Contract lifecycle management and e-signature · October 2026 Edition
Ironclad vs Zoho Contracts
Five of fourteen models named Ironclad first on the direct prompt; zero named Zoho Contracts. Ironclad was named by fourteen of the fourteen models and Zoho Contracts by ten and Ironclad carries 59 labels and Zoho Contracts 12, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in one category this edition.
Named in one category this edition.
First-choice share15%8%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate20%8%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#4#5A position in a field of 15; printed, not drawn.
Labels5912A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Ironclad reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Juro was named alongside these two in nine of the fourteen direct answers. PandaDoc vs Ironclad · PandaDoc vs Zoho Contracts · Concord vs Ironclad
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the contract lifecycle management and e-signature page.
By framing
How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
IroncladFirst choices, of fourteen modelsZoho Contracts
Direct50
Paraphrase104 against Ironclad
Comparative60
Budget-constrained043 against Ironclad
Scale-constrained20
Negative105 against Ironclad · 1 against Zoho Contracts
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Ironclad and Zoho Contracts stood in it.
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | | | | |||
| GPT-5.4 mini | | | | |||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | | | | |
| Perplexity Sonar | | | | |||
| Grok 4.1 Fast | | | | | | |
| Mistral Small | | | | | | |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | | | | |
| Llama 4 Maverick | ||||||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | | | | | |
| Kimi K2 | | | | | | |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | | | | ||
| MiniMax M2.5 | | | | |||
| GPT-6 Luna | | | | | ||
| Muse Glimmer 30B | | | | |
Ironclad Zoho Contracts first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Ironclad on the left and Zoho Contracts on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Ironclad and Zoho Contracts stood in it.
Ironclad first, Zoho Contracts not the choice
5 of 14 modelsZoho Contracts was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.GPT-5.4 miniIronclad alternatives: Conga CLM, DocuSign CLM
Gemini 3.5 FlashIronclad alternatives: Gatekeeper, Juro, LinkSquares
Grok 4.1 FastIronclad alternatives: Concord, Juro
MiniMax M2.5Concord, Ironclad, Juro alternatives: DocuSign CLM, PandaDoc
Muse Glimmer 30BIronclad alternatives: Agiloft, Concord
Neither was the first choice, one was named
6 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Claude Haiku 4.5Concord alternatives: Ironclad, LinkSquares
Perplexity SonarJuro alternatives: Ironclad, Oneflow
Mistral SmallConcord alternatives: Conga CLM, Ironclad
Qwen 3.7 FlashJuro alternatives: Ironclad, PandaDoc
Kimi K2DocuSign CLM alternatives: Concord, Ironclad, LinkSquares
GPT-6 LunaJuro alternatives: Ironclad, LinkSquares, SpotDraft
Neither was named
3 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.DeepSeek V4 FlashJuro alternatives: Concord, DocuSign CLM, LinkSquares, PandaDoc
Llama 4 MaverickJuro alternatives: Conga CLM, Oneflow
GLM 4.7 FlashXJuro alternatives: Concord, PandaDoc
Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
By buyer segment
The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Zoho Contracts leads by five points.
Zoho Contracts7%#3 of 14Ironclad2%#10 of 14Mid-marketThe figures above
The order flips: Ironclad leads at mid-market.
Ironclad15%#4 of 15Zoho Contracts8%#5 of 15Enterprise
Ironclad leads by eighteen points.
Ironclad18%#2 of 14Zoho Contracts0%#– of 14What the models said about Ironclad
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“Avoid vendors like Ironclad, Agiloft, Icertis, and ContractPodAI if budget predictability matters” Kimi K2 · budget prompt · hard negative
“Avoid if you need granular security: Ironclad (current security gaps).” GLM 4.7 FlashX · negative prompt · hard negative
“Enterprise suites with long implementations and premium pricing: platforms like Ironclad, DocuSign CLM, Conga, Icertis, and Sirion can be the wrong fit” Perplexity Sonar · negative prompt · soft negative
“aim for mid-market tools like Ironclad, Conga CLM, LinkSquares, Sirion, Agiloft, or SpotDraft... Ironclad/Conga: Workflow-first, Salesforce-heavy, great for sales/legal speed.” Grok 4.1 Fast · scale prompt · first choice
“Ironclad - AI-powered drafting, workflow automation, strong Salesforce integration. Best for mid-market to enterprise legal/sales teams” Grok 4.1 Fast · comparative prompt · first choice
“Most enterprise buyers shortlist Icertis (for AI/governance), Ironclad (for workflow UX), and Sirion” DeepSeek V4 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
What the models said about Zoho Contracts
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Four of five in this category shown.
“Adoption issues — counterparties reportedly prefer negotiating outside the platform” DeepSeek V4 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“Zoho Contracts offers the most affordable entry point at $30 per user per month with native e-signatures included” Claude Haiku 4.5 · budget prompt · first choice
“For a genuinely limited budget, I'd start with Zoho Contracts.” GPT-6 Luna · budget prompt · first choice
“Zoho Contracts — Best Overall Budget Option” MiniMax M2.5 · budget prompt · first choice
Also compared
PandaDoc vs IroncladPandaDoc vs Zoho ContractsConcord vs IroncladConcord vs Zoho ContractsJuro vs IroncladJuro vs Zoho ContractsIronclad vs DocuSign CLMIronclad vs DocuSignIronclad vs Conga CLMZoho Contracts vs DocuSign CLMZoho Contracts vs DocuSignZoho Contracts vs Conga CLMAll twenty-eight head-to-head pages and the full CLM standing
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.