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Best Applicant Tracking Systems for Small Businesses

10 Best Applicant Tracking Systems for Small Businesses, Startups & Agencies

The best ATS for small businesses, key features, pros, cons, pricing, and ROI

Phil Strazzulla
Written by
Phil Strazzulla
HR Tech Expert, Harvard MBA, Software Enthusiast
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Last Updated: Sep 11, 2023
TOP
Flexible ATS for teams of all sizes
Workable
4.1
Popularity Score
4.5
User Score
4.5
Product  Score
Visit Website
TOP
Flexible ATS for teams of all sizes
Workable
4.1
Popularity Score
4.5
User Score
4.5
Product  Score
Learn More
TOP
ATS + recruitment with branding
Recooty
4.6
Popularity Score
4.8
User Score
4.8
Product  Score
Visit Website
TOP
ATS + recruitment with branding
Recooty
4.6
Popularity Score
4.8
User Score
4.8
Product  Score
Learn More
TOP
Innovatie ATS with exceptional support
Pinpoint
4.7
Popularity Score
4.4
User Score
4.8
Product  Score
Visit Website
TOP
Innovatie ATS with exceptional support
Pinpoint
4.7
Popularity Score
4.4
User Score
4.8
Product  Score
Learn More
Over 3 million HR leaders trust our advice

Introduction to Applicant Tracking Systems for Small Businesses

If you manage recruitment at a small business and are struggling with hiring, it’s probably time for an Applicant Tracking System (ATS). For small businesses, there’s a fine line between bootstrapping your budget and shooting yourself in the foot, and our experience tells us that the ROI on the right ATS will make you wonder why you spent so long making do with Excel.

An ATS is essential to attract top candidates and track their progress throughout the pipeline. Your need for automation and efficiency is probably what lead you to this guide, so let’s take it a step further by finding the right product to meet your needs.

The contributors to this guide represent decades of experience and perspective. We called on Stefanie Sher (Director of Talent Acquisition, Replicated), Tracie Marie (Founder, Hire Incentive), Zachary Larson (People Operations leader with 10+ years experience), SSR writer Huda Idris (B2B Software Advisor, HR tech expert), and SSR HR tech researcher Anh Nguyen to help you find the right tool for your team.

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Best Applicant Tracking Systems for Small Businesses

No items found.

Workable

: Flexible ATS for teams of all sizes

Recooty

: ATS + recruitment with branding

Pinpoint

: Innovatie ATS with exceptional support

JazzHR

: Affordable ATS for SMBs

Zoho Recruit

: Free ATS with Google integration

Recruitee

: User-friendly ATS for SMBs

Trakstar Hire

: Top ATS for SMBs

BambooHR

: ATS + comprehensive HRIS

Teamtailor

: ATS focused on branding

Manatal

: ATS with AI for SMBs

Freshteam

: Good fit ATS for SMB

Our Criteria: Here's How We Chose The Best Applicant Tracking Systems for Small Businesses

To find the 10 best applicant tracking systems for small businesses, we evaluated the performance of more than 30 products in the following critical functions: resume parsing and analytics, job posting, pipeline management/user experience, and integration capacity.

  • Resume Parsing and Analytics

The ability to reliably parse resumes and provide meaningful analytics are core functions for any ATS, but for a small business, it’s especially critical. To gauge this, we ran simulations where we sent sample resumes through each software’s application pipeline.

  • Job Posting

We looked at the number and quality of job boards and assessed each tool’s attentiveness to factors like inclusive language. We also examined their ability to create and maintain a comprehensive audit trail.

  • Pipeline Management and User Experience

Pipeline management supports automation and efficiency, the foundation of candidate experience. Good ATS software design is crucial because it reflects your company's image. We ran candidate simulations through each pipeline to test for intuitiveness, accessibility, and cohesive visual design. We assessed the performance from both the candidate's and recruiter's perspectives.

  • Integration

Compatibility with other software is essential because the candidate pipeline at small businesses weaves through multiple internal data points and systems, such as calendars for scheduling, onboarding, and background checks. To ensure each ATS would work with most HR ecosystems, our researchers checked for compatibility with dozens of the top HR tools used by small businesses.

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Compare the Best Applicant Tracking Systems for Small Businesses

Popularity Score
Best for
Key Differentiator
Pricing
Free Trial
Customers
Users Score
Product Score

Workable

Most Popular
4.1
Starts at $129 / mo
Yes
27,000+ companies
4.5
4.5

Recooty

Most Popular
4.6
Starts at $49/mo
Yes
5,000+ companies
4.8
4.8

Pinpoint

Most Popular
4.7
N/A
N/A
Starts at $600/mo
No
1,000+ companies
4.4
4.8

JazzHR

Most Popular
4.5
Starts at $49/mo
No
6,500+ companies
4.3
4.5

Zoho Recruit

Most Popular
4.1
starts at $30 / user / mo
Yes
1,000 + companies
4.4
4.4

Recruitee

Most Popular
4.2
Starts at $91/mo
Yes
5,000+ companies
4.4
4.5

Trakstar Hire

Most Popular
3.7
Custom Pricing
No
2,000+ companies
4.3
4.1

BambooHR

Most Popular
4.6
Custom Pricing
Yes
20,000+ companies
4.5
4.7

Teamtailor

Most Popular
3.3
Custom Pricing
Yes
4,000+ companies
4.6
4.1

Manatal

Most Popular
4.5
Starts at $15/user/mo
Yes
10,000+ companies
4.8
4.9

Freshteam

Most Popular
3.8
Starts at $1.20/mo/user
Yes
10,000+ companies
4.5
4.3
Phil Strazzulla
HR Tech Expert, Harvard MBA, Software Enthusiast

Need Help? Get Custom Recommendations for Best Applicant Tracking Systems for Small Businesses

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Detailed Reviews of the Best Applicant Tracking Systems for Small Businesses

Workable

Visit Website
Workable
Learn More
Popularity Score
4.1 / 5
User Score
4.5 / 5
Product Score
4.5 / 5

Why we picked Workable

Workable really works for small orgs. This platform is best known for its ability to support large teams, but it can also meet the needs of small and growing companies.

