20 Best Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS): Reviewed & Compared
We kicked off Q2 with a fresh round of tech tests for all the ATS systems in this guide. Some have switched up their prices, while others have launched some awesome product updates. Check out all the details below.

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An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is software that automates the recruitment and hiring process. For companies that hire more than 20 employees a year, an ATS is an essential tool. On this page, you’ll find expert reviews and comparisons of the best ATS systems on the market.
We've been researching, reviewing and comparing ATSs since 2018 and update this article regularly. But we offer more than just research: Our writers have led recruiting operations and PeopleOps across industries. We combine our direct, hands-on experience with rigorous research, product demos, user reviews, and the input of impartial, third-party experts to provide consistent, reliable, and helpful advice. You can also book a free call with an HR tech expert who'll give you personalized help.
To create and update our list of the best ATSs we regularly participate in product demos, gather user and expert feedback, and leverage in-house knowledge. We assess each product's performance on core functions, including job post distribution, candidate screening, interview scheduling, and analytics/reporting. In our view, the three most essential components that best-in-class ATS software must score highly on are UX/UI, candidate experience, and integration/compatibility.
- UX/UI: Posting a job should take less than 30 seconds, syndicating this job to job boards should be a simple push of a button, and viewing applicants should be as intuitive as using platforms like Trello.
- Candidate Experience: Features like personalized communication, easy interview scheduling, and self-service portals for application status updates all enhance the candidate experience. Your talent acquisition team is also part of your public relations team, so it is critical to equip them with tech to ensure you maintain a strong reputation among all candidates, regardless of your hiring decision.
- Integration and Compatibility: We assess each platform’s ability to integrate with other tools in a typical HR ecosystem. Limited integrations can be a massive drag on ROI: manually entering data or downloading CSVs just to upload them to your ATS, for example, is suboptimal at best.
To address the needs of companies of any size, we've included a few all-in-one solutions. In our experience, many companies with lean HR/TA teams and fewer than 500 employees are better off with a platform that combines applicant tracking with other functions like CRM, HRIS, or payroll.
For more information on our methodology, read this article on how we evaluate HR tech vendors.

BambooHR

We love how this ATS operates within Bamboo’s larger HR Suite. We found seamless workflows between the applicant tracking software and other core HR features. The simplicity makes for ease of use, and helps ensure compliance.
PROS
- This is one of the few solutions that allow you to do month to month pricing, a nice option to have!
- Free 7-day trials are available (and you can definitely extend these another week or so if needed).
- The mobile app works well and offers built-in application review, communication, and collaboration features.
- They have a ridiculously fast response time on customer success queries, less than 2 minutes in our experience.
- Flexible packaging and custom pricing is the way they roll. You can pick out one or two packages and pick other modules as add-ons based on your needs.
- Very simple and straightforward tool, easy to use.
CONS
- If you go over your allotted time for customer support, you will pay extra.
- Customer support availability is restricted to U.S. business hours, potentially causing delays in addressing urgent concerns for international users.
- Certain modules like time tracking, performance management, and surveys are only accessible as add-ons, requiring additional investment if you want more HR functionality.
- Payroll is only available for US-based employees
- Customer support is only offered during US business hours.
- Some modules like time tracking, performance management, and surveys are only available as add-ons.

We’ve led TA teams, so we know the pressures growing orgs face. The fast pace can result in hasty decisions, which lead to problems down the road in terms of efficiency and compliance.
This ATS, built into the Bamboo suite, gets around the problem of siloed employee data. On top of this, we were also impressed with some specific features.
We used the app version on Android and iOS devices and found it easy to navigate workflows like posting jobs, viewing resumes, communicating with candidates and hiring managers, and scheduling. We know that if you’re a recruiter, your job probably has you on the run, so the well-built app is a big plus.
The cloud-based web version was also impressive. We were guided through each step of a standard hiring process without any confusion, and we found it easy to customize workflows when we tested the simplicity of creating our own. Ease of access to other elements of the suite highlights one of the biggest advantages: not only is it easier to be productive when all employee data is in one place, but it’s also much safer if you don’t have to move information across platforms manually. It’s more secure and less prone to human error.
Among the 30,000+ companies who use BambooHR are names like Quora, Universal Group, Reddit, Asana, Change.org, University of Maryland, Grammarly, Stance, Postmates, Wistia, the Jacksonville Jaguars, and ZipRecruiter.
BambooHR pricing starts at $3,000 and is based on a per-employee per-month model. We've seen companies pay as low as $8, but typically between $12 and $14 per employee per month if they use the full HRIS with a few other modules.
Best For
BambooHR works best for SMBs seeking an all-in-one ATS and HR suite that can take care of the entire employee lifecycle.
I use BambooHR for onboarding and offboarding. I also administer it personally in my organization. We've been digging into the performance management piece of it. We've been able to participate in trainings sponsored by BambooHR to acquire deeper skills. Overall, BambooHR is a key aspect of our employee experience.

I like BambooHR because it's user-friendly. I also like that it's a system where you can really track important data like job titles and salary changes. Finally, I like that BambooHR is easy to use.
We bought BambooHR to establish a centralized place that could securely store our employees' data for our HR team. We also wanted to create a seamless onboarding and offboarding process. The customer service is impeccable at Bamboo and they're always very helpful. It's also very user-friendly. I've used the product personally for one year.
I wish BambooHR offered a way for us to administer stock options and 401K directly through the program. I also wish we had a dedicated account rep, which we, unfortunately, do not have at this time. I would love to see more engaging ways for our employees to be onboarded, as well.
They're different because they have a very attractive interface and the response rate of the customer service team is higher. They also tend to offer a more diverse set of program features.
I'd recommend really digging in to make sure you're taking advantage of all of the features and integrations Bamboo has to offer. Also, I'd recommend smaller companies (less than 50 people) really consider if this is a tool that's right for their size.
The training content they've offered is impeccable.
I'd say an organization of at least 50+ people.
An organization with fewer than 50 on its team.

Greenhouse

Greenhouse is a feature-rich ATS best suited for midsize and large teams. In addition to advanced scheduling, workflow customization, and numerous seamless HRIS integrations, the platform also includes a well-liked onboarding feature.
PROS
- Onboarding module to ease the transition from candidate to new hire.
- 300+ integrations with third-party solutions for numerous people ops needs.
- Collaboration-enabling features distribute the hiring workload across multiple stakeholders.
- Customization options are plentiful, and template workflows are convenient.
- Greenhouse's onboarding feature is built and executed well. New hires transition smoothly from candidate to employee.
- iOS and Android apps work well for recruiters on the go. Users can review applications, schedule interviews, view candidates' profiles, and more.
- 450+ third-party integrations.
CONS
- Undisclosed prices, no free trial.
- The reporting feature can be challenging to navigate.
- Cost-prohibitive for budget-conscious teams.
- A full focus on ATS and onboarding means it lacks core HR features.
- Greenhouse’s pricing is undisclosed, and they do not offer a trial version.
- Some users note that reporting customization is quite limited and difficult to navigate.
- In-person/live support could be improved.

Our editorial team has always had good things to say about Greenhouse. Several of us have used it extensively as members and leaders of TA teams, and our sentiments align with most of the users who tested the product for us: it’s easy to use, and it saves time.
The dashboard is reflective of the product’s name: greenhouse. It’s visually appealing and offers a clear view of the collection of candidates that need attention. The whole hiring team can see the upcoming interviews, applications to review, and task status overviews.
In our most recent experience using an updated version, we were impressed with the developments in the “interview kit”. The standardization of the interview process is a massive help in combating bias. Clear-cut qualification criteria for each interview stage result in employee confidence in decision-making and valuable insights for process improvement.
We like the pre-built templates for creating and posting jobs. We found that even users with minimal familiarity can post a job in about one minute.
For experienced users who have created their own hiring workflow, this task is reduced to seconds. Even the process of creating custom workflows is a drag-and-drop, super-streamlined affair.
Our writers with professional experience using this tool report that once you’re familiar with it, it basically runs itself. That’s an exaggeration, of course, but the sentiment stands: Greenhouse is a popular ATS because the product meets the needs of actual recruiting teams (and writers who used to be recruiters!).
With more than 300 partners, chances are good that they can connect you with any tool or service you need, and with their well-established place among top HR tech tools, you can count on a smooth, well-supported integration. However, some businesses prefer the simplicity and security of an all-in-one platform, which Greenhouse is not. There’s no right or wrong choice here, but we encourage you to evaluate what is right for your team carefully.
HubSpot, DoorDash, Dropbox, Wayfair.
The starting price for Greenhouse is approximately $6,000 annually, based on information from our network. Standard contracts require a one-year prepayment, but discounted rates are available for those who prepay for two or three years.
Best For
Greenhouse is best for medium to large enterprises that emphasize collaborative hiring practices.
We were changing the way we managed our recruiting process. In Talent Acquisition, I worked with Greenhouse on a daily basis to ensure our recruiting campaigns ran smoothly.
My main interaction with Greenhouse is creating and posting job opportunities, creating detailed job descriptions, and optimizing them for different job boards. I also used the platform to track incoming applications, review candidate profiles, and work with hiring managers to evaluate and develop candidates through the selection process.
Another important aspect of my workflow involved scheduling and coordinating teams and interviews within Greenhouse. Not only did this save a lot of time, but it also helped maintain clear communication between interviewers, candidates, and stakeholders. In addition, the platform's interview feedback and scoring features helped me pool the opinions of different team members and accurately assess a candidate's suitability.
What I really liked about Greenhouse was the intuitive and user-friendly interface which makes it very easy to navigate and manage our hiring process efficiently. The platform's customizable workflow and interview stages allow us to tailor the hiring process to the unique needs of each role, ensuring a more personalized candidate experience. Additionally, advanced reporting and analytics capabilities provide valuable insights that allow us to refine strategy, optimize work, and make data-driven decisions, ultimately leading to more successful recruiting. Overall, Greenhouse's seamless integration of applicant tracking, collaboration tools, and powerful insights has significantly increased our hiring potential and made it an indispensable tool in our talent pool.
I used Greenhouse at a previous employer. The decision to acquire Greenhouse was driven by an urgent need to simplify and improve the hiring process. Before adopting Greenhouse, we faced significant challenges in managing large numbers of applicants, tracking their progress, and getting all teams involved in the hiring process to work together effectively. These often resulted in delays, misunderstandings, and a lack of understanding of the entire recruiting pipeline.
Greenhouse provides a comprehensive solution to address these vulnerabilities. An intuitive applicant tracking system not only helps us centralize applicant information, but also allows us to automate various stages of the hiring process. This automation significantly reduces manual administrative tasks, allowing our HR and recruiting teams to focus more on engaging with candidates and making informed decisions.
While I've found Greenhouse to be an invaluable tool, I think there are a few areas that could be improved. First, while the reporting interface is powerful, it could benefit from more customizable visualization options to suit our specific reporting needs. Second, while the platform is good at managing individual job postings, I wish there were more seamless features for managing multi-role or bulk hiring programs. Finally, improving the functionality of the mobile app will facilitate mobile access and quick updates when away from the desktop interface. Despite these minor shortcomings, Greenhouse remains a great asset to our recruiting efforts.
Due to its exceptional user experience, easy customization choices, and data-driven insights that produce superior hiring results, Greenhouse distinguishes out significantly from its rivals. The interface of Greenhouse is extremely intuitive compared to other solutions, which makes it simpler for our team to embrace and use efficiently. We can customize the hiring process to meet our specific needs thanks to its flexible processes and interview phases, which offer an unmatched level of personalisation. Furthermore, Greenhouse stands out for its analytics capabilities, which provide thorough information on candidate progression, sourcing, and performance indicators that allow us to hone our tactics for ongoing improvement. Although I've used tools like this before, Greenhouse stands out for its focus on the candidate experience and collaborative hiring. Our recruitment efforts have been greatly expedited by its easy-to-use interface and powerful collaboration tools. Greenhouse succeeds in these categories, giving us the tools we need to make strategic decisions and improve our hiring methods, whereas other solutions frequently fall short in these areas.
The selection of an HRIS/ATS technology like Greenhouse should be based on a number of important factors. The technology must be scalable and flexible in order to allow your organization to expand and react to changing requirements. The solution should smoothly interact with your current systems, improving data flow. Integration capabilities and user-friendliness are crucial; choose a solution that is simple to use and reduces your team's learning curve. Last but not least, thorough reporting and analytics are necessary to improve your hiring methods and make educated selections. Take these considerations in order to make sure you choose an HRIS/ATS that completely satisfies the current and future needs of your firm.
Over time, Greenhouse ATS has had a remarkable transformation, continually meeting user requests by integrating useful features and improvements. Greenhouse has aggressively sought user feedback from its start, resulting in a never-ending cycle of advancements. Regular platform updates that provide cutting-edge features like configurable processes, AI-powered candidate recommendations, and sophisticated analytics tools are clear signs of the platform's progress. Because of its dedication to adjusting depending on user feedback, Greenhouse is able to efficiently meet the changing and dynamic needs of the modern recruitment scene and maintain its leadership position in applicant tracking systems.
For firms that place a high priority on a simplified and data-driven approach to talent acquisition, Greenhouse ATS is ideally suited. It excels for medium-sized to large businesses with intricate employment requirements involving numerous teams and stakeholders. It is the best option for businesses looking for specialized hiring procedures across multiple jobs and departments due to its adaptable workflows and interview stages. Additionally, its extensive reporting and analytics capabilities serve firms who are data-focused and wish to optimize their plans. In short, Greenhouse is the ideal choice for businesses looking for a complete, scalable solution that enables them to quickly make educated hiring decisions.
While Greenhouse ATS is a great option for many firms, it might not be the greatest solution for startups or small companies with modest employment requirements and resources. The platform's extensive features and capabilities can be too much for businesses with smaller candidate pools and less complicated hiring procedures. Additionally, some collaboration tools might be less useful for firms that frequently use distributed or remote teams. In certain circumstances, a simpler and lighter approach can be preferable.

