The 18 Best ATS Systems Reviewed & Compared by Experts
We've researched, reviewed, and compared hundreds of ATS since 2018. Here are the best applicant tracking systems to streamline your recruitment process.
Best Applicant Tracking Systems
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.
Greenhouse
BambooHR
Pinpoint
Workable
ClearCompany
JazzHR
Manatal
Lever
Ashby
Recruit CRM
SparkHire
Trakstar Hire
Avature
iCIMS
Recruitee
VidCruiter
Teamtailor
SmartRecruiters
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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.
Pricing is unavailable online, but we found some information through our network.
Greenhouse offers tiered plans, and the pricing is based on the company’s total headcount.
- Essential: Core features and one event.
- Advanced: Everything from Essential, plus custom reporting, scalable workflows, and ten events.
- Expert: Everything from Advanced, plus upgraded CRM, enhanced security, developer sandbox, DEI feature set, and unlimited events.
The standard contract is a one-year prepaid subscription, and discounts are available for two and three-year prepaid agreements.
Best For
Midsize to large enterprises who are ready to invest in the full feature set of a top-notch ATS platform.
Every company is different, but we typically approve the headcount outside of Greenhouse with finance and then use the greenhouse approval system to check that everything is correct before posting. From there, we use it as our central hub to post jobs, most are auto-linked to job boards, but I like that we can create custom links for unique situations like sharing a posting to a specialty board. From there, we can handle all resume reviews, scheduling and conducting interviews, offer approvals, and offer letter creation and sending. What is nice is Greenhouse integrates with our HRIS, so once an offer is accepted, we can export the candidate data directly to the HRIS.
Greenhouse is very customizable; I like that we can adjust our rejection reasons, scorecards, email templates, etc. I appreciate that it is very self-contained, meaning with the right integrations, you can pretty much do everything from within Greenhouse itself; you don't need to switch from different apps much. I also like their support; they have a robust self-help and self-guided support platform and very quick and helpful live support.
We had previously been using another ATS that did not allow for much customization of stages, rejection reasons, scorecards, etc. and did not have very robust reporting features. I like that Greenhouse has lots of integration partners, full customization options, and great pre-made reports with custom reporting options. I have been using it for over 5 years and have to say it is my favorite ATS.
There is not a lot I don't like about Greenhouse; I think it's a great ATS. One area I do prefer about some other ATS is the resume disposition flow; with Greenhouse, there is a pop-up every time you want to disposition a resume, and you have to select the reason every time from a dropdown, with some others, you can choose a reason for the first person and from there it just saves and stays the say unless you change it. While they do have a lot of integration partners, you are somewhat limited as well, for example with signatures, you only really have Docusign as a natural integration, so if you use anyone else then you are going to have to do offer letters manually outside the system.
Greenhouse is much more customizable. Some competitors don't allow you to make custom reports, custom rejection reasons, custom interview flows, custom approvals, etc. So for that reason, I much prefer Greenhouse whenever I enter a new Greenhouse environment. At the same time, it looks similar; it is entirely bespoke to the needs of that individual company.
Do you need an ATS yet? It is expensive, so I would consider how much hiring you are doing. Who will manage this and implement it? The implementation can be lengthy and requires a significant time investment; even afterward, you will need someone internally to work the system. Otherwise, it will quickly lose all order. Do I need all these features and customizations? If you don't, going for a cheaper alternative may make sense.
They have added a nice self-scheduling feature; it replaces the need to integrate Calendly for interviews. They often send feedback requests and surveys, so it is nice to know they always look for ways to improve. They send newsletters out to update any changes.
Someone who wants a customizable ATS with lots of features. You likely need to be rather comfortable with using different software to be comfortable in Greenhouse, it can be easy to be overwhelmed with the amount of things you can do with it.
If you do not have any dedicated recruiters or if you don't need lots of features or customization, then you likely don't need Greenhouse.
BambooHR
We love how this ATS operates within Bamboo’s larger HR Suite. We found seamless workflows between the ATS 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 is based on a per employee per month (PEPM) model. There is a minimum charge of $3,000, that usually starts to increase once you hit 25 employees.
In general, we've seen companies pay as low as $8 PEPM, but $12-14 PEPM is a good range (assuming you are using the full HRIS with a few modules).
Best For
BambooHR is a great pick for SMBs who want an all in one suite that can take care of the entire employee lifecycle. If you're just looking for an ATS, there may be better standalone options. But, if you are <500 employees, you are generally going to want an all in one anyways.
We typically use BambooHR to pull reports and analyze data. We also use it as a platform for employees to submit time off requests. Apart from that, we use the documents section to create fillable documents which are later on stored in employees' profiles. Additionally, BambooHR gives us an opportunity to have easy access to other employees' information, such as who someone's supervisor is, so anyone in the company can search for those details. Sending communication out has been a new feature for us and we use it by creating a banner on the main page which helps us send easy and quick reminders to employees. We also use it for easy access to other platforms as we store all the links for our training, benefits, etc. platforms so employees can have the information in one place.
It's user-friendly. It's capabilities to manage different HR processes. The fillable documents tool.
BambooHR was bought in order to store employees' information in one place. The objective was to better organize information and create automated workflows. I started at the company about 14 months ago and it was already in use but I estimate that it has been used for the past 5 years or more. One of the main benefits it provides is that job information as well documents and time off can be in one place. This allows the HR team to easily pull reports and access the data. Another benefit is that it is very user friendly, for employers and employees.
It takes a long time to add additional features (sometimes suggested by customers). It has different restrictions when it comes to reporting, in terms of editing some reports to add/delete fields. The performance management tab is very basic and it doesn't allow customers to tailor it to our needs.
