Finding the right applicants for any job can be incredibly challenging, not to mention time-consuming. The best recruiting software relieves some of the headaches of the process by simplifying everything for HR teams, hiring managers and staffing agencies.
From sourcing an initial pool of candidates, through first-round screening, to eventually interviewing, recruitment platforms make it much easier to get you speaking to the most relevant, qualified people for each vacancy within your company.
1. What is a recruiting software?
Recruiting software facilitates the hiring process, usually using a combination of sourcing, automation, communication, assessment and analytics tools.
2. What are different types of recruitment software?
Different recruiting software can have different focuses. Platforms like Ascendify and X0PA focus on developing machine learning and artificial intelligence to take up some of the burden of sourcing and screening applicants, while services like TestGorilla and Evalart focus on providing both pre-written and customized tests and questionnaires.
3. Overview of the Best Recruiter Software List
| Indeed |
Best recruiting software for leveraging one of the world’s largest recruitment sites |
| JazzHR |
Best recruiting software for SMBs looking to collaboratively make new hires |
| Pipefy |
Best recruiting software for building your own automated recruitment workflows |
| CEIPAL ATS |
Best recruiting software for increasing your pool of candidates through AI sourcing |
| Zoho Recruit |
Best recruiting software for multiple software integrations across business tools |
| Teamtailor | Best recruiting software for a fully branded company career site to attract talent |
| Alchemus |
Best for building a robust resume repository |
| SmartRecruiters | Best for high-volume recruiting |
| Evalart |
Best for sending out tests to evaluate candidate skills |
| Workable | Best for an extensive library of recruitment resources |
| HirePro |
Best for remote recruitment of college talent |
| Ascendify |
Best for machine learning that continuously optimizes hiring pathways |
| Recooty |
Best for a streamlined approach to finding the right candidates |
| Recruiterflow | Best for recruiting agencies hiring for multiple clients |
| iCIMS | Best for an approachable user interface with high usability |
| TalentRecruit | Best for a platform that manages recruitment and onboarding in one |
| TestGorilla |
Best for selecting candidates using data-driven assessments |
| Payco | Best for recruiting software that integrates with a full HCM suite |
| X0PA AI Recruiter | Best for creating a more objective hiring process using RPA |
| BambooHR |
Best for an app that enables mobile recruiting |
| Grove HR | Best for speeding up recruitment with automated pathways |
| ApplicantStack |
Best for starting out on the road to digitizing the recruitment cycle |
| Breezy |
Best for an easy-to-use system with core functionality and transparent pricing |
| PyjamaHR |
Best for free-forever applicant tracking system |
| Paychecx Flex |
Best for comprehensive support for HR tools utilization |
| Jobin.cloud | Best for integrating with LinkedIn for job sourcing |
| Kissflow Workflow |
Best for businesses that want to build their own platform workflows |
4. Recruiter Software Comparison Criteria
4.1 Recruitment software type
You might be looking for a pure applicant tracking system (ATS), which sources, organizes and tracks candidates throughout the hiring journey. You might want something that has the features of candidate relationship management (CRM), allowing you to create a repository of potential employees to draw upon in the future. Alternatively, there is some software that specifically focuses on a particular need, such as assessments and tests, virtual interviewing or job posting.
4.2 Company strength
How large is your company? Some platforms are designed to work solely with enterprises that have workforces in the thousands and constant hiring needs, while others are built for SMEs or startups that might have more infrequent usage of recruiting software.
4.3 Usability
Ensure you test the usability of a piece of software. The harder it is to grasp, the more time will be spent teaching staff to use it, and this needs to be weighed up against the depth of the offering (i.e., how many different capabilities it provides).
4.4 Vendor support
Level of support varies enormously, from very limited engagement beyond setup and pre-prepared guides, to 24/7 assistance. Some vendors will rely on bots to do the heavy lifting, while others only utilize call centers.
