Index › HR › Compensation and total rewards › Earned wage access › Small business · September 2026 Edition
Earned wage access for small business buyers
Asked as “earned wage access provider”, and as “on-demand pay benefit”, on behalf of a small B2B company. 38 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, twelve models each.
Standing · first-choice share
55%
Clear leader
55ZayZoon16DailyPay16Tapcheck13others
55% of first choices, clear leader.
By buyer segment
The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment; they sit side by side and are never added together.
The standing
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, over all twelve models, for a small B2B company. Ordered by share.
ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrant
Show the two products at 0%, ordered by negative rate
Bars are the share of first choices, 0 to 100Every product with at least 10 labels here. Every product name links to its product page.
Head to headHead-to-head pages are published for mid-market buyers, so these open on mid-market figures, not small business.
All twenty-one head-to-head pages: the top seven products, each against each
Recommended versus criticized
Every product with at least 10 labels here, on both axes. The 30% line names a quadrant, not the verdict above: that one needs more than 40%.
Criticized challengerCriticized default
Negative label rate →
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08Accepted challengerEndorsed leader
0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative70%
Key
01ZayZoon55%
ZayZoon55%02Tapcheck16%
Tapcheck16%03DailyPay16%
DailyPay16%04Payactiv3%
Payactiv3%05Branch3%
Branch3%06EarnIn3%
EarnIn3%07Chime Workplace0%
Chime Workplace0%08Rain0%
Rain0%What they warned about
Three of twelve models held their first choice under the paraphrase. Claude Haiku 4.5, GPT-5.4 mini, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Perplexity Sonar, Mistral Small, Llama 4 Maverick, Qwen 3.7 Flash, GLM 4.7 FlashX and MiniMax M2.5 changed. A high negative share on a product with few labels is a warning. A low share on a product with many labels is salience, not sentiment.
EarnIn46%
13 of 28 labels negative · 10 of 12 models · 8 hard negative
“Providers to Approach with High Caution or Avoid: - EarnIn (primarily direct-to-consumer/D2C model)... Not ideal for controlled SMB payrolls.” Grok 4.20, negative prompt
MoneyLion – Instacash100%
9 of 9 labels negative · 9 of 12 models · 6 hard negative
“Verdict: Avoid. Do not promote, mention, or partner with any D2C cash-advance app that isn't integrated with your payroll.” DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt
DailyPay41%
17 of 41 labels negative · 8 of 12 models · 5 hard negative
“Verdict: Avoid. The company is actively fighting the suit, but the reputational and legal risk is not worth it for a small business.” DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt
Brigit
100%
6 of 6 labels negative · 6 of 12 models · 5 hard negative
“Why small businesses should avoid: Brigit markets to employees directly, but the legal exposure and predatory pricing model create significant compliance and ethical concerns.” Kimi K2, negative prompt
What they cite
Twelve of the twelve models returned a source list in this edition: four return the pages they cited and eight the search results they consulted.
Sites the answers cite
66 of 72 answers in this category came back with a source list, from 12 of 12 models: citations where the model returns them, or the search results it consulted. 1029 links across 203 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page.
vendor site · Guideflow48 answers · 49 citations · 12 models
46 answers · 62 citations · 12 models
34 answers · 37 citations · 11 models
vendor site · DailyPay27 answers · 42 citations · 12 models
vendor site · G224 answers · 49 citations · 9 models
24 answers · 24 citations · 9 models
vendor site · Tapcheck21 answers · 45 citations · 9 models
20 answers · 24 citations · 8 models
18 answers · 20 citations · 9 models
vendor site · ZayZoon17 answers · 34 citations · 7 models
17 answers · 24 citations · 6 models
17 answers · 17 citations · 10 models
Pages the answers cite
The ten pages named in the most answers, by full address. A page here is one the models returned with a recommendation, not one the index endorses.
47 answers · 12 models
44 answers · 12 models
34 answers · 11 models
23 answers · 9 models
20 answers · 8 models
18 answers · 9 models
17 answers · 10 models
15 answers · 9 models
14 answers · 7 models
14 answers · 6 models
Search against answers
Each company's standing in the answers beside its site's footprint in Google search, one row a site: the products the models named on it with their shares, and the share they add up to; monthly searches on Google, and DataForSEO's estimate of AI search demand (modeled from search signals, directional, not a count of queries to any assistant), for the most-searched of the company's and its products' names (the name is in each row's hover text); estimated monthly organic visits to the site; and its best position in Google's top ten for “best earned wage access provider”, “earned wage access provider”, “earned wage access providers”. US estimates from DataForSEO and Google's Ads Transparency Center. A small company's site, or a mid-sized company's site for its flagship, is marked company; a product on a large parent's site (Google, Microsoft) has no site figures. A column with no figures for this category is left out, and an empty cell means none were seen, not none exist. Two measurements side by side: neither is read as the cause of the other.
