# 401(k) providers for small business buyers: 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 small B2B company. Added to the November 2026 Edition. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/rewards/401k-providers/smb

**Standing:** Guideline leads with 25% of first choices; verdict contested. 57 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Guideline](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/guideline/index.md) | 25% | 14% | 44 |
| 2 | [Human Interest](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/human-interest/index.md) | 16% | 8% | 37 |
| 3 | [ADP Retirement Services](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/adp-retirement-services/index.md) | 14% | 26% | 42 |
| 4 | [Employee Fiduciary 401(k) Plan](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/employee-fiduciary-401-k-plan/index.md) | 11% | 0% | 29 |
| 5 | [Fidelity Advantage 401](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/fidelity-advantage-401/index.md) | 9% | 8% | 39 |
| 6 | [ShareBuilder 401k](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/sharebuilder-401k/index.md) | 7% | 10% | 20 |
| 7 | [Ubiquity Retirement + Savings](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/ubiquity-retirement-savings/index.md) | 4% | 0% | 15 |
| 9 | [Paychex Retirement Services](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/paychex-retirement-services/index.md) | 4% | 38% | 26 |
| 10 | [Betterment for Business](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/betterment-for-business/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 23 |
| 15 | [Vanguard Workplace Solutions](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/vanguard-workplace-solutions/index.md) | 0% | 10% | 39 |
| 16 | [Betterment at Work](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/betterment-at-work/index.md) | 0% | 4% | 28 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 73 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: Guideline; alternatives ADP Retirement Services, Fidelity Investments, Human Interest
- GPT-5.4 mini: Gusto 401(k) powered by Guideline, Human Interest; alternatives Fidelity Advantage 401
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Guideline; alternatives Betterment at Work, Employee Fiduciary 401(k) Plan, Human Interest, Ubiquity Retirement + Savings
- Perplexity Sonar: Fidelity Advantage 401; alternatives ADP 401(k) Essential, Betterment at Work, Human Interest, Principal
- Grok 4.20: ShareBuilder 401k; alternatives ADP Retirement Services, Employee Fiduciary 401(k) Plan, Fidelity Investments, Vanguard Workplace Solutions
- Mistral Small: ADP Retirement Services, Guideline; alternatives Fidelity Workplace Services, ShareBuilder 401k, Vanguard Workplace Solutions
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Human Interest; alternatives ADP Retirement Services, Betterment for Business, Fidelity Advantage 401, Guideline
- Llama 4 Maverick: no first choice
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Guideline; alternatives ADP Retirement Services, Fidelity Advantage 401, Vanguard Workplace Solutions
- Kimi K2: Employee Fiduciary 401(k) Plan, Human Interest; alternatives ADP 401(k) Essential / Starter-k Complete, Betterment at Work, Fidelity Workplace Investing
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Human Interest; alternatives ADP Retirement Services, Betterment at Work, Fidelity Workplace Investing, Paychex Retirement Services
- MiniMax M2.5: ADP Retirement Services, ShareBuilder 401k; alternatives Fidelity Investments, Vanguard Workplace Solutions
- GPT-6 Luna: Human Interest; alternatives ADP Starter-k Complete, Fidelity Advantage 401, Gusto 401(k) powered by Guideline
- Muse Glimmer 30B: ADP Retirement Services, Fidelity Advantage 401, Human Interest; alternatives Fidelity Workplace Investing, ShareBuilder 401k, Ubiquity Retirement + Savings

## Sources the answers cite

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

- adp.com: 46 answers, 89 citations
- betterment.com: 37 answers, 59 citations
- employeefiduciary.com: 26 answers, 53 citations
- myubiquity.com: 26 answers, 39 citations
- fidelity.com: 25 answers, 30 citations
- forbes.com: 25 answers, 26 citations
- fitsmallbusiness.com: 24 answers, 24 citations
- reddit.com: 22 answers, 51 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://adp.com/what-we-offer/benefits/retirement/401k.aspx (38 answers)
- https://betterment.com/top-401ks-for-small-businesses-in-2026 (32 answers)
- https://adp.com/what-we-offer/benefits/retirement/adp-401k-essential.aspx (29 answers)
- https://forbes.com/advisor/retirement/best-401k-plans (24 answers)
- https://fitsmallbusiness.com/best-401k-companies (23 answers)
- https://joinhomebase.com/blog/who-are-the-best-small-business-401k-providers (19 answers)
- https://themodernwallet.com/roundup/best-401k-providers-for-small-business (19 answers)
- https://fidelity.com/retirement-ira/small-business/compare-retirement-plans (17 answers)
- https://myubiquity.com/resources/ubiquity-guide-to-choosing-a-401-k-provider (16 answers)
- https://leadchangegroup.com/401k-providers/small-business (14 answers)

## Warned against

- ADP Retirement Services: 11 of 42 labels negative. "ADP has terrible customer service and were extremely difficult to work with" (Kimi K2, negative prompt)
- Paychex Retirement Services: 10 of 26 labels negative. "Do not use Paychex under any circumstances. They are the WORST." (Kimi K2, negative prompt)
- Guideline: 6 of 44 labels negative. "You may want to stay away from Guideline for now. They've received quite a few negative reviews on Google Maps for poor or completely unresponsive customer service" (Muse Glimmer 30B, negative prompt)
- Ascensus: 5 of 6 labels negative. "Ascensus has received widespread criticism for clunky user interfaces, poor customer service, and high costs." (Mistral Small, negative prompt)

## Movement since October 2026

Floor: 13 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: Guideline at 25%.

- Guideline: 43% to 25%, −18. Cleared the floor by 5 points · rank 1 of 73, unchanged.
- Employee Fiduciary 401(k) Plan: 2% to 11%, +9. Inside the floor by 4 points · rank 7 → 4 of 73.
- ShareBuilder 401k: 0% to 7%, +7. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 19 → 6 of 73.
- ADP Retirement Services: 8% to 14%, +6. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 4 → 3 of 73.
- Ubiquity Retirement + Savings: 0% to 4%, +4. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 16 → 7 of 73.
- Paychex Retirement Services: 0% to 4%, +4. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 59 → 9 of 73.
- Fidelity Advantage 401: 11% to 9%, −2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 3 → 5 of 73.
- Betterment for Business: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 21 → 10 of 73.
- Vanguard Workplace Solutions: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 8 → 15 of 73.
- Betterment at Work: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 6 → 16 of 73.
- Human Interest: 15% to 16%, +1. Inside the floor by 12 points · rank 2 of 73, unchanged.

## 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.