4.5 Price
There is never a conversation about purchasing the best recruiting software without any discussion on price. Consider the size of your company, the modules you’ll need and the level of support required in balance with what’s affordable for your business.
5. What are the Features of Recruiter Software?
5.1 Automation of tasks
The most common feature that some of the best recruiting software offers is automation, including simultaneously posting roles to multiple channels and pre-screening of candidates using specified rules.
5.2 Integration of software
Integration can be inclusive or an extra cost; available for a vast array of programs (including job sites, social media and communication tools) or just the core HR platform.
5.3 Passive candidate management
Going beyond just the applicants approaching you to unearthing suitable individuals using passive candidate management is a task best left to AI if you want to save yourself a huge amount of time and energy.
5.4 User-friendly and intuitive interface
Some vendors make it their primary goal to create a unified interface that includes everything on a single pane of glass, others are more focused on creating a platform that allows you to easily switch between different windows and workflows.
5.5 Dashboard for recruitment analytics and reporting
Analytics pervades every aspect of IT. In recruitment, it can be used both to identify the best candidates for a role and to refine the hiring process using reports on sourcing efficacy and approval bottlenecks.
6. 27 Best Recruiter Software List
6.1 Indeed – Best for leveraging one of the world’s largest recruitment sites
When you consider what is the most popular recruitment method, job sites tend to come up top, and Indeed is one of the most well known on the market.
The company has created a hiring platform that it claims can cut out 90% of manual effort and triple scheduled interviews by automating candidate screening according to your specified criteria. As the process progresses, companies can utilize a virtual interview solution with a digital waiting room, CV previews and note-taking function.
Indeed has also designed an extension to easily integrate with your existing ATS, so you can leverage the job site’s massive reach within your own hiring architecture.
Prices are available on request.
6.2 JazzHR – Best for SMBs looking to collaboratively make new hires
JazzHR hopes to get you dancing for joy with its easy setup and highly customizable HR recruitment software.
Its platform can syndicate openings to multiple free and paid job boards per your requirements. Companies create customized workflows that update all relevant members about every hire for speedier, easier collaboration, including synchronized feedback and notes on applicant strengths and weaknesses.
Interview prep and assessment rating templates are available for use, and you can also opt to receive reports on your candidate sourcing routes, recruitment pipeline bottlenecks and data on compliance with local laws to improve future efficiency.
Prices start at $39 per month for unlimited users with three open jobs ($9 per additional job posting), rising to $239 for unlimited open jobs, ATS, interviews and assessments.
6.3 Pipefy – Best for building your own automated recruitment workflows
From IT operations to finance procedures, low-code automation flows naturally using Pipefy, a tool that allows companies to construct their own custom system with minimal fuss.
In recruiting terms, it can remove the necessity for emails and spreadsheets to keep track of applications, replacing them with a unified platform that provides full visibility of each step, from screenings, to interviews, to sending offers. By introducing pre-programmed alerts, the application experience can be made more positive for both internal staff and external candidates.
Integrations with HRIS, CMS and ERIS are all simple to build. Reports on time to fill and time to hire can also be extracted from the data.
Prices start from $18 per user per month, though a free option is available for startups.
6.4 CEIPAL ATS – Best for increasing your pool of candidates through AI sourcing
Founded in 2015, CEPIAL offers two principal platforms: workforce management and applicant tracking.
Its ATS can integrate with more than 50 job boards and automatically harvest relevant resumes, drawing upon a greater pool of talent using AI-driven sourcing that seeks out passive as well as active candidates to match the best people to the role.
The platform provides weighted scores on categories such as experience, skills, personality and education, so that you can directly compare applicants according to different criteria. In-built scheduling and video communication tools seamlessly progress an application to the next stage.
Prices start for $24 per user per month for the ATS, which can be purchased separately or with the workforce management solution.
6.5 Zoho Recruit – Best for multiple software integrations across business tools
Zoho vends SaaS tools for various aspects of office work, including sales and marketing, IT, customer service and finance.
