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We considered the leading providers and narrowed the list down to 24. We then scrutinized them across 42 metrics. Our ratings consider factors, such as pricing transparency, candidate sourcing, employee self-sufficiency, applicant tracking, compatibility with third-party integrations and access to customer support. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.
Best Recruiting Software Of 2024
Forbes Advisor Ratings
What Is Recruiting Software?
Recruitment software helps hiring teams manage and optimize the entire hiring process to improve hire quality, reduce administrative work, improve collaboration among decision makers and reduce the time it takes to fill a role.
The best recruiting software makes it easy to find, evaluate and select high-quality job applicants to interview. Features you should expect in recruiting software include job posting on multiple career sites, résumé screening and candidate evaluation and tracking tools.
Types of Recruiting Software
There are several different activities involved in the recruiting and hiring process from sourcing to matching to interviewing, so it’s not surprising that a variety of solutions are available to address those activities. Some recruiting software providers include multiple types of recruiting tools in their platforms. Other providers specialize in specific actions, such as job placement or candidate screening.
Here are some of the most popular types of recruiting software available today:
Job Placement Software
For best results, hiring managers need access to a large pool of qualified applicants. Job placement software automatically posts job advertisements on multiple recruiting sites and job boards. There are hundreds of recruiting sites, the most popular being Indeed, LinkedIn, ZipRecruiter, Monster, SimplyHired, CareerBuilder and Google for Jobs.
Candidate Relationship Management Software
Similar to a customer relationship management (CRM) tool, a candidate relationship management solution—or Recruitment CRM—helps recruiters stay in touch with current and potential job candidates.
It does this by providing a contact database that tracks interactions, ideally across multiple outlets like text, email or social media. Recruiting agencies and large organizations that hire in large volumes reap the most benefit from using recruitment CRMs.
Video Interviewing Software
Nowadays, more hiring managers and recruiters are conducting job interviews via video. Video interviewing is sometimes a built-in feature within recruiting software or can be conducted through a third-party integration with Zoom or another video app. VidCruiter and Spark Hire are software providers that specialize in video interviewing.
Some recruiting software solutions, like Spark Hire and Hireflix, support one-way video interviewing where a candidate records themselves answering question prompts. The benefit of one-way video interviews is that a candidate’s responses can be shared with other stakeholders that wouldn’t have otherwise been able to make it to a live interview.
Applicant Tracking Software
Applicant tracking software (ATS)—also referred to as an applicant tracking system—is a type of recruitment software that helps recruiters manage the entire hiring pipeline, from job posting to employee onboarding.
ATS platforms include hiring team collaboration tools, messaging and interview scheduling tools, résumé parsing, reference checks and preemployment testing tools. Zoho Recruit and Breezy HR offer excellent ATS solutions.
Preemployment Testing Software
Employers use preemployment testing software to assess a candidate’s skills or measure how well applicants’ values fit with the company’s values. Standardized or customized tests can evaluate candidates on several attributes, including technical knowledge, problem-solving skills, cognitive abilities, software competency, emotional intelligence and dominant personality traits.
How To Choose the Best Recruiting Software
Whether you’re looking to get started with recruiting software for the first time or are switching to a new solution, here are our top tips for choosing a recruiting software that’s best for you:
- Set and stick to your budget, preferably finding a solution that can scale with you as your workforce and its needs grow.
- Determine your “must-have” features vs. “nice-to-have” features.
- Test the software for overall functionality and user-friendliness before you commit to a purchase.
- Consider software that can be customized to accommodate your organization’s specific needs, for example, in reporting, job requisitioning and white-labeled career pages.
- Choose recruiting software that integrates easily with other software and apps you use.
- Verify that the software assures an unbiased recruiting process and promotes diversity and inclusion through features like anonymous screening and interview scorecards.
Top Recruiting Software Features
The features you’ll need in your recruiting software will depend on your specific needs. Companies with modest hiring programs typically only require basic features, such as job posting and candidate tracking. Enterprise-level organizations and recruiting agencies with more sophisticated recruitment needs require a wider variety of features—like automated sourcing and candidate matching—to handle the recruitment process from job requisition through onboarding.
Here are popular features you can expect to see in the best recruiting software:
- Job requisition management. In most organizations, you can only conduct a candidate search once the position is approved. That’s why it’s helpful if your recruiting software provides job requisition management, preferably as a customizable option, so you can adjust the software to align with your organization’s exact requisition process.
