# Pay equity: what AI models recommend, October 2026

Gane Index, October 2026 Edition. Asked as "pay equity analysis software" and as "pay transparency compliance tool", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/rewards/pay-equity/2026-10

This is the permanent record of the October 2026 Edition, published October 1, 2026 and superseded since. The current standing: https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/rewards/pay-equity/index.md

**Standing:** Syndio (tied with PayAnalytics) leads with 12% of first choices; verdict contested. 56 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Syndio](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/syndio/index.md) | 12% | 27% | 45 |
| 2 | [PayAnalytics](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/payanalytics/index.md) | 12% | 4% | 24 |
| 3 | [Payscale](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/payscale/index.md) | 11% | 0% | 35 |
| 5 | [Figures](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/figures/index.md) | 7% | 7% | 15 |
| 7 | [Workleap Compensation](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/workleap-compensation/index.md) | 7% | 23% | 13 |
| 8 | [Pave](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/pave/index.md) | 5% | 19% | 16 |
| 9 | [Trusaic PayParity](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/trusaic-payparity/index.md) | 4% | 29% | 38 |
| 10 | [Aeqium](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/aeqium/index.md) | 4% | 17% | 12 |
| 13 | [beqom Pay Equity](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/beqom-pay-equity/index.md) | 4% | 45% | 20 |
| 14 | [OpenComp](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/opencomp/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 12 |
| 20 | [Ravio](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/ravio/index.md) | 0% | 0% | 13 |
| 21 | [Affirmity](https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/vendors/affirmity/index.md) | 0% | 8% | 13 |

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: Workleap Compensation; alternatives Compport, OpenComp, PayAnalytics, Payscale
- GPT-5.4 mini: Syndio; alternatives PayAnalytics, Trusaic PayParity
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: PayAnalytics; alternatives CandorIQ, Pequity, Syndio, Trusaic PayParity
- Perplexity Sonar: Aeqium; alternatives HiBob, Payscale, Salary.com Pay Equity, Workleap Compensation
- Grok 4.20: Workleap Compensation; alternatives Aeqium, HiBob, Payscale
- Mistral Small: Aeqium; alternatives Sysarb, Workleap Compensation
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: PayAnalytics; alternatives Compport, Payscale, Syndio
- Llama 4 Maverick: Workleap Compensation; alternatives Affirmity, Effy
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Pave; alternatives Payscale, Phodata, Workleap Compensation
- Kimi K2: PayAnalytics, Syndio; alternatives Payscale, Trusaic PayParity
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Syndio; alternatives Aeqium, Affirmity, Compport, Figures
- MiniMax M2.5: HiBob; alternatives Aeqium, Pave, Payscale, Workleap Compensation
- GPT-6 Luna: Payscale; alternatives Syndio, Trusaic PayParity
- Muse Glimmer 30B: PayAnalytics, beqom Pay Equity; alternatives Syndio, Trusaic PayParity

## Sources the answers cite

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

- peoplemanagingpeople.com: 60 answers, 95 citations
- effy.ai: 51 answers, 51 citations
- compensationtools.net: 38 answers, 42 citations
- guideflow.com: 34 answers, 35 citations
- worldmetrics.org: 32 answers, 49 citations
- gartner.com: 28 answers, 32 citations
- trusaic.com: 27 answers, 43 citations
- g2.com: 24 answers, 35 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://peoplemanagingpeople.com/tools/best-pay-equity-software (51 answers)
- https://effy.ai/blog/pay-equity-software (50 answers)
- https://peoplemanagingpeople.com/tools/best-ai-pay-equity-software (39 answers)
- https://compensationtools.net/best-pay-equity-software (37 answers)
- https://guideflow.com/blog/pay-equity-software (34 answers)
- https://gartner.com/reviews/market/pay-equity-software (27 answers)
- https://worldmetrics.org/best/pay-equity-software (26 answers)
- https://skima.ai/blog/product-deep-dives/best-pay-equity-software (18 answers)
- https://trusaic.com/resources/best-pay-equity-software (15 answers)
- https://hrtechsaas.com/blog/best-pay-equity-audit-software (12 answers)

## Warned against

- Syndio: 12 of 45 labels negative. "Small businesses should avoid enterprise-grade, complex tools like Syndio that demand dedicated rewards staff and quote-based pricing." (Llama 4 Maverick, negative prompt)
- Trusaic PayParity: 11 of 38 labels negative. "Enterprise-focused with quote-only pricing; ... overkill for most small companies." (DeepSeek V4 Flash, budget prompt)
- beqom Pay Equity: 9 of 20 labels negative. "Enterprise statistical audit giants (e.g., Syndio, Beqom, Trusaic) are highly robust but typically require custom enterprise contracts and significant implementation effort." (GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt)
- Deel Compensation/Pay Equity: 3 of 5 labels negative. "Lesser-known or smaller tools (e.g., Barley, Deel) may lack the depth required for enterprise-level analysis." (Mistral Small, negative prompt)

## Movement since September 2026

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

- Workleap Compensation: 2% to 9%, +7. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 11 → 5 of 67.
- Figures: 0% to 7%, +7. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 27 → 6 of 67.
- Payscale: 14% to 9%, −5. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 2 → 4 of 67.
- OpenComp: 7% to 2%, −5. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 5 → 13 of 67.
- Syndio: 17% to 13%, −4. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 1 of 67, unchanged.
- PayAnalytics: 14% to 11%, −3. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 3 → 2 of 67.
- Pave: 10% to 7%, −3. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 4 → 7 of 67.
- Trusaic PayParity: 5% to 2%, −3. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 6 → 12 of 67.
- Aeqium: 2% to 4%, +2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 10 → 9 of 67.
- beqom Pay Equity: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 21 → 18 of 67.
- Ravio: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 12 → 19 of 67.
- Affirmity: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 13 points · rank 29 → 20 of 67.

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/hr/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, October 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/hr.