I guess the main difference is the simplicity when it comes to managing different processes. Other systems are more complex and have too many additional steps or fields which make it harder to navigate the platforms. I really prefer it because it does not require a lot of training for anyone to learn how to use it and it has a lower price compared to other systems.
The first one would be the number of employees. If you are a large company, BambooHR may not fit your needs as it has some limitations. Secondly, what they are really trying to get out of the system. If it's only being used for what we use it (storing information, submitting time off requests, pulling basic reports) then it would work great. If they are trying to have all the information in one place, such as benefits and performance management, the fact that it has limitations, mostly related to updates and customized fields, then it would probably not be the best option.
They have evolved quite a bit. Their customer service has improved. Some fields have become customizable over time or they have been added by the BambooHR team. Reporting has also improved with the addition of a few different reports which provide further information and can be combined with others, such as turnover rate with reason for termination, etc.
Mid size companies that have payroll and performance management already in use. It is also good for organizations that do not want to spend a lot of money on an HRIS or that have a limited budget.
Companies with over 500 employees or big size ones. Users who would like to have all processes and information in one place.
Pinpoint
A lot of ATS platforms 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 $600 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
This 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.
Workable
Workable is a robust and scalable recruiting solution. Their AI-powered sourcing tool integrates seamlessly with their ATS 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 has three plans:
- Paygo costs $129 per job per month
- Standard costs $299 per month
- Premier costs $599 per month.
- Add-on pricing starts at $59 per month.
Best For
Workable’s AI-powered sourcing tools suit medium- and large-sized businesses best.
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 ATSs. 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 works best within ClearCompany’s suite, but it is a super-solid ATS on its own.
Some standouts include the user interface, uniquely modern for a company founded in 2004. We were specifically impressed with the onboarding workflows that transitioned candidates into new hires in just a few clicks.
Mitsubishi Electric, Chick-fil-A, Goodwill, Axiom Bank, Bios, FlixBrewHouse, and Halco.
The software has custom pricing. Quotes are based on company size and customizations.
Best For
Large-size organizations with a budget that can cover paying for the whole suite are the best fit, but the ATS alone is excellent for mid-size teams.
As someone committed to my organization's success, I rely on ClearCompany to streamline our recruitment, offer letter, and onboarding workflows. ClearCompany's customizable workflows allow me to tailor our HR processes to meet our organization's specific needs and goals. By utilizing ClearCompany daily, I am able to confidently manage and optimize our recruitment processes, ensuring that we are attracting, hiring, and onboarding the best talent in the most efficient manner possible. Ultimately, ClearCompany allows me to focus on what I do best: leading my organization to success.
ClearCompany is my preferred HR software because of its user-friendly interface. The system's functionality is not only impressive but also has practical applications. Unlike other HR software, ClearCompany focuses on providing useful tools and features rather than unnecessary bells and whistles. Additionally, ClearCompany makes it easy to post job vacancies on multiple job boards, including unemployment job boards, ensuring compliance.
Our decision to buy ClearCompany was informed by the platform's impressive array of integrations. As a company, we recognize the importance of streamlining our onboarding processes, and we found that ClearCompany offered a centralized system that helped reduce the manual aspects of candidate onboarding.
We have been able to rely on ClearCompany's reporting metrics to track our progress in meeting our onboarding goals, and we've found the self-service portal to be an excellent tool for candidates to review their onboarding checklist. Additionally, the platform's seamless offer letter approval process has made it easy for us to process and approve offer letters in a timely manner.
Overall, our experience with ClearCompany has been extremely positive. We have been using the platform for two years, and it has become an essential tool in our HR toolkit. We are confident that ClearCompany will continue to support our onboarding efforts and help us achieve our HR goals.
I am dissatisfied with ClearCompany for the following reasons: the response time has exceeded 48 business hours, the offer letter approval workflow lacks an automated function for candidate receipt, and there have been issues with candidate duplication. Keep in mind these issues fail to compare to the benefits we have received in using this system.
ClearCompany stands out because of its comprehensiveness. Customizing workflow, reporting, and tracking processes lets you know they get "it."
When looking to purchase ClearCompany, it is essential to evaluate several key factors to ensure the tool meets your organization's needs. These factors include the size of your company, the frequency of job postings, the number of employees that require access, and current workflows. By carefully considering these aspects, you can confidently determine if ClearCompany will be the right fit for your organization.
I have used ClearCompany for two years and cannot think of any significant evolutions/changes during that period. It has been pretty steady for use.
ClearCompany is suitable for medium to large organizations with a Recruiting/HR department to support its use.
Based on my analysis, I would recommend organizations with high-volume recruiting needs to consider other options instead of ClearCompany.
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 use JazzHR as my interview guide and to share my feedback with other key parties. When I launch the interview guide it will guide me through great questions to ask and allow me to type in their responses and rate what I thought about their response. When you interview dozens of people, your feedback begins to run together after a while. I like that the guide also gives me some direction and consistency in the interview process. I don't have to try to guess what questions to ask and ensure I'm being fair. I also use JazzHR to send offer letters and allow the applicants to e-sign. This makes tracking the hiring process so much easier than completing it manually.
I like how user friendly it is. I like that you can make offers within the software and track the status of them (have they opened it, have they signed it etc). I like that you are able to see the history of applicants so you know if they have applied previously or at other properties of your organization.