Pinpoint

A lot of applicant tracking systems don’t deliver on their claim to be user-focused, but Pinpoint does. With a sophisticated, sleek look and an intuitive interface, they clearly know great software is a mix of form and function.
PROS
- Best in class automations that will save your recruiting team time.
- Highly customizable and values collaborative hiring.
- Unlimited jobs and team members in all of its plans.
- Career site builder helps teams find and convert the right talent.
- Pinpoint is an agile ATS that is highly customizable and values collaborative hiring.
- It’s got a simple and transparent pricing structure.
- Pinpoint offers unlimited jobs and team members in all of its plans.
- Their customer service team is highly praised by users.
- The career site builder is very robust, allowing teams to attract and convert the right talent.
- There are over 100 HR software integrations to choose from, and Pinpoint’s team is adding 3-5 every month.
CONS
- The employee onboarding module costs extra.
- Cost prohibitive for budget-conscious teams.
- No free version or free trial offer.
- The employee onboarding module does cost extra.
- It isn’t the best fit if you’re looking for the cheapest ATS.
- There isn’t a free trial or free version at this time.

The career site builder is a big hit with our team, especially for our writers and editors with extensive experience on TA teams. They emphasized that the need to stand out among other companies is one of the most critical tasks they faced as recruiters, and this unique approach was compelling.
We found the site builder feature to be so intuitive that a first-time user could complete the setup for a custom site in about 30 minutes.
This ease of use is no coincidence: Pinpoint is known for its emphasis on user experience, so the visual clarity and sequential logic of workflows were designed with care.
Users report attentive customer support via email, chat, or phone.
The platform also considers the experience of employees who make referrals by offering a low-friction process. An automated email is sent to current employees informing them about open positions. The message includes a link to share with their network, and the platform keeps track of the referrals they have made so far.
With an open API and more than 100 built-in integrations, Pinpoint plays well with others. However, bespoke integration is available exclusively for Enterprise plan users.
CoinShares, Pathways Global, Grant Thornton, Icario, Pivot Energy.
- Pinpoint pricing starts at $345 monthly when billed annually.
- Enterprise features, such as multi-page career sites, multi-lingual support, custom integrations, and help on data migrations, start at $1,200 per month.
- Discounts are available for startups with fewer than 50 headcount.
Best For
Pinpoint ATS is best for in-house recruitment teams filling at least 30 openings annually, especially those with a strong, user-centric mentality.
Job board, moving candidates through the hiring process and accepting applicants.

Excellent customer service and ease of use. We went from email organization and spreadsheets to Pinpoint and it's great for our small team. Other platforms did too much and this one just does exactly what we need.
We were looking for our first ATS and as a small startup, price and ease of use were key factors to consider. I chose Pinpoint and have been the primary user for the past 3 years.
Truly don't have any complaints. We're not power users and don't do a ton of hiring but it works for what we need it to do.
First tool we've been a customer of, but as stated lots of other tools in our research did more than we needed. They're price was also perfect for a startup.
Who is going to be using the platform and will they be comfortable with the different functions and tools.
Incredibly responsive to feedback. When we first started with Pinpoint they were pretty new as well. We've learned and worked together to make things better. Loved how they've continued to tailor services to US clients.
Excellent for small teams.
Can only speak from my own experience and everything has been positive.

VidCruiter

VidCruiter is known chiefly for video interviews, but the platform also offers a solid ATS solution and Quick Apply, a hit feature with both TA teams and candidates.
PROS
- VidCruiter can be fully customized to meet specific recruiting needs.
- Easy to use for both job seekers and recruiters.
- Works on all devices. No app installation is needed.
- Quick Apply feature lets candidates apply directly from Indeed and LinkedIn and auto-syncs the candidate's info to the user’s existing ATS.
- Dedicated client success manager, 24/7 applicant support, phone, email, and live chat.
- Scalable and customizable — users pay for what they need and can purchase more features as they grow.
- Robust pre-recorded and live video interviewing with advanced automation.
- Browser-based, so it works across devices without installing apps.
- Available for recruiters in eight languages and supports job seekers in dozens more.
- 24/7 live agent support, assigned account manager, and on-demand training.
CONS
- Some users reported that implementation was time-consuming.
- Advanced search and technical skills testing features within the assessment module leave room for improvement.
- There is no trial version, and no price is listed on their site.
- Because the product is feature-rich and highly customizable, the implementation phase can be time-consuming.
- Advanced search and technical skills testing features within the assessment module leave room for improvement.
- No free or trial version.
- Undisclosed pricing.

VidCruiter has been a significant player in the video interviewing software market for years, but the platform is less well-known for its ATS. However, our research proves the ATS is robust enough to be listed among other top vendors in the space.
The platform balances the needs of those on both sides of the interview pipeline. TA teams are well-equipped with highly customizable features like job posting, pre-screening, interview scheduling, and real-time reports, and applicants are met with a user experience that was clearly designed with them in mind.
For a glimpse of team culture, vision, and values, users can build a custom career site that delivers a branded digital experience to candidates. The site editor is simple to use, and in our in-house testing, we managed to set everything up without help from the IT or VidCruiter support team. One feature of note: when a candidate accesses a career page supported by VidCruiter, the platform automatically generates recommendations for jobs available near them.
Quick Apply benefits both employers and candidates. With this feature, TA teams can rev up the hiring process without implementing a new ATS, so it’s perfect for teams on a budget. It is also helpful for those counting down the hours left on an ATS contract they don’t plan to renew. The platform offers job seekers the convenience of applying directly from portals such as LinkedIn and Indeed.
VidCruiter is used by over 100,000 recruiters, including Lowe’s, Lionsgate, Samsung, Bears, US Foods, and the United Nations.
VidCruiter prices start at $1,000 annually, according to our sources.
Best For
VidCruiter is a perfect ATS for large companies (U.S.-based and otherwise) hiring 100+ people annually. At the same time, the VidCruiter Quick Apply tool is an excellent pick for smaller companies that want to streamline their hiring process without going separate ways with their current ATS.
We would determine, with the leader of the department we were hiring in, what basic questions we wanted to ask all qualified candidates, including required questions we had created as an organization. We then had a variety of HR members record themselves asking these questions to put into VidCruiter. We then assigned the interview questions to the proper job postings, and as long as we funneled a list to VidCruiter of the qualified applicants, they would handle inviting those candidates to respond to these questions. We were then able to review the videos on our own time, save them and share them with the leaders, and follow up accordingly. It saved us a lot of time compared to the traditional phone screen method.

The interface for admins was very easy to use, and it was easy to set up new questions and to record ourselves professionally. We also found it easy to overlay our company logos so that the process aligned with our branding. The ability to watch back the interview responses was great, along with their easy-to-use rating scale.
In a previous organization I worked with, we bought VidCruiter because we had an onslaught of recruiting needs that took up a lot of time for our recruiters. We had basic questions we needed all of our applicants to answer, but due to time constraints, we were only able to target maybe 15% of the applicant pool at a time. With VidCruiter, we were able to set up a basic video interview of pre-recorded questions that we could automatically send out to all qualified candidates, without needing to schedule individual interviews with them. The tool was easy to use and to rate candidates on their responses. Plus, it integrated with our ATS, making it easy for applicants to transition to their platform.
Some users had issues with the technology required to complete the video interviews. This caused us to lose out on some candidates because responding to a video interview not only requires some technical acumen, but it is also a little less personal than an actual phone call. The video also had some lag issues with us in the past, both in recording new questions and listening to responses. The design of how to navigate the back end of the website could also use some work.
VidCruiter offers a competitive price, and their ability to integrate with a large number of ATS systems makes them a preferred service in this industry.
Integration is key. The last thing you want for your applicants is to force them to log in to multiple systems, to have to redo any part of their application process, or to feel like their candidacy is not being taken seriously. Find a vendor that can integrate well and gives a positive experience for your candidates.
Not that I'm aware of. The system has been pretty consistent for a while now.
Anyone that is doing a lot of hiring for the same position. This can be for entry-level jobs or for higher-end jobs that have a lot of openings. For us, we used VidCruiter for project management and sales openings, both of which get a large volume of applicants.
VidCruiter is not a great tool for one-off hirings or for companies that have a wide range of requirements for each position.

Workable

Workable is a robust and scalable recruiting solution. Its AI-powered sourcing tool integrates nicely with its ATS software and other products and can provide over 400 million candidate records.
PROS
- Straightforward pricing plans.
- 15-day free trials with no card info required.
- Post jobs with one click to over 200 sites and access its talent pool with over 400 million profiles.
- Built-in features for cognitive and personality candidate assessment and management. No need for third-party tools.
- The anonymized screening feature can help reduce unconscious hiring bias.
- You can post jobs with one click to over 200 sites. You also get access to access to Workable’s talent pool with over 400 million profiles.
- Workable has built-in cognitive and personality candidate assessment. The platform also has features for offer management, which means you can create offer letters and collect e-signatures without needing to use third-party tools
- You can reduce unconscious hiring bias with Workable’s anonymized screening feature. It helps you hide identifying candidate information from the sourced and applied stages of the hiring process.
CONS
- No automated reference checking and onboarding features.
- Features like candidate texting, video interviews, and assessments are not included in plans but must be bought separately.
- Workable could do better with duplicate candidate merging since one person will have numerous candidate records on the ATS if they apply for multiple positions.
- The reporting feature needs to be more detailed and customizable.
- The candidate search function could have more filters.
- Workable doesn’t provide automated reference checking and onboarding features.
- Useful features such as candidate texting, video interviews, and assessments are not offered in any of Workable’’s plans and instead, sold separately.
- Several users complained about the reporting feature not being detailed or customizable enough, and that the candidate search function could use more filters.

Workable provides an applicant tracking system catering to medium and large businesses.
Besides covering the features expected from an ATS, like candidate sourcing and applicant organization, Workable integrates AI to suggest suitable candidates for posted jobs.
The ATS tries to foster a more structured and unbiased hiring process by providing anonymized screening, interview kits, and scorecards in all their plans. However, additional candidate evaluation tools like video interviews and assessments separately, as they’re not built within the ATS product.
Workable has been used by over 20,000 organizations, including Sephora, Forbes, Bevi, Moodle, and Navarro.
Workable pricing starts at $169 per month for its recruiting module which includes applicant tracking system software, and $249 when bundled with HRIS.
Best For
Workable’s ATS and recruitment software offerings are best suited for medium and large-sized businesses.
We leverage Workable's platform to broadcast job opportunities across a wide range of prominent channels, such as Indeed, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google, and Glassdoor, ensuring maximum visibility for our job postings.
Upon receiving applications, Workable enables me to assign specific roles to the relevant hiring manager within our organization, streamlining the recruitment process.
Each hiring manager uses Workable's intuitive interface to assess candidate profiles, review CVs, and track application progress from a centralized dashboard.
This collaborative approach fosters transparency and accountability, engaging all stakeholders in the hiring process.
Workable acts as a comprehensive solution, providing a centralized hub for optimizing recruitment and onboarding processes. It consolidates various functionalities necessary for efficient talent acquisition and the seamless integration of new hires.
From posting job openings to managing applications and scheduling interviews, Workable streamlines every step of the recruitment lifecycle. A standout feature is its ability to foster collaboration between HR teams and hiring managers, ensuring strategic and cohesive hiring decisions.
We were in search of a comprehensive solution to enhance our recruitment and streamline our onboarding processes. Workable emerged as the ideal platform to effectively meet these needs. It offers a suite of powerful recruitment tools, including job posting management, candidate sourcing, and applicant tracking. These features enable us to attract top talent, manage applications efficiently, and streamline the entire hiring process.
Workable allows us to tailor our recruitment workflows to our specific needs and organizational structure, enhancing efficiency and consistency across all hiring activities. It also facilitates collaboration among hiring teams with features like candidate feedback, interview scheduling, and communication tools, ensuring informed hiring decisions.
While Workable's interface is user-friendly, it can become overly complex or cluttered, particularly when navigating through multiple features or conducting advanced searches. A more streamlined and intuitive interface would improve usability.
Workable excels in providing an intuitive and user-friendly interface, making it accessible to users of all technical proficiencies. Its well-designed layout and straightforward navigation enhance usability, enabling users to efficiently perform recruitment tasks without the complications of complex interfaces.
When considering an ATS tool, evaluate its features and functionality. Ensure it includes essential capabilities such as job posting management, applicant tracking, CV review, candidate communication, interview scheduling, and reporting/analytics. Also, consider whether it offers advanced features like AI-driven candidate matching, automated workflows, and customizable dashboards to streamline the recruitment process.
Workable continually enhances its feature set, providing users with more robust tools for recruitment and hiring. Improvements to applicant tracking, job posting management, candidate communication, interview scheduling, and reporting/analytics have been made. New features such as AI-driven candidate matching, automated workflows, and customizable dashboards have been introduced to further streamline the recruitment process.
Workable is an excellent solution for businesses of all sizes, from small startups to large enterprises. Its versatility and scalability make it suitable for organizations at different stages of growth.
Workable may not be the best fit for very large enterprises with complex organizational structures and extensive hiring requirements, which may need more advanced features and customization options. Additionally, highly regulated industries such as healthcare, finance, or government may require specialized ATS solutions tailored to their specific regulations and security standards.