PROS

  • Workable’s pricing plans are quite straightforward.
  • It offers 15-day free trials with no card info required.
  • It supports one-click job posting to over 200 sites and lets you access its talent pool with over 400 million profiles.
  • You can conduct cognitive and personality assessments within Wordable, without needing 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 Review

Workable is a powerful applicant tracking system suitable for businesses of all sizes. This adaptability is a stand-out feature: most ATSs perform best in a particular size environment, but Workable is highly flexible and scales easily.

Users can expect standard ATS features like job posting and scheduling, as well as AI-driven parsing and candidate suggestions. Some sought-after features, like video interviews, are not included.  However, its integration abilities are top-notch, allowing users to easily introduce 3rd party vendors to their ATS environment.

Workable enables a structured and unbiased hiring process by providing anonymized screening, interview kits, and scorecards in all their plans.

Workable Customers

Workable has been used by over 20,000 organizations, including Sephora, Forbes, Bevi, Moodle, and Navarro.

Workable Pricing

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 is a good choice for companies of all sizes. It's great for SMBs because it scales well, meaning that users can count on it to handle everything from humble beginnings to rapid growth.

Workable in action
No items found.

Recooty

Visit Website
Recooty
Learn More
Popularity Score
4.6 / 5
User Score
4.8 / 5
Product Score
4.8 / 5

Why we picked Recooty

Recooty offers a free-forever plan that allows users to post jobs on multiple platforms. The platform’s paid plans pack a handful of recruitment essentials at conservative prices, making it a great ATS option for SMBs.

PROS

  • Recooty is easy to use. The software is designed to be user-friendly, with a simple interface that makes it easy to find and use the features you need.
  • Recooty is priced competitively, making it accessible for small businesses.
  • You can opt for a free trial to try Recooty before you commit to a subscription.
  • In addition to job posting and candidate tracking, Recooty also offers features for interview scheduling, candidate assessment, offer management, and onboarding.
  • The ability to post a job on multiple platforms makes it efficient – a “one-click job posting solution”, according to one user.
  • Supports 8 languages: German, English, French, Hindi, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, and Vietnamese.
  • One user liked the usability of the software, stating that it is 'easy and self-explanatory.'
  • The ability to post a job on multiple platforms makes it efficient, as per one user who labels Recooty a 'one-click job posting solution.'
  • The company offers a cheap subscription, making it affordable for small businesses.

CONS

  • No mobile apps.
  • Doesn’t have a Chrome Extension to import candidates from websites like LinkedIn.
  • Can only integrate with Slack and LinkedIn.
  • Recooty is more suitable for small and medium businesses and may not be ideal for large enterprises with more job postings and locations.
  • The company does not have a mobile application, as stated by many software users.
  • Recooty has limited features i.e., unlike its competitors, it doesn’t support employee referrals and one-on-one interviews.
  • Recooty offers only two integrations from their dashboard; for Slack and LinkedIn.
  • Recooty is more suitable for small and medium businesses and may not be ideal for large enterprises with more job postings and locations.

Recooty Review

Recooty is great for SMBs looking for an easy-to-use, affordable, and efficient applicant tracking system. However, if you're looking for a more robust solution with more features, you may want to consider a different ATS.

Our in-house assessment showed that Recooty is a plug-and-play tool. It is easy to set up and easy to navigate. Users can post jobs to multiple boards, track applicants, and set up automated email notifications with just a few clicks. It’s not an exaggeration to say Recooty is a self-explanatory ATS.

Another thing we like about Recooty is its affordability. The software is priced competitively, and you can even start with the free plan. Though it’s limited to one active job at a time, it offers some good features like branded career pages, multiple job boards, and unlimited applications.

Recooty supports not only English but seven additional languages. However, Recooty lacks a mobile app, despite pressure from users over the years. Recooty isn’t a good call for recruitment teams that need a Chrome extension to support their candidate search on websites like LinkedIn.

The level of customization is lacking compared to higher-priced ATSs in the space, and resume parsing is accessible for only the two highest-priced plans. Integration options also leave something to be desired, as you can only connect the ATS with your LinkedIn and Slack.

Recooty Customers

Sendlane, Airtable, Uber, Rack Bank, American Hospital, Trello.

Recooty Pricing

The company offers four pricing plans:

  • Free plan - Limited to one active job slot, one user, and one location.
  • Pro Plan - the plan goes for $49/month with 10 Active job slots, 10 slots, and 3 locations.
  • Ultra Plan - goes for $ 99/month with 25 active job slots, 50 users, 10 locations, and all features under the Pro plan.
  • Max Plan- goes for $ 199/month while offering 75 active job slots, 100 users, and 20 locations and all features under the Ultra plan.
  • All the plans come with a 14-day trial period in which you can test the service without providing your credit card details. After the trial period ends, you will need to update your card to continue using the services.

Best For

Recooty is an excellent tool for small businesses that want to post jobs on multiple platforms without spending money.

Recooty in action
No items found.

Pinpoint

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Pinpoint
Learn More
Popularity Score
4.7 / 5
User Score
4.4 / 5
Product Score
4.8 / 5

Why we picked Pinpoint

Pinpoint is growing teams’ favorite ATS that shines with talent CRM, integrations, and automation workflows built-in. The platform also enables users to create content-rich career sites with neat designs without needing help from IT.

PROS

  • Pinpoint’s ATS is highly customizable and values collaborative hiring.
  • Pinpoint offers unlimited active jobs, team members, external recruiters, training, and support for all users regardless of their plans.
  • The customer support team is helpful and responsive to customers’ requests.
  • The pricing is transparent. Startups with under 50 people can benefit from its discounted pricing.
  • It’s got a robust career site builder you can easily customize without the help of IT.
  • It provides over 100 third-party integrations. Also offers custom integrations (but only for Enterprise plan).
  • 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

  • Pinpoint offers its employee onboarding module with additional fees.
  • It can be expensive for budget-minded teams.
  • Doesn’t offer a free trial or free version.
  • Multilingual support is only available for the Enterprise plan.
  • 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.
Screenshot of Pinpoint Applicant Tracking System Showing Latest Jobs and Candidates by Stage

Pinpoint Review

Pinpoint's ATS is highly regarded by users for its intuitive interface, neat automation workflows, and robust career site builder. We love how easy it is for candidates to apply through the career site. Here’s an example of what going the extra mile looks like: if your candidates are not ready to apply, they can opt into a talent community to stay in touch with your company. After testing a few dozen vendors, we can confirm this is something you can’t find in most other ATSs.

