How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Rankite is independent; if a vendor ever pays for a featured spot, that listing is clearly labeled Partner.
Key takeaways
- Greenhouse earned the top ATS spot in G2's Summer 2026 rankings, and reviewers consistently praise its structured hiring workflows.
- JazzHR publishes the clearest entry pricing at $75 a month on annual billing, with a 21-day free trial.
- Manatal ($15 per user per month, annual) and Zoho Recruit ($25 per recruiter per month, annual) are the budget picks with free plans or trials.
- Most leading ATS vendors keep pricing quote based, so user reviews matter more than marketing pages when you compare them.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 Greenhouse | structured hiring at growing companies | See website | No |
 Lever | mid-market teams that want CRM plus ATS | See website (custom pricing) | No |
 Ashby | startups that want analytics from day one | See website | No |
 Workable | small businesses hiring across many roles | See website | Free trial |
 Breezy HR | small teams that want a visual pipeline | See website | Free trial (14 days) |
 JazzHR | small businesses that want published pricing | $75/month (Hero, annual) or $99/month | Free trial (21 days) |
 SmartRecruiters | enterprises hiring at high volume | See website | No |
 Recruitee | European teams and mid-size companies | See website | No |
 Zoho Recruit | budget teams already using Zoho | $25 per recruiter/month (Corporate Standard, annual) | Yes (free edition) |
 Manatal | small agencies and teams that want simple pricing | $15 per user/month (annual) | Free trial (14 days) |
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
The best ATS software based on user reviews
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Greenhouse took the number one ATS spot in G2's Summer 2026 rankings, and the reviews explain why. Hiring teams praise the structured hiring approach: scorecards, standardized interview kits and consistent evaluation criteria that reduce gut-feel decisions. For companies making dozens of hires a year, that structure pays for itself in better hires and fewer bad ones.
The reviews also flag the cost and effort honestly. Greenhouse prices by employee count on annual contracts, and implementation needs real configuration work. Companies under 50 people often find it more system than they need. But for growing teams that take hiring seriously, it remains the reviewer favorite for good reason.
What we like- Structured scorecards keep interviews consistent
- Integrations with HR and sourcing tools are extensive
- Reporting helps teams find pipeline bottlenecks
Watch out for- Pricing is quote only and aimed at mid-market budgets
- Setup takes real configuration effort
- Smaller teams may not use the full feature set
#2
Lever
Best for: mid-market teams that want CRM plus ATS
Visit lever.co
Starting priceSee website (custom pricing)
Free planNo
Lever's pitch is that hiring does not end when a requisition closes. The platform pairs a full applicant tracking system with CRM features for nurturing past candidates and silver medalists, so your talent pool keeps working between hires. Reviewers like the automation for follow-ups and the analytics on which sources produce actual hires.
Lever publishes custom pricing rather than fixed tiers, and the product clearly targets mid-market and enterprise teams. Implementation takes time, and the breadth of features can overwhelm a two-person recruiting team. Companies that hire continuously and want to build long-term pipelines get the most from it.
What we like- Combines ATS with candidate relationship management
- Automation handles nurture and follow-up
- Analytics track source quality well
Watch out for- Pricing is custom and quote based
- The platform has a learning curve
- Smaller teams report it feels built for bigger companies
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Ashby has become the default ATS recommendation in startup circles, and user reviews read like fan mail. The analytics show exactly where candidates drop off, which interviewers are slow and which sources convert, without needing a data team. The interface is quick, the scheduling works, and offer management is clean.
The main complaints are about pace rather than quality: Ashby ships changes fast, and some users find the interface shifting under them. Pricing is quote based, though generally positioned below Greenhouse. Enterprise buyers with strict compliance needs should verify requirements during the trial, since the biggest vendors still lead there.
What we like- Analytics and reporting are best in class for the price band
- The interface is fast and modern
- Scheduling and offer management work smoothly
Watch out for- Pricing is quote only
- The product moves fast, which means frequent UI changes
- Enterprise compliance features lag bigger rivals
Starting priceSee website
Free planFree trial
Workable suits the small business that hires a little bit of everything: a driver, a bookkeeper, a salesperson. One-click posting pushes the job to many boards, candidates flow into a simple pipeline, and hiring managers can review on their phones. The free trial lets teams run a real hiring round before paying.
