
Both companies can take payroll, benefits and compliance off a small business's plate. The sharper choice is whether you want a published menu or a tailored relationship - and whether you need a PEO at all.

The old head-to-head no longer exists. For buyers, the useful question is whether they want Sequoia’s advisor-led comp and benefits model or the TriNet platform that absorbed Zenefits.

Two HR platforms promised to make work less painful. One became infrastructure inside TriNet; the other is still betting that advice and software belong together.

Justworks, TriNet and Insperity sell similar relief from HR complexity, but their operating models reveal three different ideas about how a small business should scale.