We were also impressed by Pinpoint’s customer service. Regardless of the plan you opt for, you will get a dedicated success manager, concierge onboarding, and unlimited support via phone, email, and live chat. There really isn’t anything we dislike about it.

Just a few things to keep in mind. There’s no free trial or free plan to try before buying. And when compared with other solutions, Pinpoint might be on the pricier side — the cheapest plan cost $600 per month. If you’d like to use its onboarding module, you need to purchase it separately. While having a considerable number of standard integration options, requesting bespoke integrations is only for Pinpoint’s Enterprise plan users (having 150 headcounts or more).

Pinpoint Customers

CoinShares, Pathways Global, Grant Thornton, Icario, Pivot Energy.

Pinpoint Pricing

Pinpoint has two plans:

  • Growth: starts at $600 monthly when billed annually.
  • Enterprise: From $1,200/month when billed annually.
  • Available startup program for startups with fewer than 50 headcounts.

Best For

Pinpoint is a wonderful ATS for in-house recruitment at companies that are growing fast.

Pinpoint in action
No items found.

JazzHR

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JazzHR
Learn More
Popularity Score
4.5 / 5
User Score
4.3 / 5
Product Score
4.5 / 5

Why we picked JazzHR

Purposely built for teams with less than 500 employees, JazzHR provides almost every key feature of an ATS, like career pages, employer branding, candidate sourcing, and talent CRM, at a transparent and affordable price. Free trials are also available.

PROS

  • JazzHR is quite affordable and doesn’t place any limits on the number of users added. It also offers a free, 21-day trial that anyone can sign up for.
  • It’s got 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.
  • 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

  • Some users reported a learning curve with JazzHR's UI and that it took them some time to get used to it.
  • Although a product geared towards SMBs, it lacks a free plan. We mention this as a con since other SMB-geared recruiting products often 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.
  • 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.
Screenshot of JazzHR ATS Showing Candidates on Their ATS dashboard

JazzHR Review

JazzHR’s ATS was designed with SMBs in mind. The platform allows for unlimited users across all plans, making it easier for businesses to communicate and collaborate during the hiring process. In addition to its collaboration and affordability features, we also like how JazzHR makes it easy and quick to share your job openings across multiple job boards.

You can start with their lowest-priced plan (Hero) that includes essential features like posting up to three job openings and then upgrade to higher plans as your company grows, ensuring you don’t pay for features you don't need. The other two plans (Plus and Pro) have more advanced features for automating, customizing, and analyzing the hiring process.

JazzHR Customers

JazzHR has been used by over 10,000 businesses to date, including TED, Fox Dealer, Clearly, Massaro, and Heath Ceramics.

JazzHR Pricing

JazzHR has three plans. When billed annually, these plans cost as follows:

  • Hero: $49 per month for unlimited users and 3 open jobs.
  • Plus: $239 per month for unlimited users, unlimited open jobs, ATS, interviews, and assessments.
  • Pro: $359 per month for everything from Plus, along with offers and e-signatures, reporting, and all-access support.

Best For

JazzHR is specifically built for teams at organizations with 5 to 500 employees, regardless of industry or recruiting maturity.

JazzHR in action
Reviewer's Rating
10/10

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.

What do you like about this tool?

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.

Why did your organization buy this tool, and how long have you used it for?

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.

What do you dislike about this tool?

I truly do not have any cons for JazzHR.

How is this tool different than their competitors?
What Instructions should people think about when buying this type of tool?

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.

How has this tool changed or evolved over time to meet users needs?

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.

What specific type of user or organization is this tool very good for?

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.

What specific type of user or organization would this tool not be a good fit for?

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.

Zoho Recruit

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Zoho Recruit
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Popularity Score
4.1 / 5
User Score
4.4 / 5
Product Score
4.4 / 5

Why we picked Zoho Recruit

As with most Zoho products, Zoho Recruit is quite robust and feature-rich. The ATS also has a free plan and supports 26 different languages, allowing recruiters to cast a wide net.

PROS

  • Combines ATS and candidate CRM in one platform.
  • Scalable plans with free trials and a free version.
  • 24/5 support.
  • 45-day money-back guarantee.
  • ATS + CRM in one platform 
  • Backed by a company like Zoho, notable for reliability and good customer service. 
  • 24/5 support 
  • Priced quite modestly after the free version 
  • Certain features like video interviews are available as optional add-ons.

CONS

  • The free plan has limited storage — 256MB.
  • Features like the client portal, mass email, workflow alerts, and API are paid features.
  • Integrations at times don’t work properly, requiring disconnecting and reconnecting.
  • The career site is not fully customizable until past a certain paid plan.
  • The free plan only allows 256MB of storage.
  • Additional features, such as the client portal, mass email, workflow alerts, and API calls cost extra.
  • Some users have complained about the quality of some of the integrations. 
  • The career site is not fully customizable until past a certain paid plan.

Zoho Recruit Review

We couldn’t miss this opportunity to try Zoho’s free plan. It covers the essentials for managing candidates, emails, and interview scheduling. While the customization options are somewhat limited, we were glad to see the ability to post jobs on both free and paid job boards, including the niche ones. The integration with Google applications and support for 26 languages are definite pluses, making connecting with applicants from different backgrounds easier. Another time-saving feature is the availability of five customizable email templates, which can be a real help. However, the biggest con of the free plan is you only get one active job at a time. The storage limit is also on the smaller side, set at 256MB.

On the bright side, creating a career page with customizable templates is straightforward, though it might not be the most visually stunning option out there. Another cool feature we came across is Zia, the AI-based chatbot. It automatically responds to applicants’ FAQs and keeps them updated on job availability and application statuses. Plus, there's a handy automated candidate matching feature: you create a new job and specify the desired skills, and Zoho Recruit will rank the candidates based on how well their resumes meet set requirements.

However, besides a limited free version, the solution lacks features for skill assessments and anti-cheating. We also heard some users mention occasional connectivity issues with connected HR tools. Lastly, additional features like the client portal, mass email, and workflow alerts come with extra costs.

Zoho Recruit Customers

Bosch, Deloitte, Saint-Gobain, PWC, Allianz.

Zoho Recruit Pricing

Zoho Recruit provides a range of paid plans alongside the free version:

  • Standard plan is priced at $30/user/month, offering features such as a document library, analytics, and customizations.
  • Professional plan priced at $60/user/month, which includes assessments and social recruiting capabilities.
  • Enterprise plan priced at $90/user/month, providing a comprehensive set of features (doesn’t include add-ons).
  • Add-ons available include the client portal and video interview modules. Zoho Recruit also offers a 15-day free trial for users to explore the platform's capabilities.