Trakstar Hire

Trakstar Hire is highly customizable. The ATS provides a single plan that includes all its features without limits, making it an excellent choice for mid-sized businesses.
PROS
- Highly customizable workflows that make navigating the hiring process easy.
- Unlimited job posts.
- Management must-haves are built-in, letting users create offer letters and collect e-signatures without integrating with other tools.
- Trakstar Hire’s recruitment workflows are highly customizable. You can edit them as needed to reflect your company’s hiring process.
- You can post as many jobs as needed with Trakstar Hire without any limitation.
- Trakstar Hire has offer management tools built-in. Users can create offer letters and collect e-signatures within Trakstar Hire without needing to integrate it with third-party tools.
CONS
- Limited integration options with third-party HRIS and payroll solutions.
- All-or-none plan: customers may pay for features they don’t use.
- No free trials. Undisclosed pricing.
- Trakstar Hire has limited integration options with third-party HRIS and payroll solutions.
- Several users have complained about being unable to sort candidates and search results in an order other than displayed.
- Trakstar Hire isn’t a scalable platform; they have a single plan, all features included, which means customers may end up paying for features that they don’t need.
- Trakstar doesn’t publically list their pricing nor allows visitors to create trial accounts directly from the website, which is unusual for a software solution aimed at mid-market companies.

Trakstar Hire (formally RecruiterBox) is a web-based ATS for midsize companies. Our experience navigating the platform was quite positive. The platform supports unlimited job posting on multiple job boards and social media sites. Users can sponsor those listings for maximum visibility and receive resumes through customizable application forms.
We especially liked that customizing the workflow takes just a few clicks. They’ve done a great job balancing ease of navigation with numerous features and configurations available.
Trakstar Hire’s automation stood out as we tested the tool. Once resumes are in, the platform parser automatically extracts candidates’ details and creates profiles in seconds.
The offer management feature is well-made. We especially liked the offer letter templates that were ready to send after just a few tweaks for personalization: end-to-end, we created a mock template in less than 5 minutes. It also manages e-signatures without third-party integration.
However, when the need arises to connect to a third party, Trakstar Hire’s integration abilities are a relative letdown.
They have covered some of the critical basics with the following apps: Namely, BambooHR, Slack, Checkr, QuickBooks, PandaDoc, G Suite, and Outlook/Office 365 Calendar, but we hope more integrations are in the works!
Makita, Couchsurfing, Lonely Planet, Untappd, Quality Ironworks.
Our sources indicate that Trakstar Hire has a starting price of $199 per month.
Best For
Trakstar Hire is best suited for medium-sized businesses that hire regularly.
We use Trakstar for recruiting and hiring. It is not very customizable so it can be difficult to use. You can set up different stages of interviews and assign interviewers to each stage. Notifications are nice and sent via email when candidates are moved from stage to stage. The system will integrate and sync with your calendar to allow for easy scheduling of interviews. You can even connect it to zoom and schedule straight from the platform if you wished. I use Trakstar about every other day to gage candidate flow and complete hiring tasks.

Easy scheduling options. The stages are customizable. Posting is easy.
We started using Trakstar in June of 2021. We were moving away from ADP to a new payroll system. We were looking for an ATS that would give us better more customizable options for candidate flow and interview stages. I implemented the new system. We are a small company with around 350 employees. Our new payroll system had an ATS but the cost would be too much for a company our size.
Reporting is horrible, everything is lumped into one big report and you cannot write reports as needed. Searching is also horrible, they should implement boolian search capabilities. The system lacks text automations which would be helpful for interview reminders.
Trakstar is good for small companies with medium applicant flow. For a company that uses recruiting heavily it does not work as well.
Really think about what you will be using it for. Does it have the capabilities that your company needs? Can it adapt to a growing company or changing company?
It really hasn't. It still does not truly meet our needs but it is doing its job.
An organization with heavy candidate flow and few positions.
Any organization that needs specific licensure or has little candidate flow.

Spark Hire

Spark Hire has packed a massive analytics framework into a program that looks very simple. The ATS product, Spark Hire Recruit, is easy to navigate and appeals to hiring managers with scarce time and attention.
PROS
- Data analysis dashboard and features are top-tier.
- Efficiency-focused elements, like one-way video interviews, are great for busy TA teams.
- Collaboration is enabled by features that offer pipeline transparency to multiple stakeholders.
- Data analysis dashboard and features are top-tier.
- Efficiency-focused elements, like one-way video interviews, are great for busy TA teams.
- Collaboration is enabled by features that offer pipeline transparency to multiple stakeholders.
CONS
- Starting in 2025, the price will increase to $399 per month.
- Some users require more customization than what is offered.
- No caption or translation features in video limits access for some candidates
- No free trial version.
- Some users require more customization than what is offered.
- No caption or translation features in video limits access for some candidates

Spark Hire Recruit enables truly collaborative hiring, and that's no easy task. All top-tier ATSs are equal parts powerful and pleasant to use. Spark Hire goes beyond that by providing features that appeal to the entire hiring team, encouraging collaboration across roles, and, ultimately, better hires.
One feature that demonstrates this is the interviewing interface, which provides an impressive amount of context at a glance. Without shuffling papers or trying to manage a dozen open tabs, the candidate’s information, including their position in the pipeline, is organized thoughtfully in a single dashboard. The interviewers can directly add their thoughts and impressions to the platform in real time.
We asked our colleagues with the most recruiting experience to weigh in, and they were most impressed with the analytics dashboard. Spark Hire stands out, with notable strengths in data quantity and quality. For example, if a candidate withdraws from the process, it records the point on the pipeline at which they dropped out. This may seem obvious, but it’s a rare find.
Recruiting empowerment was also emphasized during our demo. Our writers are all familiar with the relentless dedication it takes for TA teams to keep their heads above water, so we know the value of seamless automation. This applicant tracking software knows where digital assistance can help and where a human touch is needed.
7,000+ including Fiverr, Monday.com, Sodastream, Vimeo, and KPMG.
Spark Hire Recruit’s pricing starts at $399 per month. They also provide a free trial, but it requires you to schedule a demo with their team.
Best For
Spark Hire Recruit works best for small and medium-sized companies (5-500 employees).
We don’t use Spark Hire anymore, but we did use it for several months. Primarily, we used it to conduct video interviews. We kept most of our notes in a different system but relied on Spark Hire for the interviews themselves. The main workflow I worked with involved setting up and conducting video interviews. Beyond that, our use of the platform was limited.
Its video interviewing capability was the best I’ve ever seen. I appreciated the feature that allowed anyone in the company to view a video interview and comment on it, which facilitated real-time feedback and productive conversations among managers.
It also had excellent batch processing features, which made it easy to handle hiring for groups—such as when onboarding six or ten people for a call center.
Spark Hire was one of the first ATSs we tried when the pandemic hit, and we started sending recruiters to work from home. The reason we used Spark Hire on a trial basis was its integration with video interviews.
With the pandemic, we knew we would have to transition to video interviews, whereas our firm had historically conducted interviews in person. When we sent people home, they were conducting video interviews on their cell phones or through their own Zoom accounts. We wanted to centralize this process, and Spark Hire seemed like a good solution.
The pricing was much higher than we expected. I also disliked how the interview questions were preloaded for recruiters. This approach discouraged creativity and relied on generic questions that weren’t particularly effective.
While Spark Hire promoted this as a way to compare candidates, our recruiters already had effective methods for making comparisons. Additionally, the system lacked personalization options—even at a backend level, it wasn’t very customizable.
Spark Hire’s video interviewing capability and the ability to share those interviews with others in the company were exceptional. Beyond that, it fell short compared to other tools. The user interface was not intuitive and required significant guidance to navigate.
The lack of customization diminished the impact our recruiters could have during interviews, making them feel more like robots reading prewritten questions than professionals engaging with candidates.
Consider what is most important in your recruiting process. Some firms focus solely on validating resumes and quickly sending candidates to clients, while others prioritize getting to know each candidate personally, even driving hours to meet them.
For firms that value volume and efficiency over personalization, Spark Hire can be a great choice. However, if you prefer to build relationships with your candidates, it may not align with your approach.
I’m not sure, as we only used it for a few months during the pandemic and haven’t used it since.
I think Spark Hire is ideal for large organizations that handle high volumes of low-skill positions. For example, it could work well for staffing agencies with contracts for large warehouses or companies like Amazon.
I wouldn’t recommend Spark Hire for small, local, “mom-and-pop” type firms. It goes against the personal, relationship-driven approach these businesses typically use as their selling point.

AvaHR

VIVAHR left a lasting impression on us with how much they care about making things easy for users and helping teams work together better. Their Pipeline Triggers take care of mundane tasks that come up during the hiring process, while the Shared Inbox keeps all the messages, questionnaires, and scorecards coming in safe and sound.
PROS
- Intuitive UXUI with Pipeline Triggers that automate repetitive actions based on a candidate's stage, such as sending thank-you emails or requesting hiring team feedback.
- Shared Inbox provides team access to incoming messages, questionnaires, and scorecards in one location.
- Data migration service is available at no additional cost.
- Transparent pricing, free trial available.
- Culture Profiles let you add videos, photos, and text to showcase your company's work environment.
- Pipeline Triggers automate repetitive actions based on a candidate's stage, such as sending thank-you emails or requesting hiring team feedback.
- Custom questionnaire builder for candidate pre-assessments.
- Data migration service is available at no additional cost.
- Transparent pricing, free trial available.
CONS
- A credit card is required to sign up for a free trial.
- Some of the classic ATS features like resume parsing, interview scheduling, and custom search are currently unavailable.
- Other features, like eSignatures and employee referrals, cost extra to use.
- No free plan, a free trial requires a credit card.
- Pricier than competitors like Loxo and Zoho Recruit.
- Additional charges for features like eSignatures and employee referrals.
- Interview scheduling feature is unavailable (still in development).
After testing VIVAHR, we were struck by its thoughtfully designed interface and how easy it made every step of the hiring process. From the moment we logged in, we could tell the team behind this tool had put serious effort into crafting a user experience that’s intuitive yet powerful.

A standout feature right from the start was the Pipeline Triggers. Based on where an applicant is in the process, it can automate tasks like sending thank-you emails or requesting feedback from the team— to spare recruiters from the mundane, easy-to-miss details.
The design of the Candidates section is also really nice. It offers a bird' s-eye view of all applicants' key information, including their application dates, hiring stages, and contact details. During our tests, the filter function worked great for narrowing down candidates by job title, department, and other criteria. The only minus was that we couldn’t find any advanced options like Boolean searches.
On par with other robust ATS systems, VIVAHR's candidate communication features let us send emails and SMS messages directly from the platform. For these workflows, you can use templates and bulk actions to make things fasyer. Our favorite, though, was the Shared Inbox. It kept all incoming messages, questionnaires, and scorecards, which made it much easier to manage candidate interactions and keep the team aligned.
However, we noticed that the interview scheduling feature was absent at the time of this review. Thankfully, it’s already on the vendor’s roadmap. We’ll keep you posted on how this feature plays out once it’s released.
We think VIVAHR should also improve its integration capabilities a bit more since seven options are a modest number compared to other platforms we’ve evaluated.
And while the team offers free data imports if you’re migrating from another ATS (which we love), we can’t say the pricing is as competitive as some competitors like Zoho Recruit, considering there’s no free plan and some features, such as eSignatures and employee referrals, will come with extra fees.
1,000+ companies, including Redirect Health, BuzzRX, and State Farm.
VIVAHR offers 3 pricing plans: Starter at $89 per month, Grow at $179 per month, and Pro at $279 per month (billed annually).
Best For
Avatar’s ATS software is best for US-based companies with more than 100 employees.

ClearCompany

Launched in 2004, ClearCompany is an established platform that has kept pace with leading-edge HR tech. During our hands-on evaluation of the ATS, we found a comprehensive set of “talent management” features assembled into a logical and seamless workflow recruiting teams need.
PROS
- Multiple pricing options and add-on features.
- Intuitive UI across multiple HR modules.
- Numerous reports of a smooth implementation and attentive customer support.
- ClearCompany offers a host of HR solutions that work well with another. You can choose the solution you need or combine them all to have a comprehensive talent management platform in your stack.
- The majority of users find ClearCompany’s interface to be quite intuitive and easy to navigate.
- Many users have highly rated ClearCompany’s support team for speed and quality of response. Several users have also reported a smooth implementation experience.
CONS
- Undisclosed pricing, no free trials.
- Some users felt underwhelmed by the customization options of the reporting feature.
- The candidate search function is reported to be somewhat unreliable.
- No mobile apps.
- ClearCompany’s pricing is not readily available on their website. You also can’t create a trial account on your own from the website and have to go through the sales team for more info.
- Some users felt that the reporting feature is limited in customizations.
- According to a few users, the candidate search function doesn’t always bring up the correct candidate(s) and could use some improvement.
- ClearCompany doesn’t currently have a mobile app, but the platform is well optimized for mobile use both for hiring managers and candidates.

