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10+ Best Talent Sourcing Tools for Recruiters in 2025

A list of top candidate sourcing tools for effective inbound and outbound talent sourcing.

Anh Nguyen
Written by
Anh Nguyen
No ads, just real software reviews. An independent writer and a bad BUT wholeheartedly enthusiastic dancer
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Last Updated: Apr 29, 2025
1
TOP
Best for low-budget inbound applicant sourcing
Manatal
4.2
Popularity Score
4.7
User Score
4.2
Product  Score
Visit Website
TOP
Best for low-budget inbound applicant sourcing
Manatal
4.2
Popularity Score
4.7
User Score
4.2
Product  Score
Learn More
TOP
Best for AI-powered talent sourcing within ATS
Humanly
4.4
Popularity Score
4.7
User Score
4.3
Product  Score
Visit Website
TOP
Best for AI-powered talent sourcing within ATS
Humanly
4.4
Popularity Score
4.7
User Score
4.3
Product  Score
Learn More
TOP
One AI hub for outbound sourcing and inbound applicant filtering
Hirefly
4.2
Popularity Score
4.6
User Score
4.1
Product  Score
Visit Website
TOP
One AI hub for outbound sourcing and inbound applicant filtering
Hirefly
4.2
Popularity Score
4.6
User Score
4.1
Product  Score
Learn More
TOP
Comprehensive HR software starting at $5 per employee monthly
GoCo
4.1
Popularity Score
4.7
User Score
4.6
Product  Score
Visit Website
TOP
Comprehensive HR software starting at $5 per employee monthly
GoCo
4.1
Popularity Score
4.7
User Score
4.6
Product  Score
Learn More
TOP
Highly Intuitive People Analytics Platform
Crunchr
4.6
Popularity Score
4.9
User Score
4.9
Product  Score
Visit Website
TOP
Highly Intuitive People Analytics Platform
Crunchr
4.6
Popularity Score
4.9
User Score
4.9
Product  Score
Learn More
TOP
Enterprise-grade project management tool with powerful automation
Wrike
4.7
Popularity Score
4.2
User Score
4.6
Product  Score
Visit Website
TOP
Enterprise-grade project management tool with powerful automation
Wrike
4.7
Popularity Score
4.2
User Score
4.6
Product  Score
Learn More

Top Candidate Sourcing Tools

No items found.
HumanlyBest for AI-powered talent sourcing within ATS
HireflyOne AI hub for outbound sourcing and inbound applicant filtering
AmazingHiringBest for technical talent sourcing
RolebotBest for passive candidate sourcing automation
FindemOutbound recruiting and attribute searching
Arya by LeoforceBest for AI-driven candidate recommendations
hireEZBest for boolean and contextual search capabilities
FetcherBest for reaching underrepresented talent
Underdog.ioBest for NYC & San Francisco-based startups
SeekOutBest sourcing tool for healthcare recruiters
RivalBest for diversity sourcing capabilities
GemBest for automated outreach and email sequencing
LoxoBest for massive proprietary talent database
No items found.
TOP
Best for low-budget inbound applicant sourcing
Manatal
4.2
Popularity Score
4.7
User Score
4.2
Product  Score
Visit Website
TOP
Best for low-budget inbound applicant sourcing
Manatal
4.2
Popularity Score
4.7
User Score
4.2
Product  Score
Learn More
TOP
Best for AI-powered talent sourcing within ATS
Humanly
4.4
Popularity Score
4.7
User Score
4.3
Product  Score
Visit Website
TOP
Best for AI-powered talent sourcing within ATS
Humanly
4.4
Popularity Score
4.7
User Score
4.3
Product  Score
Learn More
TOP
One AI hub for outbound sourcing and inbound applicant filtering
Hirefly
4.2
Popularity Score
4.6
User Score
4.1
Product  Score
Visit Website
TOP
One AI hub for outbound sourcing and inbound applicant filtering
Hirefly
4.2
Popularity Score
4.6
User Score
4.1
Product  Score
Learn More

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Introduction to Candidate Sourcing Tools

Whether your goal is to ramp up international staffing, improve candidate experience, or better your high-volume recruiting, the best talent sourcing tools can really make a difference to your hiring process. The thing is, not all of them are cut from the same cloth. Often, companies end up feeling overwhelmed by the options available and are unsure which one to choose.

But don’t worry! This guide is here to help lighten that load. We’ve updated it for Q2 to provide you with the latest pricing and evaluations of recommended tools, along with some new, well-deserved entries, all in one place. Check it out and find the best candidate sourcing tools that can truly benefit your business.

Show More +

Our Criteria: Here's How We Chose The Top Candidate Sourcing Tools

While we have looked into numerous factors to select the best candidate sourcing tool, the ones that stood out to us are search capability, database size and quality, AI-powered sourcing, and candidate engagement features. Our evaluation process involves hands-on demos, insights from HR tech experts, rigorous software testing, and feedback from actual users to assess how the tool performs in real life.

  • Search Capability: The tool must offer advanced and targeted search options to assist recruiters in finding qualified candidates quickly. We picked those with search filters like location, skills, experience, and keywords to ensure they’re helpful in streamlining the sourcing process.
  • Database Size and Quality: We looked for both the size and the accuracy of the database a sourcing tool offers over time. The best sourcing tools have extensive databases and regularly update them for reliable candidate information.
  • AI-Powered Sourcing: Modern tools leverage AI-driven features to assist recruiters in analyzing candidate data, identifying patterns, and recommending the best matches for specific roles. We also paid attention to the methodologies behind the AI to ensure all of the AI help is accurate and compliant.
  • Candidate Engagement Features: Engaging with candidates is as essential as finding them. We went for tools that include personalized messaging and automated follow-ups for a positive candidate experience.

Want to learn more about our evaluation process? Check out this comprehensive article on How We Evaluate HR Software Vendors.

Show More +

Compare the Top Candidate Sourcing Tools

Popularity Score
Best for
Key Differentiator
Pricing
Free Trial
Customers
Users Score
Product Score
Phil Strazzulla
HR Tech Expert, Harvard MBA, Software Enthusiast

Need Help? Get Custom Recommendations for Top Candidate Sourcing Tools

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Detailed Reviews of the Best Candidate Sourcing Tools

Manatal

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Manatal
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Popularity Score
4.2 / 5
User Score
4.7 / 5
Product Score
4.2 / 5

Why we picked Manatal

Manatal’s sourcing capabilities are superior to most. Besides budget-friendly ATS features, the platform offers a LinkedIn extension and AI-powered sourcing for advanced candidate recommendations and filtering—at an unbeatable price.

PROS

  • Budget-friendly ATS option with AI-powered sourcing tools.
  • 14-day free trial for exploration.
  • User-friendly interface with drag-and-drop pipelines.
  • AI-based recommendations save time in candidate screening.
  • Web-based platform for seamless access.
  • Free data migration from existing hiring software.
  • Transparent and flexible pricing options (just added 1 new plan Enterprise Plus in Apr 2024).
  • Chrome extension allows users to import candidate profiles directly from LinkedIn and LinkedIn Recruiter to Manatal.
  • 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

  • Core products are available in English and Spanish only.
  • No free plan is available.
  • API integrations can be technologically complex and are only available on 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.
Manatal dashboard - one of the best sourcing tool for recruiters

Manatal Review

If you’ve researched ATS, you've likely come across Manatal. The tool is renowned among SMBs for its wealth of features, boasting connectivity with 2500+ job board integrations, a branded career page, a LinkedIn extension, and a referral program—all at a surprisingly low cost. But rather than resting on its laurels in the ATS domain, Manatal keeps its feet on the ground and offers a handful of features for sourcing within the user’s existing candidate database.

We were initially drawn to Manatal's AI-powered recommendation engine. The AI made no mistakes as we challenged it with our Sales Executive job descriptions (JD): It scanned the JD, dug into our candidate database, and presented us with a list of candidates matching in quality and skills—all within a few seconds without any glitches. We can imagine how helpful this tool will be for teams with a large existing talent pool, especially staffing agencies, to make the most of their own resources.

One of the troubles of maintaining a self-built talent database is that you have to ensure all the info is up-to-date over time by yourself. That's why we were thrilled to find out that Manatal can auto-enrich candidate profiles with data from social media accounts. Yes, auto-enrichment!

But let’s be honest: limiting the candidate search within the existing database means you won’t find the talent you’ve never engaged unless you pair Manatal with a sourcing tool like Fetcher or HireEZ. This sort of integration likely won’t come cheap either, as such sourcing tools aren’t within Manatal’s pre-built integrations and, to access its API and Zapier integrations, you have to opt for its highest-tier plan.

We also should warn you that while Manatal’s AI recommendation tool works with English resumes, it doesn’t work as well with resumes in other supported languages.

Manatal Customers

10,000+ organizations, including Unilever, Coca-Cola, Panasonic, Ogilvy, and Toyota.

Manatal Pricing

Manatal has four plans. Here is their pricing when billed annually:

  • Professional plan: $15/user/month for up to 15 jobs and 10,000 candidates, with unlimited guests.
  • Enterprise plan: $35/user/month for unlimited jobs, candidates, and guests.
  • Enterprise Plus: $55/user/month and includes all Enterprise features, user groups, open API access, SSO log-in, priority support, and access to Beta features.
  • Custom plan: Custom features and support. Pricing upon user request.

Best For

Manatal is the ideal choice for budget-conscious organizations in need of an intuitive ATS with powerful AI sourcing capabilities.

Manatal in action
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Humanly

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Humanly
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Popularity Score
4.4 / 5
User Score
4.7 / 5
Product Score
4.3 / 5

Why we picked Humanly

Humanly is a top-tier AI recruitment platform. Since their acquisition of Teamable, they’ve put out a solid candidate sourcing tool that stands out for its AI recruiting features and automation of candidate touchpoints. You can sync all its workflows with your ATS and look for specialized talent with surgical-like precision.