Best For

Recruiting and staffing agencies already using other Zoho products will appreciate Zoho Recruit as a valuable addition to their hiring toolkit. Additionally, large firms seeking an all-in-one solution for niche job recruitment will find Zoho Recruit a suitable choice.

Zoho Recruit in action
Reviewer's Rating
9/10

At my organization, we use Zoho Recruit as our primary applicant tracking system (ATS) to manage our recruitment process. We use it on a daily basis to streamline our workflows and improve our recruitment efficiency.

One of the key workflows we use Zoho Recruit for is managing job postings. Zoho Recruit allows us to create job postings and post them on various job boards and social media platforms, all from within the tool. This saves us time and effort and helps us to reach a wider pool of candidates.

What do you like about this tool?
  • Customizable workflows: Zoho Recruit provides customizable workflows that allow organizations to create tailored recruitment processes that match their specific needs.
  • Integrations with other Zoho applications: Zoho Recruit is part of the larger Zoho suite of business applications, and it can integrate with other Zoho applications such as Zoho CRM and Zoho People, which can help streamline overall business processes.
  • Collaborative recruiting: Zoho Recruit allows for collaboration between team members, making it easier to work together during the recruitment process.
  • Candidate tracking: Zoho Recruit provides tools for tracking candidate progress throughout the hiring process, including interview scheduling and email communication.
Why did your organization buy this tool, and how long have you used it for?

Zoho Recruit helps my organization manage job postings, applications, and candidate information in a single platform. This streamlines the recruitment process and helps my HR team save time and effort. Zoho Recruit allows my organization to centralize all candidate data in one location, which can make it easier to manage and track candidate progress throughout the hiring process. It also provides features for collaboration between team members, which can help improve communication and coordination during the recruitment process. I've been using Zoho Recruit for the last 2 years.

What do you dislike about this tool?
  • While Zoho Recruit offers integrations with other Zoho applications, it has limited integrations with other third-party applications, which may limit its functionality and usability for some organizations.
  • While Zoho Recruit offers customizable workflows, some users have expressed that there are limitations to the customization options available, which may not fully meet their organization's needs.
  • Some users have found that Zoho Recruit has a steep learning curve, which may require additional training for some users to fully utilize the platform's features and functionality.
How is this tool different than their competitors?

Zoho's tiers are very rigid, and I would hope they would make their product more modular and allow customers to buy modules separately. For a small startup, the professional and enterprise-grade turn out to be very expensive, and we could easily trade some features we don't use for features we would like to use.

What Instructions should people think about when buying this type of tool?
  • Consider the specific needs of your organization and the recruitment processes that you need to support. Evaluate the features and functionality of Zoho Recruit to ensure that it meets your organization's specific requirements.
  • Evaluate the user interface of Zoho Recruit to ensure that it is easy to use and navigate and that it does not require extensive training for users to get up to speed.
  • Evaluate the customization options available in Zoho Recruit to ensure that you can tailor the recruitment process to match your organization's specific requirements.
How has this tool changed or evolved over time to meet users needs?

Zoho Recruit has expanded its customization options, enabling users to create workflows tailored to their specific needs. The customizable workflows allow users to create automated processes and custom stages for candidates.

Zoho Recruit has introduced artificial intelligence (AI)-powered automation features that help automate tasks, such as candidate matching, resume parsing, and lead prioritization.

What specific type of user or organization is this tool very good for?

Zoho Recruit offers a cost-effective solution for small and medium-sized businesses that need to manage their recruitment processes without investing in expensive HR software. Zoho Recruit has features specifically designed for staffing agencies and recruiters, such as candidate submittal tracking, resume parsing, and sourcing tools, making it an excellent choice for these types of users.

What specific type of user or organization would this tool not be a good fit for?

While Zoho Recruit can handle recruitment processes for small to medium-sized businesses, it may not be as well-suited for large enterprises with complex recruitment processes and a large number of open positions.

Zoho Recruit is a general-purpose recruitment software and may not be the best fit for industries with specialized recruitment needs, such as healthcare, finance, or technology. These industries often require specialized recruitment software in addition to an ATS that can handle their unique requirements.

Recruitee

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Recruitee
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Popularity Score
4.2 / 5
User Score
4.4 / 5
Product Score
4.5 / 5

Why we picked Recruitee

Recruitee is highly recommended for SMBs due to its user-friendliness and robust collaboration features. Companies also find the ATS’ permission adjustment functionality helpful in reducing biased hiring. What’s more? There’s a free trial that won’t require your payment info.

PROS

  • Recruitee now offers users an AI-powered tool working as a job description builder.
  • Recruitee’s permission adjustment features enable businesses to reduce hiring bias.
  • Recruitee pricing is transparent. You can also opt for Recruitee’s free trial to explore the tool.
  • Recruitee puts no limits on the number of users for all of its plans.
  • Recruitee has a mobile app where users can receive notifications of candidate interactions and perform several tasks on their Android/iOS devices.
  • 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

  • The platform lacks built-in functions for skill assessments, onboarding, video interviewing, and e-signatures, requiring users to use third-party integrations to be able to use such features.
  • The reporting feature, at times, doesn't retrieve data accurately.
  • Recruitee has increased its pricing (although it corresponds to an addition of features in each plan).
  • 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.
Screenshot of Recruitee ATS Software Showing Active Talent Pool

Recruitee Review

Recruitee is a great pick for SMBs looking for a collaborative and user-friendly ATS. We had a great experience navigating the platform. It has a nice UI and a Kanban-like recruiting pipeline where we can customize every stage of the process and move candidates by dragging and dropping the cards. The people behind Recruitee also did a great job in developing the overdue candidate reminder tool: when a candidate sits for too long in your pipeline without getting any updates, it will send a friendly reminder to you.

Another thing we like about Recruitee is its collaboration capability. The platform says: you can have as many users as you need in Recruitee, no matter which plans you have opted for, and it doesn’t cost you an extra penny — and it means it. This, combined with the permission adjustment feature, makes it easier to deliver collaborative and unbiased hiring.

Recruitee Customers

Semrush, Mark and Spencer, Transcom, Taco Bell, Toyota, Asus, Livestorm, Rakuten.