ClearCompany is a talent management suite with an ATS feature that can be purchased as a stand-alone product or as part of the comprehensive HR tech toolset. Numerous configurations and pricing options are available so companies can create a plan that meets their needs and suits their budget.
We review all types of HR tech, but our team has a lot to say about applicant tracking systems. In fact, during our in-house evaluation, we found that several of us had extensive professional experience using this platform in previous positions. The consensus: the ATS software works best within ClearCompany’s suite, but it is a super-solid ATS on its own.
Some standouts include the user interface, which is uniquely modern for a company founded in 2004. We were specifically impressed with the onboarding workflows, which transitioned candidates into new hires in just a few clicks.
Mitsubishi Electric, Chick-fil-A, Goodwill, Axiom Bank, Bios, FlixBrewHouse, and Halco.
ClearCompany pricing starts at $60 per user per month.
Best For
ClearCompany is among the top ATS platforms for mid-sized teams that only require an ATS, as well as large organizations that can afford the entire suite.
I used ClearCompany as an applicant tracking system from requisition inception to candidate start date. One of the features that ClearCompany provided was onboarding tools and performance management. Unlike other ATSs, ClearCompany was a one-stop shop for all things talent acquisition and HR.
It is a one-stop shop that makes it easy for the recruiting team and HR team to communicate and see where every candidate is in the hiring process. ClearCompany also has LinkedIn integration, which is very valuable for the talent acquisition department. The base price is inexpensive, but addons will increase the price depending on company needs.
ClearCompany was an easy choice for one of the small clients I supported in the US. They were looking for an inexpensive applicant tracking system to manage candidate steps and statuses. I have used ClearCompany for one year. In addition to an ATS, ClearCompany also provided employment verification and background checks post-offer.
The interview scorecards were not user-friendly for recruiters. The pricing was a bit unclear as to what is included and what is an upgrade. The reporting of recruiting metrics was limited.
In terms of ease of use, it is very easy to navigate. I prefer more detailed systems such as Taleo, SuccessFactors, and Workday as their capabilities have no end. ClearCompany is an average ATS with a slight edge for the onboarding and performance management tools also included.
Think about how many people in your organization will be using the system. While it is only a base price of $5.00 per license, once you figure out how many people will need access, it will add up, particularly if you need upgraded features. Their customer service is easily accessible and helpful. Ease of use is crucial, and the dashboard is set up well, making it easy for users to navigate.
While I have only had one year of experience, I know they are constantly making improvements to make it a better and more user-friendly system.
This depends on the needs of the company. I think a smaller-sized organization is best suited for a tool like ClearCompany, especially if you aren't looking for all the bells and whistles.
Fortune 100 companies or similar-sized companies with 10,000+ employees may not get the most out of ClearCompany. Those companies would benefit from one set price rather than a per-user fee.

Manatal

Manatal made our top ATS list because it's budget-friendly, AI-equipped, and offers transparent pricing—no need to call a sales rep just for a ballpark figure.
PROS
- Among the most affordable ATS options in the market.
- Offers a 14-day free trial.
- Easy to use with drag-and-drop enabled pipelines.
- Native AI-based recommendations feature.
- Web-based, so it works on multiple devices.
- Free data migration from your existing hiring software.
- Transparent and flexible pricing.
- Manatal is quite affordable and offers a 15-day free trial for users to test it out before making commitments.
- Manatal is fairly easy to use. It features drag-and-drop enabled pipelines for candidate organization.
- Manatal’s AI-based recommendations feature can save hiring managers quite a bit of time. It’s able to scan job descriptions then search a users talent pool and bring up candidates most suited for the job.
CONS
- The AI recommendations feature only works well in English.
- There are no free plans.
- ADP and Zapier integrations are restricted to top-tier plans.
- Boolean Search and Advanced Search cannot be used together.
- The AI recommendations feature works best with resumes that are in English, and doesn’t work as accurately with other languages according to several users’ feedback. Several users have also complained about Manatal’s interface only being available in English and that career pages cannot be published in languages other than English and Spanish.
- Manatal doesn’t offer a free plan. We mention this as a con as several SMB-geared ATSs do offer a free-forever verison, and that puts Manatal slightly behind competition.
- Manatal doesn’t offer prebuilt integration modules. They do have an open API that allows users to plug in third-party products and custom tools, but that required a bit more time and technical knowledge to accomplish. It’s also worth mentioning that only Custom plan customers can access Manatal’s API and Zapier integration. Customers on the Professional and Enterprise plan cannot.
- Users can search for candidates via Boolean Search or Advanced Search, but cannot combine the two search methods together. E.g users cannot use the Boolean search operators (AND, OR and NOT) within Manatal’s Advanced Search tab.

As HR tech editors with years of working experience as recruiters and HR professionals, we understand the importance of finding the right talent efficiently, and Manatal has proven to be a valuable tool in this regard.
The first on our thumbs-up list is that it’s budget-friendly. We appreciate the transparency in pricing, as there is no need to contact sales just to get a ballpark figure. The platform offers a 14-day free trial.
Using Manatal was straightforward, thanks to its user-friendly interface and the convenience of drag-and-drop-enabled pipelines. The AI-based candidate recommendations feature is a time-saver. It compares job descriptions' language to skills listed by individuals in the talent pool.
Manatal is web-based, so it is compatible with multiple devices. The ability to migrate data from our existing hiring software was also a welcome feature that made for a smooth transition. Additionally, they recently started offering free, live training webinars.
We encountered a few limitations during our evaluation. The AI recommendation feature does not operate well in languages other than English, and Manatal lacks a free version. Integration is limited, and ADP and Zapier integrations are restricted to top-tier plans.
Unilever, Coca-Cola, Panasonic, Ogilvy, Toyota.
Manatal pricing starts at $15 per user per month. More specifically:
- Professional: This plan costs $15 per user per month for up to 15 jobs per account and 10,000 candidates. Customers on this plan can add unlimited guests.
- Enterprise: This plan costs $35 per user per month for unlimited jobs per account and unlimited candidates and guests.
- Enterprise Plus: This plan costs $55 per user per month and includes all Enterprise features, user groups, open API access, SSO log-in, priority support, and access to Beta features.
- Custom: Pricing upon request.
Best For
Manatal is best for small businesses experiencing headcount growth due to its affordability and scalability.
I use Manatal for many reasons. I source candidates, store their information, post my jobs on job boards, my career page and our website. I keep notes about candidates as well as my current employees. I also upload all of my new hire information and/or paperwork for each new hire and use it as a digital personnel file.

I like several things about Manatal. The first one being the ability to post on about 19 different free job board sites. I also like the ability to create my own pipeline categories as what I like to see doesn't typically come in a "standard" ATS. Another good thing about Manatal is the ability to email candidates through their personal candidate file, making the note taking a lot less tedious because it automatically keeps the email in that candidate/employee's file.
The main reason I chose Manatal was due to its price. It was one of the less expensive, web-based, customizable ATS systems I could find online. I have to say, however, that this isn't one of those "you get what you pay for" type programs. I was pleasantly surprised at Manatal's capabilities.
There are a few things with Manatal that could be improved. First one is their match system. I feel that the percentages I see on each applicant's file do not match the job description even close to the percentage it gives me. I also don't like that you can't just perform a search in the system without naming a specific field (i.e. I couldn't search by phone number). The other thing I don't care for too much is the email integration. I integrated, and then later removed, my work email because once integrated, all of my emails had to go through the Manatal program and there are emails that I don't want or need to stay within my ATS.
I would say for the price Manatal is awesome. It's better than I thought it would be given how inexpensive it is compared to its competition. Other ATS programs I've used in the past were specifically built for the companies I worked for previously, which cost $10K+. The company I'm with now is about 30 people, and Manatal suits my needs for a company this size.
ATS programs vary in so many ways that I really think it depends on what kind of company you are and what your needs are for an ATS. For a small business that doesn't specialize in just staffing, but has a few internal staffing needs themselves, this is great. For a large(r) staffing agency, Manatal is capable of handling what is needed; however, a custom built software would be more appropriate. Another thing to consider about Manatal is that its integrations are limited to just a couple email programs, another reason why it wouldn't work out so well for a larger company.
I've only been using Manatal for about 3 months now so I can't really answer that question. I know not much, if anything, has updated and/or changed in the time I've been using it.
Any business with smaller staffing needs. The industry doesn't necessarily matter (unless it's a larger staffing agency). We're in the construction industry and unfortunately we can't integrate it with any other program we use...which is fine for our needs right now. If we continue to grow the way that we are, then I would say we would have to consider another ATS that we could integrate with our construction software.
Larger staffing firms or any business that would need integration either with a scheduling and/or timekeeping program, industry specific software and/or accounting programs.

JazzHR

This platform is built with the small business in mind. When testing it, our writers were impressed at how easy it was to set up and use “out of the box,” which is a clear sign of its simplicity, attention to user experience, and understanding of the down-to-business mentality of most SMBs.
PROS
- Affordable pricing, no user limit, and a 21-day free trial.
- Built-in features for offer management, including templates and DIY options.
- Emphasis on automation for those in the pipeline shows dedication to candidate experience.
- JazzHR is quite affordable and doesn’t place any limits on the number of users added. It also offers free, 21-day trials that anyone can sign up for.
- JazzHR has built-in features for offer management. You can choose from existing offer letter templates or create your own and share them with successful candidates
- You can automate triggers for candidates to be automatically notified via email when their application has moved a stage further in the hiring process. Several other email responses can be automated.
CONS
- No free version for orgs with minimal needs.
- A few users thought reports could be more customizable and easier to create.
- No mobile apps.
- Some users reported a learning curve with JazzHR's UI and that it took them some time to get used to it
- For a product geared towards SMBs, it lacks a free plan. We mention this as a con since other SMB-geared recruiting products do offer free-forever versions, which puts JazzHR slightly behind the competition.
- Several users have mentioned that the reporting feature is difficult to use with very little room for report customizations.
- JazzHR currently lacks a mobile app, and the browser version isn’t well-optimized for mobile use.

We like how simple it is to post and syndicate jobs across portals, and we love the upfront pricing on the website. Many customers start with JazzHR’s lowest-cost plan, and as their needs expand beyond basic features, they often upgrade incrementally. Being able to select features as needed keeps spending under control.
Because they do not offer mobile apps, our product testing included a considerable amount of time with our phones in hand, navigating the mobile web environment. We were impressed with how well it could manage the tasks a recruiter does on the go, like sending out a quick reply in the 15 seconds you have before your next meeting.
However, at least among our in-house recruiter veterans, the consensus was that complex tasks should be saved for the desktop version.
One of our writers shared this real-world story from a former job with a tiny company: they signed up for a free payroll software trial before they were actually ready to buy. They used the software for a couple of weeks just to get a sense of the basics of how to run payroll; then, they ended their relationship with the company.
Of course, we don't recommend this - but we know how hard it is to run an SMB. So, along with JazzHR, which we DO recommend, we suggest getting creative with your professional development!
JazzHR is used by over 6,500 businesses, including the Seattle Seahawks, L'Occitane En Provence, TED Conferences LLC, and Chick-fil-A.
JazzHR has three plans. When paid annually:
- Hero costs $75 per month.
- Plus costs $269 per month.
- Pro costs $420 per month.
Best For
JazzHR is built for organizations with 5 to 500 employees and works exceptionally well for TA teams with little to no experience.
I primarily used JazzHR as an ATS to store and manage applicant data. The ability to automate various steps in the hiring process helped improve efficiency. We programmed letters, screening questions, and other workflow steps directly into the system.
Since we used a separate HRIS, we integrated JazzHR so that applicant data would flow seamlessly into the HRIS once a candidate was hired. The system was also easy for hiring managers to use, making collaboration more effective.
- It integrates well with payroll and HRIS management systems.
- The ability to customize and automate recruiting steps made the process more efficient.
- Tracking multiple open positions and their progress was simple and well-organized.
I used JazzHR as an applicant tracking system (ATS). We needed a platform that could store applicant information and integrate with other software we used. As a high-volume recruiting department, we required an ATS that ensured compliance while also being flexible enough to streamline the recruiting process.
The tool we were previously using did not support the necessary integrations with our other software. JazzHR addressed this issue, making our hiring process more efficient.
- The system included features for sourcing candidates, but they were rarely well-qualified.
- There was no AI functionality for resume screening.
- The subscription model was difficult to cancel if needed.
JazzHR was easier to use than many other ATS platforms I’ve worked with. The dashboard and step-based integration made navigating the system simple and efficient.
Consider the volume of recruiting your organization handles to determine if JazzHR is a good fit. Additionally, evaluate whether you need the system to integrate with other HR software, as this can impact overall efficiency.
During my time using JazzHR, the system remained largely unchanged. At the time, AI tools were not as widely used as they are today, so they may have since incorporated those features.
JazzHR is well-suited for high-volume recruiting and organizations that require integration with other HR tools. We had a workforce of about 5,000 employees, and the system worked well for our needs.
Recruiting agencies might struggle with JazzHR due to its lack of advanced automation features compared to other tools. Smaller organizations may also find it less valuable if they do not have a high volume of hiring needs.