PROS

  • Humanly leverages a huge database of candidates to present you with talent from all corners of the globe. You can also source new ones through their Chrome extension while browsing sites like LinkedIn and GitHub.
  • The Humanly tool integrates with hundreds of ATSs, providing an upgrade to your sourcing that won’t require you to switch tools.
  • Generative AI is cleverly implemented for messaging candidates, automating campaigns, and ranking candidates at various stages of the hiring funnel, yet a human can step in and take over at any time.
  • Their reporting module is among the cleanest and most in-depth we’ve seen for this kind of tool.
  • Humanly leverages a huge database of candidates to present you with talent from all corners of the globe. You can also source new ones through their Chrome extension while browsing sites like LinkedIn and GitHub.
  • The Humanly tool integrates with hundreds of ATSs, providing an upgrade to your sourcing that won’t require you to switch tools.
  • Generative AI is cleverly implemented for messaging candidates, automating campaigns, and ranking candidates at various stages of the hiring funnel, yet a human can step in and take over at any time.
  • Their reporting module is among the cleanest and most in-depth we’ve seen for this kind of tool.

CONS

  • Since it’s a tool that was relaunched after a company acquisition, there might be some changes in the near future that could impact your workflows.
  • The price point might be a bit steep for smaller teams, but they do offer custom prices based on the functionality you need and the number of users.
  • Since it’s a tool that was relaunched after a company acquisition, there might be some changes in the near future that could impact your workflows.
  • The price point might be a bit steep for smaller teams, but they do offer custom prices based on the functionality you need and the number of users.

Humanly Review

Humanly is an AI-driven comprehensive recruitment platform that’s designed to work as your co-pilot when adding new and refreshed profiles to your ATS pipeline. While we were already quite familiar with Humanly’s products, it was a pleasure to revisit them and get a demo of their new candidate sourcing tool.

We found the way it works to be super simple and easy to start with. After syncing with your ATS, one potential avenue is to show the tool a profile of the type of candidate you’re looking for. This will then scour its database and candidates already in your ATS to present you with options similar to the example you started with. One of its superpowers is that it can find candidates you might’ve already looked at but may be a great fit for what you’re currently looking for.

As you see candidates that might be a good fit, you can choose to engage them with a few clicks. The platform lets you create AI-powered email campaigns optimized through machine learning. You can rapidly tweak each send based on what has performed best in the past and what’s unique about each candidate. The AI helps with building full email drips, personalizing messages, following up, and even responding to and updating the ATS. You can even automate candidate scheduling, feeding the tool times that you’re available and letting the applicant book a slot once you’ve advanced them to the interview stage.

While it’s certainly a super efficient way to hire, Humanly does have a learning curve that even tech-savvy recruiters need to be ready for. There are tons you can do, and their sleek UX certainly makes it easy, but we found that you need to put in several hours to get the full benefits of the tool. In a similar vein, it’s not the most cost-effective solution out there. Their target audience are mid-market HR teams, so it’s not quite the best fit for smaller recruiting teams or SMBs.

Humanly Customers

Humanly is used to find top talent at places like Microsoft, Fazoli’s, and Moss Adams.

Humanly Pricing

For use with teams, Humanly is priced according to the functionality required, the number of seats, and other project-specific items. The best way forward is to request a demo with them, and they’ll put together a plan just for you.

Best For

Humanly is best suited for medium-sized organizations that require scalable, efficient, and comprehensive recruitment solutions. It's particularly beneficial for companies that deal with high-growth hiring.

Humanly in action
No items found.

Hirefly

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Hirefly
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Popularity Score
4.2 / 5
User Score
4.6 / 5
Product Score
4.1 / 5

Why we picked Hirefly

What we loved most about Hirefly was how it takes sourcing and outreach tasks that usually eat up hours, and makes them almost hands-free. The Autopilot feature acted as a virtual sourcer, finding the right candidates, crafting personalized outreach, and delivering warm leads straight to our inbox. Plus, FastTrack’s ability to pre-sort applications into meaningful categories meant we could focus on the best candidates right away.

PROS

  • Autopilot only needs a job description and three LinkedIn profiles to start sourcing candidates.
  • FastTrack significantly speeds up resume screening with pre-filtered candidates.
  • System continuously learns from recruiter decisions to improve candidate matching.
  • Autopilot only needs a job description and three LinkedIn profiles to start sourcing candidates.
  • FastTrack significantly speeds up resume screening with pre-filtered candidates.
  • System continuously learns from recruiter decisions to improve candidate matching.

CONS

  • Somewhat limited ATS integrations, no open API.
  • Autopilot's starting price of $2,000 per month may be too expensive for some.
  • FastTrack trial only available after a sales demo.
  • Somewhat limited ATS integrations, no open API.
  • Autopilot's starting price of $2,000 per month may be too expensive for some.
  • FastTrack trial only available after a sales demo.

Hirefly Review

For companies drowning in manual candidate sourcing and struggling to keep up with outreach, Hirefly provides an AI-driven solution that automates these tasks and delivers interview-ready candidates with minimal effort. Throughout our tech tests, the platform performed as we would expect from a robust sourcing platform.

One of Hirefly’s strongest features is Autopilot, an AI-powered tool that can automate everything from searching for potential profiles to drafting outreach messages and following up. In our test, we entered a job description along with three LinkedIn profiles of ideal candidates, and within minutes, Hirefly identified similar prospects and initiated outreach on our behalf.

The AI-powered personalized emails are based on each candidate’s profile. Similar to Rolebot, Hirefly also automates sourcing and delivers only pre-screened, interview-ready candidates to our inbox for our further assessments.

For teams with high application volumes, FastTrack can be a serious time-saver. Though we were initially skeptical about the vendor’s claim that it could speed up resume screening by 80%, our tests showed otherwise.

We found ourselves quickly sorting through the pre-filtered candidates since the AI had already done the hard work: automatically classifying incoming applications into Great Fit, Borderline, and Poor Fit categories. As we expected, each time we approved, rejected, or moved a candidate forward, the system didn’t just sit idle but proactively refined its filtering to match our preferences.

Hirefly candidate sourcing software screenshot

That said, we wouldn’t recommend Hirefly to small companies with unique tech stacks due to its limited integration options. Compared to Humanly, which offers integrations with hundreds of ATSs, Hirefly only supports major ATS providers, has no open API support, and offers custom integrations only for larger deals.

Pricing is another consideration. Hirefly isn’t the most budget-friendly option, with Autopilot starting at $2,000 per job slot each month. While this pricing makes sense, given that it replaces a human sourcer or staffing agency, it may not be a viable option for small businesses with light hiring needs.

FastTrack is more affordable at $50-$100 per job slot per month, but its value depends on whether a company receives enough inbound applicants to justify the cost. And while this product offers a one-week trial, it’s only available after a sales demo.

Hirefly Customers

Some of Hirefly’s known customers include JLL, Lyft, Indeed, and ZipRecruiter.

Hirefly Pricing

Hirefly Autopilot starts at $2,000 per job slot per month, while FastTrack costs between $50 and $100 per job slot per month, depending on the package size.

Best For

Hirefly is an excellent choice for fast-growing teams that need to scale recruitment without increasing headcount or relying on expensive staffing agencies.

Hirefly in action
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AmazingHiring

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AmazingHiring
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Popularity Score
4 / 5
User Score
4.7 / 5
Product Score
4.2 / 5

Why we picked AmazingHiring

AmazingHiring is hyper-focused on sourcing technical candidates. The sourcing platform comes with advanced technology that supplies a database of over 600 million engineering talent profiles, a free Chrome extension, and a robust data enrichment tool that offers 150 free credits.

PROS

  • Frequently rolls out new feature enhancements.
  • Effective for technical recruitment.
  • Two-way integration with SmartRecruiters.
  • The data enrichment feature comes with 150 free credits.
  • Offers a free and a paid Chrome extension.
  • Frequently rolls out new feature enhancements.
  • Effective for technical recruitment.
  • Two-way integration with SmartRecruiters.
  • The data enrichment feature comes with 150 free credits.
  • Offers a free and a paid Chrome extension.

CONS

  • The UI looks rather outdated.
  • No free trial. Pricing isn’t disclosed upfront.
  • Can connect with only a few HR tools, most are one-way integration.
  • The UI looks rather outdated.
  • No free trial. Pricing isn’t disclosed upfront.
  • Can connect with only a few HR tools, most are one-way integration.

AmazingHiring candidate sourcing tool screenshot

AmazingHiring Review

AmazingHiring has made a good impression on us since we began using it for tech recruiting a few years back. But seeing it today makes us realize how far the sourcing tool has come.

Like almost any other sourcing tool, AmazingHiring offers options for manual or AI-assisted sourcing. Technically, its filters are quite similar to what we’ve seen on LinkedIn, but are visualized with histograms and bar graphs, which definitely makes the whole dry, complex filtering look more interesting. What really impressed us, though, was the real-time market insights it provides here for each search. Unlike LinkedIn, which only offers profile counts per parameter set, AmazingHiring gives users a downloadable report that breaks down the talent pool size by location, experience, seniority, company size, and six more categories. 

If you have multiple sourcers or recruiters doing the searches simultaneously, you’re also going to love the LinkedIn views feature. It enables users to exclude or include LinkedIn profiles that have been viewed in the last 30 days.

Automated candidate recommendations aren’t new in this space, and compared to competitors, AmazingHiring was quite slow when rolling out this feature in summer 2023. However, the way recommendations get updated every time a new candidate is added and look-alike pipelines are auto-built based on user preferences compensates for this delayed release.

For those with candidate databases that haven’t been updated for a while, AmazingHiring’s Data Enrichment is worth considering. This feature requires a separate purchase, but contacting the vendor’s sales rep can fetch you 150 free credits.

This sourcing platform is also one of the few we’ve reviewed that provides a free extension for non-users to opt for. It’s not as powerful as the paid one, but this freebie gathers all links to candidates’ GitHub and StackOverflow, which can be pretty helpful for researching examples of their code and ranking on these sites.

When it comes to AmazingHiring’s integration, we were a bit put off. The sourcing tool has a limited list of ATSs and recruiting software it can connect with. Except for its integration with SmartRecruiters, the rest is one-way. For example, the system can’t auto-update profiles in Workable, and Teamtailor integration doesn’t allow candidate resumes to be exported.

AmazingHiring Customers

10,000+ companies, including EPAM, Akamai Technologies, Alexander Mann Solutions, Dell, and ABBYY.

AmazingHiring Pricing

AmazingHiring pricing is undisclosed on its website. Our research indicates that all AmazingHiring’s contracts are annual and start at $4,800 per seat. Enriching contacts is charged separately if you want to take advantage of that feature. The vendor also offers custom pricing for individual freelancers who want to use the platform.

Best For

AmazingHiring is best for large staffing agencies, enterprises, and growing teams to source technical talent.

