# Wave Payroll: how AI models rank it, October 2026

Finance AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition. Named in 4 judge labels across 1 categories by 4 of 14 models. Page: https://finance-ai-index.com/vendors/wave-payroll/

## Standing by category

| Category | Share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contractor payments | 0% | 78 | 50% | 4 |

## What the models said for it

- "2nd Place: Wave Payroll (Best if you also want free accounting)" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, Contractor payments)

## And against it

- "Caveat: More manual work required; best for very small operations with few contractors." (Kimi K2, Contractor payments)
- "Wave - More SMB-focused" (MiniMax M2.5, Contractor payments)

## Movement since September 2026

Floor: 10 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat. A larger change is movement; a smaller one is noise.

- Contractor payments: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 41 → 78 of 98.

## In its own words

What Wave Payroll's own pages state, read 2026-09-28. Stated by the vendor, not checked by the index.

- Positioning: Run payroll for employees or contractors with peace of mind (https://waveapps.com/)
- For: employees or contractors (https://waveapps.com/)
- Price stated: add-on from $25/month (https://www.waveapps.com/pricing)
- Starting price: 25 (https://www.waveapps.com/pricing)
- Certifications: Wave is a PCI-DSS Level 1 Service Provider
- Customers named: Joshua Nadler, Tatiyanna W., Eric Silverberg & Eli Gladstone, Robbie Katherine Anthony, Tru Williams, Dae, Troy Styke, Sarah Stockdale

## 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.