We bought JazzHR as a means to streamline our hiring process. We had so many hands in the pot, without solid communication and it was a mess! JazzHR is a one stop shop for the hiring process. The interview guide allows you to view questions to ask, and actually provide the answer you were given so that when you are meeting to discuss applicants you can simply pull up the interview notes in a seamless way. You no longer have to wonder who the candidate spoke to, what the feedback was, or even if they've applied previously. You can vote on applicants as a team to get the consensus of who the ideal candidate will be. I have personally used JazzHR for 2 years.
I truly do not have any cons for JazzHR.
Ideal criteria would be ease of access, workflow logistics, is it ideal for my organization size\type. You want your software program to be able to sustain the task at hand. Can you reach someone for support when needed? Do you have 24 hour support? If not, how long do you wait? How long would my ROI take? How quickly can a user complete the process from start to finish? These are all things to consider when buying these types of products.
They have sped up the hiring process via JazzHR. Now you can post to dozens of job boards in one click just like that! They have replaced the outdated system of hiring that once existed.
Property Management is the area I have used it. We have to hire for over 200 apartment communities. Corporate offices for sure. Large Businesses, Mid size businesses, small businesses.
None really. Even small offices could benefit from JazzHR because it is cost effective. They have plans as low as $49\month, which would likely be affordable for even the smallest businesses. Even if you are a one man operation, you can use JazzHR to keep up with your notes on applicants.
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.
Manatal has earned a spot on our top ATS list. As 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: it’s budget-friendly. We appreciate the transparency in pricing, as there is no need to go through the hassle of contacting a 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 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 has four plans. When billed annually:
- 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. It is tailored for larger businesses requiring advanced functionalities and support.
Best For
Manatal is well-suited for companies of different sizes representing many industries but narrowed down to one, it’s SMBs who can use the 14-day free trial to explore the product before they buy.
I used Manatal for creating webpages to attract candidates, posting jobs to multiple job boards and social media platforms from one location, and tracking candidates through the screening process. It facilitated communication and scheduling for team members involved in hiring, ensuring everyone was informed and coordinated. The analytics and reports feature was instrumental in evaluating hiring timelines and identifying the most effective sources for candidates. This functionality allowed us to refine our recruitment strategy and make informed decisions on where to invest in promoting positions.
The coordination of the hiring process among team members was significantly improved, reducing miscommunications and the hassle of scheduling. Manatal's candidate tracking and database features prevented delays in the recruitment stages and helped us avoid losing good candidates to human error.
The ability to create company showcase web pages was invaluable in attracting sought-after candidates for challenging positions. Additionally, the access to detailed reports and data supported our decision-making with evidence, optimizing our recruitment budget and strategies.
We adopted Manatal to address challenges in managing a high volume of recruiting, especially for hard-to-fill positions with lengthy recruitment processes. We found it difficult to efficiently find the right candidates, and the coordination of the recruitment process was hard, resulting in missed tasks and delays. Additionally, we sought a better way to showcase our company as an attractive place to work, as traditional job postings were insufficient. We experienced loss of good candidates due to protracted processes or confusion over contact points and screening stages. Manatal offered a solution to better coordinate hiring efforts, track candidate progress, and enhance our attractiveness to potential applicants. I personally have used it for about a year.
Some team members found the interface unintuitive, with key features like email templates being hard to locate. The lack of a standalone mobile app initially was a limitation (not anymore), and certain functionalities, such as self-scheduling for candidates and enhancing the focus on candidate relationship management, needed further development for a better candidate experience.
Manatal holds its ground as a competitive tool in the recruitment software market, offering a comprehensive set of features. However, it required a steeper learning curve compared to other tools I have used, although it also provided superior customer service, which added value to our experience.
Prospective buyers should weigh the cost against their specific needs. If your organization does not engage in frequent hiring or if the existing team efficiently manages recruitment, this tool might exceed your requirements. However, for businesses with high recruitment volumes and a collaborative hiring process, Manatal could streamline operations, enhance your company's appeal to candidates, and potentially lead to more successful hires.
Manatal has made significant improvements, including the development of a mobile app and enhancements to its user interface to be more intuitive. The dashboard has been upgraded for easier navigation, reflecting the company's commitment to evolving in line with user feedback.
Manatal is ideally suited for small to medium-sized companies engaged in frequent hiring. It is particularly beneficial for organizations with collaborative hiring processes and those needing to attract high-demand candidates through compelling career pages.
For small businesses with minimal hiring needs, Manatal may not be cost-effective due to underutilization of its features. Conversely, very large companies requiring extensive customization and complex recruitment workflows might find Manatal's capabilities too basic for their needs.
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 offers custom pricing, so users must contact Lever for quotes.
Best For
Excellent for any org that needs to maintain a connection and easy access to a particular candidate pool, including tech startups, healthcare, and retail.
We use Lever for all of our jobs. We do all approval work outside of the system, and once the job is approved for hire, we open the job and post it via Lever. We then collect and review all resumes within Lever and use them to schedule and collect interview feedback. We do offer letters outside of the system.
I like the easy book links that allow you to create self-booking links for candidates. The simple resume review interface and workflow will enable you to save a rejection reason and use it until you select a new one. And then perhaps the ease of creating email templates would be another perk.
It was the first ATS for our company. We considered it in the first place due to pricing and the size of the company; we were a start-up and did not need a massive ATS. I have used it for about 3 years now.
It's not very customizable; you have to email support to have them customize your rejection reasons. With the different levels, you get other reporting options. The base level does not include many built-in reports, so you must export data for analysis. Lack of luster support: we never had any check-ins with our rep, and it was impossible to get a quick reply from the help center there.