Ashby

Ashby offers the entire TA tech stack: ATS, CRM/Sourcing, Scheduling, and Analytics—an excellent recruiting solution for fast-growing companies.
PROS
- Analytics dashboard with crucial statistics on all aspects of your hiring process.
- Flexibility and ability to customize across almost all aspects of the platform.
- Consolidated ATS, CRM, Scheduling, and Analytics.
- Fast data migrations, no setup fees.
- Your TA team can have one system that truly has best-in-class options for ATS, CRM, Scheduling, and Analytics.
- Flexibility and ability to customize across almost all aspects of the platform
- Their analytics dashboard is great to understand weaknesses in your hiring process, conducting capacity planning, or determining which teams are running suboptimal hiring processes.
CONS
- This is a powerful product, and understanding all the different features can take some time.
- No multi-lingual support.
- Your company must use G Suite in order to make the most of Ashby
- No multi-lingual support
- This is a powerful product, and it can take a bit of time to understand all the different features

Ashby is an all-in-one TA solution that combines your recruiting CRM, ATS, sourcing, scheduling, and analytics into one platform.
We recently met with Ashby’s to look at recent product developments, and what stood out is how easy they have made it to re-engage with former applicants. If our experience working in recruitment positions has taught us anything, it is that efficiency is essential.
We see it like this: you’re wasting time and effort if you don’t maintain a connection with former candidates because these folks are primed, familiar, and pre-vetted members of your talent pool.
Some are “silver medalists” or applicants who made it to the offer stage, and others may possess a unique skill or trait that your current team is lacking. Ashby can create custom attributes to filter your talent pool, so you’ll never lose touch with “good fit, bad timing” candidates.
We would recommend this ATS to TA teams seeking powerful reporting capabilities. Ashby’s reports are highly customizable, track all data points throughout your hiring process in real-time, and are easy on the eye.
We also noticed that Ashby has consistently worked hard to improve its product based on user feedback. Check out their blog page, and you’ll see that the ATS literally rolls out new features every month.
Regarding implementation, it takes SMBs a few days and larger organizations 6-8 weeks to get Ashby up and running. The ATS doesn’t charge for data migrations and system setup, and according to our research, Ashby’s customer support and success teams have been immensely helpful in making the switch a seamless experience.
1,000+ customers, including Quora, Deel, and Ramp.
Ashby costs between $300 and $900 per month for teams with no more than 100 employees.
Best For
Ashby works best for companies at the hyper-growth stage.
I use it daily as an ATS. It holds candidate information from resumes to interview scorecards. I also use it to help schedule interviews.
They are affordable. They integrate with other platforms. It is affordable to add new team members. It is easy to set up recruiting steps and scorecards.
It is less expensive than Greenhouse. It is a good starter tool for seed companies or companies with low hiring needs. We used it for 1 year.
The ability to schedule candidates can be a little challenging. I worry if it will be possible to pull the information from Ashby to another ATS if we change it. Most candidates are not familiar with it, so you have to explain how it works from the candidate's side. It can be difficult to onboard managers to use it.
It is affordable and you can start with a small package. I prefer this option because I am the only recruiter and the team is about 10, so we don't need 1000 seats.
When you scale you might lose your data if they are not able to transfer the data. You are limited on recruiter data. It is a tool that most recruiters have never used, so you will have to train all recruiters on the system.
I think they have not evolved much.
Seed Startups to Small Startups
Enterprise-sized companies

Recruit CRM

Recruitee emphasizes user experience and collaboration, and we’ve seen firsthand how much impact these two factors can have on recruitment efficiency and effectiveness. Coupled with other solid product choices and month-to-month pricing, this platform is an excellent option for SMBs.
PROS
- Transparent, month-to-month pricing and unlimited seats.
- Features that control for bias in interviewing.
- Built-in AI to job descriptions to target ideal candidates.
- No extra fees required for basic data migration that includes importing Excel/CSV files with candidates & clients. During the implementation process of this software, the customer service personnel will help transfer your data for free.
- Great customer service. Their average response time is under two minutes.
- Powerful Linkedin Integration & Executive/Recruitment Report PDF Generator to save time
- Tons of resources made available to users including blogs and articles that give you all the information you need to know about how the software works, job description templates to help you get acquainted with all the possible job openings you will be looking to close, and a glossary that gives you the A-Z of recruitment practices.
CONS
- Price has gone up since our last review updates.
- No native features for skill assessments, onboarding, video interviewing, and e-signatures.
- Our user researchers ran into data accuracy issues with the reporting function.
- Some users noted Recruitee’s support team was hard to reach.
- Limited native integrations. Recruit CRM only integrates natively with LinkedIn, Zapier, Logic Melon, some email apps, and Google and Outlook calendars. If you want to run background checks, for example, using Checkr or other background verification platforms, you won’t be able to do that unless you use Zapier’s API extension.

If we were seeking potential candidates within our large internal talent database, we'd turn to Recruit CRM once again. This feature lets you combine text filters, Boolean, and radius search to get the best results. You can even mark unavailable talent (e.g., those currently hired by other clients) as “off limits” so your team won’t find them and communicate with them by mistake.
One common approach we see in most ATS to keep candidate data fresh and accurate is the use of Social Enrichment—the software auto-enriches candidate profiles with their available social media accounts. Recruit CRM does not offer such a feature. Yet, it allows users to bulk or individually email candidates to update their application info. Once candidates submit the form, the data is auto-pulled into the ATS. While this process may not be entirely automatic, it does simplify the work of maintaining talent data and, just as importantly, ensures GDPR compliance.
Recruit CRM knocked it out of the park on its recruitment agency tools. It lets you send certain candidate data to clients in a few clicks. Plus, the client portal is interactive—clients can choose between Kanban and list view, move stuff around, and give feedback on each profile—then all of which are logged into the system for tracking purposes.
Automation-wise, Recruit CRM offers GPT features for crafting job postings, emails, notes, and even call and candidate profile summaries. What particularly sticks out to us, though, is how this vendor partners with Workato to enable some real convenient 3rd-party automation for users. For example, your TAs get Slack notifications for every new candidate added to Recruit CRM. Additionally, the vendor will jump in to solve arising automation issues, so you don’t have to seek Workato’s support yourself.
Our primary issue with Recruit CRM is the limited number of in-system profiles matching the user ideal candidate it provides: 2 matches per candidate for Pro and 50 for Business and Enterprise. Lastly, designed with staffing firms in mind, this vendor doesn’t do employee referrals and is not ideal for corporate recruiters.
Recruit CRM’s clients include global staffing firms like Cooper Coleman, Zeren, and Avizio.
Recruit CRM has three plans: Pro is $85 per user per month, Business is $125 per user per month, and Enterprise is $165 per user per month when billed annually. A free trial is also available, no credit card is required.
Best For
Recruit CRM works best for recruiting firms and consulting agencies.
I use Recruit CRM to recruit employees from different locations worldwide. The tool helps me create assignments and tasks for employees and generate meeting notes before online meetings. I also use it to visualize employee performance data and share it with the higher management team.

I like the integration with calendar and online meeting tools like Zoom. The pricing is affordable and does not negatively impact the ROI of any business. The customer support team is responsive to technical questions.
Managing, tracking, and recording employees working remotely around the globe was a significant challenge for our company. We faced difficulties in understanding employee needs and improving human resources. Emailing one employee at a time and CCing others was cumbersome. Recruit CRM offered a solution by allowing us to manage employees from a single dashboard and providing robust communication features for emailing employees directly from the tool. I have used Recruit CRM for three years, which has helped me gain more experience as an HR business partner.
The user interface requires significant improvement. The rich text editor for composing emails is unresponsive. The email signature maker offers limited customization options.
Recruit CRM provides more modules at the same pricing level and has a support team that responds promptly to technical questions.
Consider the size of the organization and the pricing of the tool. Also, evaluate the technical knowledge required to set up and use the tool effectively.
There haven't been many changes to the Recruit CRM platform yet.
Recruit CRM is suitable for human resource managers and talent acquisition professionals from medium to large-sized businesses.
Recruit CRM may not be suitable for startups and other smaller businesses that do not require a lot of hiring.

Recruitee

Recruitee emphasizes user experience and collaboration, and we’ve seen firsthand how much impact these two factors can have on recruitment efficiency and effectiveness. Coupled with other solid product choices and month-to-month pricing, this platform is an excellent option for SMBs.
PROS
- Transparent, month-to-month pricing and unlimited seats.
- Features that control for bias in interviewing.
- Built-in AI to job descriptions to target ideal candidates.
- Pro: Recruitee is highly rated by customers for its ease of use. The majority of them are able to implement and get on with the software without much hassle.
- Pro: Recruitee features a customizable, kanban-like recruiting pipeline. Companies can add as many stages as needed to the pipeline and move candidates easily as they progress through the stages.
- Pro: Recruitee incorporates some measures to reduce hiring bias. For example, you can adjust the permission level for your interviewers and prevent them from seeing the scores each of them are assigning to the same candidate. This way, they won’t be influenced by each other's evaluations.
CONS
- Recruitee relies on third-party integrations for some essential functions like skill assessments, onboarding, video interviewing, and e-signatures.
- Our user researchers ran into data accuracy issues with the reporting function.
- Some users noted Recruitee’s support team was hard to reach.
- Con: Several functions that are advertised on Recruitee’s feature list, including skill assessments, onboarding, video interviewing, and e-signatures are not actually built into Recruitee and are only possible through integration with third-party tools, which can be misleading to potential users, especially if it’s their first ATS.
- Con: Several users noted that the Recruitee’s reporting function is limited and at times, doesn’t retrieve data accurately.
- Con: Several users have complained about Recruitee’s support team being slow in responding, and at times, not able to solve issues.
- Con: For a product that’s geared towards SMBs, it lacks a free plan that businesses who are just getting started with ATSs can use for as long as they need, without any time constraints. We list this as a con as several solutions in this space do offer free-forever plans and similar feature sets as Recruitee, which puts it slightly behind the competition to users.

Recruitee knows SMBs and designed a tool for this market. The most apparent SMB/ bottom-line-focused elements are transparent pricing, month-to-month options, and unlimited seats. There is no mystery there: SMBs tend to be budget-conscious.
However, what might be less obvious is what a small TA team can accomplish with unlimited seats, user-focused design, and factors that facilitate collaboration. Recruitee’s feature set represents a clever strategic insight: if the tool is easy to use and designed to distribute the workload among everyone involved in the interview process, the result will be increased efficiency and effectiveness.
We’ve seen it firsthand (several writers here have backgrounds in SMB recruitment), and our user research has confirmed it.
When we test-drove the tool, we were disappointed to note the absence of some features we consider standard. Video interviews, skills assessment, offer management, and onboarding are ubiquitous in modern ATSs, but none are built into the platform.
Recrutiee leans into integrations with Recruitee Marketplace, a collection of preferred third-party tools prepped for ease of integration.
There’s no right or wrong when it comes to built-in vs. add-on. It’s a matter of personal preference and what works best for your business. For those who prefer add-ons, Recruitee is a great choice: you’ll find what you need, and the integration process will be seamless.
Vice, Greenpeace, Autodesk, Tide, Mollie
Recruitee pricing starts at $216 per month (used to be $199 during our last review update.)
Best For
Recruitee is best suited for teams with at least 20 employees.
I use Recruitee every day, the whole day! It's such a great system to track candidates and it's all in one place. I can contact candidates and it's all recorded. Each candidate has a profile, I can upload documents (offer letters, employment applications, etc.) I can text candidates using another system called JustCall, everything in one place! I can create a website through Recruitee! I can directly share open jobs via Rectuitee on platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.

I like how easy it is to understand and use the system. I love the live support they use, they are fast to get back to you. I like how modern the UI is and how updated it is in terms of the latest features and functionalities.
Great question, we have been using Recruitee for almost a year now, and it has been the best decision ever. We get to track candidates and offer a smooth hiring process. Before having Recruitee in the house, we were using spreadsheets, which was painful and extremely time-consuming, we couldn't track well without many integrations and automation, and the manual efforts were not productive. This ATS is the best!
Something I hope they can work out better is to get the text messages incorporated faster. They claim to have been working on it for a while, but we don’t really know until it is rolled out. I wish they had more integrations as Paylocity, I believe they are expanding their list. The last thing, I wish they give you more options to change the theme color of the screen and other customization options.
Yes, pricing-wise. Modern and easy to use. I have used other ATSs that are not that easy to use. The integrations at Recruitee are great!
They should think about how this ATS offers everything! They are very open to feedback and willing to work on the ideas you might have. This ATS is complete.
Recruitee has helped the company tremendously, it has helped me as a Recruiter and also the Managers. Everyone I know who has used this ATS loves it!
Recruiting, onboarding, background check. Medium to large-sized organizations can maximize their use cases.
It wouldn't work for a small company that is not hiring much. This system is only good for a company that is looking to hire constantly, with respect to the costs and advanced functionalities it has.

Teamtailor

Known for ease of use and exceptional customer service, this platform is excellent for startups and SMBs looking to create custom career pages that make a strong impression on candidates. It supports anonymous hiring and internal referral programs and streamlines nurture campaigns to meet current and future hiring needs.
PROS
- iOS and Android apps.
- Simple and quick drag-and-drop features to build custom sites.
- Features anonymous recruitment and EEO surveys to support DEI.
- Responsive and knowledgeable customer support team.
- Free trial and unlimited job postings, candidates, and seats for all plans.
- Teamtailor’s ATS comes with a robust career site builder that’s also easy to use. It works with drag and drop - no coding knowledge necessary.
- Teamtailor backs several features that support diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI), including anonymous hiring, equal employment opportunity (EEO) surveys, etc..
- Teamtailor is highly rated for their ease-of-use. It’s quite simple to post and promote jobs through their platform.
- There is really in-depth and intuitive help documentation for this solution
CONS
- The analytics function could be more customizable.
- Limited to ATS-specific features with no tie-ins to other core-HR functions.
- The customization and video interview features are limited.
- Undisclosed pricing.
- Teamtailor’s analytics are good, but enterprise clients need to use BI Connectors to build the reporting they need. Right now, you can’t sport data from the system. This is particularly important for companies with 500+ employees, or those who have many different locations or franchises.
- Analytics doesn’t allow recruiters to see their cost per hire, which is a really impactful metric
- While they offer integrations with HRIS, onboarding, etc - they have focused on just being a really good ATS now.
- There are predefined user access levels, but you cannot define your own user access levels which is important, especially for the largest companies.