- Job posting. Most recruiting software solutions let you choose where and how your jobs are posted online. Many, such as ZipRecruiter, allow you to post jobs on more than 100 job boards with just one click.
- Automated sourcing. Recruiting software with this feature can help you locate qualified candidates using intelligent sourcing algorithms, employee referral programs and social media sourcing, especially LinkedIn.
- Automated candidate matching. This feature pairs your requirements with the most qualified applicants often through automated resume parsing. This saves the recruiting team the time and effort of sifting through applications to find qualified candidates.
- Individual candidate tracking. Every interaction with each candidate needs to be timely, consistent and stored for easy access and viewing. Keeping thorough records on your recruiting and hiring efforts not only promotes a favorable candidate experience but also keeps your company compliant with employment law.
- Preemployment testing. Some organizations require applicants to complete assessments or perform other preemployment testing to further narrow down the applicant pool. This is helpful for companies that post jobs yielding a high number of applicants.
- Background screening. Applicant background screening is conducted through a native background check tool in a recruiting software solution or, more often, from a third-party provider. The findings should be securely stored, and many recruiting software options allow you to do this manually or by integrating with a third-party screening app.
- Reference check. Contact names, dates of contact and findings from reference checks should be documented, so it’s helpful to choose a software solution where you can facilitate electronic reference checks and store documentation.
- Electronic forms and signatures. If you plan to have candidates complete any form, such as nondisclosure agreements, noncompete agreements or job offer acceptance letters, it’s helpful if your software can handle this process electronically. This mitigates the frustration of back-and-forth communication and the chance that files get lost.
- Onboarding tools. Recruiting software that moves new hires into an onboarding process helps them get off to a strong start with your organization. Look for a solution with built-in, customizable onboarding features, such as welcome messaging, first-week goals, app and tech provisioning, benefits information and any pertinent training.
Software Integrations
The best recruiting software can be even more effective through third-party software integrations. For example, you may want your recruiting software to integrate with your current email, calendar, video meetings or project management tools. When selecting recruiting software, be sure to double-check whether it integrates seamlessly with the software you already use.
Recruiting Software Cost
Recruiting software costs range from $0 to $719 per month, though solutions that are incorporated into human resources management systems and human capital management platforms can easily cost thousands. The amount you’ll pay varies by the provider you choose, job posting volume, number of users and the length of time you want your jobs posted.
Most recruiting software providers offer month-to-month and annual pricing plans. You’ll typically save 10% or more by entering a yearly contract.
You don’t necessarily have to go with a monthly or yearly plan; a few other pricing models are available. For example, LinkedIn has a recruiting option based on a pay-per-click basis; you set a custom budget and only pay when someone clicks on your posts. SimplyHired charges on a pay-per-contact basis where you post unlimited jobs for free and only pay a fee when you want to contact an applicant.
Before investing in a recruiting solution, take advantage of free trials so you fully understand what each software brings to the table. You may find lower-priced software fits your needs just as well or even better than higher-priced options.
The best way to keep costs down for recruiting software is to understand your options in light of your recruiting needs. There’s no need to commit to a long-term contract for short-term recruiting needs. It’s also unwise to go with a short-term contract if your recruiting needs are ongoing or growing. Most importantly, choose a solution that’s in your budget and has the most or all of your “must-have” features.
Business Size Considerations
The differences in recruiting needs for small and large businesses are considerable. Small organizations who don’t have the staff for hiring or the budget for recruiting software turn to staffing agencies. Otherwise they use a simple software solution or recruit independently, using social media, for example.
As a company grows in locations and head count, it’ll need a scalable solution to help a business owner or a small hiring team handle the hiring influx. Automations and an applicant tracking system will become must-have features.
Larger organizations require far more robust recruiting software with features that help streamline the process of managing multiple job candidates for multiple positions. Large employers and large recruiting agencies will want to ensure the following features are included in the recruiting software they select:
- Résumé parsing. If you’re managing a large number of job applicants, you’ll want recruiting software that comes with résumé parsing. Parsing is an automated process that quickly identifies and extracts relevant information from résumés and cover letters, such as job-related keywords, experience levels, work history and other indicators that suggest an applicant might be a strong candidate for an open position.
- Candidate pool tracking. Recruiting software should track every candidate for each open role as well as their current status in the recruitment process. For example, it’s helpful when you can look at a dashboard and quickly see what stage each application is at in the hiring process.