It was inexpensive for us at the time compared to all the other quotes we got. It is very user-friendly, quick, and straightforward. The only drawback of that, then, is the customization.
How long will it suit your needs? How much hiring do you plan to do? Does it integrate with your other tools and systems? What is the yearly increase and cost per user increase?
I have not seen much change with Lever recently.
I would say it is best for a small organization. It is less complex than Greenhouse, so it could be suitable for a company looking to get something set up for a small team or self-sufficient managers.
Large organizations companies that already have long-term contracts with other tools that may not integrate with Lever. Companies that want a high level of customization, reporting, and hands-on service.
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 offers two core plans for its All-in-One platform and a 3rd option for connecting Ashby Analytics to your existing ATS.
- All-In-One Foundations: Ranges from $300/month to $900/month depending on company size. 10% discount for annual commitments and emerging market pricing available.
- All-In-One Plus: Contact for a quote.
- Ashby Analytics for your existing ATS: Contact for a quote.
Best For
Ashby works for early-stage startups, SMBs, and large enterprises, but those who make the most of this recruiting software are companies at the hyper-growth stage.
I use Ashby daily. I use it for candidate sourcing, using their Chrome extension. I also use it for outreach. Candidates can apply through our Ashby career site which we have embedded on our website. I use their pipelines for tracking applicants throughout the entire selection process. I use their interview guides to conduct interviews and submit feedback. Candidates can book their interviews using Ashby's direct booking links.
- Customizable email sequences.
- One-click sourcing using the Chrome extension.
- Unlimited users and job postings.
We were unhappy with our ATS. It was too slow and it was riddled with bugs. We were also using a few different services for our recruitment efforts and Ashby had the potential to centralize those services.
- The whole interface is not very user-friendly. It feels like it was created for IT users, not HR users.
- The customizations are hard to figure out and their navigation menus are counterintuitive.
- The kanban view for the pipelines feels like an afterthought and feels heavy and sluggish.
Ashby has a lot of potential and, when used to its max, it is a powerful tool that centralizes all the tools you will need in large-scale recruitment campaigns. It has the same issues that larger CRM-like platforms have. Just like Zoho and Odoo's recruitment modules, Ashby is not easy to set up and takes a long time to get used to.
Customization is sluggish and requires a lot of guidance from the support team. Platforms like Recruitee or Breezy have a much more user-oriented interface. That being said, if you are gearing up for a long and large recruitment effort, then it makes sense to invest a few days with the support team and set up every minor detail in Ashby, taking advantage of its highly customizable automation. It will allow you to manage large-scale efforts with a small team.
Primarily, the scope of your work. If you are the in-house team of a startup or small agency, Ashby might prove to be a challenge in itself to set up. It is better suited for large organizations or mid-level startups that need to conduct large recruitment efforts. I strongly recommend against it for a staffing agency or freelancing recruiters.
They have improved their platform's performance and its workflows.
Large companies.
Small agencies and early-stage startups.
Recruit CRM
Recruit CRM is priced at $85 per user per month for unlimited open jobs, Chrome sourcing extension, AI resume parsing, advanced search, deal pipelines, client portal, and invoicing—just about everything one would need for their staffing firm.
PROS
- Multi-lingual, agency-oriented ATS and recruiting CRM tool.
- Transparent, scalable pricing structure. Generous free trial offerings.
- Zapier and Integrately integrations enable access to 5,000+ third-party tools.
- Live chat support, unlimited training, and dedicated account manager for all plan users.
- 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
- Native AI candidate matching limited to 2 matches per candidate for Pro plan users.
- Not the best fit for in-house recruiting.
- No referral management system.
- 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 and consulting agencies.
As a Manager of Talent Acquisition, I use Recruit CRM in various ways. It helps me track the number of employees in our pipeline accurately. I also create Candidate Lifecycle Reports for senior team review and decision-making. The tool assists in creating job listing pages, posting jobs, and managing online application procedures. This comprehensive functionality supports my workflow and enhances our recruitment process.
The professional user interface and advanced search features allow candidates to filter jobs by location, date, and interest. The pricing is favorable, making it accessible for smaller businesses. Integration with Google Meet and Microsoft Teams is straightforward, and the customizable email templates save time.
It has been three years since we started using Recruit CRM. Our company needed a solution to communicate with employees without relying on separate emails and to enhance our HR management capabilities. Recruit CRM has streamlined remote interviews, eliminating the need for physical offices. The integration with Google Meet and Microsoft Teams has made it easy to conduct 1:1 online meetings with candidates, interns, and employees. This tool has significantly improved my efficiency as a Human Resource professional.
Integrating with a custom email for sending emails from our job email requires knowledge of SMTP integration. The tool lacks Zoom and Webex integrations, which we often use, forcing us to switch to supported tools. Creating employee reports requires skill, as there are no templates available for this module.
Recruit CRM offers job listing, deal-making, online meeting integration, and document management at the same price, while competitors charge extra for these add-ons.
Consider the size of your HR needs and the team you will manage with this tool to ensure it remains cost-effective in the long run. Assess the tool’s features against your organization's requirements to determine its suitability.
While there haven't been many changes, new features like job listing and online interview modules have been added.
Recruit CRM is ideal for recruiting companies and Human Resource departments.
It may not be suitable for smaller businesses with few team members.
SparkHire
Spark Hire has packed a massive framework for analytics into a program that looks very simple. The product 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
- 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
- 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 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 info, 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 ATS knows where digital assistance can help and where a human touch is needed.
6000+ including Fiverr, Monday.com, Sodastream, Vimeo, KPMG
Spark Hire’s ATS pricing starts at $250/month.
