Modelocracy
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Best payroll software (buyer asking for advice)

We asked 10 models: We just hired our first few employees and need to run payroll. Which payroll software would you recommend? Each named its own top 10.

Asked 4 ways: List request · Buyer asking for advice · Search query · Worth paying for?. Share of voice pools every wording.

Agreement between models
75%
Same model, run twice
87%
Different picks
17

When agreement between models is well below a model's agreement with itself, the split reflects real differences in taste rather than randomness.

The consensus

Each cell is the position that model gave the pick; blank means it left the pick off. Click a row for each model's reasoning.

#PickScoreListed byClaude Haiku 5.5GPT-6 LunaGemini 4 ArgonQwen 3.8 FlashDeepSeek V4 ProGLM-5.3Kimi K3MiniMax M3Mistral Large 4Nemotron 3 Ultra

2 lower-scoring picks are not shown; every ballot below lists them in full.

Most divisive

Picks most models listed, at very different positions

Hot takes

Picks that appear on only one ballot

Every ballot

Hover a pick to find it on the other ballots. Marked picks appear on no other ballot.

Claude Haiku 5.5

  1. Gusto
  2. ADP Run
  3. Rippling
  4. QuickBooks Payroll
  5. Paychex
  6. Square Payroll
  7. Justworks
  8. OnPay
  9. Paycom
  10. Paycor

81% with consensus · 92% self-consistent

GPT-6 Luna

  1. Gusto
  2. ADP Run
  3. QuickBooks Payroll
  4. OnPay
  5. Rippling
  6. Patriot Payroll
  7. Square Payroll
  8. Paychex
  9. SurePayroll
  10. Wave Payroll

86% with consensus · 76% self-consistent

Gemini 4 Argon

  1. Gusto
  2. QuickBooks Payroll
  3. OnPay
  4. Rippling
  5. Square Payroll
  6. Patriot Payroll
  7. Justworks
  8. ADP Run
  9. Paychex
  10. Deel

84% with consensus · 83% self-consistent

Qwen 3.8 Flash

  1. Gusto
  2. QuickBooks Payroll
  3. ADP Run
  4. Rippling
  5. Paychex
  6. OnPay
  7. Square Payroll
  8. Paycor
  9. Zenefits
  10. Wave Payroll

94% with consensus · 90% self-consistent

DeepSeek V4 Pro

  1. Gusto
  2. QuickBooks Payroll
  3. OnPay
  4. Paychex
  5. ADP Run
  6. Patriot Payroll
  7. Rippling
  8. Square Payroll
  9. SurePayroll
  10. Wave Payroll

84% with consensus · 93% self-consistent

GLM-5.3

  1. Gusto
  2. QuickBooks Payroll
  3. Rippling
  4. ADP Run
  5. OnPay
  6. Paycor
  7. Patriot Payroll
  8. Square Payroll
  9. Justworks
  10. Paylocity

89% with consensus · 82% self-consistent

Kimi K3

  1. Gusto
  2. QuickBooks Payroll
  3. Rippling
  4. OnPay
  5. ADP Run
  6. Paychex
  7. Patriot Payroll
  8. Square Payroll
  9. Wave Payroll
  10. SurePayroll

91% with consensus · 87% self-consistent

MiniMax M3

  1. Gusto
  2. QuickBooks Payroll
  3. Wave Payroll
  4. Paychex
  5. ADP Run
  6. Square Payroll
  7. Justworks
  8. OnPay
  9. Zenefits
  10. Patriot Payroll

77% with consensus · 90% self-consistent

Mistral Large 4

  1. Gusto
  2. Deel
  3. ADP Run
  4. Rippling
  5. QuickBooks Payroll
  6. Paychex
  7. Justworks
  8. Wave Payroll
  9. BambooHR
  10. Paylocity

74% with consensus · 80% self-consistent

Nemotron 3 Ultra

  1. Gusto
  2. QuickBooks Payroll
  3. ADP Run
  4. Paychex
  5. Rippling
  6. OnPay
  7. Square Payroll
  8. Patriot Payroll
  9. SurePayroll
  10. BambooHR

93% with consensus · 94% self-consistent

Who agrees with whom

Overlap between two models' lists, weighted toward the top · 100 means identical · Color runs from 59 (lightest) to 93 (darkest)

Claude Haiku 5.5GPT-6 LunaGemini 4 ArgonQwen 3.8 FlashDeepSeek V4 ProGLM-5.3Kimi K3MiniMax M3Mistral Large 4Nemotron 3 Ultra
Claude Haiku 5.5827083687676707579
GPT-6 Luna827982827983666785
Gemini 4 Argon707979858386726078
Qwen 3.8 Flash838279828686787293
DeepSeek V4 Pro688285828089795988
GLM-5.3767983868090706583
Kimi K3768386868990756686
MiniMax M3706672787970756180
Mistral Large 4756760725965666169
Nemotron 3 Ultra798578938883868069