- Document management. You need a central place where those involved in the recruiting process can view recruitment-related documents, such as job descriptions, applicant cover letters and résumés. Access to some of these documents, such as those with confidential personal details or salary information, may require user permission controls.
- Role and access management. Not all information in the recruiting process should be shared with all parties involved in the recruiting effort. Therefore, recruiting software that offers user access control on a feature-by-feature basis is preferred by many organizations.
- Interview scheduling and management. Scheduling and managing interviews can get complicated, especially when multiple interviewers need to meet with candidates on different dates. Also, group interviewing is becoming more popular, so integrated calendar coordination in a recruiting software solution is helpful for finding open time slots across multiple schedules.
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Methodology
To determine the best recruiting software for small businesses, we researched the leading providers in the space and narrowed our analysis to 24 companies. We reviewed them across six primary categories for a total of 42 different metrics. We then weighted those metrics to favor features that matter most to small businesses—only the 10 best made our list of best recruiting software.
Here are the metrics we used to evaluate the top recruiting software.
Value – 10%
Our research team looked at whether a free plan was available and the total costs for monthly and annual paid plans. We also considered the length and availability of free trials, which is vital so that the recruiting software can be thoroughly vetted before making a purchase.
Candidate Sourcing – 35.5%
Robust candidate sourcing features are essential in recruiting software. The best recruiting platforms integrate seamlessly with third-party job boards, allowing job postings to be syndicated across dozens to hundreds of job boards. Top-notch software also crawls résumés for keywords and automatically sends job postings to potential candidates.
We considered whether the recruiting platform contains scheduling tools to connect recruiters with candidates, email and SMS templates available for effortless communication and anonymous candidate screening capabilities. We also looked for other popular candidate sourcing features, including the ability to push job postings to social media and embed postings on the company’s website.
Applicant Tracking – 32.5%
Applicant tracking is a vital component of recruiting software. We considered whether each software provider offered an ATS and related features, such as background check capabilities, job requisition management, onboarding features and built-in tools that assist with interview questions and documentation of feedback on candidates.
Additional Features – 1.5%
While we ensured every provider on this list scored high for essential features, we also looked for advanced features. We considered the availability and quality of a mobile app, reporting and analytics capabilities, skill assessment tools, document management features and platform customization.
Service and Support – 5%
Recruiting software can be complicated, which means users typically require access to timely and helpful customer service and support. We considered types of support offered, service hours and how support is delivered—e.g., phone, chat, email and online knowledge center. We also looked at customer reviews to evaluate each provider’s reputation for support quality and responsiveness.
Expert Score – 20%
The expert review team at Forbes has decades of experience evaluating business tools and software. Tapping into that immense experience, our team considered standout features, value for the money, software popularity and ease of use when scoring all the recruiting software platforms evaluated in this review.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the best recruiting software?
The best recruiting platform for your organization depends on your specific needs. For example, Forbes Advisor considers Manatal the best overall, HiringThing the best private-label ATS and Breezy HR best for fast-growing companies.
What is the best CRM for recruiting?
PCRecruiter offers both an excellent CRM and ATS, making it our favorite CRM for recruiting. Other popular recruiting CRMs include Recruit CRM and Bullhorn.
What's the best site for posting a job listing?
As with résumé databases, there is no “best” place to list a job. The best platform comes down to the one that fits your budget and has an ample supply of users who are looking for the job you want to place. However, there are several leading job boards, such as Indeed, LinkedIn and Google Jobs. Learn more about the best places to post a job listing.
Why should I use recruitment software?
Recruiting software simplifies hiring by helping you find highly qualified candidates faster and more easily. For optimal results, choose software that offers automated job posting to multiple job boards and websites, candidate management and interview scheduling. Also, it’s helpful if the recruiting software you select integrates with your existing email, calendar and meeting software.
How much does recruiting software cost?
Recruiting software costs typically range from $25 to $719 per month, but larger organizations with high-volume recruiting needs may pay into the thousands. While most recruiting software is priced monthly or annually, some providers offer per-job-posted pricing models.
How do I create a recruiting pipeline?
A recruiting pipeline ensures you have access to the talent you require for future hiring needs. To build your pipeline, you can actively seek candidates and evaluate them using recruiting software, such as Breezy HR or JazzHR. Candidates who don’t qualify for the open jobs but still show potential can be added to your pipeline for future contact. You can add to your recruiting pipeline by using a CRM to track unsolicited job applications.