Best For
Spark Hire is the right tool for small and medium-sized companies. The platform is made to grow alongside scaling companies, but small teams holding steady with a minimal headcount are likely to pay for features they don’t use.
Depending on the number of current roles, the use could vary; however, the system was accessed daily, every business day. It is mandatory for any recruiter to log into each day and is the source of truth in recruitment processes. The main workflows I used include tailoring the questions to the current recruitment demands and roles, screening candidates, communicating shortlists to hiring managers, and selecting onboarding processes.
SparkHire was the system of choice because it had great reviews, not just from the client side but also the candidate side, which is crucial as it is the first point of contact for someone wanting to work for us. After considering other options for our organization at that point in time, it was considered good value for money, with easy integration into our current systems and good customer service.
SparkHire enabled us to ease the pain of bulk recruitment for major civil infrastructure projects around the world in real time, addressing issues caused by time differences. The time differences between countries meant some talent sources were doing online interviews at 3 a.m., leading to bad practice, recruiter turnover, and a lengthy turnaround from advertising to start date. Personally, I have had experience with SparkHire for over two years now. The key benefits of SparkHire include its ability to streamline the interview process, reduce the time and cost of hiring, and improve the overall candidate experience.
SparkHire is a great system, but it's not a one-size-fits-all solution. The business also needs to retain traditional interviewing and sourcing methods for some roles. Assuming it works for all applicants can be risky. I would not use video screening for very senior roles at the risk of losing applicants. The lack of human contact in screening can cost you some fantastic candidates.
SparkHire stands out with its quick turnaround, streamlined approval process, and the ability for multiple staff to view interview results simultaneously. It provides a more efficient and collaborative approach compared to similar tools.
The first key buying criterion, depending on organizational hierarchy, is the ability to manage campaigns for bulk recruitment and reduce time in doing so. If you have a project that requires sourcing a large number of staff at once, SparkHire can reduce your time and costs dramatically. It also positively impacts the success rate of interviews and candidate placements.
They listen to user ideas and respond accordingly, making improvements based on feedback.
SparkHire is suited to any size business.
I can't think of any at this time, if any, small start-ups that want to have more human involvement in the recruitment process and that do not have high-volume campaigns.
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.
Trakstar Hire has one plan that includes all of its features without any limits. The pricing is custom, depending on the headcount.
Best For
Trakstar Hire’s current feature set and pricing structure makes it best suited for medium-sized businesses that hire regularly.
We use Trakstar Hire for tracking applicants, compliance, job postings, record keeping of applicants, central database for info sharing internally with hiring managers and hiring teams. HR staff can also easily communicate with employees.
I like that it is intuitive and easy to use. The fact that it's an all-in-one database that houses compliance, record keeping, communication internally and externally, is a real winner and very helpful.
We were looking for a tool that solves recruiting related compliance. It also needed to include storage capability. Sharing internally was a factor. Another was intuitiveness and ease of use. Compatibility with our performance appraisals was a plus as well.
I dislike that you have to download documents when you only need to view them. It would be nice to be able to just have it open in a new window. There are a few other glitches like this that I wish the company would address.
For people that are trying to solve many things with an applicant tracking tool, an all-in-one system like Trakstar is a really nice perk to hav
They do facelifts to their interface pretty regularly.
HR people will love this tool, and organizations that hire in teams would find it very helpful
I don't think anyone would hate this tool but it probably would be less broadly used if only HR people use it and not anyone else in the company
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 pricing is custom, so contact their team for a quote.
Best For
Avature best serves enterprise-scale companies, especially those that operate across international borders.
We use the system for full-cycle recruitment, from a request to fill through to an accepted offer. In my role, I reviewed and approved requests to fill, evaluated candidates, coordinated and shared information with talent sourcers and hiring managers, and approved offer requests. I used Avature at least weekly, and often daily during high-volume recruitment periods.
- Avature is easy for managers to navigate; they access only the necessary or relevant information, making it easy to review and provide feedback on candidates.
- Avature is robust; the system includes all the fields we could want and allows us to tailor positions and processes to specific teams in a complex and diverse organization.
- Avature includes workflow management and integrations; it allows for customized workflows for necessary approvals and reviews and integrates with our payroll system for a smooth transition from recruiting to onboarding and payroll.
Avature was in place at the time I joined the organization. I used the system for 2 years. The system was implemented to create a centralized, single source of truth for recruitment activity. The organization was highly matrixed and had experienced multiple acquisitions. Implementing Avature allowed all parties from relevant teams to remain on the same page about recruitment needs, progress, and costs.
- Avature has customization limits; there were restrictions on customizing fields and titles, which was sometimes confusing for hiring managers and HR staff.
- Avature requires some training and could be more intuitive; users need training to understand the fields, processes, and reporting functions.
- Avature didn't allow our entire recruitment process to be completed within the system; we had to email links for a specialized internal assessment that couldn't be loaded into Avature.
Avature is very comparable to other applicant tracking systems. It largely met our needs, and I appreciate the single source of truth available in Avature. While Avature does not stand out for unique features or capabilities, it is a very reliable and comprehensive system that I would recommend.
Buyers should consider their total recruitment workflow from beginning to end to ensure all steps can be completed as desired without system limitations. Documenting every step in the process and reviewing each item during the product demo can ensure the system will operate as needed. Buyers should also consider the scalability of the system to meet future needs as the organization grows, as implementing such systems requires significant resources and is not something to change often.
Avature is good for large organizations (e.g., 1000+ employees) and matrixed organizations that require several parties to have approval or oversight in the recruitment process.