| Company and products | Share | Own site cited | Name searches, Google | AI search demand, est. | Organic visits | Paid search a month, est. | Google ads, last 30 days | Best Google position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ZayZoon zayzoon.com | 55% | 167 | 90,500 | 304 | 39,895 | 1 | ||
| Tapcheck tapcheck.com | 16% | 134 | 22,200 | 420 | 45,032 | 16 | 7 | |
| DailyPay dailypay.com | 16% | 216 | 165,000 | 3,329 | 213,488 | $2,108 | 56 | 2 |
| Payactiv payactiv.com | 3% | 208 | 110,000 | 700 | 92,054 | $231 | 13 | 3 |
| Branch branchapp.com | 3% | 66 | 60,500 | 203,933 | 45,620 | 8 | 8 | |
| Clair getclair.com | 3% | 16 | 12,100 | 91,260 | 6,711 | |||
| Gusto gusto.com Gusto Wallet 3% | 3% | 10 | 673,000 | 10,560 | 1,629,483 company | 118 | ||
| EarnIn earnin.com | 3% | 53 | 90,500 | 1,682 | 181,128 | 83 | ||
| Chime Workplace chime.com | 0% | 44 | 320 | 1 | 1,490,450 | $409,615 | 120 | 1 |
| Rain rainapp.com | 0% | 95 | 246,000 | 376,115 | 6,438 | 17 |
Google's top ten for the three searches hold 12 sites; 3 of them are among the sites the models cited here (dailypay.com, enterprise.chime.com, tapcheck.com). The first result for “best earned wage access provider” is enterprise.chime.com.
How they answered
Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.ShowHide
How they answered
Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.
ShowHideModelDirect“What is the best earned wage access provider for a small B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which on-demand pay benefit would you recommend to a small business that sells to other businesses?”Comparative“What are the top earned wage access providers for a small team and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best earned wage access provider for a small company with a tight budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 30 person company evaluating an earned wage access provider. What should we look at?”Negative“Which earned wage access providers should a small business avoid or be cautious about?”
Claude Haiku 4.5Payactivno first choiceChangedZayZoonZayZoonno first choiceagainst: EarnIn
Two alternatives
GoDo, TapcheckThree alternatives
DailyPay, Payactiv, TapcheckTwo alternatives
DailyPay, TapcheckGPT-5.4 miniZayZoonagainst: EarnInDailyPayChangedDailyPay, PayactivTapcheckno first choicenothing named
Two alternatives
Rain, TapcheckOne alternative
PayactivTwo alternatives
Payactiv, ZayZoonGemini 3.5 FlashTapcheckClair, ZayZoonChangedClairZayZoonno first choiceagainst: Payactivagainst: Brigit, Cleo, DailyPay, Dave, EarnIn, MoneyLion – Instacash, Tilt
Five alternatives
Clair, Gusto Wallet, Immediate, Payactiv, ZayZoonOne alternative
TapcheckThree alternatives
Payactiv, Tapcheck, ZayZoonThree alternatives
Clair, Payactiv, TapcheckOne alternative
ZayZoonPerplexity SonarZayZoonDailyPayChangedZayZoonZayZoonno first choiceagainst: Brigit, DailyPay, Dave, EarnIn, Empower, MoneyLion – Instacash
Three alternatives
Branch, Gusto Wallet, TapcheckThree alternatives
EarnIn, Payactiv, TapcheckTwo alternatives
Branch, EarnInGrok 4.20ZayZoonagainst: DailyPay, EarnIn, PayactivZayZoonHeldTapcheck, ZayZoonagainst: DailyPayEarnInagainst: DailyPayTapcheckagainst: EarnInagainst: DailyPay, EarnIn, MoneyLion – Instacash
Two alternatives
Clair, TapcheckThree alternatives
DailyPay, Payactiv, TapcheckThree alternatives
Chime Workplace, Clair, PayactivFour alternatives
Chime Workplace, Rain, Tapcheck, ZayZoonFive alternatives
Branch, Chime Workplace, DailyPay, Payactiv, RainMistral SmallBranch, ZayZoonno first choiceChangedZayZoonZayZoonno first choiceagainst: Brigit, Dave, EarnIn, Empower, MoneyLion – Instacash
One alternative
Juice FinancialTwo alternatives
EarnIn, Juice FinancialDeepSeek V4 FlashZayZoonZayZoonHeldagainst: DailyPayZayZoonagainst: DailyPayZayZoonagainst: DailyPay, Rainno first choiceagainst: Branch, Brigit, DailyPay, Dave, EarnIn, MoneyLion – Instacash, Payactiv
Two alternatives
Payactiv, TapcheckThree alternatives
Branch, Payactiv, TapcheckTwo alternatives
Payactiv, TapcheckOne alternative
TapcheckLlama 4 MaverickZayZoonDailyPayChangedZayZoonZayZoonno first choicenothing named
Three alternatives
DailyPay, EarnIn, PayactivFour alternatives
Chime Workplace, EarnIn, Juice Financial, TapcheckQwen 3.7 FlashGusto WalletDailyPayChangedTapcheck, ZayZoonZayZoonno first choiceagainst: DailyPay, MoneyLion – Instacash
Five alternatives
Immediate, Modern EWA, Rain, Tapcheck, ZayZoonTwo alternatives
Even, Gainful / Rain TechnologiesFour alternatives
Chime Workplace, DailyPay, EarnIn, PayactivTwo alternatives
DailyPay, TapcheckKimi K2ZayZoonagainst: DailyPay, EarnIn, RainZayZoonHeldTapcheck, ZayZoonZayZoonno first choiceagainst: Brigit, DailyPay, Dave, EarnIn, MoneyLion – Instacash
Three alternatives
Branch, Payactiv, TapcheckOne alternative
EarnInFour alternatives