Its HR stable of apps includes Zoho Recruit, a piece of recruiting software that combines applicant tracking and candidate relationship management in a way that makes it ideal for both HR teams and staffing agencies. Jobs can be posted to more than 75 boards and instantly shared to social handles; the platform will then guide you through the hiring stages to make it easier to keep track of all pertinent applicants.
Candidates can be filtered by skills, location and more, and you make doubly sure you only interview people who meet your criteria with pre-screening questionnaires and integrations with assessment platforms like HireSelect. In fact, integrations are one of Zoho’s specialties, with even the basic license package including the option to implement with Slack, Google Suite, Microsoft Outlook and all common social media channels.
Prices start from $20 per use per month, including 100 active jobs, premium job boards and 50 integrations, though there is a free option for freelance recruiters.
6.6 Teamtailor – Best for a fully branded company career site to attract talent
Working with more than 4,000 organizations, Teamtailor helps businesses attract candidates by working with them to build an attractive, informative career portal.
Their approach helps you present the essential details about your company and the positions available on a mobile-optimized website to make it as easy as possible for job seekers to absorb the key information, from browsing job specs to getting a feel for your business via testimonials from current employees. The drag-and-drop setup facilitates organizing your career site just how you want it, without the need for any in-depth technical skills.
Teamtailor’s ATS functions include custom job application forms, review tools like tags and scorecards to rate candidates, and automated bulk message sending.
Prices are available on request.
6.7 Alchemus – Best for building a robust resume repository
Boasting 20 years of experience in the talent acquisition and performance management field, Alchemus offers a number of HR solutions, including HCM and compliance policy oversight.
Its recruiting software can simultaneously distribute positions to job portals and social media, as well as helping to create a career site that slots into your existing company webpage. From there, the program can parse and filter resumes for key phrases and qualifications to rapidly whittle down the mound of applications.
Everything is cloud based, including the resume repository, so as to increase data security and reduce the total cost of ownership for users.
Prices are available on request.
6.8 SmartRecruiters – Best for high-volume recruiting
SmartRecruiters has worked with some of the world’s largest companies, from Visa and Deloitte to McDonalds and Sodexo, to optimize their recruitment process.
The solution facilitates everything from expanding candidate sourcing to building custom career sites. It also has a system to help HR teams construct hiring campaigns featuring video content and employee testimonials, with associated stats so you can track the impact of your initiatives.
Integrated assessment tools ease the burden of screening and evaluating applicants at early stages, with templates and auto-replies pre-programmed to ensure the process is always moving forward, no matter how many people you’re assessing for a position.
Prices are available on request.
6.9 Evalart – Best for sending out tests to evaluate candidate skills
As its name suggests, Evalart’s specialty is evaluation, promising to help filter out up to 80% of applications using either their pre-written tests or custom-made questionnaires specific to your company.
While the bulk of their ready-made assessments center on programming tools such as Java and Python as well as other IT knowledge, they also offer tests for project management skills, aptitude and intelligence, as well as a limited number of languages. The results are then crafted into detailed but digestible reports.
Fraud detection and online proctoring services are available as part of the service, to ensure you’re getting genuine results from qualified candidates.
Prices are available on request, though Evalart can be trialed for free for one month, including up to 15 evaluations.
6.10 Workable – Best for an extensive library of recruitment resources
If you’re wondering what is the best recruitment software, Workable is definitely up there, having worked with more than 20,000 companies to sift through 85 million candidates to achieve 1.3 million hires.
The platform boasts one-click job sharing to more than 200 sites, built-in passive candidate sourcing and AI-powered applicant recommendations. Once you’ve found the right people, you can reel them in with customizable career pages, mobile-friendly application forms and streamlined interview scheduling, then pre-qualify them for interviews with skills assessments built right into the platform.
Workable has more than 1,000 hiring templates, including job descriptions, interview questions and email frameworks, in addition to tutorials and regular blogs about how to deal with recruitment challenges.