Avature is good for a large organization (e.g., 1000+ employees) Additionally, Avature is good for matrixed organizations that require several parties to have approval or oversight of various parts in the recruitment process.
Avature is likely not a good fit for small organizations or startups due to the cost and the need for frequent changes to the process or workflows as the organization grows.
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.
Pricing is undisclosed – custom quotes only.
Best For
iCIMS is best for global enterprises and recruiting agencies with high-volume hiring needs.
We used iCIMS daily for tracking communication with applicants and posting roles on multiple job boards. The key workflows we used were for the hiring process, automating outreach, and onboarding.
- I enjoy the number of job boards available and integrations.
- I also like their reporting tools.
- I liked the company portal customization options.
We decided to switch to iCIMS for a more robust applicant tracking system. However, we only used it for a few months because the customer support was horrible and the system itself was very complex and not easy to use.
- I dislike the clunky, overwhelming design.
- I also do not recommend their customer support.
- The setup of workflows is also complicated and it is not common sense to find options on the platform.
I prefer other options as iCIMS is not user-friendly in my opinion.
The need for reporting tools. The customization options. The integrations.
It has not changed.
A large corporation.
A small organization
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 offers tiered and custom plans based on the number of active jobs and other particular needs. The three tiers are:
- Start starts at $199 per month
- Grow starts at $249 per month
- Optimize has custom pricing.
Best For
Budget-conscious orgs who prefer customized feature sets over all-in-ones and SMBs and who want to leverage the power of collaboration to boost the effectiveness of TA efforts.
I use Recruitee every day. I know how to use most of its features, such as creating job postings, scheduling interviews, moving candidates through the hiring process, having technical and hiring meetings, rejecting or advancing candidates, making offer letters, and communicating with my team. I also use it to evaluate candidates after a phone screening and add resumes. I also connect Recruitee to other job websites.
I like Recruitee because it is very easy to use. It has a user-friendly interface that allows me to perform all workflows efficiently. I can quickly post jobs and move candidates to different stages, saving me much time. The platform is designed to make it simple and quick to use, which is a big plus. I also appreciate that it's very straightforward to use all the workflows, so I can spend little time figuring out how to do something. Overall, Recruitee has made my recruitment process much more efficient and streamlined, which is why I continue to use it.
My organization was searching for an applicant tracking system (ATS) that could connect to multiple job portals, especially in Europe. In addition, the ATS they wanted should have a user-friendly interface so that both hiring managers and other team members can easily use it and be easy to set up.
The organization needed help with its previous ATS system. Connecting to job portals, especially those targeting European markets, was a significant pain point. Hiring managers and other team members needed help connecting to their google calendar, adding to the frustrations. The user interface of the previous ATS could have been better, making the overall experience negative.
To overcome these issues, the organization decided to switch to Recruitee in August 2022. Recruitee has provided numerous benefits to the organization and effectively solved the pain points they faced with their previous ATS system. With the ability to connect to over 20+ job portals, including regional portals for specific countries, the organization can now reach a broader range of job seekers. The user-friendly interface of Recruitee has made it easier for hiring managers and team members to navigate and use the system, improving their overall experience. Additionally, connecting the google calendar to Recruitee was a breeze, making scheduling and organizing interviews much simpler.
Since August 2022, the organization has been using Recruitee and has found it to be a reliable and efficient solution to their recruitment needs. The ability to create a complete job workflow within the system has made the recruitment process smoother and more organized. The support team of Recruitee is also a plus, providing quick and helpful assistance when needed.
One thing I dislike about Recruitee is the lack of an option for directly promoting jobs on LinkedIn. Currently, Recruitee doesn't have this feature, which can be a drawback for those who rely on LinkedIn for their recruitment process. Not being able to promote jobs directly on LinkedIn adds an extra step to the process and can be time-consuming. I hope that Recruitee will add this feature to enhance the user experience and make the recruitment process more efficient.
Recruitee is different from other applicant tracking systems (ATS) because they have good after-sales service. They listen to customer feedback and make changes based on it. They also have a close relationship with their customers and understand their problems. Other ATS that I have used do not have these features.
When buying an applicant tracking system (ATS), people should consider the following criteria:
- Ability to connect to local job portals
- User-friendly interface
- Ease of creating workflows
- Capability to process offer letters
- Integration with calendars to schedule meetings.
As I have yet to study Recruitee's history in depth, I can only speak about my experience with the company over the past six months. In that time, I have found Recruitee to be highly responsive to their customers' needs. They have been able to integrate the solutions we requested and are in the process of adding new features, such as background check capabilities. They have also recently added more portals to better match the needs of their users. Overall, it is clear that Recruitee is dedicated to making their customers happy and understanding their real-time problems. They go above and beyond to ensure that their users are satisfied with their products and services.
Recruitee is a user-friendly tool suitable for organizations in various industries, including IT, healthcare, e-commerce, and startups. Its user-friendly interface makes it accessible to anyone with basic computer knowledge, while advanced features are ideal for HR professionals. This versatility makes Recruitee a good option for organizations of all sizes and types.
Recruitee is a user-friendly tool suitable for organizations in various industries, including IT, healthcare, e-commerce, and startups. Its user-friendly interface makes it accessible to anyone with basic computer knowledge, while advanced features are ideal for HR professionals. This versatility makes Recruitee a good option for organizations of all sizes and types.
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.
- Screenshots of VidCruiter (one of the best ATS software) Showing Different Features of their ATS
- 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.
The price varies based on company specifications, so contacting the vendor directly for a quote is best.
