Index › Revenue operations › September 2026 Edition

Sales commissions and incentive compensation

Asked as “sales commission management platform”, and as “incentive compensation management tool”, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. 51 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, twelve models each.

Standing

Everstage

Contested

25% of first choices, contested.

ShowinginAll 73 categories in the September 2026 Edition →

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment; they sit side by side and are never added together.

Small business

QuotaPath54%Clear leaderStanding →Mid-market

Everstage25%ContestedThis page Enterprise

CaptivateIQ17%ContestedStanding →

01The standing

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, over all twelve models, for a mid-market B2B company. Ordered by share.

ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrant

Everstage4%49accepted challenger

CaptivateIQ18%57accepted challenger

Qobra0%41accepted challenger

Commissionly8%12accepted challenger

Sales Cookie9%11accepted challenger

QuotaPath6%47accepted challenger

Performio6%36accepted challenger

Visdum9%23accepted challenger

Show the five products at 0%, ordered by negative rate

Xactly59%22criticized challenger

Varicent47%17criticized challenger

Xactly Incent35%17criticized challenger

Salesforce Spiff23%47accepted challenger

Centify0%10accepted challenger

Bars are the share of first choices, 0 to 100Every product with at least 10 labels here. Every product name links to its vendor page.

Head to head

Everstage vs CaptivateIQ Everstage vs Qobra CaptivateIQ vs Qobra

Recommended versus criticized

Every product with at least 10 labels here, on both axes. The 30% line names a quadrant, not the verdict above: that one needs more than 40%.

Criticized challengerCriticized default

Negative label rate →

Accepted challengerEndorsed leader

0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative40%

Key

Everstage25%

CaptivateIQ24%

Qobra18%

Commissionly14%

Sales Cookie8%

QuotaPath4%

Performio4%

Visdum2%

Salesforce Spiff0%

Centify0%

Xactly Incent0%

Varicent0%

Xactly0%

02What they warned about

Three of twelve models held their first choice under the paraphrase. Claude Haiku 4.5, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Perplexity Sonar, Grok 4.1 Fast, Mistral Small, DeepSeek V4 Flash, Llama 4 Maverick, Qwen 3.7 Flash and MiniMax M2.5 changed. A high negative share on a product with few labels is a warning. A low share on a product with many labels is salience, not sentiment.

Salesforce Spiff

23%

11 of 47 labels negative · 8 of 12 models · 2 hard negative

“Salesforce used as a commission engine is specifically called out as a poor fit for complex commission calculation” Perplexity Sonar, negative prompt

CaptivateIQ

18%

10 of 57 labels negative · 7 of 12 models · 4 hard negative

“**Avoid enterprise platforms** like Xactly, SAP Commissions, CaptivateIQ” Perplexity Sonar, budget prompt

Xactly

59%

13 of 22 labels negative · 7 of 12 models · 2 hard negative

“High Caution**... **Best avoided by**: Mid-market companies, teams without dedicated compensation analysts” Kimi K2, negative prompt

SAP Commissions

71%

5 of 7 labels negative · 5 of 12 models · 2 hard negative

“**Best avoided by**: Non-SAP shops, smaller organizations, teams wanting quick implementation” Kimi K2, negative prompt

03What they cite

Citations exist only for the models that return a source list: four of the twelve in this edition, and all six flagship models on the expanded tier.

Sites the answers cite

23 of 72 answers in this category came back with a source list, from 4 of 12 models: citations where the model returns them, or the search results it consulted. 6 of those lists are Google grounding redirects that name no site and are left out of the counts. 199 links across 67 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page. The other 8 models searched through a gateway that returned no source list on this edition.

qobra.co

vendor site · Qobra11 answers · 25 citations · 3 models

everstage.com

vendor site · Everstage11 answers · 23 citations · 3 models

captivateiq.com

vendor site · CaptivateIQ10 answers · 17 citations · 3 models

visdum.com

vendor site · Visdum7 answers · 11 citations · 3 models

guideflow.com

vendor site · Guideflow7 answers · 9 citations · 2 models

getcentify.com

6 answers · 7 citations · 2 models

learn.g2.com

6 answers · 6 citations · 2 models

quotapath.com

vendor site · QuotaPath5 answers · 8 citations · 2 models

forma.ai

vendor site · Forma.ai5 answers · 7 citations · 2 models

technologyadvice.com

5 answers · 5 citations · 3 models

croclub.com

4 answers · 4 citations · 2 models

g2.com

4 answers · 4 citations · 3 models

Pages the answers cite

The ten pages named in the most answers, by full address. A page here is one the models returned with a recommendation, not one the index endorses.