AmazingHiring in action
Reviewer's Rating
9/10

It is good for daily use, for either of these reasons:

  1. When reviewing candidates’ resumes: AmazingHiring automatically connects many online social profiles of each person (Linkedin, Xing, Github, Stackoverflow…)
  2.  Sourcing with advanced search filters: it provides a lot more information about an experience, as “search hints” that are highlighting the source for every criteria
  3. When there is a lack of candidate replies on Linkedin - AmazingHiring will discover their email address

Every few months can be useful to get market research insights about the companies and competition: how many employees are there, top 5 companies employees came from or leave for, how many years per role they stay there on average, etc.

What do you like about this tool?

AmazingHiring creates a candidate’s profile magnifying the best skills, based on 50+ connected profiles from different social networks.

  • That is a tremendous relief when an IT recruiter wonders “what is the skill set of this almost empty LinkedIn profile with the title Software Engineer…"
  • Also, its Talent Mapping is quite a rare feature, showing which programming languages are the most common among professionals in almost every country in the world.
  • And not to forget the AI sourcing option, which suggests mostly suitable profiles, and changes results from every 4-6 weeks (re-indexing). Nice that it follows if somebody updates his/her profiles.
Why did your organization buy this tool, and how long have you used it for?

Technical sourcing was the main and constant challenge that my organization was facing. While looking for very specific skill sets, there were never enough suitable and interested candidates on Linkedin. In order to improve the sourcing results, I tested AmazingHiring. It provides many more software engineer profiles in the search - even when they don’t have a LinkedIn profile! I’m a passionate user for almost three years.

What do you dislike about this tool?
  • Bear in mind that it shows more results than Linkedin only for IT professionals, for non-IT profiles it provides way fewer results.
  • There are some filters on LinkedIn that are not available on AmazingHiring (language level, fields of study...)
  • Though it helps by adding synonyms to your Boolean search, double check it because they are not completely suitable for every skill or role.

How is this tool different than their competitors?

AmazingHiring is way better (both by quantity and quality of the search) to be used for technical sourcing than LinkedIn. However, LinkedIn is probably irreplaceable for all non-technical roles.

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

 If your talent acquisition team is regularly looking for IT candidates, this tool could for sure bring some more than if you stick only to LinkedIn. To make it happen, of course, improving reaching out messages is another segment that should be worked on.

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

In order to help their customers to improve DEI, AmazingHiring offered an optional Diversity filter - that should be requested personally.

As well, the sourcing platform AmazingHiring became closer to ATS (creating folders and talent pipelines), and it can be integrated with Gmail for messaging.

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

It's great for IT companies that are often looking for unicorn top tech talent.

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

For organizations that are not regularly employing technical talent.

Rolebot

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Rolebot
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Popularity Score
4.1 / 5
User Score
3.9 / 5
Product Score
4 / 5

Why we picked Rolebot

Rolebot's a newbie in the game but steps up boldly in AI-driven candidate sourcing. The software takes on the time-consuming task of open-ended searches and candidate outreach entirely for clients. Plus, their monthly billing and unlimited seats bring that flexibility we love.

PROS

  • AI-backed sourcing with human spot-checks.
  • AI feedback loop for continuous quality match improvement.
  • 24-hour turnaround for every 15 system-sourced candidates.
  • Interview coordination within the platform.
  • Advanced filtering for hard-to-fill roles such as engineering, healthcare & fintech.
  • Solid track record of candidate outreach success (30% response rate).
  • Support includes a dedicated CSM and embedded platform videos.
  • Transparent, unlimited-seat pricing.
  • AI-backed sourcing with human spot-checks.
  • AI feedback loop for continuous quality match improvement.
  • 24-hour turnaround for every 15 system-sourced candidates.
  • Interview coordination within the platform.
  • Advanced filtering for hard-to-fill roles such as engineering, healthcare & fintech.
  • Solid track record of candidate outreach success (30% response rate).
  • Support includes a dedicated CSM and embedded platform videos.
  • Transparent, unlimited-seat pricing.

CONS

  • The number of received candidates per day is fixed to 15. No options to adjust it.
  • No free trials. Pricing on the higher side.
  • No built-in candidate engagement tools available if users want to do their own outreach.
  • Limited integration options.
  • The number of received candidates per day is fixed to 15. No options to adjust it.
  • No free trials. Pricing on the higher side.
  • No built-in candidate engagement tools available if users want to do their own outreach.
  • Limited integration options.

Rolebot-candidate-sourcing-screenshot

Rolebot Review

If you met Rolebot before 2022, you'd see how much it's grown since then. It barely scratched the surface at the time—only U.S. searches, basic filters.

Now it rivals, if not surpasses, LinkedIn Recruiter in certain areas. Global talent discovery, company-specific targeting, the ability to sidestep unwanted company profiles, nifty filters for tech roles, and a wealth of diverse data sources- it's all there.

The way Rolebot harmonizes AI and human expertise in candidate sourcing might remind you of vendors like Fetcher, which is rooted in passive recruiting. Here, AI lays the groundwork, and humans add the finishing touches. But the software sets itself apart by handling outreach entirely and delivering an average response rate of 30%, compared to LinkedIn InMail’s 18-25%.

Rolebot handles open-ended searches by crawling structured and unstructured data from public sources, such as blog posts, social media profile updates, conference attendee lists, press releases, and media mentions, to curate candidate profiles that resemble mini-resumes and social links.

Every 24 hours, you get a fresh batch of 15 candidates based on your filters. Thumbs up or down let you signal your preferences. Rolebot uses this feedback to sharpen its AI, similar to what we’ve seen in Fetcher.

When it comes to outreach management, Rolebot takes full ownership. The vendor has an in-house dedicated TA team that spends a good two to three weeks engaging preferred candidates for initial client interviews. It's a win-win in many respects—Rolebot lifts the outbound recruiting off clients' shoulders.

Yet, this hands-off approach might not suit those seeking complete control. Due to the system’s design, opting for DIY outreach means you won’t get any built-in features, such as custom drip campaigns, usually found in vendors like HireEZ or SeekOut.

While we appreciate Rolebot's efforts to expand its integrations over time, the available options still lag behind competitors like Loxo or SeekOut. You can only find a few prominent ATSs: Greenhouse, Lever, SAP, and iCIMS, meaning you must either use Rolebot as a standalone tool or manually import candidate data from the platform in Excel and then upload it to your HR systems.

Additionally, although the vendor suggests that 15 candidates per day are optimal based on their testing, we empathize with those who feel constrained, as there are no available options to adjust this number. Unreviewed candidates from a day won’t vanish, but without review, the AI won’t have enough data to learn and improve future results.

Thankfully, Rolebot—both the system and CSM—has a knack for sending timely reminders to ensure users finish their homework.

Rolebot Customers

50+ organizations, including Snowflake, Cornerstone, and Dentsu.

Rolebot Pricing

Rolebot charges $3,000 per month for 5 roles, with unlimited users, a dedicated customer success manager, and monthly billing. Free trials are not yet available. Additionally, those with multiple team members involved in hiring will find Rolebot’s unlimited seats offering a true gem, as you get the same bill whether you need one seat or twenty.

Best For

Rolebot is best for enterprises with 500 or more employees who want to free up their recruiters from candidate sourcing and initial engagement.

Rolebot in action
Reviewer's Rating
10/10

We use Rolebot as part of our sourcing process. On a daily basis, we have hiring managers review potential passive candidates for Rolebot to reach out regarding interest. We manage our process via our ATS and Rolebot seamlessly ties into it. Rolebot adds quality candidates to our process.

What do you like about this tool?

High quality candidates, especially for unique roles. It costs significantly less than Linkedin. Great use of current technology to improve recruitment.

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

When I joined AudienceX, it took 2-3 months to find quality candidates to fill open roles. We were looking for a tool that could align with our new speedy hiring process. Furthermore, we did not want to overspend for external recruiters and, at the same time, speed up a time-consuming portion of recruitment, which is sourcing.

What do you dislike about this tool?

There is nothing I dislike about it. Easy to use for our managers, gets us what we need. For now, they are a must-have for us.

How is this tool different than their competitors?

I tried others or rather competitors. They overcomplicate the process, Rolebot keeps it simple. I know what I am getting.

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

Cost of an external recruiter per role, it's between 20-30% of the base salary per role. If you hire 3 roles per year, this tool pays for itself.

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

Little changes or recommendations we make eventually make it to improvements. Sometimes we like candidates, but they are not ideal for our role, and we wanted to have the option to skip or move candidates to other roles, now we can do it with Rolebot.

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

Amazing for hiring managers, recruiters, and VPs!

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

Teams who recruit less than 4 people per year.

Findem

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Findem
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Popularity Score
4.1 / 5
User Score
4.2 / 5
Product Score
4.3 / 5

Why we picked Findem

Findem allows you to find candidates using technical and intangible attributes in ways that traditional keyword matching does not.

PROS

  • They assign a dedicated customer service manager during the implementation process to get you settled and started. These account managers also help migrate your data onto the system during the onboarding process.
  • It is time-saving for businesses that have less time/people to dedicate to recruiting. They provide a service where sourcing experts work together with you to find talent across the globe.
  • The software allows you to run outbound recruiting campaigns, giving you a potential talent pool of over 750 million candidates.
  • They assign a dedicated customer service manager during the implementation process to get you settled and started. These account managers also help migrate your data onto the system during the onboarding process.
  • It is time-saving for businesses that have less time/people to dedicate to recruiting. They provide a service where sourcing experts work together with you to find talent across the globe.
  • The software allows you to run outbound recruiting campaigns, giving you a potential talent pool of over 750 million candidates.

CONS

  • For the main offering, Findem require a minimum contract time rather than being able to pay for the service monthly. However, they do have a sourcing solution that can start with a 3-month engagement.
  • Findem does not typically cover hourly worker roles or jobs where the candidates have none or very little online presence.
  • For the main offering, Findem require a minimum contract time rather than being able to pay for the service monthly. However, they do have a sourcing solution that can start with a 3-month engagement.
  • Findem does not typically cover hourly worker roles or jobs where the candidates have none or very little online presence.

Findem Review

Findem’s unconventional candidate sourcing makes it possible for you to access a global talent pool of over 750 million prospects. Using artificial intelligence, the system crawls several data sources such as LinkedIn, GitHub, Behance, Stack Overflow, Kaggle, and social media platforms, to consolidate all unique candidate information into profiles that list all their achievements, qualifications, core values, and so on. This makes it possible to quickly source a high volume of candidates using the most precise and stringent of criteria.