Prices start from $129 per month for a pay-as-you-go license for occasional hiring, while the standard business packages costs $279 per month and includes unlimited job postings.
6.11 HirePro – Best for remote recruitment of college talent
Since being founded in India in 2004, HirePro has carved out a niche for itself in the university sector, connecting freshly minted graduates with job opportunities.
Despite the age of the business, they’ve kept pace with the times and now offer an end-to-end virtual hiring process, from sourcing candidates, through assessments and interviews, to making an offer. HirePro’s recruiting software uses automated workflows to speed up the process of finding the right candidates, with an array of tests available to examine coding skills, aptitude and behavior type through video, multiple choice and other formats.
HirePro will also facilitate interviews by providing logistical support and data-driven reports on top candidates, as well as supplying expert interviewers so you don’t have to worry about anything at all.
Prices are available on request.
6.12 Ascendify – Best for machine learning that continuously optimizes hiring pathways
One of the most highly rated recruiting software for large enterprises, Ascendify is a cloud-based platform for discovering, screening and hiring talent.
The company claims its AI gets smarter with every hire by employing a human-curated machine learning approach, ensuring that all computer-generated recommendations are reviewed by human experts before being implemented into the automated engine for speedier, more accurate applicant predictions and analyses.
Ascendify enables companies to build talent networks, starting with sourcing talent via LinkedIn, Google, Facebook, Twitter and GitHub, and progressing to creating a database of potential employees that can be targeted with custom campaigns. Its numerous other features include a career website builder, a message center and skills assessments.
Prices start from $5,000 a month plus a one-time $25,000 setup fee.
6.13 Recooty – Best for a streamlined approach to finding the right candidates
Tech research and consulting firm Gartner rated Recooty the number-one recruiting software in 2022.
Its interface provides clear visualization of all candidates, so you and other relevant stakeholders can readily review, shortlist and interview applicants at the click of a mouse. Searches can be prioritized based on specific skills, with an assessment follow-up to ensure the individual can do what they claim as well as a smooth interview scheduling feature.
Job postings are syndicated to popular job boards, social media and your company’s custom-built careers page, with 24/7 customer service available should you encounter any issues.
Prices start at $49 per month, including 10 active job posts, 10 company users and a branded careers page.
6.14 Recruiterflow – Best for recruiting agencies hiring for multiple clients
When it comes to finding what is the most popular recruitment agency software, Recruiterflow is definitely in contention.
Where a lot of the recruiting software on this list is designed for in-company use, Recruiterflow squarely targets agencies with its full suite of products. The CRM’s drag-and-drop interface makes it simple to organize candidates for the various jobs you are trying to fill. Source relevant individuals through job posts and personnel databases, with a resume parsing functionality to pick out the key skills and experiences your clients want.
Communication can then get rolling with automated email sequences designed to pique the interest of passive candidates, with triggers and alerts built in along the way to remove the manual element to common hiring checklist items. The entire process can be tracked and evaluated through Recruiterflow’s data dashboard, which assesses KPIs and collects raw data on the recruiters in your team so you can see who is performing well.
Prices start from $99 per user per month for small teams of up to 3 people.
6.15 iCIMS – Best for an approachable user interface with high usability
iCIMS Talent Cloud combines an application tracking system core with supporting functions like a messaging service and an analytics dashboard.
The platform uses AI to speed along the sourcing and screening processes, while also helping to present a positive brand image through custom career sites and efficient candidate relationship management and timely applicant communication.
Recruiting analytics helps you not only track open positions, source of hire, cost per hire, and time to fill, but also strengthen diversity, equality and inclusion policies.
Prices are available on request.
6.16 TalentRecruit – Best for a platform that manages recruitment and onboarding in one
TalentRecruit offers recruiting software for corporate entities and staffing agencies, following it up with an onboarding solution to facilitate the adoption of new hires.