Recruitee Pricing

Recruitee offers custom plans based on the number of active jobs and other particular needs. The ATS has three pricing plans:

  • Launch starts at $269 per month
  • Scale starts at $479 per month
  • ‍Lead has custom pricing.

Best For

Recruitee is a good bet for small and medium-sized businesses looking for an easy-to-use ATS with robust features for collaborative hiring.

Recruitee in action
Reviewer's Rating
8/10
  • We use Recruitee as an Application Tracking System on a daily basis.
  • We have five job openings right now, and each one of them has distinct pipelines, responsibilities, and workflows.
What do you like about this tool?
  • Email tracking. All emails are tracked within the tool, making it easy to manage and understand all communications made by our employees and applicants.
  • Questionnaires. We can create custom questionnaires and send them to applicants. Their answers are collected and kept automatically on their profiles.
  • Interview scheduling. It's easy to send a link to users so they can schedule their interview directly within the app.
Why did your organization buy this tool, and how long have you used it for?

We've been looking for an ATS (Application Tracking System) for a long time, and we've been using Recruitee for about 3 years. As a small game development studio, handling the dozens of applications we receive daily takes time. By using Recruitee, we're able to properly categorize, evaluate and keep records for every applicant.

What do you dislike about this tool?
  • Pricing. It's one of the most expensive ATS in its category.
  • It's not trivial to change the pipeline steps. If we could change the pipeline steps directly on the pipeline screen, it would be awesome.
  • Mobile application is still far from ideal, and has some bugs.
How is this tool different than their competitors?
  • We've tried many other ATS systems, but Recruitee was the best I could find in this price range.
  • The best parts of it are the application workflow and how easy is to keep all information we have on an applicant on his profile.
What Instructions should people think about when buying this type of tool?

I recommend keeping an eye on how the communication between the applicants is handled within the app. When trying ATS tools, make sure to apply with another email so you can evaluate the whole pipeline.

How has this tool changed or evolved over time to meet users needs?

The tool hasn't changed significantly over the last 3 years, so I can't speak a lot about this.

What specific type of user or organization is this tool very good for?

It fits companies that need to be more efficient in it's hiring processes, normally larger than 20 people.

What specific type of user or organization would this tool not be a good fit for?

Budget is an issue, so if you have a really small company with a tight budget, you might need another solution.

Trakstar Hire

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Trakstar Hire
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Popularity Score
3.7 / 5
User Score
4.3 / 5
Product Score
4.1 / 5

Why we picked Trakstar Hire

Trakstar Hire outperforms the typical ATS with features like unlimited job posting, resume duplication detection, and advanced customization capabilities. Trakstar Hire is a favorite pick for SMBs as its undisclosed pricing is negotiable based on customers’ annual number of job openings.

PROS

  • Recruitment workflow is highly customizable.
  • Native, in-platform collaboration hiring features allow users to delegate tasks, collect evaluations, and schedule interviews without third-party tool integrations.
  • Users can create unlimited job posts and add as many hiring managers as they need without added cost.
  • Offer management is built into the product, so users can create, send, and store offer letters directly through the platform. They even do e-signatures!
  • 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.
  • No mobile apps.
  • As Trakstar Hire offers only one plan with all features included, some businesses looking for a basic ATS may need more time to find it.
  • No free trial or free plans. Trakstar’s pricing is all-or-one and undisclosed.
  • 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.
Screenshot of Trackstar Hire (one of the best Applicant Tracking System) Showing Tasks on ATS Dashboard

Trakstar Hire Review

Trakstar Hire ATS (formerly Recruiterbox) is ideal for midsize companies. Still, the platform does work out deals for small businesses as they have room for negotiation based on how many job openings they have annually.

Rather than offering a feature-light product, Trakstar Hire ATS carries nearly everything you can ask for in a modern application tracking system: resume management, candidate sourcing, interview scheduling, offer management, collaborative hiring, reports, and careers site management.

Does the company overdo it? Based on our experience with Trakstar, the answer is yes and no.

It’s challenging to master many things simultaneously, but Trakstar Hire makes learning their tool manageable by presenting users with a well-made set of core products. We’ll start with job posting.

When a job is added to the platform, it is automatically distributed to LinkedIn, Facebook, Google, careers pages, job boards, and search engines. There is no limit to the number of jobs you can post, which is helpful for teams who hire frequently.

We love a smooth, customized workflow, and Trakstar Hire delivers in the “tailored experience” department. Users can customize literally every step of the way, making their hiring experience stand out against the rest but also fold into the best operational flow for the business.

We are also big fans of products with built-in features like offer management. No plug-in is necessary! Creating, sending, and storing offer letters all in one place makes sense.

There’s no such thing as a perfect tool, and we’d be remiss if we didn’t point out some aspects of the platform that cause us concern.

A free trial was available when they were still Recruiterbox in 2021. In 2023, there’s no more free trial, and the pricing is now undisclosed.

We’ve already touched on the lack of integrations, but it’s worth restating. Though it’s a very capable ATS, being unable to integrate with standard HR tools is a significant drawback.

Trakstar Hire Customers

Makita, Couchsurfing, Lonely Planet, Untappd, Quality Ironworks.

Trakstar Hire Pricing

Trakstar Hire has one plan that includes all of its features without any limits. The pricing is custom depending on headcount.

Best For

Trakstar Hire is a powerful ATS for SMBs assessing one hundred or more candidates annually.

Trakstar Hire in action
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BambooHR

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BambooHR
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Popularity Score
4.6 / 5
User Score
4.5 / 5
Product Score
4.7 / 5

Why we picked BambooHR

BambooHR is among the top ATS options for SMBs, thanks to its ease of use and full-stack features built-in. The platform also offers flexible plans, which means businesses can benefit from having custom offerings based on their needs.