Findem Customers

RingCentral, Medallia, Intuitive, Adobe, Booster, Armorblox, Plume.

Findem Pricing

Findem does not publicly disclose their pricing information. You will have to request a demo to see which plan best works for your company size and your operations.

Best For

Findem is a good fit for hiring managers and talent leads in companies with over 500 employees in any industries that are hiring for corporate roles— notably tech, CPG, life sciences. They also have a good track record with North American startups and hyper-growth companies.

Findem in action
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Arya by Leoforce

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Arya by Leoforce
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Popularity Score
4.1 / 5
User Score
4 / 5
Product Score
4.1 / 5

Why we picked Arya by Leoforce

Arya is developed by Leoforce, an AI recruiting company focused on talent sourcing, and has improved constantly over time, with new features introduced almost every quarter.

PROS

  • Talent database of 850M+ sourced from 70+ platforms.
  • AI’s ability to produce fast and accurate candidate recommendations.
  • Candidate communications include chatbot, email, text, and direct dial.
  • Loads of useful features like Scouting Agent, Candidate 360, and Score Details.
  • Talent database of 850M+ sourced from 70+ platforms.
  • AI’s ability to produce fast and accurate candidate recommendations.
  • Candidate communications include chatbot, email, text, and direct dial.
  • Loads of useful features like Scouting Agent, Candidate 360, and Score Details.

CONS

  • Pricing no longer disclosed. No free trial either.
  • Workflows lack customization.
  • No Chrome extension.
  • A significant drop in the number of sourceable candidates outside of North America.
  • Pricing no longer disclosed. No free trial either.
  • Workflows lack customization.
  • No Chrome extension.
  • A significant drop in the number of sourceable candidates outside of North America.

Arya by Leoforce sourcing tool screenshot

Arya by Leoforce Review

Arya by Leoforce is excellent for many reasons, including its AI candidate matching, open web and user ATS/CRM sourcing, a multi-channel candidate engagement suite, and a chatbot that can ask candidates screening questions and schedule calls with qualified ones. However, for us, regular product advancement is its strongest USP. If we compare Leoforce's investment in developing new features with other sourcing platforms we’ve tested, there are very few that match this tool.

The latest enhancement to Arya’s capabilities is the Scouting Agent—an AI-assisted search agent introduced in December 2023. What makes this feature exceptional is its ability to search for new candidate profiles added or updated within the previous 24 hours in the user’s selected sourcing channels or integrated job portals with Arya.

Users can create not just one but multiple Scouting Agents per job description, each using different search parameters to broaden the candidate pool. We only need to set these agents up once, and in return, the AI makes sure the searches will be automated and ongoing—no new profiles will go missing.

Given the quality of Arya’s new Scouting Agent, we expected nothing less from other fresh features like the Score Details tab within the Candidate 360 view. And it didn’t disappoint.

On this tab (head to a candidate profile, then the Score Detail tab, click the link ‘Why this rating?’, and you’ll get there), the system displays a detailed breakdown of how and why a candidate received a particular score relative to the role. There is also a graphic alongside showing what the candidate has to offer compared to the job description and other relevant candidates.

We think this level of transparency and visibility will be loved by recruiters and hiring managers alike: They get the data needed to make informed shortlisting decisions and have good materials for personalizing candidate outreach.

However, we don’t think teams prioritizing great flexibility and customization will be fond of Arya. The sourcing tool’s workflows are fixed in a set order—they cannot adapt to your workflows, so you have to adapt to theirs, unfortunately.

Another trade-off for Arya’s advanced AI features is that the vendor no longer discloses its pricing and has also discontinued its free trial. They only accept annual subscriptions, and pricing can be around $3,000—not very exciting news for SMBs, eh?

Arya by Leoforce Customers

Lenovo, American Century Investments, PeopleScout, Ecotalent, Polaris Alpha

Arya by Leoforce Pricing

Arya by Leoforce starts at $599 per job. No free trial is available.

Best For

Arya by Leoforce is best for corporates and staffing firms of medium-to-large sizes and in North America.

Arya by Leoforce in action
Reviewer's Rating
6/10

We use it to source candidates and to send emails to shortlisted candidates. We use it almost daily.

What do you like about this tool?

The market research tool is a plus. The user experience is very good and it is very easy to navigate. The ability to email candidates from within the tool is great.

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

We were looking for a new AI sourcing tool. We like that it works to continually source possible candidates for us to review. The onboarding training is very good.  You have an assigned Customer Success Rep to ensure that the users are comfortable with navigating the tool.  It's been about six months that we've been using it.

What do you dislike about this tool?

I don't like that it asks for information about competitor/target companies but doesn't seem to use it to source candidates. The boolean search function doesn't work that well.  Unfortunately, using only the AI search functionality based on a job description brings back a lot of irrelevant results.

How is this tool different than their competitors?

We've only used one other tool that was similar but all it did was pull LinkedIn results. Arya goes beyond LinkedIn.

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

People should think about all the functionalities they get for the price. It's an annual subscription, not monthly, so if you don't like it that much you're stuck for a year.

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

We've only been using it for a few months so it hasn't changed in that time.

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

Any - corporate or agency

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

Can't think of one.

hireEZ

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hireEZ
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Popularity Score
4.1 / 5
User Score
4.6 / 5
Product Score
4.4 / 5

Why we picked hireEZ

hireEZ stands out for engagement, analytics, and collaboration features. The platform is built for enterprise-scale teams looking to increase efficiency in candidate sourcing.

PROS

  • Simple and easy-to-navigate UI.
  • Boolean Builder provides users with options to make and use Boolean strings for their sourcing.
  • Search across 800M+ candidate profiles from 45+ online platforms, plus native tool for rediscovering talent within users’ ATS.
  • Daily emails delivered to TA teams offer AI-backed candidate recommendations.
  • Automated, unlimited email sequences to candidates.
  • 30+ advanced AI filters, including gender, race, and ethnicity.
  • 30+ ATS integrations.
  • Great customer support.
  • Intuitive, modern, and continuously evolving UX.
  • Quick and unique sourcing capabilities. Many users indicate they get compelling candidates they hadn’t seen with other sourcing methods, some of which lead to good hires. Often, this happens in less time than the methods they were trying before.
  • Unlimited follow-ups with each contact you pay for. This demonstrates how self-assured hireEZ is with the quality of their sourcing. They are confident about people not abusing this feature and stop contact when it’s clear a candidate is not interested— or simply because they found the right ones and stopped their search.

CONS

  • Some candidate contact info is incorrect or out of date.
  • The incorporated GPT functionalities are relatively basic.
  • Integration with LinkedIn isn’t seamless.
  • Since it’s always changing, parts of the platform may be buggy at times, which tends to be a minor nuisance we hear often from the mouths of recruiters. However, these bugs tend to get fixed quickly.
  • Some recruiters have also pointed out a small whole issue performing searches: the tags for job titles are often too narrow, and sometimes the search function won’t include specific titles that they consider essential in their practice.
  • While it has a growing list of integrations, it does not integrate with popular job sites like Wellfound. Furthermore, the LinkedIn integration could be expanded, and it only connects with ATS/CRM, calendars, and video interview software.
hireEZ sourcing tool for recruiters dashboard screenshot

hireEZ Review

We’ve tested dozens of sourcing options; hireEZ is one of the few vendors offering both traditional Boolean search and well-built AI sourcing tools, rather than just AI.

Using Boolean in hireEZ is just as easy as LinkedIn, and the candidate results are just as good, if not better, with much more detail on candidate profiles. For those who aim to take their searches further, hireEZ’s AI search tools offer over 20 filters with intelligent learning and contextual search capabilities.

While both LinkedIn Recruiter and hireEZ let you find candidates with specific sourcing criteria, such as past and current job titles, companies, and years of experience, only hireEZ has capabilities for diversity sourcing and rediscovering potential talent within users’ ATS databases.

Like SeekOut and Fetcher, candidate profiles sourced through hireEZ equip recruiters with insights on the candidate’s job availability scores, average market values, technical repositories, and social media links, ranked by relevance to their search queries. The sourcing tool’s advanced AI filters also make it easy to search for talent in tech, healthcare, clearance, and academia.

hireEZ’s engagement features are on par with peers like Fetcher and Gem. It only took us a few minutes to set up an email sequence, and we can imagine how efficient it would be for recruiters to reach out to hundreds of candidates at once with the pre-built email templates and bulk actions provided.

Our biggest concern with hireEZ is the lack of human oversight. There are modern AI sourcing and recruiters’ beloved Boolean strings. But is there human spot-checking of the results produced by hireEZ’s algorithms? Not that we could see. Moreover, some GPT features, such as the email generator, to be frank, weren’t particularly strong. It basically produces the same results you could find by giving ChatGPT the same prompts.

It shouldn’t be necessary to onboard both hireEZ and LinkedIn Recruiter for candidate sourcing, but if you plan on doing so, prepare for some hiccups. While hireEZ showed no flaws when we connected it with different ATSs and CRMs, such as Greenhouse, Lever, or JazzHR, it performed rather poorly when paired with its rival, LinkedIn.

hireEZ Customers

Over 600 companies have used hireEZ. Examples include Nike, Continental, Wayfair, Intel, Ceridian, and Novo Nordisk.

hireEZ Pricing

hireEZ offers a 15-day free trial. Subscription plans include a Startups plan at $169 per user per month, a Professional plan at $199 per user per month, and a custom-priced Enterprise subscription starting at $7,000 annually, which includes all professional features and 4,000 monthly contact credits.

Best For

hireEZ is an excellent help for corporates and agencies looking to fill from a hundred to a few thousand positions per year.

hireEZ in action
Reviewer's Rating
10/10

I would use HireEZ every single day in my role as an executive recruiter. We use it to source candidates, as well as send bulk emails to candidates for outreach.

What do you like about this tool?
  • It provides email addresses for candidates.
  • It includes a hyperlink to the candidates linkedin profile.
  • It allows for bulk email messages for candidate outreach.
  • Exporting sourcing lists to excel is much easier than with Linkedin.
Why did your organization buy this tool, and how long have you used it for?

Linkedin Recruiter accounts were becoming way too expensive so we were looking for an alternative sourcing tool. The benefits of HireEz is that they provide an email address of contacts which is helpful. They also provide a search function with categories that are similar to Linkedin Recruiter.