The platform’s match-making machine automatically ranks candidates based on suitability for a role. Robotic recruiter ERIKA keeps candidates engaged while simultaneously managing data points on them and funneling appropriate individuals down the pipeline. Bespoke employer branding can be deployed on candidate career portals with eye-catching video content to attract top-tier talent.
TalentRecruit’s hiring manager portal is the hub from where all applications can be managed via a single screen, which contains notifications, pending tasks and the capability to roll out offers. A separate assessment module can be added to test qualifications and skills.
Prices are available on request.
6.17 TestGorilla – Best for selecting candidates using data-driven assessments
Rather than CVs and interviews, TestGorilla encourages companies to focus on assessments.
More than 238 scientifically validated tests are available in its library, from those that focus on hard skills like data management and creating RESTful APIs, to those that center on personality types and critical thinking. There is even a test that allows you to divine how well a candidate’s expectations align with the role using Oldham and Hackman’s Job Characteristics Model.
Applications are ranked by TestGorilla according to how well applicants perform in your selected assessments, enabling data-driven decisions that remove unconscious bias from the equation.
Prices start from $25 a month for the pay-as-you-go plan, though there is also a free trial plan and a more expansive plan for $300 per month that includes more assessment and candidate credits to spend on job hires.
6.18 Paycor – Best for recruiting software that integrates with a full HCM suite
Paycor provides a range of HR solutions, including payroll, workforce management and benefits administration.
Its recruiting software is designed for mobile access – both for hiring managers and applicants – and features automatic job postings to Indeed, LinkedIn, Glassdoor and ZipRecruiter, the capability to build a careers site, an employee referral rewards system, and analytics to track time to hire and lead sources.
Whitepapers and webinars cover the gamut of HR challenges, with topics such as how to integrate diversity into the workplace.
Prices for the Paycor package that includes talent management start from $199 per employee per month.
6.19 X0PA AI Recruiter – Best for creating a more objective hiring process using RPA
X0PA AI offers hiring solutions for enterprises, SMEs, government and academia.
The Recruiter program is a piece of SaaS software that uses artificial intelligence to source and assess talent, using X0PA’s patented algorithms to find the best fit for your company and the role you are looking to fill.
Robotic process automation (RPA) reduces manual tasks to enable scaling of the recruiting process, simultaneously removing elements of human error creating a more objective hiring process. X0PA’s platform aims to predict both candidate performance and retention based on analytics and natural language processing.
Prices are available on request.
6.20 BambooHR – Best for an app that enables mobile recruiting
Providing products that address the entire employee life cycle, from hiring to employee wellbeing, BambooHR is one of the most commonly seen HR tools on the market.
Its recruitment solution aims to keep the process organized, with timely communication to keep candidates engaged and a collaborative interface so that all internal stakeholders can stay up to date. Openings can be posted on job sites and social media with just a few clicks, and reports are available to help identify hiring bottlenecks and measure time to hire.
The entire ATS system is also available as a sleek modern app, so HR teams can stay on top of applications whether they’re in the office or on the go.
Prices are available on request.
6.21 Grove HR – Best for speeding up recruitment with automated pathways
Grove supplies onboarding, employee management and performance enablement tools, among other HR solutions.
According to the company’s website, 70% of candidates lose interest if the hiring process is slow, which is why Grove has focused on speeding up communications, interviews and offers using automation. The interface allows you to discuss applications with colleagues via a notes function, while also enabling you to tag potential employee profiles with particular skills to make it easier to categorize and find them later.
Grove also offers simple job posting and branded career page services.
Prices start from $3 per employee per month for the basic HR tech stack, including recruitment alongside tools like core HR, time off and attendance tracking and remote onboarding.
6.22 ApplicantStack – Best for starting out on the road to digitizing the recruitment cycle
Specializing in recruiting and onboarding, ApplicantStack is part of Swipeclock’s suite of HR services and has worked to whittle down more than 22 million candidates for 430,000 jobs.