everstage.com/10-best-sales-commission-software

9 answers · 2 models

qobra.co/blog/top-sales-commission-tools

8 answers · 2 models

getcentify.com/best-sales-commission-software

6 answers · 2 models

learn.g2.com/best-sales-compensation-software

6 answers · 2 models

captivateiq.com/blog/best-sales-compensation-software

4 answers · 1 model

captivateiq.com/blog/incentive-compensation-management-software

4 answers · 3 models

croclub.com/tools/best-sales-commission-software

4 answers · 2 models

everstage.com/10-best-commission-management-software

4 answers · 2 models

forma.ai/resources/article/commissions-software

4 answers · 2 models

guideflow.com/blog/sales-commission-software

4 answers · 1 model

04How they answered

Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.

ModelDirect“What is the best sales commission management platform for a mid-market B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which incentive compensation management tool would you recommend to a mid-sized B2B company?”Comparative“What are the top sales commission management platforms and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best sales commission management platform for a company with a limited budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 500 person company evaluating a sales commission management platform. What should we look at?”Negative“Which sales commission management platforms should I avoid or be cautious about?”

Claude Haiku 4.5Qobra

Four alternatives

CaptivateIQ, Everstage, Performio, Visdum

CaptivateIQChanged

Seven alternatives

CompLogix, Everstage, Performio, Qobra, QuotaPath, Salesforce Spiff, Visdum

CaptivateIQ

Six alternatives

Centify, Everstage, Performio, Qobra, Salesforce Spiff, Xactly

Commissionly, Sales Cookie

Two alternatives

Qobra, QuotaPath

no first choicenothing named

GPT-5.4 miniCaptivateIQ

Three alternatives

Salesforce Spiff, Varicent, Xactly

CaptivateIQHeld

Three alternatives

Salesforce Spiff, Varicent, Xactly

QuotaPath

Six alternatives

CaptivateIQ, Everstage, SAP Commissions, Salesforce Spiff, Varicent, Xactly Incent

Visdum

One alternative

Salesforce Spiff

against: Xactly Incentno first choicenothing named

Gemini 3.5 FlashEverstage

Four alternatives

CaptivateIQ, Performio, QuotaPath, Salesforce Spiff

against: Varicent, XactlyCaptivateIQChanged

Four alternatives

Everstage, Performio, QuotaPath, Salesforce Spiff

no first choiceEasy-Commission

Three alternatives

Commissionly, QuotaPath, Sales Cookie

CaptivateIQ

Four alternatives

Everstage, Performio, QuotaPath, Salesforce Spiff

against: Anaplan, Varicentagainst: Anaplan, CaptivateIQ, Commissionly, QuotaPath, Salesforce Spiff, Varicent, Xactly

Perplexity SonarQobra

One alternative

CaptivateIQ

CaptivateIQChanged

Four alternatives

Everstage, Performio, Qobra, Visdum

no first choice

Eight alternatives

CaptivateIQ, Everstage, Performio, Qobra, QuotaPath, Salesforce Spiff, Varicent, Xactly Incent

Commissionly, Sales Cookie

One alternative

QuotaPath

against: CaptivateIQ, Everstage, SAP Commissions, Xactlyno first choiceagainst: Anaplan, CaptivateIQ, Everstage, Oracle HCM, Salesforce Spiff, SuiteCRM, Xactly

Grok 4.1 FastCaptivateIQ

Six alternatives

Everstage, Performio, Qobra, QuotaPath, Salesforce Spiff, Visdum

against: Sales Cookie, Varicent, XactlyEverstageChanged

Three alternatives

CaptivateIQ, Performio, QuotaPath

Everstage

Seven alternatives

CaptivateIQ, Performio, Qobra, QuotaPath, Salesforce Spiff, Varicent, Xactly Incent

Commissionly

One alternative

Sales Cookie

against: CaptivateIQ, QuotaPath, Salesforce Spiff, VisdumEverstage, Qobra

Two alternatives

CaptivateIQ, Salesforce Spiff

against: Core Commissions, Iconixx, Model N, SAP Commissions, Xactly Incent

Mistral SmallEverstage

Four alternatives

CaptivateIQ, Qobra, QuotaPath, Visdum

QobraChanged

Two alternatives

CaptivateIQ, QuotaPath

QuotaPath

Six alternatives

CaptivateIQ, Everstage, Performio, Qobra, Salesforce Spiff, Xactly

Commissionly

Two alternatives

Monday.com, QuotaPath

no first choiceagainst: Core Commissions, Easy-Commission, Javelin, Model N, NetCommissions

