# Contractor payments for small business buyers: what AI models recommend, October 2026

Finance AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition. Asked as "contractor payments and 1099 platform" and as "freelancer payout software", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of a small B2B company. Page: https://finance-ai-index.com/spend/contractor-payments/smb/

**Standing:** Gusto leads with 42% of first choices; verdict clear leader. 59 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| # | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gusto | 42% | 3% | 65 |
| 2 | Square Payroll | 10% | 6% | 17 |
| 3 | Deel | 8% | 4% | 46 |
| 4 | QuickBooks Contractor Payments | 8% | 0% | 26 |
| 5 | Wise Business | 5% | 4% | 26 |
| 6 | Melio | 5% | 25% | 12 |
| 7 | Rippling | 2% | 26% | 19 |
| 8 | BILL | 2% | 26% | 19 |
| 9 | Payoneer Workforce Management | 2% | 33% | 12 |
| 10 | Remote | 0% | 16% | 25 |
| 11 | Wingspan | 0% | 0% | 13 |
| 12 | Tipalti | 0% | 27% | 11 |

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: Gusto; alternatives QuickBooks Contractor Payments, Tipalti, Wingspan
- GPT-5.4 mini: Gusto; alternatives Gusto Embedded
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Gusto; alternatives Deel, Relay, Tax1099, Wingspan
- Perplexity Sonar: Gusto, QuickBooks Contractor Payments; alternatives Deel, Square Payroll, Wise Business
- Grok 4.1 Fast: Gusto; alternatives Deel, Justworks, Rippling
- Mistral Small: Gusto, QuickBooks Contractor Payments; alternatives Deel, Tipalti
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Gusto; alternatives Deel, QuickBooks Contractor Payments
- Llama 4 Maverick: no first choice
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: BILL; alternatives Gusto, QuickBooks Online
- Kimi K2: Gusto; alternatives BILL, Deel, Justworks, Melio
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Gusto; alternatives Deel, QuickBooks Online, Remote, Tax1099
- MiniMax M2.5: QuickBooks Payroll; alternatives Deel, Gusto, Square Payroll
- GPT-6 Luna: Melio Core; alternatives Gusto, Tax1099
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Gusto; alternatives Deel, OnPay, QuickBooks Contractor Payments, QuickBooks Payroll

## Sources the answers cite

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

- learn.g2.com: 45 answers, 47 citations
- gusto.com: 35 answers, 60 citations
- wingspan.app: 32 answers, 38 citations
- worksuite.com: 32 answers, 35 citations
- guideflow.com: 28 answers, 29 citations
- wise.com: 25 answers, 35 citations
- slash.com: 25 answers, 25 citations
- deel.com: 24 answers, 50 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://learn.g2.com/best-contractor-payment-software (44 answers)
- https://wingspan.app/articles/best-contractor-payroll-services (32 answers)
- https://worksuite.com/resources/insights/best-contractor-payment-software (29 answers)
- https://slash.com/blog/best-contractor-payment-software (23 answers)
- https://guideflow.com/blog/contractor-payment-software (21 answers)
- https://joinhomebase.com/blog/payroll-software-contractors (21 answers)
- https://gusto.com/resources/guides/best-contractor-payroll-software (16 answers)
- https://remote.com/blog/payroll/best-contractor-payment-tools (15 answers)
- https://wisemonk.io/blogs/payroll-services-for-contractors (14 answers)
- https://quickbooks.intuit.com/payroll/contractor-payments (13 answers)

## Warned against

- PayPal MassPay: 11 of 12 labels negative. "Platforms to be cautious about (with specific reasons)1. PayPal (for contractor payouts specifically) - High fees ... Account freezes/holds" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt)
- Venmo: 6 of 6 labels negative. "most cautious about payment platforms that create tax, compliance, fraud, or tracking problems—especially cash, ad hoc bank wires, and consumer P2P apps like Venmo, Cash App" (Perplexity Sonar, negative prompt)
- Cash App: 4 of 4 labels negative. "riskier for business use because of refund difficulty, weak tracking, and tax-record complications" (Perplexity Sonar, negative prompt)
- BILL: 5 of 19 labels negative. "small businesses should approach with extreme caution or consider avoiding... Bill.com has seen a significant shift in negative sentiment recently" (Qwen 3.7 Flash, negative prompt)

## Movement since September 2026

Floor: 10 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: Gusto at 43%.

- Gusto: 59% to 43%, −15. Cleared the floor by 5 points · rank 1 of 78, unchanged.
- Deel: 0% to 9%, +9. Inside the floor by 1 point · rank 13 → 3 of 78.
- Wingspan: 4% to 0%, −4. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 4 → 19 of 78.
- Wise Business: 2% to 6%, +3. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 7 → 5 of 78.
- QuickBooks Contractor Payments: 4% to 8%, +3. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 3 → 4 of 78.
- BILL: 4% to 2%, −2. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 5 → 9 of 78.
- Rippling: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 15 → 6 of 78.
- Melio: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 16 → 11 of 78.
- Payoneer Workforce Management: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 29 → 17 of 78.
- Square Payroll: 11% to 11%, ±0. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 2 of 78, unchanged.
- Remote: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 14 → 18 of 78.
- Tipalti: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 19 → 24 of 78.

## Record

- Method: https://finance-ai-index.com/methodology/
- Raw judge labels and full responses: https://finance-ai-index.com/data/
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Finance AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition, finance-ai-index.com.