The solution takes you through job spec creation (including ready-made templates) and posting to custom-built job boards (white labeled for your company), onto screening (via questionnaires and keyword parsing) and applicant ranking (using a set of parameters you create), before finishing up with automating the offer process.
ApplicantStack also features collaboration tools for recruitment teams, reporting features to analyze the secret to successful hires and interview scheduling.
Prices start from $99 per month for the Recruit platform, though this can be bundled with the Onboard platform for $144.
6.23 Breezy – Best for an easy-to-use system with core functionality and transparent pricing
Based out of Florida, USA, but working in 83 countries, Breezy breaks recruitment down into three key areas: attract, qualify and hire.
After posting roles to more than 50 jobs sites and building a career page, Brezzy then takes users through a qualifying process via automated pre-screening and a drag-and-drop interface to pick out the most promising applicants, before making interviews easier with guides, native video communication and scheduling software.
Finally, you can streamline hiring with custom offer templates, followed by some time spent with the data dashboard discovering how to further optimize the workflows.
Prices start for $143 per month with unlimited users, candidates, open positions and pools of people who may be useful for future roles.
6.24 PyjamaHR – Best for free-forever applicant tracking system
Founded in 2021, PyjamaHR offers all the core features of an applicant tracking system.
Publish jobs to partner sites or your own career page, filter through applicants using specific keywords and skills, keep communications neat and tidy, and easily schedule interviews through the easy-to-use dashboard.
All information on candidates is stored for future reference in an easily accessible database as part of the interface.
PyjamaHR’s ATS is free to use.
6.25 Paychecx Flex – Best for comprehensive support for HR tools utilization
Paychex supplies more than 730,000 with HR tools, such as payroll and benefits management, all in one platform.
The Paychex Flex hiring solution includes employee screening and background checks, an applicant tracking system where all candidate information is centralized, and the ability to standardize company processes, from posting roles to job sites via integrations to scheduling interviews.
Paychex offers 24/7 support as well as a team of advisors to help customers get the most out of their products.
Prices are available on request.
6.26 Jobin.cloud – Best for integrating with LinkedIn for job sourcing
Jobin has been primarily designed as a way to harness the world’s largest professional social app, LinkedIn.
Automated LinkedIn importing instantly harvests skill summaries, professional experiences and contact details from people of interest with a single click, using a web browser extension to transfer the information to your platform. Jobin also has its own ATS, filters and ranks applicants according to your parameters, as well as providing messaging services with templates for contacting potential hires.
There’s also the option to have Jobin get more hands on with the data, sourcing and enriching information that’s not readily accessible via LinkedIn.
Prices start from $8.99 per month for solely the LinkedIn automation features, while the ATS and the sourcing and enrichment module each cost an additional $19.99. Limited usage can also be obtained for free, including 1 job opening and 100 bulk emails per day
6.27 Kissflow Workflow – Best for businesses that want to build their own platform workflows
Providing no-code and low-code solutions for all manner of workflows since 2012, Kissflow helps you to build your own applications, project management tools and integrations.
As part of its solutions, it offers a free template for you to construct your own recruitment pathways, which can be deployed in minutes. This includes customizing your hiring, interview and onboarding workflows, streamlining candidate interactions and building a dashboard for analytics of the entire process.
Everything is completely customizable and accessible via the cloud.
Prices start at $10 per user per month for 50 users minimum.
7. FAQs
- What are some free recruitment software?
There are a number of companies that offer limited services for free to small startups or freelance recruiters, including such popular services as Zoho Recruit.
- What are some online recruitment software?
Most of the options available in the market today are online and even mobile optimized. At the very least, companies will have the option to create a hybrid solution of on-premise and cloud.
- What are some cloud-based recruitment software?
In order to increase data security, reduce total cost of ownership and improve accessibility, it’s fairly common to see cloud-based recruitment software these days, including iCIMS, CEIPAL and Alchemus.