PROS

  • Flexible and tailored pricing, allowing you to choose and scale up features based on your specific needs.
  • Free 7-day trials are offered, providing an opportunity to explore and evaluate the ATS functionalities before making a financial commitment.
  • Well-performing mobile app, which facilitates application review, communication, and collaboration features on the go.
  • User-friendly interface and intuitive design.
  • 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

  • Payroll capabilities are limited to U.S.-based employees, which may be a drawback for companies with an international workforce.
  • Customer support is available only during U.S. business hours, potentially causing delays in resolving urgent inquiries for users in different time zones.
  • Modules like time tracking, performance management, and surveys are offered as add-ons, requiring additional investment to access these functionalities.
  • 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.
Screenshot of BambooHR Applicant Tracking System Showing Onboarding Task, Monthly Headcount, Vacation

BambooHR Review

BambooHR's ATS is a good fit for small businesses. Having looked at many such tools, we find it impressive that it packs most of the essential recruiting features into a modestly-priced package. For example, you can customize application forms and share job postings across several job boards and social media platforms. The system organizes candidate applications for easy reference throughout every stage of the hiring process, from initial application to final e-signature. Users can also create new hire packets that provide information on what to expect, who to meet, and which tasks to tackle on their first day.

Users we've talked to quite like BambooHR’s mobile app for hiring. Through it, they’re able to post jobs, review resumes, communicate with candidates, coordinate with other hiring team members, and perform several related functions on the go.

BambooHR Customers

Among the 20,000+ 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

BambooHR pricing is custom, but they offer a free trial. Before coming up with a quote, they are also likely to extend your free trial upon request or give you a free demo of the advanced features.

Best For

BambooHR is a good choice for organizations seeking a cost-friendly ATS tool that can help them get started with recruiting.

BambooHR in action
Reviewer's Rating
8/10

BambooHR is an essential part of our workflow at the office. We use BambooHR on a daily basis for reducing manual paperwork and quickly tracking employee information. BambooHR helps to ensure that our manager and team members are up-to-date on records such as shift changes, vacation requests, and job roles. This helps make hiring and onboarding new employees easy, fast, and efficient. BambooHR also allows us to easily track employee performance reviews and keep tabs on employee attendance. Its comprehensive search capabilities enable us to quickly find important documents when needed. BambooHR has been an invaluable tool for improving overall workplace organization and productivity, helping us run our business with fewer manual processes efficiently and effectively.

What do you like about this tool?
  1. BambooHR is an incredibly user-friendly HR platform that has made it easier than ever to manage employee data.
  2. it makes onboarding new employees a breeze, allowing us to quickly and accurately collect important documents with just a few clicks.
  3. The powerful analytics BambooHR provides are also great for keeping tabs on performance, compensation, and attendance.
Why did your organization buy this tool, and how long have you used it for?

We chose BambooHR as our Human Resources software because of its expansive, easy-to-use capabilities. We wanted to automate HR processes and initially used Zoho but we found a problem integrating Zoho to meet our expectations since Zoho requires knowledge of IT. BambooHR allows us to easily manage employee timesheets, track new hire onboarding processes, create interactive checklists, and track performance goals with ease. We have been using BambooHR for almost two years now and have seen a great ROI. BambooHR has moved our HR processes into the 21st century and enabled us to make changes quickly while keeping track of valuable data that would have taken us significantly longer to include manually.

What do you dislike about this tool?
  1. BambooHR does not offer a significant number of options when it comes to customizing your dashboard or user profiles.
  2. BambooHR lacks many advanced reporting features.
  3. BambooHR does not currently offer the ability to track vacation hours for individual employees.
How is this tool different than their competitors?

Its strong suite of features make it stand out from similar tools. BambooHR simplifies the onboarding process by helping to manage employee data, providing an effective way to track hours and attendance, or designing custom workflows for tasks like vacation requests. What I particularly appreciate about BambooHR is its ability to create employee reports that are fast, intuitive, and easy to use. BambooHR also integrates seamlessly with other software such as payroll, benefits management, and mailing services. Overall in comparison to other HR tools available today, BambooHR stands above many of them. Its intuitive design and robust functionality make it my preferred choice for managing my HR processes; it gives me everything I need in one place without any hassle.

What Instructions should people think about when buying this type of tool?

When considering BambooHR as the right software solution for your business, there are several key criteria to consider. Thoughtful evaluation of factors such as cost and implementation time frame should be taken into account to make BambooHR fits into your business plans and operations. Additionally, it’s important to understand BambooHR's functionality and its capacity for automation to guarantee you’re getting the most out of the software in terms of streamlining tasks and increasing efficiency.

How has this tool changed or evolved over time to meet users needs?

By consistently listening to customer feedback, BambooHR continues to evolve and grow along with its users' needs. BambooHR now provides software solutions that allow companies to streamline their mundane, yet essential HR processes like record-keeping, onboarding, and more. BambooHR has also added more robust analytics and reporting functionality to offer real-time visibility into human capital metrics.

What specific type of user or organization is this tool very good for?

BambooHR is an incredibly valuable tool for businesses of all sizes looking to streamline their HR processes. It makes it simple to store employee information, set access permissions, and track important past and present data. From small independent businesses just getting started with their HR needs, to large organizations that have much more complicated paperwork requirements. because the software offers a high range of features and prices that can fit any type of business.

What specific type of user or organization would this tool not be a good fit for?

BambooHR may not be suitable for certain users and organizations due to its specialization in Human Resources. BambooHR’s core focus is streamlining the payroll, hiring, performance reviews, and goals-tracking processes for medium-sized businesses. As such, BambooHR may not be the ideal choice for companies that prioritize a large range of features outside of conventional HR setup or are unwilling to invest time into learning the platform’s unique services. BambooHR also does not have an international presence, so global organizations looking for a comprehensive HR system may need to look elsewhere.

Teamtailor

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Teamtailor
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Popularity Score
3.3 / 5
User Score
4.6 / 5
Product Score
4.1 / 5

Why we picked Teamtailor

Teamtailor’s biggest selling feature is their career pag — well built out yet easy to navigate. The platform also has features that ingrain diversity, equality, and inclusion in the hiring process. Trials are available and they don’t require your credit card details.

PROS

  • Teamtailor is a straightforward ATS that is mobile-friendly.
  • Drag-and-drop career site builders.
  • Built-in tools to support diversity, equality, and inclusion DEI initiatives.
  • Customer support and the help center are notably good.
  • Offers one simple plan with unlimited job postings, candidates, and users.
  • Free trials are available; no credit card is required.
  • 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

  • Their analytics module isn’t very easy to adjust.
  • No offerings for other core HR tools
  • Features for customization and video interview could be improved.
  • Lacks pricing transparency.
  • 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.
Screenshot of Teamtailor Applicant Tracking System Showing My Jobs, To Do List and Other Updates.