What do you dislike about this tool?

The platform should add an integration with Crelate. You also need to have access to all of the search categories by paying for them to make it a useful tool. Email addresses are not always 100% in the software.

How is this tool different than their competitors?

HireEz is the only competitor to LinkedIn and I find it to be much better, faster loading and just an easier user experience overall.

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

Do you need an alternative to Linkedin Recruiter or Recruiter lite? Pricing is better than Linkedin. Would you like access to candidate emails? If yes, HireEZ is worth checking out.

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

Upgraded features are constantly being added. You can also send feedback to their developers.

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

Recruiters and agencies

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

Anyone who is not a recruiter.

Fetcher

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Fetcher
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Popularity Score
4.6 / 5
User Score
4.6 / 5
Product Score
4.7 / 5

Why we picked Fetcher

Fetcher rocks the candidate sourcing game with its 3-step vetting approach—AI searches, team spot-checks, and user feedback on pre-vetted profiles so the system can refine its search results.

PROS

  • Clean user interface that is easy to navigate.
  • Great customer support.
  • LinkedIn sourcing plugin available for all users.
  • Excellent sourcing tool for accessing candidates with specialized skills.
  • Automated outreach for personalized messaging and cold email campaigns.
  • Transparent pricing, including monthly payments.
  • Native interview scheduling tool available for all paid users.
  • Fetcher is highly rated by customers for its clean interface, ease of use, and customer support.
  • According to most users, Fetcher's sourcing tool is one of the best in the business, providing them access to the best candidates with specialized skills and backgrounds.
  • Customers find Fetcher's automated outreach feature extremely useful for sending cold emails and personalized messages to potential candidates.

CONS

  • Fetcher talent sourcers limited to higher-tier plans.
  • Occasional glitches when sourcing and requesting profile refreshes.
  • Sourcing algorithms may show over/under-qualified candidates initially.
  • The free Starter plan, which allowed users to access 50 profiles per month, has been discontinued.
  • Some users report experiencing bugs and glitches while using the software.
  • In rare cases, Fetcher may source either over-qualified or under-qualified candidates for a particular role. However, according to users, their team is quick to correct and refine the search criteria in such scenarios.
Fetcher-candidate-sourcing-tool-dashboard

Fetcher Review

Algorithms and humans share the spotlight in recruitment these days, and finding that sweet spot between them isn't easy. Our ‘tour’ with Fetcher showed that the tool strikes that balance flawlessly.

Unlike Rolebot, which is fixated on giving 15 candidate profiles daily, Fetcher lets us decide how many profiles we want per week, meaning we can tweak this number anytime to meet our recruitment goals.

Fetcher promises 1-2 business days for the first batch of profiles, and it delivers on that promise. We submitted requirements on one day and received our profiles the next afternoon.

Our favorite part, though, was that we got to provide feedback on these profiles—whether they’re qualified or not—within the system or by contacting Fetcher staff. Well, we actually did both, and Fetcher didn’t let us down with the next batch: it arrived the following day with notably improved candidate quality.

For those knee-deep in sourcing day in, day out, you know the time it swallows! 20 profiles every 1-2 days is a can-do number with traditional, manual sourcing approaches, but being able to deliver that with better results over time requires a great deal of time and effort, not to mention what to do next with these leads—how to approach, nurture, and convert them—is not easy. Fetcher's ability to harness AI for these soul-destroying tasks while preserving a human touch makes it unbeatable in the sourcing tech domain.

We were also happy to find that Fetcher is very accessible for startups and small and mid-sized businesses: it now offers a free plan, a free trial, and clear pricing on its website. However, the free plan may only prove helpful for teams hiring 1-2 people per year, as it caps the viewable profiles at 50 per month and provides no integration support at all.

As much as we love Fetcher's constant improvements, glitches and bugs still affect our system occasionally, especially when we source candidates from its database or request profile updates.

Fetcher Customers

Fetcher is used by over 500 businesses worldwide, including Andela, Frame.io, Magnite, Foursquare, and CarGurus.

Fetcher Pricing

Fetcher has raised its prices. The Growth plan is now $379 per month (previously $329), and the Amplify plan is $649 per month (previously $549). The Enterprise plan remains with custom pricing for larger organizations.

Best For

Fetcher is best for growing startups and SMBs seeking to enhance their sourcing and candidate outreach processes through a well-balanced combination of automation and human support.

Fetcher in action
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Underdog.io

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Underdog.io
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Popularity Score
4.1 / 5
User Score
5 / 5
Product Score
4.3 / 5

Why we picked Underdog.io

Underdog.io is a niche job marketplace that connects tech candidates with hiring managers in top startups in NYC and San Francisco. Notably, all candidates accepted into the Underdog network are pre-screened by humans and are guaranteed active candidates.

PROS

  • All candidates are pre-screened and guaranteed active candidates.
  • Quality mid- and senior-level candidates with substantial startup experience.
  • Easy to use. Responsive customer support.
  • Option to choose pay-per-hire or subscription pricing.
  • Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) services now available.
  • All candidates are pre-screened and guaranteed active candidates.
  • Quality mid- and senior-level candidates with substantial startup experience.
  • Easy to use. Responsive customer support.
  • Option to choose pay-per-hire or subscription pricing.
  • Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) services now available.

CONS

  • Only serves corporate hiring, no services available for recruiting agencies.
  • Takes a week to deliver matching candidates (Fetcher takes 24-48 hours).
  • Undisclosed pricing. No free trial.
  • Has only 5 native integrations available.
  • Only serves corporate hiring, no services available for recruiting agencies.
  • Takes a week to deliver matching candidates (Fetcher takes 24-48 hours).
  • Undisclosed pricing. No free trial.
  • Has only 5 native integrations available.

Underdog.io Review

You might have noticed that most candidate sourcing tools focus on passive talent recruitment. So, it’s refreshing to see Underdog taking a different approach—assisting U.S.-based tech companies in finding in-demand talent who boast years of experience in startups and are actively looking for jobs.

One recurring issue with sourcing from major job boards like Monster, Indeed, and LinkedIn is that job seekers tend to apply to everything and anything. This makes niche sites like Underdog more valuable.

Signing up to join this network takes only 1-2 minutes, but they aren’t guaranteed to get in. All applicants within Underdog’s community undergo human vetting by the founders and an HR rep. The qualified ones must be seeking full-time positions and either already reside in the U.S. or possess transferable visas. The platform also looks into the job seeker’s background and work experience to match client needs. While this whole process takes a week, and the number of supplied applicants is smaller, those received applicants are usually much closer fits.

It’s also nice to see that after pre-screening, Underdog makes sure clients get full control over how they further vet and select talent. Recruiters can access applicant profiles and message potential candidates directly on the tool’s dashboard or via email. Since Underdog’s proposed candidates are active job seekers, they tend to be much more responsive to recruiter outreach.

Underdog’s founder recently announced they will launch Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) services and Delightful—a curated job board connecting tech job seekers with startups. It's too early to comment on these tools, but we’ll be sure to give them a thorough test and keep you posted.

Despite Underdog's pre-screening capabilities, we totally relate to those feeling that waiting a week for a new talent batch is too long, especially compared with other tools: Rolebot takes one day, Fetcher two days at most. We also hope that improving integration is on Underdog’s to-do list as, for now, it can only connect with 4 ATSs—quite disappointing, isn’t it?

On another note, Underdog makes it clear that it’s not for staffing firms. If that’s your field, you’re better off with alternatives like hireEZ, Fetcher, SeekOut, or Loxo.

Underdog.io Customers

Over one hundred companies, most of which are startups, have used Underdog to hire tech talent. Lattice, Airtable, Aircall, Teachers Pay Teachers, and Foursquare are some of them.

Underdog.io Pricing

Underdog.io provides three hiring plans: a free Pay Per Placement plan with an 11.5% fee per hire, a Premium plan at $850 monthly plus a $6,500 hiring fee (annual contract required), and an Unlimited Hiring plan with a single annual price for unlimited hires (annual contract required).

Best For

Privately held, venture-backed startups looking for a curated marketplace for tech talent based in the U.S. will likely benefit most from Underdog.

Underdog.io in action
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SeekOut

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SeekOut
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Popularity Score
4 / 5
User Score
4.5 / 5
Product Score
4 / 5

Why we picked SeekOut

SeekOut has one of the most powerful search capabilities of any candidate sourcing platform. It not only boasts a massive talent pool, with over 800M candidate profiles, but also a set of advanced filters that you can use to find talent from specific time zones, in niche industries, and with certain patents or work licenses.

PROS

  • User-friendly UI.
  • Downloadable People Insights for a bird's-eye view of your search results.
  • Dedicated talent pools and advanced filters for tech and healthcare searches.
  • Native tools for hard-to-find talent sourcing, DEI, internal mobility, and redeployment.
  • Support includes live chat, email support, and dedicated CMS for selective users.
  • Ability to choose recipient email address types (personal or work) for engagement campaigns.
  • New features released regularly.
  • Sources from tons of external databases; over 780M candidate profiles and growing
  • Can find talent also among your existing team.
  • Truly tech-powered and search engine-like platform.
  • Presents very complete candidate profiles, sometimes going through their code contributions, participation in conferences, academic papers, and more, in order to present top experts for certain skills or topics.

CONS

  • Fewer candidate options outside the United States.
  • Engagement tool available via email campaigns only.
  • Doesn’t disclose pricing.
  • Could take a few hours to sync info to integrated ATS.
  • Some phone numbers and emails were outdated.
  • While they're always expanding their candidate list, they have been mainly oriented towards the US and Canada for years. Hence, companies outside those geographies might find that their searches are still somewhat limited when it comes to local talent. Such is the case of some users writing from Europe, for instance.
  • Several users have complained about lags or glitches between the candidate’s info from the source and how/when it appears within the platform.
SeekOut sourcing tool screenshot

SeekOut Review

We think SeekOut is one of the finest candidate sourcing tools out there—its search capabilities in particular are just ridiculously good.

Let's kick off with one of its latest features—SeekOut Assist. While many platforms offer AI-powered sourcing (hireEZ, Rolebot, and Arya, to name a few), SeekOut Assist strikes a pleasing balance between powerful algorithms and human touch.