Teamtailor stands out for its affordability and built-in employer branding features. This makes it an excellent fit for startups and SMBs trying to build their brand and headcount.
Most small teams need some help making themselves stand out to attract talent. There are countless approaches to this, but we like in-house custom career sites because they serve two essential purposes: they introduce the brand and can be fine-tuned to appeal to the talent demographic you’re hoping to hire. That is a win/win without allocating funds to marketing!
When assessing the platform, we especially liked the drag-and-drop features. Specifically, we were impressed with how quickly we could mock up a career site using super-intuitive workflows. It took less than five minutes from start to finish. That’s not bad for someone with zero technical experience!
The free trial is also a highlight, and we were impressed with the simplicity of setting up a nurture campaign to keep the talent tool engaged.
Some users experienced technical hiccups with integration, but most reported that customer support was able to address the issue quickly.
Kry, Goodbye Kansas, Vitamin Well, Ponsse, Daniel Wellington.
Teamtailor’s pricing starts at $3,000 annually, according to our sources.
Best For
Teamtailor works best for startups and SMBs (50-400 employees) that need a straightforward ATS coupled with employer branding functions.
The main use for Teamtailor has been to add a careers website to my organization which allows me to externally advertise and manage open vacancies in the most engaging way possible.
I also use it for existing team bios, which do a good job of attracting prospective candidates, as it allows them to get an understanding of what kind of people we hire. Employees can create their own bios, and can even add gifs to make it a little more engaging!
On the backend of the system, I am able to track and monitor traffic to each job vacancy (external and internal) I have open, all in one place in a sales pipeline-like view, which allows me to drag and drop candidates along the process from application, review, interview to offer stage.
User experience is great; it's fun, modern, and engaging. It has a real Gen Z energy, which is attractive!
It's a really quick and easy way of adding a careers page and ATS, there is no need to build anything manually - which is a huge money and time saver!
It brings personality to your business by enabling you to showcase your team.
We were looking for a tool that was an ATS as well as a way of attracting candidates and maximizing our employer brand. If you're looking to add a careers page to your website, Teamtailor is a brilliant way of doing this in a quick, easy, and effective way. Teamtailor can bring personality to your organization by allowing you to showcase your existing team members to prospective candidates, with personal bios and even Instagram-esque stories. I've used Teamtailor for the last couple of years.
Overall Teamtailor is an excellent platform, but its functionality can be quite simple at times. For example, there is an interview kit tool with scorecards, but the customization here is quite minimal and limited to interview questions. It would be great to see an addition to add role-specific tasks.
Other ATS tools are quite frankly, boring. Teamtailor is engaging, modern, and attractive - it's straightforward in its set-up, meaning that anyone can use it. Whereas, other tools on the market are complicated, plain, and jargon-heavy.
As with most HR tools, I think businesses should first consider whether they have the internal resources to implement and maintain Teamtailor, that being said, it is one of the least high-maintenance ATS software on the market.
Businesses should also consider whether or not they already have a careers page, as even if they want the ATS, the careers page will come with it and could serve as a duplicate, so that's also something I would suggest checking before committing.
Teamtailor has evolved to meet users' needs, particularly in terms of enabling integrations with platforms like Bob, DocuSign, and even Snapchat.
Teamtailor is great for in-house recruitment teams and hiring managers, and would suit a small to medium business, as well as a business at enterprise level (over 1000 employees).
Teamtailor isn't a great option if the business isn't hiring.

iCIMS

iCIMS, is a massive, global presence serving large companies with high-volume talent managemt needs, so isurprise it operates in more than 70 languages. Still, we are impressed with the attention to user needs demonstrated by the massive toolset.
PROS
- A powerful recruiting solution that can handle high-volume hiring of up to 50,000 candidates.
- The reporting feature is robust and retrieves data accurately.
- iCIMS is constantly expanding its roster of integrations with third-party products. Currently, 300+ and rising, including Workday, SAP, SuccessFactors, ADP, Oracle, and UKG.
- iCIMS is a powerful recruiting solution that can handle high volume hiring of up to 50,000 candidates.
- The platform is constantly evolving through developments and acquisitions, giving users more features.
- The reporting feature is robust and retrieves data accurately.
- iCIMS has a growing marketplace of over 300 integrations with third-party products.
CONS
- The UI is complex and dated compared to other cloud-based recruiting products.
- Customer support is sometimes slow and only available by phone or ticket—no live chat support.
- Though packing many features, it lacks automated reference checking.
- No transparent pricing and no free trial.
- The cost of implementation and integration is relatively high compared to other recruiting solutions.
- A significant number of users complained about the UI’s complexity and that it looks dated compared to other cloud-based recruiting products.
- Customer support is slow at times and only available through phone and by creating a support ticket online - no live chat support yet
- The platform packs an overwhelming amount of features yet still lacks some useful capabilities such as automated reference checking.
- No transparent pricing or free trials, and according to several users, the cost of implementation as well as integrations is high compared to other recruiting solutions.

iCIMS ATS is feature-rich and well-suited for large, multilingual organizations and high-volume agencies. Users can create custom-branded career sites, employee-generated testimonial videos, and personalized email or text campaigns through the platform.
In addition to externally-focused features,iCIMS facilitates users in promoting existing employees through internal mobility programs. This is especially relevant in the context of enterprise scale, as is their global support and industry versatility. This platform is used by businesses operating in healthcare, manufacturing, technology, retail, and more.
The takeaway from our demo and hands-on testing is that although this tool offers an astonishing number of features, it’s somewhat difficult to operate. This is reflected in user reviews, too. Remember that our writers scrutinize HR tech all day, so we tend to be sticklers for good design and intuitive UI. However, for some, no sacrifice is represented using a tool that looks and feels a little clunky.
iCIMS has over 4,000 customers, including Ulta, Target, Microsoft, PwC, Uber, and UPS.
iCMS pricing typically starts at around $14,000 per year.
Best For
iCIMS is best for global enterprises and recruiting agencies with high-volume hiring needs.
We used iCIMS to facilitate the careers site. It was not integrated into the ATS system the company used at the time for building candidate pipelines (Workday). The key workflows involved leveraging iCIMS to showcase our job listings (both on our career site and partnered job boards such as Indeed and CareerBuilder) and managing communication efforts (e.g., building talent pipelines, sending talent campaigns, etc.).
As an admin, I posted positions through Workday, which were then displayed on the career site via iCIMS. I also created and built talent pipelines based on location, skill set, education, and other criteria, as well as managed talent campaigns. These campaigns targeted individuals who clicked "Join the Talent Pipeline" on the career site, allowing them to receive emails about job postings, company benefits, community events, and more.
The system was user-friendly in terms of building pipelines, viewing talent skills, and sending campaigns to specific audiences. Its functionality was effective in engaging talent, particularly through the Join Talent Network feature. Job listings being automatically launched on different job boards was also beneficial.
Our organization purchased iCIMS as the vendor for the careers site. The capabilities we had with iCIMS included building pipelines by joining a talent network, managing campaigns, and more. However, this was not integrated into our applicant tracking system (which was Workday). Overall, it performed well in engaging talent from a campaigns and talent pipeline perspective. We used it for roughly two years.
The lack of full integration with Workday was challenging. For example, once a pipeline was built and a candidate seemed like a good fit for a role, that information would not transfer to Workday. Instead, we had to contact the candidate and ask them to apply for the position on the career site again, which was inconvenient, especially since our application was long and not user-friendly.
Creating campaigns was also difficult due to challenges with imaging and maintaining proper branding. Applicants often experienced issues completing the application process.
I would rank iCIMS around the midpoint compared to similar tools. Now that I have used other job listing and candidate engagement tools, I find that iCIMS could be stronger in candidate outreach and engagement throughout the application process.
Is your company’s application process easy to use? Are you looking for a tool that helps build pipelines of talent to engage potential applicants? Are you seeking different ways to conduct outreach? For these use cases, iCIMS can be a good starting point.
I have heard that iCIMS has improved in terms of stronger integration with ATS systems and better candidate engagement to enhance the application process.
Medium or large businesses with less difficult-to-fill, professional-level positions.
Small businesses and larger businesses that need iCIMS to integrate seamlessly with their ATS system.

Avature

We’re big fans of customized workflows and attention to user experience, and Avature’s platform is a blend of ATS and CRM that strikes the right balance between both.
PROS
- A full-fledged ATS with built-in video interviewing, management features, and onboarding solutions.
- It also has a CRM, allowing TA teams to increase candidate engagement and plan for future hiring.
- Avature leverages AI with talent matching and candidate ranking.
- The recruiter mobile app supports offline use.
- Avature’s solution is quite comprehensive. They have a full-fledged ATS with built-in video interviewing, offer management and onboarding solutions. They also have a CRM, allowing TA teams to amp up candidate engagement and plan for future hiring.
- Avature leverages artificial intelligence with features of automatic talent matching and candidate ranking.
- Avature comes with a recruiter mobile app that allows key stakeholders to perform several recruiting tasks while on the go. The app also supports offline use, and syncs with the system the next time it’s connected to the Internet.
CONS
- Undisclosed pricing. No free trials.
- The UI can be confusing and takes some time to get used to.
- The assessment feature is quite elemental compared to other similar platforms.
- It lacks a built-in reference-checking feature, so users must pay for and integrate third-party solutions.
- Avature’s pricing is not readily available on their website. They also do not offer a free trial.
- Several users noted that the UI isn’t intuitive and takes some time to get used to.
- Avature’s assessment feature is quite basic and isn’t built out enough compared to point solutions in that space. So if you want to test the skills and cultural fitness of candidates, you’d need a third-party solution.
- Avature doesn’t have an automated reference checking feature built-in. The platform does integrate with third-party solutions that facilitate reference checking, but you’ll have to purchase those solutions too separately.

The Avature platform allows users to customize dashboards set up automated workflows, and leverage the power of an all-in-one ATS + CRM.
We got some hands-on experience with the tool, so we asked our colleagues with the most recruiting experience to test the limits of its purported customizability.
The results? This tool is easy to tailor to your company’s processes and goals. During our test run, we quickly built unique recruiting workflows for individual roles or entire departments.
The platform operates through a no-code interface that allows non-technical users to modify the system (with lots of permissions in place). While this level of detail may be overkill for smaller organizations with simple needs,
This is a premium tool for large teams. Those that operate at a global enterprise scale will get the most out of Avature.
More than 6,500 companies use Avature. This includes Shell, Cisco, L'Oréal, Mondelez, Siemens, and KPMG.
Avature's pricing structure is tiered based on the number of employees and maximum recruitment users, starting at £60,500 per year for 1-2,500 employees and 20 recruitment users, and increasing up to £260,000+ per year for 20,000+ employees and 100+ recruitment users. These prices do not include implementation fees and are based on a minimum two-year contract. Educational institutions receive a 25% discount.
Best For
Avature best serves enterprise-scale companies, especially those that operate across international borders.
The recruitment team uses Avature daily to manage various workflows within talent acquisition. The Applicant Tracking System supports end-to-end recruitment processes, including requisition creation, approvals, candidate screening, shortlisting, and communication.
Avature also enables building a candidate database through its talent community, where potential hires can apply independently or be referred by employees. Integration with other HR systems helps manage onboarding workflows, ensuring an excellent day-one experience for new hires.
Additionally, Avature’s reporting features are extensively used to track key recruitment metrics such as fill rate, declines, and requisition age.
- Avature improved our recruitment workflows and increased efficiency through automation.
- It significantly enhanced the hiring manager experience, simplifying requisition creation, tracking, approvals, and engagement with recruiters.
- The platform offers extensive customization options to fit the needs of any business.
My organization sought an end-to-end solution to streamline workflows, including sourcing, applicant tracking, career websites, employee referrals, internal mobility, and onboarding. The goal was to improve the candidate and hiring manager experience significantly while enhancing the efficiency of recruitment processes.
After evaluating the market, we chose Avature because of its robust platform and ability to customize features to meet our needs. Its suite of solutions allowed us to upgrade talent acquisition and engagement processes, such as building a talent community and driving internal mobility.
Avature’s seamless integration with other HR systems was another key factor in our decision. We have used it for over three years.
- The custom report builder is limited in capabilities, and the dashboard views are not user-friendly.
- The team experienced a steep learning curve, and it took a long time to establish workflows and processes.
- There is limited training material available, which hindered onboarding and adoption.
Avature stands out for its high level of customization, allowing organizations to tailor the platform to their unique needs. Its strengths in applicant tracking and talent management make it a preferred choice for companies seeking enhancements in these areas and scalability.
However, it has room for improvement, particularly in custom reporting, which lacks advanced features offered by competitors. The steep learning curve and limited training resources are also drawbacks compared to similar tools.
Assess your recruitment team’s comfort level with adopting new technology, as Avature requires significant time for implementation and process setup. Consider your reporting needs, as its custom reporting features are limited. Additionally, ensure your organization has the resources to invest in training and system adoption to maximize its potential.
Avature has introduced enhancements in talent management areas such as onboarding and internal mobility. They actively incorporate customer feedback into platform updates, showing a commitment to continuous improvement.
Avature is ideal for organizations with at least 10 recruiters that need robust recruitment workflows and extensive customization options.
Avature is not well-suited for very small organizations or extremely large enterprises, as the platform’s features may not align with their scale or complexity.

Lever

We like Lever’s focus on engaging passive candidates. Candidate nurturing is a critical recruiting strategy that deserves the spotlight it’s been given with this platform. In addition to solid product decisions, the execution is excellent. Put more simply, Lever put together a collection of well-thought-out features, and they’ve succeeded in making them all work together.
PROS
- The simple interface is easy to use and requires little training or experience.
- A unified recruiting platform combines elements of ATS and CRM.
- Diverse external sourcing channels and low-friction internal referral process.
- According to most users, Lever's UI is very intuitive and easy to learn.
- Lever combines the capabilities of an ATS and a CRM into a single platform that not only supports your current hiring needs but allows you to actively engage and nurture prospective qualified candidates for future roles.
- Lever takes diversity hiring into consideration with Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) surveys that help you collect diversity data from applicants, sourced candidates, and referrals regardless of whether they applied to an open position or not.
- Lever provides role-based visual analytics with over 20 key TA metrics in its basic TRM package.
CONS
- Undisclosed pricing and no free plan or trial version.
- 3rd party integrations in place of features that could be built in.
- No mobile apps.
- Lever doesn't disclose their pricing on their website. Interested users are also not able to create trial accounts on their own.
- The platform doesn’t have features for background or reference checking but they do integrate with third-party solutions that specialize in those checks.
- Lever currently lacks a mobile app, but the platform is optimized for mobile use.