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 used VidCruiter daily to manage our recruitment process. The key workflows included conducting initial video interviews, which allowed us to screen a large number of candidates efficiently. We utilized its customizable interview templates to ensure consistency across different roles and departments. The platform's scheduling tools helped streamline interview coordination, reducing back-and-forth communication.
VidCruiter offered extensive customization options for interview templates, making it easy to tailor the process to specific roles. The platform included robust onboarding tools, which facilitated a smooth transition for new hires. VidCruiter's scheduling tools streamlined interview coordination, reducing the administrative burden on our team.
We initially purchased VidCruiter to streamline our recruitment process with video interviewing and onboarding tools. The platform's features for candidate management and scheduling were appealing as we needed an efficient way to handle the high volume of applications. VidCruiter helped us simplify and organize our hiring process. We used VidCruiter for about two years before transitioning to another solution that better aligned with our needs for advanced AI-powered candidate analysis and seamless HRIS integration.
The platform's AI capabilities were not as advanced as we needed for in-depth candidate analysis. We experienced some difficulties integrating VidCruiter with our existing HRIS and other systems. The user interface could be more intuitive, as some users found it challenging to navigate.
VidCruiter stands out due to its extensive customization options and robust onboarding tools, which are ideal for organizations needing tailored interview processes and seamless new hire transitions. However, its AI capabilities are less advanced compared to competitors like myInterview, which excels in AI-powered video screening and detailed candidate analysis. Integration with existing HRIS systems can also be more challenging with VidCruiter.
We prefer myInterview because of its superior AI-driven insights into candidates' soft skills and its seamless integration with our HRIS. These features significantly enhance our hiring efficiency and decision-making processes, making it a better fit for our needs.
Ensure the platform is intuitive for both recruiters and candidates to avoid slowing down the hiring process. Look for tools with robust AI capabilities that provide valuable insights into candidates' soft skills and personalities. Check if the tool integrates well with your existing HRIS and payroll systems for efficient onboarding and seamless data management.
Consider features that improve the candidate experience, such as flexible recording times and user-friendly interfaces. Ensure the tool can scale with your company's growth and offers customizable options to meet specific hiring needs.
VidCruiter has continuously evolved to better meet user needs by enhancing its video interviewing and onboarding tools. The platform has introduced more customization options, allowing companies to tailor the interview process more precisely to their needs. Improvements in user interface design have made it more intuitive for both recruiters and candidates.
VidCruiter is good for medium to large organizations that require extensive customization in their hiring processes. It is ideal for companies with a complex recruitment process that benefits from tailored interview workflows and robust onboarding tools.
Small businesses with limited budgets may not need VidCruiter due to lower recruitment needs and higher costs.
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 is custom-based on business size and requirements, but users report a base plan of around $3,000 annually.
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.
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
SmartRecruiters ATS has custom pricing, and so do the other products of the system.
Best For
SmartRecruiters works best for medium and large-sized businesses.
We used SmartRecruiters every day. The key workflows are as follows,
1) Managing pipeline (reviewing applications, etc.)
2) Interview scheduling (self-scheduling and automatically booking recruiters’ and candidates’ calendars)
3) Candidate scorecards (create forms to put the evaluations of the interviewers more standard, however, that slows down the process and Hiring Managers are late with leaving feedback)
4) Simple data analysis, customized (for example: which sourcing platforms lead to the quickest hiring for some jobs)
5) Job posting and advertising are not really used every day and depend on the hiring needs.
- Integration with Office 365 gives an opportunity to connect to Outlook Calendar, which is useful for quickly scheduling the interviews.
- You can see upcoming interviews on your ATS home page! Quite neat.
- It is quite easy to build the hiring team of other recruiters and hiring managers that will be involved in the recruitment.
For many years my organization has been using another ATS. However, it has been significantly increasing the price every year. The new goal was to reduce yearly subscriptions by at least 30%. The main benefit that attracted my organization was the possibility to integrate a lot of other business software with ATS. More precisely, having the option to generate a unique link that candidates can use to self-schedule interview time slots, connected with MS Teams link for that call, plus automatically booking Recruiters' Outlook calendars and making it visible on SmartRecruiters candidates' profiles.
At first glance, it seemed that SmartRecruiters offered more features for less price. Unfortunately, the data migration we performed later added a lot to the price.
The price of data migration from other ATS is tremendously high (some scripts had to be written by internal software engineers). It also might take a few months and be incomplete.
To post the job you need to fill in two separate fields: the name of the brand and the name of the company, plus it’s a must to enter the address of the workplace. This I find sometimes inconvenient, especially if a company has many brands, and the position has responsibilities for more than one brand, plus if there are multiple locations for that position.
- It is less user-friendly than Recruitee, for example.
- However, SmartRecruiters automatically generates useful data analytics and visualization.
Will you need to migrate a lot of data from previous ATS? (better not)
Will you need the package that allows many jobs to be posted at the same time (100+?) (in that case, yes)
Creating jobs was relatively slow and had many steps; it was simplified after some time.
It might be better for startups than for corporations.
If the organization doesn’t have a team of backend software engineers who will support data migration, or hires a lot, SmartRecruiters isn’t a good option.
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
Though the platform itself and the ATS module are used most by companies with 25 to 150 employees, it can support the needs of much larger teams.
We use Rippling for single sign on, benefits admin, FSA/HSA, time and attendance tracking, PTO requests and more. We also use Rippling for payroll, onboarding/offboarding, compliance and tax, IT device management and more.
