avoid or Be Cautious About ... These companies consistently rank among the most expensive 401(k) providers" (GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt)

## Movement since October 2026

Floor: 13 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: Human Interest at 27%.

- Fidelity Workplace Investing: 0% to 16%, +16. Cleared the floor by 3 points · rank 26 → 2 of 81.
- Guideline: 20% to 10%, −10. Inside the floor by 3 points · rank 2 → 3 of 81.
- ADP Retirement Services: 16% to 8%, −8. Inside the floor by 5 points · rank 3 → 4 of 81.
- Human Interest: 20% to 27%, +7. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 1 of 81, unchanged.
- Fidelity Investments: 13% to 6%, −7. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 4 → 8 of 81.
- Employee Fiduciary 401(k) Plan: 2% to 6%, +4. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 8 → 7 of 81.
- Fidelity Advantage 401: 9% to 6%, −3. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 5 → 6 of 81.
- Vanguard Workplace Solutions: 5% to 2%, −3. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 7 → 10 of 81.
- Betterment for Business: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 22 → 11 of 81.
- ShareBuilder 401k: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 16 → 12 of 81.
- Principal: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 9 → 17 of 81.
- Empower Retirement: 7% to 8%, +1. Inside the floor by 12 points · rank 6 → 5 of 81.

## 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.