Compensation benchmarking data · November 2026 Edition
Payscale vs Radford
Seven of fourteen models named Payscale first on the direct prompt; zero named Radford. Payscale was named by fourteen of the fourteen models and Radford by twelve and Payscale carries 32 labels and Radford 21, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in four categories this edition.
Radford
criticized challengerNamed in three categories this edition.
First-choice share18%2%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate9%48%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#1#7A position in a field of 9; printed, not drawn.
Labels3221A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Payscale reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Pave was named alongside these two in fourteen of the fourteen direct answers. Payscale vs Pave · Payscale vs Comprehensive.io · Payscale vs Salary.com CompAnalyst
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 compensation benchmarking data page.
By framing
How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
PayscaleFirst choices, of fourteen modelsRadfordDirect703 against Radford
Paraphrase311 against Radford
Comparative01
Budget-constrained002 against Payscale · 1 against Radford
Scale-constrained001 against Payscale · 2 against Radford
Negative003 against Radford
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.
Across every category in the November 2026 Edition, Payscale and Radford were named in the same answer forty-eight times, of the 239 answers naming Payscale and the 73 naming Radford. In those answers Radford took the first choice three times and Payscale fifteen.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Payscale and Radford stood in it.
| Model | DirectRA | ParaphraseRA | ComparativeRA | Budget-constrainedRA | Scale-constrainedRA | NegativeRA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | ||||||
| GPT-5.4 mini | RA | |||||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | RA | RA | RA | | | |
| Perplexity Sonar | | | RA | |||
| Grok 4.20 | RA | RA | RA | |||
| Mistral Small | | | ||||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | RA | | RA | RA | ||
| Llama 4 Maverick | | |||||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | RA | ||||
| Kimi K2 | RA | RA | | |||
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | RA | |||||
| MiniMax M2.5 | | | | |||
| GPT-6 Luna | | | ||||
| Muse Glimmer 30B | | RA |
PayscaleRA Radford first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Payscale on the left and Radford on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Payscale and Radford stood in it.
Payscale first, Radford an alternative
7 of 14 modelsRadford was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Perplexity SonarPayscale alternatives: Pave, Ravio, SalaryCube
Grok 4.20Payscale alternatives: Pave, Ravio, Salary.com CompAnalyst
DeepSeek V4 FlashPayscale alternatives: Mercer Benchmark Database, Pave, Ravio, SalaryCube
Kimi K2Payscale alternatives: Mercer Total Remuneration Survey, Pave, Radford, Salary.com CompAnalyst
MiniMax M2.5CompAnalyst, Payscale alternatives: Pave
GPT-6 LunaPayscale alternatives: Pave
Muse Glimmer 30BPayscale alternatives: CompAnalyst, Comprehensive.io, Pave, Salary.com CompAnalyst, SalaryCube
Neither was the first choice, one was named
4 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Gemini 3.5 FlashPave alternatives: Carta Total Compensation, Payscale, Salary.com CompAnalyst
Mistral SmallPave alternatives: Mercer Total Remuneration Survey, Payscale
Llama 4 MaverickSalaryCube alternatives: Mercer Total Remuneration Survey, Pave, Payscale
Qwen 3.7 FlashComprehensive.io alternatives: Figures, Pave, Payscale, Salary.com CompAnalyst
Neither was named
3 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Claude Haiku 4.5Pave, SalaryCube alternatives: CompUp, OpenComp, Payscale Ascent
GPT-5.4 miniSalary.com CompAnalyst alternatives: Compensation-IQ, Pave, Payscale Ascent
GLM 4.7 FlashXFigures, SalaryCube Comp Planning alternatives: Pave, Salary.com CompAnalyst
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
Payscale leads by twelve points.
Payscale12%#2 of 10Radford0%#10 of 10
The full small business standing →Mid-marketThe figures above
Enterprise
Level: the same share of first choices.
Payscale5%#5 of 9Radford5%#4 of 9
The full enterprise standing →What the models said about Payscale
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of six in this category shown.
“Data self-reported by employees (e.g., Glassdoor, Payscale). This is often inflated, noisy, and difficult to verify” Gemini 3.5 Flash · scale prompt · soft negative
“Best for: Growing companies ready to invest in compensation infrastructure” MiniMax M2.5 · budget prompt · soft negative
“full benchmarking requires subscriptions (avoid if budget is tight)” Grok 4.20 · budget prompt · soft negative
“Payscale for broad mid-market coverage ... Payscale Knowledge / Payscale. Real-time data with survey sourcing and broad job family coverage.” Muse Glimmer 30B · direct prompt · first choice
“Most mid-market companies find that Payscale strikes the best balance of cost, coverage, and functionality” Kimi K2 · direct prompt · first choice
“Payscale (or Payscale + CompAnalyst) – Strongest overall fit for most mid-sized B2B companies” Grok 4.20 · paraphrase prompt · first choice
What the models said about Radford
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of seven in this category shown.
“Providers to avoid or use carefully include: - Mercer, Willis Towers Watson (WTW), and Radford when the budget is tight” Muse Glimmer 30B · negative prompt · hard negative
“Avoid for Mid-Market: Radford (Aon), Mercer, or Willis Towers Watson” Grok 4.20 · direct prompt · hard negative
“Large vendors (like Radford) rely on hundreds of massive companies to build benchmarks... avoid the heavy enterprise platforms unless you have a dedicated Compensation Manager” Qwen 3.7 Flash · scale prompt · soft negative
“Radford provides deep traditional global enterprise data; Pave offers real-time API integrations” Gemini 3.5 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
“It is widely considered the gold standard for tech and SaaS.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“Radford excels in private company data (including VC/PE-backed firms) and has massive participation” Grok 4.20 · paraphrase prompt · alternative
Also compared
Payscale vs PavePayscale vs Comprehensive.ioPayscale vs Salary.com CompAnalystPayscale vs GlassdoorPayscale vs Mercer Total Remuneration SurveyPayscale vs Willis Towers WatsonPave vs RadfordComprehensive.io vs RadfordSalary.com CompAnalyst vs RadfordGlassdoor vs RadfordMercer Total Remuneration Survey vs RadfordRadford vs Willis Towers WatsonAll twenty-eight head-to-head pages and the full compensation benchmarkin 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.