Rippling is a one stop shop for our employees. We enjoy the ease and flexibility of the tool. It is also highly customizable to our needs. Payroll processing is straightforward. It takes care of all the compliance, reporting and tax matters we have. The customer support is exceptional and I always get to speak with a real agent when I have a question.
To bring a single source of truth and information hub to the company, we implemented Rippling. We've had Rippling in place since January of 2022. We wanted a tool that supports single sign on, benefits admin, time and attendance tracking, PTO requests and more. We also use Rippling for payroll, onboarding/offboarding, compliance and tax, IT device management and more.
Paying for workflows was a surprise. In order to create custom workflows or approvals you have to upgrade your package.
Rippling truly offers everything you might need. You can pick and choose the features and services you'd like to have, which I appreciate. As a smaller business, we don't need every feature, but we use quite a few and we are very satisfied with what they offer. They also integrate with several other tools which makes it easy to keep all of your platforms connected and speaking to one another.
What are you trying to solve for your company? Make a list of ways an HRIS could simplify your life, for employees, managers and HR. Look at what tools you currently use and see if Rippling could replace those. Or if those tools could integrate with Rippling.
They add new capabilities all the time. They now have a global payroll feature so you could pay all of your contractors and employees from one place. They have headcount planning features now. They also offer compensation banding.
Rippling is good for companies of all sizes and stages. It could be used to manage a team of 15 or a team of 50,000. It is flexible and customizable. I can't think of a company Rippling wouldn't be good for.
What are the Benefits of an Applicant Tracking System?
The primary benefit of an ATS 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 ATS software has positively impacted their company's hiring processes.
Other benefits include improved employer branding, access to detailed analytics, and smooth engagement of managers & employees outside of HR/TA teams.
- Customized workflows: An ATS 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: A top ATS will help your organization create and manage a custom career site to help your company stand out. Showcasing your best features will make it easier to attract top talent, and with integrations with 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/TA teams for recruiting, the best ATS software will also include 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 for job boards, cost for paid media, time to hire, and other data at your fingertips.
How To Choose The Best ATS System for Your Business?
Any business choosing any type of 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 equip you with a list of features ranking 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 job, etc.). Beyond the capacity for the platform to scale up as you grow, you should pay attention to how this growth will affect product pricing and, therefore, the ATS ROI.
- Understand the road map: A tool with no future plan for improvements may cause trouble for future software switches, but a vendor with an ambitious list of feature enhancements announced 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 company channels for more information.
ATS Pricing
Below are the most common ATS pricing models.
- Flat rate: This pricing model offers a fixed monthly or annual fee for unlimited usage of the ATS and hence, is ideal if you’re a large enterprise and prefer long-term contracts.
- Pay per user: This model is best suited for small teams with limited recruiter usage (like us!). 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 ATS offer discounts for startups, non-profits, and buyers willing to sign multi-year contracts.
How Much Do Applicant Tracking Systems Cost?
Here are some guidelines on 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 budget sizes. Here we provide mid-range samples for reference.
- Small business (<100 employees): $250 up to $3,000 USD per year.
- Medium-sized business (100-500 employees): $3,000 to $15,000 per year.
- Large business (<500-5,000) employees): $15,000 to $50,000+ annually.
- Enterprise (5,000+ employees): From $125,000 per year.
What Are the Key Features of a Top ATS?
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 in their “partner ecosystem”. You should aim for seamless ATS integrations, meaning the ATS should be ready to interface (connect to, plug in to, play nice with) with whatever software you use for hiring.
- Sourcing: The top ATSs include dynamic features like 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.
- CRM (candidate relationship management): 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, which is a foundational element of all 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's experience in mind. Making a good first impression is critical, so top ATSs include features to build and maintain a bespoke career site. With a bit of help from your marketing team, your ATS can create a distinctive, bespoke, on-brand career site.
- 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 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 easily be customized for each offer presented to each potential hire.
- Onboarding: An onboarding feature helps ensure that the transition from candidate to colleague is as smooth as possible. Few ATSs offer onboarding features because this process is so dissimilar to the platform's core functions. That said, if the ATS you’re looking at doesn’t offer one, it should at least integrate with software that can handle the onboarding process.
The above features are highly specific and intended to help buyers and decision-makers make swift, categorical 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, and last but not least, involve your TA team in the process. Your internal stakeholders must be on board with your choice.
ATS Demo Questions: How Many, and Which to Ask?
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, 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’s 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.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About ATS
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 keep track of people who apply for jobs.
Read more: What Is an Applicant Tracking System (ATS)
How do applicant tracking systems work?
Applicant tracking systems act as a liaison between an employer and an applicant. 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 that deals with hiring records. In contrast, your HRIS (Human Resource Information System) is the core operating system of your human resources team and deals with 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.
Are there any free ATS?
Yes, there are. Some of the best applicant tracking systems we've tested that offer a free plan or free trial include Manatal, which offers a free trial; Dover, which has a free-forever plan; and Recooty, which is free for one user. Check out our guide to free ATS systems for more options.
What is the best ATS for startups and SMBs?
Startups and small businesses tend to have a tight budget for recruitment tech, so the above free ATS could be a good starting point for such companies. Additionally, Workable, Zoho Recruit, and Recruit CRM are among other top ATS for small businesses we tested that 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 for Buying ATS Software
- 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 ROI report will refine your thoughts on why and how an ATS is an essential purchase for your team, which will lead to more clarity on which features to prioritize.
- Consider the context: As the sophistication of ATS platforms have become more sophisticated, the cost has decreased. This means capabilities like sourcing, CRM, talent re-discovery, and even top-rate analytics capabilities are readily available to most.
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