Branch, DailyPay, EarnIn, PayactivTwo alternatives
Branch, DailyPayGLM 4.7 FlashXTapcheckagainst: DailyPayDailyPayChangedTapcheck, ZayZoonagainst: DailyPayTapcheckno first choiceagainst: Brigit, DailyPay, EarnIn, MoneyLion – Instacash
Three alternatives
Chime Workplace, Payactiv, ZayZoonOne alternative
PayactivThree alternatives
Branch, EarnIn, PayactivTwo alternatives
Chime Workplace, ZayZoonMiniMax M2.5ZayZoonDailyPayChangedTapcheck, ZayZoonTapcheck, ZayZoonno first choiceagainst: DailyPay, EarnIn, MoneyLion – Instacash
Two alternatives
Branch, EarnInTwo alternatives
EarnIn, PayactivFour alternatives
Branch, DailyPay, EarnIn, PayactivThree alternatives
Clair, DailyPay, EarnInBold is the first choiceAlternatives are counted; the count opens them.What the answer argued against
The record
One row per call: the version string exactly as returned, whether the model searched, sources cited, and latency.
Seventy-two rows: every prompt, every model, every answer.
| Prompt | Model | Version string | Time (UTC) | Searched | Sources | Latency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct recommendation | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-09-17 18:07 | yes | 9 | 7 s |
| Direct recommendation | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-17 21:41 | yes | 4 | 7 s |
| Direct recommendation | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-17 18:58 | yes | 12 | 21 s |
| Direct recommendation | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-17 18:51 | yes | 20 | 20 s |
| Direct recommendation | Grok 4.20 | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex (asked for grok-4.20-non-reasoning; the API answered as this version) | 2026-09-17 20:55 | yes | 26 | 22 s |
| Direct recommendation | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-17 18:22 | yes | 16 | 12 s |
| Direct recommendation | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks | 2026-09-17 20:54 | yes | 10 | 19 s |
| Direct recommendation | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-17 19:10 | yes | 5 | 3 s |
| Direct recommendation | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-17 18:12 | yes | 7 | 36 s |
| Direct recommendation | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-17 17:57 | yes | 26 | 34 s |
| Direct recommendation | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-17 17:55 | yes | 29 | 34 s |
| Direct recommendation | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-17 19:18 | yes | 21 | 32 s |
| Paraphrase | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-09-17 19:50 | no | 0 | 5 s |
| Paraphrase | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-17 21:05 | yes | 2 | 4 s |
| Paraphrase | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-17 21:58 | yes | 16 | 54 s |
| Paraphrase | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-17 18:05 | yes | 20 | 5 s |
| Paraphrase | Grok 4.20 | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex (asked for grok-4.20-non-reasoning; the API answered as this version) | 2026-09-17 19:56 | yes | 32 | 17 s |
| Paraphrase | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-17 19:31 | yes | 5 | 4 s |
| Paraphrase | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks | 2026-09-17 21:09 | yes | 21 | 30 s |
| Paraphrase | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-17 20:59 | yes | 5 | 3 s |
| Paraphrase | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-17 20:36 | yes | 5 | 41 s |
| Paraphrase | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-17 20:12 | yes | 10 | 17 s |
| Paraphrase | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-17 18:19 | yes | 24 | 130 s |
| Paraphrase | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-17 21:36 | yes | 18 | 63 s |
| Comparative | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-09-17 19:27 | yes | 12 | 11 s |
| Comparative | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-17 20:45 | yes | 6 | 8 s |
| Comparative | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-17 22:06 | yes | 21 | 53 s |
| Comparative | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-17 21:46 | yes | 16 | 9 s |
| Comparative | Grok 4.20 | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex (asked for grok-4.20-non-reasoning; the API answered as this version) | 2026-09-17 21:46 | yes | 16 | 14 s |
| Comparative | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-17 19:22 | yes | 18 | 11 s |
| Comparative | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks | 2026-09-17 19:32 | yes | 25 | 36 s |
| Comparative | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-17 20:17 | yes | 5 | 3 s |
| Comparative | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-17 18:29 | yes | 7 | 45 s |
| Comparative | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-17 19:41 | yes | 24 | 41 s |