From our collective in-house experience, we know that the right approach to recruiting is full-cycle. Lever leans into the CRM mentality with functions that attend to potential candidates, current candidates, and (ideally) current employees who used to be candidates.
This may seem like an obvious strategy, but it’s genuinely (and surprisingly!) unique among ATS platforms.
Users can source candidates from multiple channels, including numerous career sites, social media, and internal referrals. Connecting with potential hires is streamlined with automated workflows that include the sophisticated nurture campaigns mentioned above. Regardless of where they end up in the hiring pipeline, these campaigns keep talent engaged with your company.
The video interview integration with Zoom stands out. In addition to synchronizing seamlessly with scheduling features, it allows for customization of interview type between live, structured, and asynchronous, or some mix of the two.
Another highlight is the range of industries and company sizes that Lever can serve. This platform works for any user with consistent hiring needs, whether a tiny but rapidly growing tech start-up or an established business in a field with high turnover rates (think retail or hospitality).
Our testers found some shortcomings in line with other reviews you might read: resume parsing, and report generation features could be improved.
Lever is used by over 5,000 companies, including Netflix, Shopify, Eventbrite, Cirque du Soliel, and Reddit.
Lever pricing can start anywhere at $6,000, depending on specific business cases.
Best For
Lever is best for companies with small to medium volume hiring needs.
For specific projects, I utilize Lever daily to coordinate the hiring process for my team. Lever lets me quickly post job openings on multiple job boards at once, while also keeping track of applications and schedules. Lever helps me stay on top of follow-up tasks with applicants and keep organized during the onboarding process. Lever's candidate sourcing tools help me source. It enables me to quickly create customizable pipelines and align the workflow for my hiring team. My favorite is that Lever's comprehensive reporting dashboards provide me with information regarding our recruitment process.
1. The tool is incredibly user-friendly and is optimized for collaboration and communication, both internally and externally.
2. It has an intuitive dashboard that makes it easy to manage and track applicants’ progress throughout the recruitment process.
3. The tool has powerful filters and search capabilities, making it easy to qualify job seekers quickly and accurately.
4. Lever has many automation capabilities, including interview scheduling, email campaigns, and even candidate sourcing.
We chose Lever because of its user-friendly interface. It has the ability to easily track, maintain, and analyze all hiring data. The different tools also help streamline the entire hiring process. Lever's reporting capabilities also provide insight into sourcing efforts. This enables us to identify areas for improvement. The archive tool is also great for keeping a pool of talent.
1. Price, may not be affordable for every company.
2. Many tools are useless for a very small business.
3. The interface might look boring to some people.
It is more user-friendly. Everything is tracked in the same place. The system begins to become intuitive as the project goes on. It integrates with other platforms, such as LinkedIn.
1. Do you need all of the tools? 2. Will you be hiring continuously, or only for a few roles?
Yes - the interface became more user-friendly, and it becomes more intuitive as it "learns" about the types of candidates you approve.
Corporation or large recruiting agency
Small Businesses, people who are not hiring for several roles a year.

SmartRecruiters

Encompassing solutions beyond the standard candidate sourcing, assessment, and engagement features, SmartRecruiter is an enterprise-grade talent acquisition suite that provides native collaboration and AI-driven functionality.
PROS
- Candidate assessment, skill testing, and offer management are built-in, so need for add-ons or integrations.
- Enables easy posting to multiple job boards, integrating social media tools, and facilitating internal recruits.
- Friendly with mobile devices.
- SmartRecruiters has a built-in candidate assessment and skill testing module that allows you to predict cultural fit, future performance and retention, without needing to integrate third-party solutions.
- SmartRecruiters provides features for offer management. You can create offer letter templates, share them with successful applicants, and collect their e-signatures from any device using SmartRecruiters’ DocuSign integration.
- Speaking of integrations, SmartRecruiters has pre-built integrations with over 500 HR solutions and job boards. You can also ask SmartRecruiters’ team to build additional integrations for you if it doesn’t integrate with products in your tech stack.
CONS
- Undisclosed pricing.
- No free trials.
- Users have reported a steep learning curve and that the UI takes time to get used to.
- Features like candidate filtering, report customizations, and KPI tracking are limited.
- SmartRecruiters’ pricing isn’t transparent. Interested users have to go through the sales team to receive a quote. Users are also not able to create trial accounts on their own.
- Users have reported a steep learning curve and that the UI takes time to get used to. Some users have also reported that the system can be slow and glitches at times.
- The reporting feature doesn’t always retrieve data accurately. Some users have also complained that report customizations and KPI tracking capabilities are limited.
- Candidate filtering is quite limited. As it stands, only basic options such as degree, location, gender etc are provided.

SmartRecruiters ATS is built to serve mid-size and large businesses. The platform allows you to cast a wide net with customizable career pages, targeted ad campaigns, and job post distribution to multiple job boards. It also provides features for candidate assessment and offer management.
One unique fact our evaluation uncovered is that SmartRecruiters encourages customer feedback and rapidly integrates suggestions into the product. That’s an excellent reputation to have, and it’s in keeping with a key element of their business model: SmartRecruiters aims to enable their customers to attract talent. It follows that they would want direct feedback from their users on how to do that best.
The downside of this platform applies mostly to smaller businesses. It’s not cheap, and the scope of its feature set means that it’s complex to set up and use. These factors are less relevant to larger businesses, which are more likely to use all the features and have time and money to spare for integration and implementation.
More than 5,000 companies, including Ikea, Visa, LinkedIn, Equinox, and Skechers
The annual cost for SmartRecruiters ATS begins at $10,000 and can exceed $50,000.
Best For
SmartRecruiters works best for medium and large-sized businesses.
As a recruiter in my organization, I rely on SmartRecruiters to handle the complete recruitment process from beginning to end. One of the key features of SmartRecruiters is the ability to post job openings on various job boards in a matter of a few clicks. Once the job gets posted, I can manage the entire hiring process from within the platform, including scheduling and conducting phone interviews, reviewing resumes and applications, and moving candidates through different stages. of the hiring process such as scheduling in-person interviews.
As the hiring process progresses, SmartRecruiters provides a dashboard view that allows me to track the status of each candidate, from initial application through to hiring. When a candidate has been selected for a position, SmartRecruiters also make it easy to generate and send offer letters directly from the platform.
Overall, SmartRecruiters has proven to be an invaluable tool for managing the recruitment process efficiently, keeping track of candidate information, and ensuring that the hiring process is smooth and streamlined.

I like SmartRecruiters as it offers a comprehensive and integrated platform for recruitment needs, which helps in streaming the hiring process. The user interface is intuitive and straightforward, allowing users to quickly navigate and access different functionalities.
One of the key benefits is its ability to connect with leading national job portals, which widens the pool of potential candidates and increases the chances of finding the right fit for a position.
Moreover, the platform offers a centralized candidate database, allowing recruiters like me to easily manage and maintain candidate information throughout the hiring process. The lifecycle management feature makes it easier to track a candidate's progress from the initial application to hiring, reducing the risk of overlooking any important steps.
Another amazing feature of this tool is its ability to draft and present offers within the platforms, making it more convenient to manage the hiring process from start to finish.
Overall in my opinion, SmartRecruiters offers a user-friendly, efficient, and integrated recruitment solution that can benefit both recruiters and candidates.
Our organization used SmartRecruiters to make the hiring process easier and better. SmartRecruiters is an HRIS that helps our organization post multiple job openings, keep a track of people who have applied to those jobs and keep a track of the whole hiring process.
With the help of this tool, HR managers and recruiters were able to save time and effort by posting job openings in many job portals at one time without having to go to different portals and post jobs one by one.
The tool also helps the HR team move candidates through different stages of the hiring process, so they can see who is the most qualified for the open job positions and make good decisions. The tool can also show different reports about the hiring process, like how many people have applied, so the organization can see how to make it better.
Our organization has been using this tool for almost one year and being used by different people in the organization, like managers, HR heads, recruiters, and senior management without any hassle.
SmartRecruiters doesn't allow integration with many applications, and their support team is not very responsive and is unwilling to make changes. They seem content with their current clients, as many big companies are already using their product and their support team is not willing to work on the new changes requested by the users.
SmartRecruiters stands out from other recruitment software by providing a platform that is easy to use and can be linked with both big and small job portals. It also offers a database that makes it easy to keep track of potential hires. With these features, SmartRecruiters can help recruiters save time and resources, making the hiring process more efficient. SmartRecruiters' ability to connect with various job portals and organize candidate data sets it apart from other recruitment software.
- Before buying recruitment software like SmartRecruiters, there are some important things to consider.
- Firstly, think about how many people will use the tool and which industry they work in. This affects which features will be most helpful.
- Secondly, check whether your team is skilled enough to use the tool, as some tools are harder to learn than others.
- Finally, think about how long you will need the tool. SmartRecruiters offers discounts for yearly models, so that might be worth considering.
- By keeping these things in mind, you can choose the right recruitment software for your needs.
SmartRecruiters has improved over time to meet the needs of their users. They have done this by adding new job portals, especially local job portals that are popular in different countries. They have also made their platform more affordable by offering discounts with yearly plans. Finally, they are working on integrating new applications into their platform, which will make it more versatile. By doing all this, SmartRecruiters is able to better meet the changing needs of its users.
SmartRecruiters is good for IT and Software companies, or any company where employees use technology for sourcing and recruitment process.
SmartRecruiters should not be used for organizations where employees do not use technology for the recruitment process like Warehouse and Distribution companies.

Rippling

Rippling is known for its uniformly solid platform, so after test-driving their newly updated ATS module, we weren’t surprised to discover it’s intuitive to use, intelligently built, and succinctly integrated with their HRIS environment.
PROS
- The transition from candidate to employee is nearly seamless, with minimal manual data transfer.
- Mobile app for recruiters on the move.
- Candidate-friendly with no account creation required.
- Intuitive UI and intelligent workflows.
- Job board integration.
- All-in-one platform for employee management + PEO services offered, and even a suite of other IT products
- With 500 integrations, it’s very likely that they integrate with other key tools from your tech stack.
- Operates globally with any currency
- Workflow automation
- Analytics opportunities
- Provides a holistic view of company outflows—headcount costs included
CONS
- Not offered as a standalone product
- US-centric but globally focused-updates are in the pipeline.
- Users report occasional issues with the mobile apps.
- Some users report that customization options are limited.
- Total buy-in to Rippling is essential
- Very SMB-oriented, in case you’re a larger company.
- New features tend to be buggy in ways that tech teams are not accustomed to fixing