Reviewers note that pricing scales with company size rather than recruiter seats, which can surprise growing teams at renewal. Reporting covers the basics but lacks the depth of Greenhouse or Ashby. For straightforward hiring without a recruiting team, though, Workable's simplicity is exactly the point.
What we like- Job board distribution reaches many sites at once
- The mobile app lets managers review candidates anywhere
- AI screening helps with high applicant volume
Watch out for- Pricing is quote based and scales with employee count
- Some users find the reporting basic
- Advanced features need higher tiers
#5
Breezy HR
Best for: small teams that want a visual pipeline
Visit breezy.hr
Starting priceSee website
Free planFree trial (14 days)
Breezy HR is the friendly face of applicant tracking. The kanban pipeline makes it obvious where every candidate stands, and even non-technical hiring managers pick it up in an afternoon. A free Bootstrap plan covering one active position means very small teams can hire without paying anything, and the 14-day trial opens the paid features.
The honest limit is scale. Breezy works well up to a few dozen hires a year; beyond that, teams tend to want the reporting and automation of bigger systems. Pricing beyond the free tier is not published in detail, so confirm costs before you build processes around it. For a first ATS, it is one of the easiest starts available.
What we like- Drag-and-drop pipeline is genuinely easy to use
- A free Bootstrap plan covers one active position
- Candidate messaging is built in
Watch out for- Published pricing details are limited
- Advanced reporting is thin
- Larger teams outgrow it quickly
#6
JazzHR
Best for: small businesses that want published pricing
Visit jazzhr.com
Starting price$75/month (Hero, annual) or $99/month
Free planFree trial (21 days)
JazzHR earns its place through transparency. The Hero plan is published at $75 a month on annual billing ($99 month to month), unlimited users are included, and a 21-day free trial gives teams a real evaluation window. For small businesses that want to know the price before talking to sales, that openness stands out in this category.
Reviewers are candid about the tradeoffs. The interface feels older than Ashby or Workable, and the feature set covers recruiting fundamentals rather than advanced analytics. Add-ons for things like texting and video interviews raise the total. But as a workhorse ATS for teams making steady hires on a budget, JazzHR delivers the essentials at a fair published price.
What we like- Published pricing starts at $75 a month on annual billing
- The 21-day trial is generous
- Unlimited users on paid plans
Watch out for- The interface looks dated next to newer rivals
- Advanced features trail Greenhouse and Ashby
- Add-ons can raise the effective price
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
SmartRecruiters is built for companies hiring hundreds or thousands of people a year across multiple countries. The platform handles high-volume workflows, global compliance needs and large hiring teams with role-based permissions. The integration marketplace connects to most HR and assessment tools an enterprise already uses.
Everything about the buying process signals enterprise: quote-only pricing, annual contracts and an implementation project rather than a signup form. Small and mid-size teams should look elsewhere; this product assumes a recruiting operations function. For large talent acquisition teams, the scale handling is the reason to shortlist it.
What we like- Built for high-volume and global hiring
- The marketplace offers many integrations
- Collaboration tools suit large hiring teams
Watch out for- Pricing is quote only and enterprise level
- Implementation is a real project
- Small teams will find it oversized
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Recruitee, now operating under the Tellent brand as Tellent Recruitee, is a European-built ATS with a strong following among mid-size companies. Collaborative features like shared candidate profiles, team scorecards and internal chat fit companies where hiring decisions involve the whole team. The branded careers pages look professional without developer help.
US buyers should know the brand is better established in Europe, so reference customers in your industry may be thinner stateside. Pricing is quote based. For companies that value collaborative hiring and proper GDPR handling, Recruitee deserves a demo alongside the American vendors.
What we like- Collaborative hiring features work well for team-based decisions
- The careers site builder is strong
- European data compliance is handled properly
Watch out for- Pricing is quote based
- US brand recognition is lower
- Some advanced automation lags the top rivals
#9
Zoho Recruit
Best for: budget teams already using Zoho
Visit zoho.com
Starting price$25 per recruiter/month (Corporate Standard, annual)
Free planYes (free edition)
Zoho Recruit follows the Zoho playbook: solid features at a fraction of rival prices. Corporate Standard starts at $25 per recruiter per month on annual billing, and a free edition handles basic job posting and candidate tracking. If your company already runs on Zoho CRM or Zoho People, the shared data and single login make it a natural add.