Teamtailor Review

Teamtailor’s ATS has a unique approach to talent acquisition, paying a lot of attention to how your company presents itself to candidates. This ATS helps SMBs build attractive career sites, market to specific talent demographics through landing pages and talent pools, run referrals, and nurture campaigns for current and future recruitment needs.

Another way TeamTailor differentiates itself from the pack is how the platform structures its pricing. There actually isn’t any structure to it. It’s a single plan with all features included. Thus, the pricing of this plan adapts to the size of your company.

Teamtailor Customers

Kry, Goodbye Kansas, Vitamin Well, Ponsse, Daniel Wellington.

Teamtailor Pricing

Teamtailor’s pricing will vary depending on your company size. To give you an idea, $3,300 is a usual starting price for organizations with fewer than 25 employees.

Best For

Teamtailor is an excellent choice for startups and small and medium-sized businesses looking for a straightforward ATS with outstanding features for employer branding.

Teamtailor in action
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Manatal

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Manatal
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Popularity Score
4.5 / 5
User Score
4.8 / 5
Product Score
4.9 / 5

Why we picked Manatal

Manatal is an affordable ATS with a 14-day free trial. Its AI-powered functionalities can be quite useful for businesses to streamline candidate sourcing. Also, the drag-and-drop feature makes the platform fairly easy for users to organize candidate pipelines.

PROS

  • Offers one of the most affordable ATS options in the market.
  • Provides a 14-day free trial for users to explore the platform.
  • User-friendly interface with drag-and-drop enabled pipelines.
  • The AI-based recommendations feature saves valuable time during candidate screening.
  • Web-based, allowing seamless access across multiple devices.
  • Offers free data migration from existing hiring software.
  • Transparent and flexible pricing options.
  • 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 may have limitations in languages other than English.
  • The core product is currently available in English and Spanish only.
  • No free plans are available.
  • Integrations are conducted at the API level, which can be technologically complex for some users.
  • API and Zapier integration is limited to top-tier plans.
  • Boolean Search and Advanced Search cannot be used simultaneously.
  • 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.
Screenshot of Manatal Applicant Tracking System Showing Candidate Applications Received on Their ATS portal

Manatal Review

Manatal is a noteworthy ATS option that caters specifically to SMBs, offering a budget-friendly solution without compromising essential features. They even offer a free trial without requiring credit card info.

The AI-powered feature of Manatal is a real asset. The AI analyzes job descriptions and sifts through a user's talent pool to identify the individuals most suitable for the role. The recommendations are pretty awesome for English resumes. However, we noticed some inaccuracies in the AI suggestions with non-English candidates.

One of Manatal's strengths is its UI. Manatal has a user-friendly interface and native drag-and-drop-enabled pipelines, which are very easy to use. While it doesn’t offer a mobile app, the ATS is web-based, making it accessible on the go.

We also appreciate that Manatal is transparent about its pricing. It has a “custom” plan to make it scalable in addition to two other plans with pretty affordable prices. Additionally, Manatal provides free data migration from existing hiring software to help users have a smooth transition process.

However, we did run into some problems when testing the tool. Although several SMB-focussed ATSs offer a free version, Manatal doesn’t. The AI recommendations feature, as mentioned earlier, doesn’t work well with non-English resumes. We should also note that its API and Zapier integrations are limited to top-tier plans, while the pre-built integration list is very humble.

Manatal Customers

Unilever, Coca-Cola, Panasonic, Ogilvy, Toyota.

Manatal Pricing

  • Manatal has two fixed pricing plans: Profession and Enterprise, costing $15 and $35 per user per month, respectively, when billed annually.
  • On-demand plans are available with custom quotes.

Best For

For English-language organizations with limited budgets who are seeking an easy-to-use ATS with AI features, Manatal is a top choice.

Manatal in action
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Freshteam

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Freshteam
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Popularity Score
3.8 / 5
User Score
4.5 / 5
Product Score
4.3 / 5

Why we picked Freshteam

Freshteam offers a free-forever plan every small business with up to 50 employees can enjoy. Plus, the paid plans are competitively priced, giving growing teams considerable value for your money.

PROS

  • Fresh team’s fee-forever plan is available for teams with up to 50 team members.
  • Transparent pricing structure.
  • User-friendly, with drag-and-drop features.
  • Affordable for SMBs with a feature set comparable to more expensive solutions.
  • Multiple plans: customers can start with the free plan, then upgrade to more features as their business grows.
  • Freshteam is very user-friendly, with an intuitive UI that’s easy to navigate. It features a customizable, Kanban-style view of the full hiring process from initial contact to offer sending. Drag and drop mechanism makes it easy to move candidates around as they progress through the different stages. 
  • Freshteam is affordable for SMBs to use while still having a comparable feature set to more expensive solutions. 
  • Freshteam is quite scalable. With four plans to choose from, customers can start out with the free plan, then upgrade to more features as their business grows.

CONS

  • The free plan has limited features and allows only three published job postings.
  • Not the best option for enterprises and teams with high-volume hiring needs.
  • Lacks advanced features for applicant tracking, candidate sourcing, and relationship management.
  • While Freshteam has a free-forever plan that small companies can use, the plan is limited in features and allows for only 3 published job postings. That said, Freshteam’s paid plans are quite affordable, and can be used by small businesses - should they need to - without breaking the bank.
  • Freshteam might not be suitable for enterprises and agencies that do volume hiring and are in need of advanced applicant tracking, candidate sourcing, and relationship management capabilities, as we've confirmed via several user interviews.
Screenshot of Freshteam Applicant Tracking System Showing Candidate Hiring Stages

Freshteam Review

We chose Freshteam as one of the best ATSs for SMBs because it isn’t just an average applicant tracking system. Rather, it’s more like an HR suite with features for candidate screening, recruiting, onboarding, time-off management, and more. At the same time, its clear pricing structure makes it suitable for small and medium-sized organizations.

While the free plan may not be as advanced, it provides solid features for small teams and startups in the early stages. Users can customize their career site, connect with multiple job boards and social media platforms, and manage up to three active positions simultaneously. Also, we found the drag-and-drop hiring workflow to be quite intuitive.

However, its customer support is limited to tickets, a knowledge base, and email correspondence with their agents. What’s lacking is phone support or dedicated staff, but it makes sense at the starting price point. Sometimes it can all work beautifully, to the point that the phone support is not missed. However, several of the users we talked to did report occasional slow responses.