We fed in our job description (JD), and the AI instantly broke it down into search criteria like job title, required skills, and preferred skills. Then, it started screening profiles in its talent database based on customizable criteria. That flexibility extends to email engagement, too. The AI crafts personalized outreach messages based on each candidate’s profile and JD while giving users options to tweak them further as they wish.

Advanced filters for niche talent sourcing also make this tool hard to beat. For example, you can search healthcare professionals by license type and status and look into expert talent’s publications and patents. You can also filter profiles based on whether you have viewed or reached out to them or if they are already in your ATS. You can even use Smart Match pre-built filters for quick searches.

Another new feature SeekOut just released is Pipeline Insights. AmazingHiring offers a similar tool, yet SeekOut’s version impresses us more for both appearance and functionality. Insights provides critical data on the talent pool size per filter set and real-time talent pipeline performance. These insights are downloadable and tailored to users’ roles (hiring managers and recruiters).

However, if your primary talent search isn't focused on the U.S., picking SeekOut might lead to disappointment. We noticed fewer profiles and less accurate contact info when searching for Europe-based candidates. SeekOut seems aware of this, though, and has added an option for users to report incorrect contact data.

We also feel that SeekOut doesn’t shine when it comes to engagement tools. We don’t expect live chat services like Entelo has, but basic channels like SMS or InMail outreach should be available.

The biggest problem with this sourcing tool is that its reply tracking system can sometimes mess up and send scheduled emails even after the candidate has replied. We found ourselves in this awkward position once during testing.

SeekOut Customers

1,000+ companies, including VMware, Salesforce, Merck, UiPath, and Anaplan.

SeekOut Pricing

SeekOut has three plans (Premium, Premium Tech, and SeekOut Expert) that have undisclosed pricing. Our research suggests plans start at around $3,500 per year, and only annual payments are accepted.

Best For

SeekOut is a good choice for mid-sized and large companies sourcing niche talent (tech, healthcare, etc.) in the U.S.

SeekOut in action
Reviewer's Rating
10/10

I used SeekOut in my recruitment process. I used it daily to source candidates for various roles across different departments, as well as to source diverse candidates. One of the key workflows I relied on was the advanced search feature, which allowed me to filter candidates based on specific criteria such as skills, experience, location, and diversity attributes. This helped me identify potential candidates who were the best fit for our open positions. In my role as a recruiter, SeekOut's candidate profiles were invaluable. They provided deep insights into candidates' backgrounds and experiences, allowing me to effectively customize my outreach and interview approaches. Lastly, SeekOut's AI-driven algorithms kept me updated on market trends and competitive intelligence, enabling me to base my decisions on solid data throughout every step of the recruitment process.

What do you like about this tool?

One of the things I really enjoy about SeekOut is its user-friendly interface, making it a breeze to find top-notch candidates. The platform's extensive talent pool ensures I have plenty of options to choose from. Plus, SeekOut's insights into market trends and competitor intelligence give me a strategic edge in my recruitment efforts, helping me stay ahead of the curve. Another aspect of SeekOut that I find incredibly helpful is its robust search functionality. It's like having a powerful magnifying glass for talent, allowing me to hone in on exactly what I'm looking for.

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

Our organization decided to invest in SeekOut to address the challenge of sourcing diverse candidates and filling hard-to-fill roles efficiently. Prior to using SeekOut, recruiters faced difficulties identifying candidates from underrepresented backgrounds and those with niche skill sets. SeekOut has been a game-changer for us. With its advanced search tools and extensive database of candidates, it has made finding the right candidates for various jobs much easier. I used to spend ages sifting through resumes, but now, thanks to SeekOut, I can pinpoint exactly who I need in no time. I have used SeekOut for a little over a year while working at my organization.

What do you dislike about this tool?

One aspect of SeekOut that I found challenging is that the search results could sometimes be overwhelming, making it difficult to sift through and identify the most relevant candidates. Additionally, I've encountered occasional discrepancies in the candidate profiles, which led to a few inaccuracies in my sourcing efforts. There have also been instances where I experienced delays in receiving updates or notifications about new candidates or changes in the market, which hindered my recruitment process.

How is this tool different than their competitors?

From my perspective, SeekOut stands out from its competitors in a few ways. Its interface is very easy to use, making my job simpler when searching for candidates. Additionally, SeekOut has a large pool of candidates to choose from, so I could usually find someone who's a good fit for the role I was hiring for. The insights it provides about the job market and what other companies are doing are really helpful for making smart decisions in my recruitment process. Overall, SeekOut is a tool I relied on because it made finding and hiring great people much easier.

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

There are several key criteria to consider when purchasing a tool like SeekOut. First and foremost, usability is critical. A platform that's intuitive and easy to navigate allows recruiters to quickly find and engage with candidates. Functionality is also crucial, so look for features like advanced search capabilities, candidate insights, and AI-driven algorithms to enhance your sourcing efforts.

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

SeekOut has grown its candidate database and upgraded search algorithms, making it easier for recruiters to find the right candidates. They've also added AI-driven insights and analytics features, empowering recruiters to make smarter decisions.

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

It's ideal for recruiters who need to quickly identify and engage with top talent across various industries and job roles. SeekOut is especially beneficial for organizations that value diversity and inclusion, as it provides access to a diverse pool of candidates and offers insights to support diversity initiatives.

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

SeekOut might not be the best choice for smaller businesses or startups with limited hiring needs and budgets. If an organization doesn't do a lot of hiring or needs very niche talent, they might find SeekOut's features to be more than they need. Additionally, recruiters who prefer simpler, more straightforward tools might find SeekOut's advanced features to be a bit overwhelming.

Rival

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Rival
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Popularity Score
4 / 5
User Score
4.1 / 5
Product Score
4.2 / 5

Why we picked Rival

Rival (formerly Entelo) packs a host of cool diversity-sourcing features: The unbiased sourcing mode that masks candidates’ pictures and genders, the inclusive language alerts that nest in your engagement features, and the candidate highlights that quickly present you with matching talent from underrepresented groups.

PROS

  • Comprehensive diversity features.
  • Native scheduling capability
  • Video interview tools support both live and one-way video interviews.
  • Multi-channel candidate communication options include SMS, email campaigns, and live chat.
  • Send time optimization for better outreach performance.
  • User-friendly Chrome extension.
  • Comprehensive diversity features.
  • Native scheduling capability
  • Video interview tools support both live and one-way video interviews.
  • Multi-channel candidate communication options include SMS, email campaigns, and live chat.
  • Send time optimization for better outreach performance.
  • User-friendly Chrome extension.

CONS

  • Some candidate profiles are outdated.
  • Still requires candidates to download mobile apps to join interviews.
  • Hasn’t rolled out new features since it became a part of Rival (formerly SilkRoad Technology).
  • Some candidate profiles are outdated.
  • Still requires candidates to download mobile apps to join interviews.
  • Hasn’t rolled out new features since it became a part of Rival (formerly SilkRoad Technology).
Entelo's candidate sourcing platform dashboard

Rival Review

Rival’s candidate database, with 550 million candidate profiles, might not stand out compared to Fetcher’s 800M+, hireEZ’s 800M+, and Loxo's 1.2B+. However, this sourcing software is top of the class when it comes to diversity sourcing capabilities.

Many tools in this space offer some form of diversity elements, whether in filtering or reporting but none we've seen come close to Rival’s Unbiased Sourcing Mode. This feature mirrors what we’ve found in leading ATSs such as Pinpoint, Teamtailor, and Lever. It allows masking and anonymizing candidate data linked to various biases (like headshots, names, and genders) before conducting searches or sharing review queues with hiring managers.

Rival’s Inclusive Language Alerts for email communications reminded us of Textio—a diversity recruitment tool that has a knack for providing inclusive language guidance to talent acquisition and retention. As we crafted an outreach email, the system automatically highlighted non-inclusive language and offered suggestions for improvement, making it easy to work with.

Outreach is a breeze, too. When we were about to schedule a campaign, Rival gave us a hint on which send times are likely to yield the highest open rate for our recipients. You may be wondering, how accurate are such estimates? We did too, so we ran an AB test. Following Rival’s scheduling advice, we saw a 15% increase in open rate which we must say, was pretty cool.

Rival’s candidate self-scheduling and video interviewing capabilities are also high quality. Unlike Gem’s rather basic scheduler, Rival’s works for round-robin, group, and sequential interviews as well as 1:1s. The system supports both on-demand and live video interviews and covers all the essentials, from branding to multiple customizable interview formats and collaborative interview assessments.

The only thing we dislike about this feature is that it requires an app download from candidates to take the interviews. Considering how most modern interview video solutions today have already gone browser-based/app-less, we think users are in the right to complain about this.

We wouldn’t recommend Rival for teams seeking talent sourcing tools with continued improvements. Since joining the talent acquisition suite Rival (formerly SilkRoad Technology), there has been no progress in terms of its feature enhancements, let alone new feature updates. Rival’s website footer also still says 2022 while its latest blog post was from December of the same year. It could really use some updates.

Rival Customers

Rival customers include Wayfair, Sony, Lyft, Asana, and Comerica Bank.

Rival Pricing

Rival provides three pricing options: Rival Starter at $149 per month, Rival Growth at $499 per month, and Rival Enterprise with custom pricing.

Best For

Recruiting teams and agencies looking for a sourcing platform with great diversity recruitment and video interview capabilities.

Rival in action
Reviewer's Rating
8/10

I incorporated Entelo into my regular sourcing routine, using it 2-3 times a week as a reliable supplement to our ATS and LinkedIn. What set Entelo apart for me was its filtering capabilities that allowed targeted sourcing of candidates from specific underrepresented backgrounds. This feature enabled me to focus on top-of-funnel sourcing for our diversity efforts with precision. Not only did Entelo provide an alternative to traditional sourcing platforms, but it also became my go-to tool when championing inclusive hiring. Its capabilities allowed me to target my diversity efforts when ensuring that a diverse interview slate was presented to hiring managers.

What do you like about this tool?
  • Entelo's filtering capabilities specifically cater to sourcing candidates from underrepresented backgrounds which is a great resource to boost diversity at the top of the funnel.
  • Entelo provides accurate contact information for candidates which allows for a better response rate and funnel velocity.
  • The candidate tracking feature offers an end-to-end view of the engagement journey,which allows for effective candidate management and recruitment strategies.
Why did your organization buy this tool, and how long have you used it for?