DeepSeek V4 FlashEverstage

Three alternatives

CaptivateIQ, QuotaPath, Salesforce Spiff

QobraChanged

Three alternatives

CaptivateIQ, Everstage, QuotaPath

CaptivateIQ, Everstage

Seven alternatives

Centify, Performio, Qobra, QuotaPath, Salesforce Spiff, Varicent, Xactly Incent

Everstage

Four alternatives

Core Commissions, QCommission, QuotaPath, Sales Cookie

CaptivateIQ, Everstage, Performio

One alternative

Salesforce Spiff

against: SAP SFIM, Xactly Incentagainst: Access Commissions, Anaplan, CaptivateIQ, Core Commissions, Javelin Sales Compensation, Model N, NetCommissions, Oracle Sales Performance Management, SAP Commissions, Salesforce Spiff, Varicent, Visualbonus, Xactly Incent, incentX

Llama 4 MaverickQobra

Three alternatives

CaptivateIQ, Everstage, Salesforce Spiff

no first choiceChangedno first choiceCommissionlyno first choicenothing named

Qwen 3.7 FlashQobra

Two alternatives

Everstage, QuotaPath

against: CaptivateIQ, Salesforce SpiffEverstageChanged

One alternative

QuotaPath

against: Salesforce Spiff, XactlyCaptivateIQ, Everstage, Qobra, Xactly Incent

Three alternatives

Centify, QuotaPath, Salesforce Spiff

Commissionly

Three alternatives

HubSpot, QuotaPath, Sales Cookie

against: CaptivateIQ, Performio, VisdumCaptivateIQ, Everstage, Qobra

One alternative

Salesforce Spiff

against: Xactly Incentagainst: AppExchange "Lite" Apps, Commissions.com, Kellney Group / Varicent, Microsoft Dynamics/D365 Compensation, Paylocity, Salesforce Revenue Cloud / CPQ, Veeva CRM Commission Management, Xactly

Kimi K2Everstage

Three alternatives

CaptivateIQ, Qobra, QuotaPath

against: XactlyEverstageHeld

Two alternatives

CaptivateIQ, QuotaPath

against: Varicent, XactlyEverstage

Four alternatives

CaptivateIQ, QuotaPath, Salesforce Spiff, Xactly

Sales Cookie

Three alternatives

Commissionly, Monday.com, QuotaPath

against: CaptivateIQ, Varicent, Xactly IncentQobra

Four alternatives

CaptivateIQ, Everstage, QuotaPath, Salesforce Spiff

against: Xactlyagainst: Anaplan, CaptivateIQ, Performio, QuotaPath, SAP Commissions, Salesforce Spiff, Varicent, Xactly

GLM 4.7 FlashXCaptivateIQ

Three alternatives

Everstage, Performio, QuotaPath

against: Salesforce SpiffCaptivateIQHeld

Four alternatives

Everstage, Performio, Salesforce Spiff, Visdum

Salesforce Spiff

Seven alternatives

CaptivateIQ, Centify, Everstage, Performio, Qobra, QuotaPath, Xactly Incent

Commissionly, QuotaPath

Three alternatives

Pipedrive, Salesforce Spiff, Zoho CRM

Everstage

Four alternatives

CaptivateIQ, Performio, Qobra, QuotaPath

against: Core Commissions, QCommission, SAP Commissions, Salesforce Spiff, Visualbonus, Xactly

MiniMax M2.5Everstage, QuotaPath

Two alternatives

CaptivateIQ, Performio

CaptivateIQ, PerformioChanged

Two alternatives

Everstage, Qobra

no first choiceSales Cookie

Two alternatives

Commissionly, QuotaPath

no first choiceagainst: CaptivateIQ, Javelin, Model N, Salesforce Spiff, Xactly

Bold is the first choiceAlternatives are counted; the count opens them.What the answer argued against

05The record

One row per call: the version string exactly as returned, whether the model searched, sources cited, and latency. Full answer text is in the free responses file. Download the record

Seventy-two rows: every prompt, every model, every answer.