Ripplings ATS offers intelligent, intuitive workflows built into dozens of features and automation.
Typically, when an HRIS adds an ATS to their suite, it’s a half-hearted afterthought. Many are perfunctory, underpowered, and easily out-classed, even by mediocre standalone ATS platforms.
But Rippling has built a reputation based on solid product choices, and this one is no exception.
Their ATS is fully built out and offers a feature set that would be a viable standalone product if it weren’t so nicely intertwined with the rest of the Rippling platform.
Based on what’s included, it is clear that they’ve considered the candidate's experience. Little touches, like text messages to connect with candidates, show they know that personal preferences matter.
Another nod to the candidate experience (and what you can learn from it) is the abundant, customizable, anonymous surveys. Rippling recognizes the connection between their public reputation and their candidate experience.
Even with all these candidate-focused features, Rippling hasn’t lost touch with the needs of the people who will use their product most: busy TA/HR teams hiring for SMBs and startups.
Though demand generation is still on the roadmap, elements of their recruiting feature are laudable. It automatically integrates job boards like LinkedIn, Monster, and Zip Recruiter.
Finally, mobile access is a nice touch for busy recruiters, and their open API partnerships with vendors outside their platform leave little to be desired.
For years, companies have had to choose between the superior performance of standalone ATS solutions and the efficiency and security of all-in-one platforms. With Rippling’s ATS, companies who chose the all-in-one solution no longer have to rely on an external ATS.
Bank of America, Motorola, Citigroup, Inc., Dwell, Superhuman, Expensify, Checkr
Rippling pricing starts at $8 per user per month for HR Unity, but the ATS is made available on a higher tier plan (HR Cloud) with undisclosed pricing.
Best For
Rippling’s ATS module is used most by companies with 25 to 150 employees.
When we had Rippling as our HRIS, we primarily utilized the payroll services, reporting functions, and the on/offboarding module. Payroll processing time was reduced since many employee details, such as profiles and timesheets, could be accessed within the payroll function without having to navigate away from it. Rippling offered a vast number of reports as well as the option to create customized reports based on specific data needs. I particularly enjoyed the onboarding automation, which allowed me to schedule emails to new hires about outstanding paperwork or check-in meetings with their managers, all from creating a new hire workflow. At certain points in the workflow, the automation would trigger different emails to the new hire. The email templates were customizable to preference.
Ease of setting up and configuring automation during the onboarding process allowed for key touchpoints to be made during an integral stage of employment. Rippling also served as a single sign-on for the Google suite products our organization used. We received multiple compliments from employees on how easy the system was to use from their perspective.
My organization wanted to move away from an HRIS that was not cost-effective. After vetting multiple HRIS options, we decided to go with Rippling. The relationship with the sales and implementation team was seamless. Rippling offered a fully integrated payroll and HRIS system at an affordable cost. My organization used Rippling during the final year we were in business and should have made the switch sooner.
There were extra fees related to year-end tax filings, such as ACA and 1095 forms. The reporting function had some limitations; while several report templates were already built in, much of the data we needed required creating custom reports. Not all of the "fun" areas of the system were included in the core package. We could have done a lot more with Rippling but simply did not have the budget to add on the additional functions.
It felt very modern from both an Administrator standpoint and an employee perspective. It did not feel like an outdated system like some others, which was something that stood out to my organization, especially being in the SaaS space.
I suggest identifying which HRIS features are most important for your organization. Some may prioritize a robust reporting function, while others may need compliant payroll across multiple states. Once those key features are identified, avoid compromising if possible. Also, consider the Administrator who will be heavily involved in the system each day—what tools do they need to succeed, how can this system help streamline their current processes, and how can it improve overall efficiency?
Unfortunately, I do not have enough experience with this system to accurately answer this question, as my organization was only with Rippling for 12 months.
Small to medium-sized businesses looking for a modern approach to HRIS and payroll. An ideal user would be someone who wants to embrace technology and utilize it in standard processes.
Organizations that are not ready to modernize. Also, organizations without a dedicated resource to act as a system owner; any new HRIS or payroll system can be utilized to its fullest potential if the company has a resource dedicated to learning the ins and outs of the system.
Benefits of ATS Software
The primary benefit of an applicant tracking system is that it increases the efficiency of your talent acquisition team through streamlined, automated workflows. These tools can also be quite impactful: 94% of recruiters believe using applicant tracking software has positively impacted their company's hiring processes.
Other benefits include improved employer branding, access to detailed analytics, and seamless engagement of managers and employees outside of HR and TA teams.
- Customized workflows: An ATS system that can customize and automate tasks like application processing, screening, and collecting feedback can dramatically improve hiring efficiency. This benefit is especially significant to organizations hiring from very different candidate pools. If, for example, your team is hiring both truck drivers and software engineers, you can bet these workflows won’t be interchangeable.
- Improved employer branding: Candidate tracking systems will help your organization create and manage a custom career site, helping your company stand out. Showcasing your best features will make it easier to attract top talent. With integrations to networks like LinkedIn, reaching a wide audience is easy.
- Better quality talent pools: The best ATS software can save time and money by maintaining already-sourced candidates. If you maintain occasional contact with a pool of qualified candidates, your recruiting process doesn’t start from zero each time you open a new role.
- Wider internal engagement: Rather than relying exclusively on your HR or TA teams for recruiting, the best ATS software will also involve your hiring managers and employees as part of the process. Employee referrals, feedback on job candidates, and social media can all be leveraged to fill open positions.
- Streamlined hiring and onboarding: An ATS can do more than streamline recruiting; it can work wonders for onboarding. A good first impression sets the stage for employee engagement and, ultimately, retention, so it’s critical to make the onboarding process employee-focused, timely, and effective.
- More effective recruitment strategies: An effective hiring process is data-driven. Any good ATS software dashboard will put recruiter productivity, cost per hire, cost of job boards, cost of paid media, time to hire, and other key data at your fingertips.
How To Choose an ATS
Any business choosing an ATS should aim to get the maximum functionality for its price point (while ensuring key functions for its specific business are best-in-class), focus on potential long-term benefits rather than short-term costs, and understand the software vendor's product roadmap.
- What do you want to achieve with the ATS?: Depending on your business, you can have one person or multiple teams across your company branches interacting with the ATS day-to-day. Each may have a different pain point they want the recruitment tool to tackle. Knowing the center goals of these stakeholders and the importance of each can help you create a list of features ranked from most to least desired.
- What can you afford?: An ATS that can schedule interviews, manage employee referrals, and parse resumes will lighten the load on your HR/TA team, leading to increased efficiency. That said, investing in a feature-rich ATS could mean more complexity, steeper learning curves, and higher costs to the system. So, besides the feature list, you’d need to note down your allowed budget and the human resources involved in onboarding and maintaining the ATS system.
- Focus on individual features during your vendor research: Evaluate precisely what you need. The feature list and resource note that you have prepared in the earlier steps will help you stay focused on options that truly matter.
- Think long-term: Trying to anticipate the future is critical given how hard these tools are to replace over time (migrating tons of candidate data, different workflows for different types of jobs, etc.). Beyond the platform's capacity to scale up as you grow, pay attention to how this growth will affect product pricing and, therefore, the ATS ROI.
- Understand the roadmap: A tool with no future plan for improvements may cause trouble for future software updates, but a vendor with an ambitious list of feature enhancements, yet a very humble track record of delivery, is not any better. Ask the sales rep specific questions relevant to your business needs, and review content published on the company's channels for more information.
ATS Pricing Models and Cost Estimates
ATS companies commonly use the following pricing structures:
- Flat rate: This pricing model offers a fixed monthly or annual fee for unlimited use of the ATS, making it ideal for large enterprises that prefer long-term contracts.
- Pay per user: This model is best suited for small teams with limited recruiter usage, like ours! It charges a monthly fee for each active user of the ATS.
- Pay per vacancy: Designed for small businesses with low hiring volumes, pay-per-vacancy charges a fee for each job you post using the ATS.
- Pay per module: This model is suitable for companies with an existing HR platform that includes ATS as an add-on. It allows companies to pay for only the ATS module they need, rather than the entire platform.
Keep in mind that:
- Additional costs may apply for selective integrations, premium support, and advanced features.
- Prices can be negotiable: Some ATSs offer discounts for early-stage startups, non-profits, and buyers willing to sign multi-year contracts.
Here are some guidelines on ATS pricing based on company headcount. This information is intended to help you get a general sense of ATS pricing. Keep in mind that ATS software comes in all shapes and sizes. Here we provide mid-range samples for reference.
- Small business (<100 employees): $250 up to $12,000 USD per year.
- Medium-sized business (100-500 employees): $3,000 to $25,000 per year.
- Large business (501-5,000 employees): $15,000 to $50,000+ annually.
- Enterprise (5,000+ employees): From $125,000 per year.
ATS Key Features
The best ATS features include automated resume parsing, reliable data security, and great analytics.
- Third-party integrations: Almost without exception, the top ATSs are built with robust integration capabilities and a substantial network within their partner ecosystem. You should aim for seamless ATS integrations, meaning the ATS should be ready to interface (connect to, plug in to, work well with) whatever software you use for hiring.
- Talent sourcing: The best applicant tracking systems include dynamic features, such as Google Chrome extensions, that allow you to source candidates directly from the web. You’ll also find databases of job seekers that you can query for specific skills and outreach tools that will enable you to build sequences that engage candidates through email and texting.
- AI recruiting assistant: It’s hard to find an applicant tracking system that doesn’t offer at least one form of AI-powered recruiting feature nowadays. So the more valuable question now is whether an ATS has a legally and ethically helpful AI feature. For example, many offer job description generators, but few allow for tone adjustments the way Workable does. Similarly, when a candidate deletes their data, Pinpoint is one of the few that also automatically deletes their email history to prevent compliance issues for customers.
- Candidate relationship management (CRM): A recruiting CRM nurtures your relationship with your entire job seeker ecosystem, whether active or passive. It helps your TA keep leads warm by setting reminders to ping individual candidates (“silver medalists”) or to check in periodically with larger candidate pools. Structured communications and automated workflows help maintain good relationships and free up your TA team’s time.
- Blind screening: This is an effective method for controlling hiring bias, a foundational element of all diversity and inclusion (D&I) initiatives. ATSs with a blind screening feature obscure the candidates' names, photos, addresses, and other demographic identifiers to prevent assessments based on non-relevant characteristics.
- Employer branding and career site: Modern applicant tracking systems are built with the candidate experience in mind. Making a good first impression is critical, so top ATSs include no-code features that recruiters and hiring managers can use to build and maintain a professional, bespoke career site without needing to involve marketers and developers.
- Data and analytics: Any ATS worth its salt has a basic analytics dashboard. The best (and often the most expensive) ATS also incorporates a powerful analytics engine to make light work of your heaviest statistical loads.
- Interview scheduling: ATS software that is focused on recruitment process automation will include scheduling for everything from phone screens to final-round interviews. Some enterprise options, such as SparkHire and VidCruiter, even have a video interview tool built in so you don’t have to rely on a third-party app for such use.
- Offer letters: Automated distribution of offer letters is a standard ATS feature. Most platforms offer templates that can be easily customized for each offer presented to a new hire.
- Onboarding: A smooth onboarding process helps ensure that the transition from candidate to colleague is as smooth as possible. It’s not surprising to see that most applicant tracking platforms now offer some form of this capability, either natively or via integrations with third-party employee onboarding tools.
The above features are highly specific and designed to help buyers and decision-makers make quick, informed decisions. However, some critical aspects of ATS performance and functionality can’t be summed up so easily.
Our guest expert, Zach Larson, suggests buyers consider the following three basic elements:
- First, consider how well the product will respond to market challenges.
- Second, estimate the quality of candidates based on the ATS's sourcing methods.
- Last but not least, involve your TA team in the process. Your internal stakeholders must be on board with your choice.
Other Factors Worth Considering
Beyond key features and pricing, user experience (UX) and user interface (UI), scalability, and customization are also critical factors when selecting an applicant tracking system to support your organization's growth and operational needs.
- User Experience and Interface: When looking at well-known platforms like Greenhouse, BambooHR, and Pinpoint, it’s easy to see that a well-designed interface partly contributes to higher adoption rates and, consequently, the growing popularity of these platforms. A great UX/UI enhances user satisfaction, reduces training time, and improves recruitment processes. It also benefits job applicants, as a smooth and intuitive application process helps improve the candidate experience and increase the likelihood of successful hires.
- Customization and Scalability: An applicant tracking system that seems ideal for your 20-person team today may become inadequate if it cannot support your international hiring needs as your team scales globally. Be sure to assess how customizable the system is (e.g., branding options, workflow customization, automation tools) to meet both your current and long-term needs. Oftentimes, seeking advice from HR tech experts results in faster and more accurate ATS shortlists, as they provide candid insights that a vendor’s sales team might not disclose.
Questions to Ask on Demos
The questions should all be about your specific requirements for an ATS, but the following can offer some ideas and inspiration on what to ask during your ATS vendor demo.
- Is there a bi-directional API to share information between this system and my HRIS?
- How does this ATS help my recruiting efforts beyond capturing candidate information? For example, will it allow me to pipeline candidates, source new ones, boost referrals, etc.?
- How does this system improve the candidate experience?
- What is your partner strategy, and do I have to pay to integrate my other recruiting tools?
- What metrics do you focus on to prove the effectiveness of this solution, and where can I see these in my analytics dashboard?
- Can I speak to my future customer service rep about implementation and how exactly your organization will be involved?
- Walk me through the candidate experience.
- Can I store candidate profiles in this system in a way that is searchable for future candidate sourcing?
- Walk me through how recruiters post jobs, vet applicants, and leave feedback.
- How do employees outside of HR interact with this ATS?
- Do you have social recruiting capabilities?
- We use {{XYZ indispensable recruiting tool}}, do you integrate with it? If yes, how?
- What is the onboarding process after we buy this solution? Ask for specific steps and who in your org needs to be involved.
For those wondering what the right number of questions to bring to a demo, here is a piece of advice: ask as many as you can. If a vendor doesn’t have time to help you understand their product from the ground up, they are probably the wrong vendor.
FAQs
What is ATS?
ATS stands for applicant tracking system, a type of recruitment software designed to make it easier for companies to find, organize, and track applicants for jobs.
Read more: What Is an Applicant Tracking System (ATS)
How do applicant tracking systems work?
Applicant tracking systems serve as a liaison between employers and applicants. Once an application is submitted, the ATS extracts and stores the candidate’s work experience, education, and contact information in a database. HR teams use the database to review applications, communicate with applicants, schedule interviews, and sometimes administer skills tests.
What is the difference between an ATS and an HRIS?
An ATS (applicant tracking system) is the core operating software for your recruiting team, handling hiring records. In contrast, your HRIS (Human Resource Information System) is the core operating system for your human resources team, handling employee records.
What is the difference between ATS and CRM?
ATS focuses on streamlining application logistics, while CRM (candidate relationship management system) builds relationships with potential candidates early on through engagement activities. ATS is used in the later hiring stages, and CRM is used in the early stages of candidate attraction and engagement.
Why is ATS software used in recruitment?
An ATS is used in recruitment to make the end-to-end hiring process easier. ATSs were initially designed for large corporations managing thousands of job applications every week. The use of software dedicated to specific purposes has become part of our everyday lives, and so has the ubiquity of the ATS in small and medium businesses. Teams of all sizes, with various hiring needs, can benefit from a tool that increases efficiency by streamlining tasks.
Is there a free applicant tracking system?
Yes, there are. Some of the best applicant tracking systems we've tested that offer free editions are Manatal, which offers a free trial; Dover, which has a free plan that lasts forever; and Recooty, which is free for one user. Check out our free ATS buyer guide for more options.
What is the best ATS for startups and SMBs?
Startups and small businesses often have a tight budget for recruitment technology, so the above free ATS could be a good starting point for these companies. Additionally, Workable, Zoho Recruit, and Recruit CRM are among the other top SMB-focused ATS systems we tested, which offer a good range of features at an affordable price.
What is the best ATS for recruitment and staffing agencies?
Recruit CRM, Manatal, and Zoho Recruit provide comprehensive features tailored to the needs of smaller agencies. On the other hand, larger firms with increased volume and complex recruitment processes may find Bullhorn and Avionté to be more suitable.
Final Advice on Buying an ATS
- Know your needs: Get clear on the specific needs your ATS must satisfy. Meet with vendors and watch demos only after you are absolutely sure of your current ATS requirements and confident of your future forecast. Don’t agree to anything less (or more) than exactly what you need.
- Two-for-one ROI analysis: Being CFO-ready with an ATS ROI calculation will refine your thoughts on why and how an ATS is a necessary purchase for your team, leading to greater clarity on which features to prioritize.
- Consider the context: As ATS platforms have become more sophisticated, their cost has decreased. This means capabilities like sourcing, recruitment CRM, talent re-discovery, and even top-rate analytics are readily available to most.
Watch this video for insights from our experts on selecting the right applicant tracking software for your needs.
About Us

- Our goal at SSR is to help HR and recruiting teams to find and buy the right software for their needs.
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