My organization purchased Entelo primarily to address the challenges we were facing in increasing the velocity of our top-of-funnel diversity efforts. We recognized the imperative of building a more diverse workforce, but traditional methods weren't delivering results fast enough. Additionally, we were frequently encountering hurdles in obtaining accurate contact information, which hampered our outreach campaigns. Entelo provided us with the tools and resources to efficiently target and contact diverse candidates, making our hiring processes both more inclusive and efficient. I personally have been using Entelo for 5 years now.

What do you dislike about this tool?
  • Entelo's Envoy feature did not provide suitable candidates for the technical roles I was sourcing for.
  • Candidate duplicates became a source of frustration for the team, a merge feature would be very helpful.
  • The reporting tool in Entelo lacks customization options, and exporting desired reports can be time-consuming
How is this tool different than their competitors?

Entelo is a tool that can be used as a supplement to an ATS but its average UI, amount of outdated profile and lack of reporting limits its overall capabilities. When used for a sourcing tool, Entelo is one of my favorite for diversity sourcing and top of funnel engagement

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

People should consider its overall goal when purchasing Entelo. In addition they should consider which tools they already have in place that can supplement some of Entelo's deficiencies.

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

Entelo has improved its user experience, added predictive analytics and enhanced its filters to help meet users needs.

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

Entelo is good for users who will be focusing on top of funnel and interested in sourcing for niche specific skill sets.

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

Entelo is not a good fit for an organization with an existing ATS or active Linkedin Recruiter license.

Gem

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Gem
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Popularity Score
4 / 5
User Score
4.8 / 5
Product Score
4.6 / 5

Why we picked Gem

Gem can be used as a standalone tool for outbound sourcing or as a great compliment to your existing ATS. It excels in helping you find and engage passive candidates at scale while also acting as a central hub for all your recruiting efforts.

PROS

  • Likely to Move filter analyzes signals on candidates’ profiles to pinpoint those more likely to switch jobs.
  • Analytics is easy to use and provides great insights into recruitment pipelines.
  • Suggests similar profiles to the ones recruiters are looking for.
  • Auto adds potential candidates who meet users’ saved search.
  • Option to automate sequences to engage newly added prospects.
  • Customizable drip campaigns and A/B testing for active and passive candidates.
  • Customer support is available via live chat, a help center, and email. Also provides a dedicated customer success manager.
  • Has a free trial. Free for startups under 15 employees, incorporated less than 3 years ago, and raised less than $5MM (USD) in funding.
  • Gem helps you discover qualified candidates across multiple channels, send personalized messages, visualize your recruitment pipeline, and stay on top of crucial hiring metrics
  • Gem's integration with LinkedIn and various ATS means that all candidate data is stored in a centralized location. Users find this feature extremely useful.
  • According to users, one of Gem's finest features is the ability to create automated drip campaigns to engage with both active and passive candidates

CONS

  • Some users have experienced slow load times and lag while using the search function.
  • Outreach campaign limited to email sequences and InMail only.
  • Lacks pricing transparency. No option to pay monthly.
  • No mobile app.
  • Some users have experienced slow load times and lags while using the application
  • In rare cases, the contact information, such as the email address or phone number of a sourced candidate, might be wrong
  • While Gem currently integrates with LinkedIn, it does not provide the option to automate messages via LinkedIn InMail
Gem candidate sourcing tool screenshot

Gem Review

Gem stands shoulder-to-shoulder with peers with the automation, personalization, and AI it brings to the table. One feature that stood out, though, was the reminder embedded in Gem’s Chrome extension. This handy tool lets users set reminders for specific dates and leave a note for context, ensuring you won’t miss a follow-up.

Gem’s Canned Response is another gem! This feature allows you to save frequently used responses as templates. Better yet, these canned responses are easy to personalize thanks to the included variables. We tried it and totally loved it. When a candidate replied to our outreach saying they wanted to chat, a simple click on our saved screening canned response prepared an email reply ready to go.

Collaborative teams will love Gem’s Resume Review. It lets recruiters send candidate batches to hiring managers with additional context, while managers can rate candidates and leave notes in Gem's review section. Once reviews are complete, Gem takes care of logistics by auto-emailing the recruiter with ratings and notes.

Gem’s deep ATS integration is tough to beat. Users can cross-check, import candidates from Gem to an ATS and vice versa, and even utilize the sequence feature to engage candidates directly within a plugged-in ATS.

However, unlike Loxo, Gem provides no SMS or voice calling outreach options. It primarily focuses on email and InMail. We also noticed a decline in Gem's ability to find email contacts for non-U.S. candidates compared to U.S. ones. Speaking of which, while it's normal for sourcing systems to find a candidate’s work email, it would be nice if Gem enabled users to filter out all work emails when they do outreach.

We had high hopes for Gem’s native scheduler. Unfortunately, it failed to communicate well with our ATS, causing our system to not auto-update booked calls. If you also travel frequently, be aware! This scheduler won’t auto-adjust to your time zone. You’ll have to go into settings and manually fix it.

Gem Customers

1,200+ companies, including Coinbase, Slack, Asana, Dropbox, Lyft, Indeed, Pinterest, and Doordash.

Gem Pricing

For companies with up to 100 employees, Gem offers 6 months free and 50% off the first year, starting at $135 per month (or $270 with yearly billing) for 1-10 employees. Growth (101-1,000 employees) and Enterprise (1,000+ employees) plans require contacting sales for pricing.

Best For

Gem’s sourcing tool is best suited for recruitment teams in large organizations and staffing agencies seeking a collaborative sourcing tool that can handle both inbound and outbound recruitment. Businesses in industries such as financial services, life sciences, and manufacturing are especially well-suited for this tool.

Gem in action
Reviewer's Rating
6/10

The Recruiting Team used Gem daily to source. Our RecOps team used it to observe reports and pull key data points out for presentations. This was especially important when there were board meetings or quarterly presentations to the company. It also synced really nicely with our ATS (Greenhouse) which made it a great tool.

What do you like about this tool?
  • Sourcing functionality is top-notch and helped increase the diversity of the candidate pool
  • Reporting functionality helped bridge gaps in reporting that Greenhouse couldn't provide
  • Gem's CSM team was a pleasure to work with.
Why did your organization buy this tool, and how long have you used it for?

My previous company used Gem because it provided a combination of sourcing and analytic functionality for the recruiting funnel. This was needed in order to report on goals and metrics that the Recruiting team needed to hit as well as improve DEIB initiatives. Gem did a great job of solving for helping us make data-driven decisions. Additionally, our Customer Success Manager helped us design reports and leverage Gem to its fullest capacity.

What do you dislike about this tool?
  • Originality - It seemed like Gem would release similar features to their competitors in response to what the competitors were doing. This meant that the functionality wasn't always fully baked.
  • Ease of use - The analytics aspects of the platform required a longer than anticipated ramp time to fully understand.
  • System integration - When the integrations broke because of updates, it could take a bit of time to get back online.
How is this tool different than their competitors?

Gem definitely innovates very quickly based on what they see. Because of this, some features can feel half-baked relative to their competitors (on the analytics side TalentWall, on the sourcing side, SeekOut). Generally, it is nice that Gem consolidated the specialty of those tools into one platform but SeekOut/TalentWall are more straightforward to use while requiring a lower ramp time to use.

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

I would consider the following bullets:

- Ease of Use

- Integration capability

- Purpose (does sourcing or analytics carry more weight?)

- Maintenance (which team is going to own this tool so that they have a strong partnership with the CSM team)

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

Gem is incredibly fast to build new functionality to meet changes that the users need. That ability to listen to their customers and users is fantastic.

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

Users: Sourcers, Recruiters, RecOps Team, Hiring Managers

It all depends on how each team is leveraging the tool. If it is primarily for sourcing, then it is incredibly nifty for Sourcers/Recruiters/Hiring Managers to build projects together and do paired sourcing.

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

Users: Interviewers, Non-recruiting members

Because they are not part of the recruiting process from a hands-on perspective, it can be a waste of a user seat to give them access.

Loxo

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Loxo
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Popularity Score
4 / 5
User Score
4.6 / 5
Product Score
4 / 5

Why we picked Loxo

Loxo has a massive proprietary talent database, with over 1.2 billion candidates to source from. But probably the best part about this platform is that it’s one of the few sourcing tools that can do both inbound and outbound recruitment, and it does them well.

PROS

  • 1.2+ billion professional profiles from 100+ data sources.
  • 250M+ talent profiles in niche industrie,s including software engineers, tech, healthcare professionals, and life sciences.
  • Built-in multi-channel campaigns include emails, SMS texts, voice calls, and InMails.
  • The free plan includes unlimited user seats and jobs.
  • Consolidates AI sourcing, engagement, ATS, and recruiting CRM that can enrich candidate data automatically on a regular basis.
  • Outreach GPT assists users in crafting personalized candidate engagement.
  • Highly praised customer service.
  • Chrome extension aids in personalizing templates, sending inMails, viewing notes, and finding contact information.
  • Excellent customer service with a strong record of fast response times.
  • User-friendly resume parsing.
  • Friendly and visually appealing user interface.
  • Offers a convenient Chrome extension.
  • Allows client involvement in projects with direct interaction.
  • Regularly releases new product updates.
  • Includes a free plan.

CONS

  • Installing Chrome extension is a must-do to finish the software sign-up process.
  • Lacks Android app. Latest iOS app performs poorly.
  • So many add-ons, making pricing rather complicated.
  • AI sourcing can be slow at times.
  • Slightly higher pricing compared to similar tools.
  • Lack of an option to auto-anonymize resumes for blind screening.
  • Reporting is not particularly useful with certain useful metrics not tracked.
  • No Android app. Limited features and occasional performance issues on the iOS app.

Loxo sourcing tool screenshot

Loxo Review

If we line up the number of candidates accessible through some leading sourcing databases —Loxo: 1.2 B+, SeekOut 800 M+, and hireEZ 800 M+—it becomes apparent that Loxo's talent database is vast.

Loxo doesn’t offer human spot-checking after AI sourcing, like Fetcher does, but it provides matching candidate profiles much faster, within seconds, compared to 24-48 hours. Two things stood out to us when checking out Loxo Source. First: The filters are remarkably precise. It even includes niche filters for talent in hard-to-fill sectors, such as tech and healthcare. Second: The AI now functions with job descriptions (JDs), regardless of their length (previously, it was picky about minimum word requirements for JDs).