| Comparative | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-17 19:52 | yes | 15 | 32 s |
| Comparative | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-17 20:42 | yes | 5 | 20 s |
| Budget constrained | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-09-17 20:24 | yes | 15 | 9 s |
| Budget constrained | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-17 20:42 | yes | 4 | 6 s |
| Budget constrained | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-17 19:42 | yes | 15 | 21 s |
| Budget constrained | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-17 20:43 | yes | 20 | 5 s |
| Budget constrained | Grok 4.20 | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex (asked for grok-4.20-non-reasoning; the API answered as this version) | 2026-09-17 20:47 | yes | 35 | 18 s |
| Budget constrained | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-17 19:58 | yes | 5 | 6 s |
| Budget constrained | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks | 2026-09-17 20:54 | yes | 28 | 26 s |
| Budget constrained | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-17 18:27 | yes | 5 | 2 s |
| Budget constrained | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-17 19:35 | yes | 9 | 17 s |
| Budget constrained | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-17 18:20 | yes | 15 | 33 s |
| Budget constrained | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-17 18:13 | yes | 28 | 45 s |
| Budget constrained | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-17 19:25 | yes | 8 | 21 s |
| Scale constrained | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-09-17 20:24 | no | 0 | 6 s |
| Scale constrained | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-17 18:48 | no | 0 | 9 s |
| Scale constrained | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-17 20:11 | yes | 18 | 22 s |
| Scale constrained | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-17 20:16 | yes | 20 | 9 s |
| Scale constrained | Grok 4.20 | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex (asked for grok-4.20-non-reasoning; the API answered as this version) | 2026-09-17 19:25 | yes | 20 | 12 s |
| Scale constrained | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-17 19:07 | no | 0 | 5 s |
| Scale constrained | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks | 2026-09-17 19:41 | yes | 15 | 24 s |
| Scale constrained | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-17 21:34 | yes | 5 | 3 s |
| Scale constrained | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-17 19:09 | no | 0 | 29 s |
| Scale constrained | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-17 21:39 | yes | 15 | 26 s |
| Scale constrained | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-17 20:01 | yes | 14 | 62 s |
| Scale constrained | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-17 20:37 | no | 0 | 8 s |
| Negative framing | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-09-17 20:51 | yes | 24 | 11 s |
| Negative framing | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-09-17 20:31 | yes | 3 | 6 s |
| Negative framing | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-09-17 22:00 | yes | 27 | 64 s |
| Negative framing | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-09-17 21:18 | yes | 20 | 9 s |
| Negative framing | Grok 4.20 | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex (asked for grok-4.20-non-reasoning; the API answered as this version) | 2026-09-17 19:17 | yes | 36 | 17 s |
| Negative framing | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-09-17 18:17 | yes | 5 | 7 s |
| Negative framing | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks | 2026-09-17 21:10 | yes | 24 | 41 s |
| Negative framing | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-09-17 21:32 | yes | 5 | 3 s |
| Negative framing | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-09-17 17:59 | yes | 9 | 42 s |
| Negative framing | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-09-17 20:11 | yes | 27 | 74 s |
| Negative framing | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-09-17 20:48 | yes | 27 | 97 s |
| Negative framing | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-09-17 18:03 | yes | 15 | 33 s |
Normalization in this category
Every judgment call made between the raw labels and the numbers above, listed so it is visible and reversible.
ShowHide
Category-scoped readings
ADP read as ADP Immediate Pay
CloudPay read as CloudPay NOW
Gusto read as Gusto Wallet
Juice (Juice Financial) read as Juice Financial
MoneyLion read as MoneyLion – Instacash
MoneyLion (MoneyLion Technologies) read as MoneyLion – Instacash
MoneyLion Technologies Inc. (and its "Instacash" product) read as MoneyLion – Instacash
Unresolved, counted raw
Gainful / Rain Technologies
GoDo
Modern EWA
Discontinued, still offered
No shut-down product was recommended here.