Expectations should match the price. The interface is workmanlike, automation is simpler than Greenhouse or Lever, and support runs through tickets. But for staffing agencies and small HR teams that need resume parsing, job posting and pipeline tracking without a big contract, Zoho Recruit covers the fundamentals honestly.
What we like- Published pricing from $25 per recruiter per month
- A free edition covers basic hiring
- Deep integration with the Zoho suite
Watch out for- The interface is functional rather than polished
- Advanced features trail the category leaders
- Support is ticket based
#10
Manatal
Best for: small agencies and teams that want simple pricing
Visit manatal.com
Starting price$15 per user/month (annual)
Free planFree trial (14 days)
Manatal prices like software from a simpler era: $15 per user per month on annual billing, no quotes, no tiers to decode. The product covers the full recruiting flow with a clean interface, and its AI recommendations help shortlist candidates from large applicant pools. A 14-day free trial opens the whole product.
The vendor is better known in Asia and Europe than in the US, so American buyers should test support responsiveness during the trial. A few enterprise integrations are missing compared to Greenhouse. For small agencies and lean teams that want capable ATS software at a published price, Manatal is easy to recommend.
What we like- Simple per-user pricing at $15 a month annual
- AI candidate recommendations help shortlist faster
- The interface is clean and quick
Watch out for- Brand recognition is lower in the US
- Some enterprise integrations are missing
- Reporting depth trails the top tier
How we chose
We built this ranking from public user reviews on G2, Capterra and Reddit, cross-checked against vendor pricing pages and product documentation. Every product's homepage was opened to confirm it is still sold and fits the ATS category, and pricing comes only from the vendor's own published pages. We weighted review sentiment from real recruiting teams over marketing claims, and we favored tools with transparent pricing and free trials where they exist. No vendor paid for placement, and none was tested hands-on.
Frequently asked questions
What does ATS stand for?
ATS stands for applicant tracking system: software that collects job applications, organizes candidates in a hiring pipeline and helps teams evaluate and hire. Most also post jobs to boards, schedule interviews and store hiring records.
How much does an ATS cost?
Small-team ATS software runs $15 to $100 per user or recruiter per month with published pricing (Manatal, Zoho Recruit, JazzHR). Mid-market platforms like Greenhouse, Lever and Ashby are quote based and typically cost several hundred to several thousand dollars a month depending on headcount.
Which ATS do reviewers rate highest?
Greenhouse holds the top ATS position in G2's Summer 2026 rankings, with Ashby close behind among startups. JazzHR and Breezy HR earn strong reviews from small businesses, largely for value and ease of use rather than feature depth.
Do I need an ATS if I only hire a few people a year?
Probably not a paid one. Breezy HR's free Bootstrap plan covers one active position, and Zoho Recruit has a free edition. A spreadsheet works until hiring becomes regular enough that candidates start slipping through the cracks.
What is the difference between an ATS and a recruiting CRM?
An ATS manages active job openings and applicants. A recruiting CRM nurtures candidate relationships over time, including past applicants and passive talent. Lever combines both; most other tools on this list are primarily ATS products.
How long does ATS implementation take?
Simple tools like Breezy HR or Manatal can be live in days. Mid-market platforms like Greenhouse or Lever typically need two to six weeks for configuration, data migration and team training. Enterprise rollouts at SmartRecruiters scale can take months.
What to check before you buy an ATS
Start with your hiring volume, not the feature list. A team making ten hires a year needs a simple pipeline and job board posting; a team making two hundred needs automation, structured interviews and serious reporting. Buying enterprise software for occasional hiring wastes money and goodwill.
Test the parts your team will touch daily. Have an actual hiring manager run a candidate through the pipeline during the trial, post a real job and check the mobile experience. Reviewers consistently say the demo looks great and the daily workflow is what matters.
Confirm the pricing model in writing. Some vendors price per employee, some per recruiter, some per active job. Model the cost at your headcount twelve months out, ask what happens to data if you cancel, and check whether job board distribution or texting cost extra.
Sources we checked (10)
- https://greenhouse.com/
- https://www.lever.co
- https://www.ashbyhq.com
- https://www.workable.com
- https://breezy.hr
- https://jazzhr.com/
- https://www.smartrecruiters.com
- https://recruitee.com
- https://www.zoho.com/recruit/
- https://manatal.com/
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has spent more than a decade helping SaaS and e-commerce brands grow through search. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.