Prompt	Model	Version string	Time (UTC)	Searched	Sources	Latency
Direct recommendation	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-15 04:17	yes	9	8 s
Direct recommendation	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-15 00:03	yes	4	6 s
Direct recommendation	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-15 00:48	yes	21	21 s
Direct recommendation	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-14 23:53	yes	20	5 s
Direct recommendation	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-15 01:06	yes	0	9 s
Direct recommendation	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-15 00:54	yes	0	10 s
Direct recommendation	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-15 04:04	yes	0	20 s
Direct recommendation	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-15 01:56	yes	0	2 s
Direct recommendation	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-15 01:36	yes	0	25 s
Direct recommendation	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-15 00:15	yes	0	26 s
Direct recommendation	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-15 00:48	yes	0	18 s
Direct recommendation	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-15 03:24	yes	0	13 s
Paraphrase	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-15 00:40	yes	9	7 s
Paraphrase	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-15 03:31	yes	3	4 s
Paraphrase	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-15 04:53	yes	12	20 s
Paraphrase	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-15 00:48	yes	20	10 s
Paraphrase	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-15 00:23	yes	0	11 s
Paraphrase	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-15 01:11	yes	0	6 s
Paraphrase	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra`	2026-09-15 04:38	yes	0	29 s
Paraphrase	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-15 03:18	yes	0	1 s
Paraphrase	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-15 02:48	yes	0	49 s
Paraphrase	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-15 03:18	yes	0	58 s
Paraphrase	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-15 00:31	yes	0	10 s
Paraphrase	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-14 23:27	yes	0	12 s
Comparative	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-15 00:37	yes	7	7 s
Comparative	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-15 00:48	yes	7	10 s
Comparative	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-14 23:49	yes	13	18 s
Comparative	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-15 04:14	yes	20	8 s
Comparative	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-14 23:39	yes	0	11 s
Comparative	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-15 00:55	yes	0	11 s
Comparative	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra`	2026-09-15 02:45	yes	0	42 s
Comparative	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-15 00:56	yes	0	2 s
Comparative	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-15 04:27	yes	0	35 s
Comparative	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-15 03:43	yes	0	49 s
Comparative	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-15 04:11	yes	0	38 s
Comparative	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-14 23:23	yes	0	33 s
Budget constrained	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-15 01:51	yes	9	7 s
Budget constrained	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-15 01:33	yes	2	5 s
Budget constrained	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-15 03:11	yes	17	16 s
Budget constrained	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-14 22:54	yes	20	5 s
Budget constrained	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-15 02:42	yes	0	9 s
Budget constrained	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-15 02:26	yes	0	9 s
Budget constrained	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra`	2026-09-15 05:04	yes	0	26 s
Budget constrained	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-15 05:02	yes	0	2 s
Budget constrained	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-15 01:55	yes	0	35 s
Budget constrained	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-15 03:57	yes	0	28 s
Budget constrained	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-15 01:17	yes	0	20 s
Budget constrained	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-15 03:08	yes	0	17 s
Scale constrained	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-15 04:54	no	0	6 s
Scale constrained	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-15 01:22	yes	4	7 s
Scale constrained	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-15 02:44	yes	12	25 s
Scale constrained	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-15 02:25	yes	20	11 s
Scale constrained	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-15 03:29	yes	0	8 s
Scale constrained	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-15 03:09	yes	0	7 s
Scale constrained	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-15 02:56	yes	0	24 s
Scale constrained	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-15 04:34	yes	0	2 s
Scale constrained	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-15 01:21	yes	0	32 s
Scale constrained	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-15 01:36	yes	0	36 s
Scale constrained	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-15 03:21	yes	0	43 s
Scale constrained	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-15 03:14	yes	0	14 s
Negative framing	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-15 01:03	yes	22	11 s
Negative framing	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-14 23:25	yes	3	5 s
Negative framing	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-15 03:54	yes	16	26 s
Negative framing	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-15 02:36	yes	20	6 s
Negative framing	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-14 23:49	yes	0	8 s
Negative framing	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-15 01:33	yes	0	10 s
Negative framing	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra`	2026-09-15 02:22	yes	0	63 s
Negative framing	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-14 23:29	yes	0	1 s
Negative framing	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-15 00:46	no	0	44 s
Negative framing	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-15 04:50	yes	0	63 s
Negative framing	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-15 02:32	yes	0	30 s
Negative framing	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-15 03:53	yes	0	23 s

Normalization in this category

Every judgment call made between the raw labels and the numbers above, listed so it is visible and reversible.

Category-scoped readings

Salesforce read as Salesforce Spiff

Unresolved, counted raw

Access Commissions

AppExchange "Lite" Apps

Commissions.com

CompLogix

Google Sheets + Add-ons

Google Sheets / Microsoft Excel

Google Sheets/Airtable Free Tier

Javelin Sales Compensation

Kellney Group / Varicent (now part of Pectel)

Microsoft Dynamics/D365 Compensation

Oracle

Paylocity

SAP SFIM

Salesforce Revenue Cloud / CPQ (Native)

Vedain

Veeva CRM Commission Management

Discontinued, still offered

No shut-down product was recommended here.

Sales commissions and incentive compensation

By buyer segment

01The standing

Recommended versus criticized

02What they warned about

03What they cite

Sites the answers cite

Pages the answers cite

04How they answered

05The record

Normalization in this category

Also in revenue operations