Loxo Outreach lived up to expectations with its multichannel engagement campaigns. You can email, send SMS texts, use InMail, and even make voice calls to candidates at scale. Another cool touch is the auto-fetch contact information: it lets users specify when the system should automatically retrieve candidate contact details, which could save recruiters from another round of tedious tasks.

Loxo provides users with the option to auto-fetch candidate contact info in one click
Loxo provides users with the option to auto-fetchcandidate contact info in one click

The Outreach GPT feature left a strong impression on us. Besides offering pre-built templates for engagement campaigns, users can request the AI to generate content for them. We tested it out, and wow! Within seconds, the AI produced email content and sequences for us to review and edit.

Loxo Boost can auto-define the best job boards for specific roles. After you set a budget and hit Start, it automatically posts your job to relevant boards based on the job's criteria. Getting five matching applicants for $150 spent on our test wasn’t bad at all, but what impressed us more was the option to set a monthly allowance across all jobs—a blessing for those who like to stay safely within budget.

Unfortunately, Loxo’s mobile app is not so impressive—we had a hard time searching for candidates through our people database on the iOS app. Navigation was cumbersome, and hiccups kept happening as we tried to edit candidate profiles.

While we appreciate Loxo’s pricing transparency, we feel that its breakdown of offerings into several add-ons can make things unnecessarily complicated.

Loxo Customers

13,000+ companies, such as Amazon, Randstad, Cigna, Lockton, and CT Assist, have used Loxo for their candidate sourcing.

Loxo Pricing

Loxo offers a free plan with unlimited users and jobs, including their ATS, CRM, and Chrome extension, but add-ons cost extra. The Basic plan has Limited ($119) and Unlimited ($169) options per seat monthly (billed annually). Professional and Enterprise plans offer custom pricing.

Best For

Companies of all sizes can benefit from Loxo’s talent sourcing and outreach platform, though mid-sized corporations and agencies are likely to get the most out of it.

Loxo in action
Reviewer's Rating
5/10

When I’m sourcing on Linkedin, I use Loxo to add profiles in the talent pool and assign them to the existing jobs before contacting them. I also use it to find the contact info (personal emails) of candidates and post jobs on job boards. Being integrated with Gmail, it is useful for scheduling and sending emails. After some time, we started assigning the same profile from the database to different jobs that could potentially be interesting in the future.

What do you like about this tool?
  • The basic role of Loxo as an ATS for managing a smaller database of candidates is one of the main benefits in my opinion.
  • I appreciate that posting jobs is easy (it is also easy for candidates to apply).
  • The interface of the talent pipeline is really user friendly, so it is easy to move candidates throughout the stages - and close the placement in a visible way.

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

During mission-based projects for agencies, Loxo had been used primarily as one of the many tools to find personal email addresses and mobile numbers. It has proven to be useful for that purpose. It had a phase of being used as a CRM for creating lists of potential clients, as well as occasionally helping with job posting - though the main pool was built with sourcing.

I've been using it for half of the year.

What do you dislike about this tool?
  • First of all, Loxo doesn’t work without installing the Chrome extension (I wonder what would happen with the features for users of other browsers).
  • Moreover, the AI Sourcing feature is only available for some countries like the US and UK.
  • There are so many additional add-ons that require to be paid, in a way all about the recruitment process having been split on too small parts.

How is this tool different than their competitors?

Compared to some quite similar platforms (AI sourcing + talent pools + communication), Loxo can effectively be used as a CRM for business development too.

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

You can start by testing its free job posting. Instead of paying individual job boards (like Indeed or Glassdoor), you can try to post on them via Loxo for free. Another helpful thing about Loxo is that it can sync with Gmail and calendar, so the status and communication with candidates gets updated and sorted in Loxo.

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

From a few years back Loxo had been used mainly as our email discovery tool and email verifier, so advancing to find ATS/CRM platform with AI potential is a big leap in a way.

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

It might be good as a starter tool for a new recruitment agency or start-up.

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

I don’t think the available features and cloud space would be enough for big companies or recruitment agencies who had already built a big database of clients and candidates.

What is a Talent Sourcing Tool?

Talent sourcing tools help recruiters and hiring managers streamline and optimize their sourcing process. These recruitment tools feature artificial intelligence, talent profiles, and advanced search filters, such as Boolean search and niche filtering, enabling recruiters to find suitable candidates within their applicant tracking systems and/or recruitment CRM, as well as beyond their existing talent pool.

Pro Tips on Candidate Sourcing Tools

Key Features of Candidate Sourcing Tools

Key features of talent sourcing software include AI candidate search and job matching, advanced profile filters, niche talent pools, automated engagement, and diversity sourcing and analytics.

AI-Powered Talent Search Engine

Efficiency and accuracy in sourcing talent can be significantly enhanced by AI-powered features commonly found in leading sourcing solutions, such as AI-driven recommendations, automated outreach, and hiring chatbots.

For instance, SeekOut uses algorithms to identify passive candidates among its 800 million+ profiles and match them with specific job descriptions based on specific skills and qualifications sought by recruiters. This feature significantly enhances the ability to pinpoint quality candidates within an extensive talent pool that recruiters might struggle to access alone.

Advanced Candidate Filtering and Segmentation

Another standout feature of robust sourcing software platforms, such as SeekOut and hireEZ, involves advanced filtering options. Rather than passively relying on active job seekers, recruiters can filter candidate profiles based on various criteria, such as specific location, skills, education, and work experience, to proactively find qualified candidates.

Talent Pool Aggregation Across Multiple Platforms

Candidate sourcing tools like Fetcher stand out for their ability to aggregate candidate data from multiple sources, including professional networks, social media platforms (such as LinkedIn and Behance), associations, industry-specific forums (like Stack Overflow), and more.

Rather than being on twenty-something sites, they have a unified talent pool (and a Chrome Extension) where they can easily access the professional experience, skills, educational background, and contact info (email, phone number, LinkedIn, GitHub, etc.) of potential candidates.

Niche Talent Pool Exploration

Another crucial feature of candidate sourcing tools is exploring niche talent pools. You can tap into talent specifically based in New York and San Francisco with Underdog.io. You can look for only healthcare professionals within Canada and the US with SeekOut. If developers and software engineers are your next hires, you can focus on candidates with experience in just these roles using AmazingHiring.

Automated Outreach and Engagement

Talent sourcing platforms usually offer customizable outreach content templates and workflow automation, which recruiters can easily navigate and initiate conversations with potential candidates through email sequences and messages, fast and at scale.

Predictive Analytics for Talent Acquisition

Perhaps the best part about this recruitment software is that it can be used as a crystal ball for organizations to identify those who aren’t actively looking for a job but are likely to be interested in their job openings. These predictive analytics give recruiters an advantage when it comes to proactive hiring, as they know what drives top talent at work and what they are looking for in a new job.

AmazingHiring, for example, is one of the sourcing tools in this buyer guide that integrates predictive analytics to forecast candidate availability and behavior.

Diversity and Inclusion

Given that companies that champion diversity have a 25% higher chance of financially outperforming those that don’t, it’s a logical move that more employers are looking for sourcing software to promote diversity recruitment

Arya by Leoforce, SeekOut, and Fetcher are some notable sourcing solutions that come with AI technologies and advanced filtering, which can help ensure candidate selection is based on merit rather than hiring biases. These platforms also include real-time DEI metrics to help users track their talent pipeline and fine-tune recruitment strategies to meet their diversity goals.

What to Consider When Choosing a Talent Sourcing Tool?

If you're exploring the options we've shortlisted on this page, you don’t need to worry about core functionalities like search capabilities, database quality, AI-powered filtering, or candidate engagement, since we've already vetted them for you. Instead, focus on these:

  • Ease of Use: A user-friendly interface is key. If it requires weeks of onboarding, it may not be worth it.
  • Data Analytics: Look for platforms that offer dashboards to track outreach effectiveness, response rates, and time-to-hire. They are must-haves for refining your sourcing approach.
  • Compliance & Security: Ensure the tool complies with GDPR, CCPA, or other data regulations to avoid legal risks.
  • Scalability: A sourcing tool should adapt to your company’s hiring needs as you scale.
  • Customer Support: Know what you need and can afford. Tools that offer dedicated customer success teams tend to be on the pricier side, while more budget-friendly options often have support services that are mainly self-help.

Talent Sourcing Software Pricing

Talent sourcing tools vary widely, with costs ranging from $15 per user per month (e.g., Manatal) to $12,000 per year per seat (e.g., Humanly.io).

Affordable options like Entelo Starter and hireEZ Startups serve small teams, while enterprise platforms like AmazingHiring, Findem, and Rolebot target larger organizations with higher annual pricing or job slot fees.

Pricing models include per user, per job slot, or hire, as with Underdog.io. Billing is typically monthly for lower-tier plans and annual for enterprise solutions. Free trials are available from a few vendors, such as hireEZ and Loxo.

Top Candidate Sourcing Software Pricing Comparison

 Vendor

 Starting Cost

 Free Plan/Trial

 Manatal

 $15/user/month

 14-day free trial

 Humanly.io

 $12,000/year

 No

 Hirefly 

 $50/job slot/month

 No

 AmazingHiring

 $4,800/seat/year

 No

 Rolebot

 $3,000/month (5 roles)

 14-day free trial

 Findem

 $6,000/user/year

 No

 Arya

 $599/job

 No

 hireEZ

 $169/user/month

 15-day free trial

 Fetcher

 $379/month

 No

 Underdog.io

 11.5% fee/hire

 7-day free trial

 SeekOut

 $3,500/year

 7-day free trial

 Rival (formerly Entelo)

 $149/month

 No

 Gem

 $135/mo

 7-day free trial

 Loxo

$119/seat/month

 7-day free trial

Final Advice on Picking Sourcing Tools for Recruiters

Talent sourcing tools are becoming increasingly powerful with the help of AI. However, it is crucial to understand that these tools are meant to assist, not entirely replace, your human recruiters. Additionally,  they are more powerful when they're part of a larger recruitment suite. A common combination we’ve often seen is using an ATS alongside a sourcing tool or an ATS paired with both a sourcing tool and a video interview platform.

Whichever path you take, ensure that humans remain at the center of decision-making and technology oversight. As advanced as AI may be, it's not yet ready to take over critical tasks in your recruitment process.

Last but not least, ask for help if you get stuck along the way. Since we happen to have a team behind this buyer guide who spend most of their time digging into all options—the good, the bad, and the in-between, they may just know what you haven’t discovered yet.

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