Freshteam Customers

Monster, PharmEasy, Ocado, Reaktor, Nissan, SAP, and the University of Pennsylvania.

Freshteam Pricing

Freshteam has four pricing plans:

  • Free: it allows 3 published job postings and is for teams with no more than 50 employees.
  • Growth: $1 per employee per month plus a $59 monthly platform fee.
  • Pro: $2 per employee per month plus a $99 monthly platform fee.
  • Enterprise: $4 per employee per month plus a $169 monthly platform fee.

Best For

Freshteam works best for small and mid-sized companies that are looking for a budget-friendly tool with several features built-in.

Freshteam in action
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Applicant Tracking System FAQs

What is an Applicant Tracking System (ATS)?

An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) - of course, we don’t talk about Automatic Transfer Switches on our site - is an HR tool designed to make things easier for both employers and candidates. Typically, an ATS will aid with tasks like posting jobs, sourcing candidates, organizing the hiring process, and storing data for record-keeping purposes. If you want to learn more, we, coincidentally, have a whole guide that breaks down what an applicant tracking system (ATS) is.

What are the features of an Applicant Tracking System?

The features commonly found in applicant tracking systems are resume parsing to extract candidate information, job posting, candidate pipeline management, candidate searching and filtering, reporting and analytics on the hiring process, and integration with other HR software. 

What are the benefits of the best Applicant Tracking Systems?

Applicant tracking systems have proven to make a positive impact on business hiring practices, which is why over 99% of Fortune 500 companies use some form of an applicant tracking system internally. Below are key benefits ATSs bring about, and as always, we have the stats to back them up.

  • Save time: Research shows that recruiters can save up to 20% time on hiring when using an ATS solution. 86% of recruiters say that ATS solutions helped them shorten their time-to-hire.
  • Increase the quality of hire: 78% of recruiters confirm an ATS has improved the quality of hire.
  • Save money: Small businesses can enjoy $10,000 annual savings using an ATS. Output from our ATS calculator has shown that from a new ATS, a 500-person company can save up to $468,000.

How much does an ATS cost? 

Details on ATS pricing are not always easy to find. This is not because those providers want to keep their prices a secret but rather because most ATS systems base their pricing on varying factors such as business size, number of job vacancies, integrations, and whether the team is local or international.

  • Small business (under 100 employees): As these companies tend to have a conservative number of job openings and small budgets for ATS buying, paying per user or job per month makes the most sense, and paid ATS plans with that pricing model range between $15 to a couple of thousands, depending on team size. But as we’ve previously laid out, several ATSs with a per-user-per-month pricing model offer free-forever plans, so if you’re a very small business with basic and infrequent hiring needs, you may not have to pay anything at all. 
  • Medium-sized business (100-500 employees): Paying on a per-user-per-month basis can still work for growing companies as long as they don’t require many people to be involved in the hiring process. But a flat rate is worth considering as you’ll be less worried about exceeding the user or job limit. The price for such a model ranges between $10,000 to $15,000 per year.

How to choose the best ATS for small businesses?

You can go about this a few ways, but we think the following are the essentials that can save you a considerable amount of time in researching and picking the right recruiting software for your business:

  • Talk to multiple vendors: If your business is to small to justify sending out requests for proposals, you'll need to grill vendors yourself. Come to demos armed with a list of applicant tracking system questions.
  • Get information from unbiased sources: Most ATS vendors have websites with plenty of information on how good their product(s) are, but it’s rare to see a vendor ever share the cons or where their product falls short (in comparison to other products) on their website. A good source lets you see the whole picture: the strengths and weaknesses of a product. From there, you’ll develop a more sophisticated view of an ATS’ capabilities, which is what you need to make the right buying decisions.
  • Real user experience is powerful: There’s a tremendous amount of value in the feedback of real product users, particularly hiring managers and HR leaders: What are their ATS decision criteria? Their expectations about the hiring software vs. reality? How satisfied are they with the purchased ATS?

Protip: Shopping for a new ATS can be challenging. We have a video that breaks down what you should consider in your applicant tracking system buying journey.

  • Ask the right questions: Be sure to make the most out of your demos with ATS vendors by asking pointed questions. This expert-suggested question list can help to evaluate ATSs better so that you can make the best decision for your company.

Which ATS is considered to be the most popular?

  • Freshteam: Most cost-effective ATS
  • JazzHR: Go-to ATS for startups
  • Greenhouse: Best for teams that hire often
  • BambooHR: Most used by medium to large companies
  • Recruitee: Best for being affordable and scalable

Is there any free ATS?

Yes, there is! Manatal, Teamtailor, and Zoho Recruit are our favorites. You can find more options for the best free applicant tracking systems here.

How many ATS options should you look at when you start doing demos?

"Demoing software can be painful, but it pays to go into the weeds for every single module," says Tracie Marie, one of the experts we talked about for this piece. Her recommendation is that three can be a good starting number for vendor demos. She also suggested, “include one that is slightly less than your budget and one slightly more.” This way, you can see the differences in features among those vendors.

Pro Tips on Applicant Tracking Systems for Small Businesses

Best ATS for SMBs: Final Advice

Instead of a wordy conclusion, we thought we’d wrap this piece with some more industry facts and our HR Tech expert advice.

  • Do you really need an ATS?: 98.8% of Fortune 500 companies utilize ATS. Additionally, 67% of large companies and 35% of small organizations depend on ATS or recruitment software. Bear in mind, though, that onboarding an ATS will neither fix your employer brand nor your candidate experience. We, again, have a dedicated guide explaining why that is in detail.
  • At what point in headcount growth do you need to buy your first ATS?: From her experience buying the first ATS for her business, Stefanie Sher suggested between 20 to 40 employees would be a good starting point: “If you're only going to hire 5-10 candidates in a calendar year, not as big a deal, but once you start thinking 10+ hires, you want to have a consistent, scalable process that can grow with your team.”
  • Which ATS is right for you?: Though we’ve tried our best to simplify your hiring software selection process with the above list of the best ATS for small businesses for 2023, the best solution for you will depend on your organization’s unique needs and growth plans.
    We recommend listing down your ATS must-have features and capabilities in an easily accessible document (or you can take advantage of our free ATS Buyer Organizer) to stay on track with what is important and what isn’t, do demos with the top vendors on your list and sign up for a couple of trial accounts if you’ve got the time. Ultimately, a supercharged modern ATS can transform your HR efforts if you’re ready for it.

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