How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Ratings come from G2, Capterra or Trustpilot, with the date we checked them.
Key takeaways
- Scaling companies that want structured hiring should compare Greenhouse, Lever, and Ashby; only Ashby publishes startup pricing ($400/month).
- SMBs that want to skip the sales gauntlet should look at Workable (Standard $299/month, 15-day trial) and JazzHR (Hero $1,000/year).
- Enterprises already on Workday should default to Workday Recruiting; high-volume hiring operations should evaluate iCIMS and SmartRecruiters.
- Most enterprise ATS pricing is custom quote, so get competing quotes and confirm user tiers and renewal terms in writing.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 Greenhouse | Scaling companies that want structured, collaborative hiring | Custom quote (Core, Plus, and Pro plans; pricing varies by company) | No |
 Workable | SMBs to mid-market companies that want an ATS with public pricing | Standard $299/month ($3,588/year); Premier $599/month; Enterprise $719/month | No free plan; 15-day free trial of Standard (no credit card) |
 Ashby | Startups to scale-ups wanting one recruiting system with serious analytics | All-in-One Foundations $400/month (up to 100 employees; 10% annual discount) | No |
 Lever | Companies that source proactively and nurture talent like a CRM | Custom quote (based on company size and hiring volume) | No; demo offered |
 JazzHR | Small businesses making their first ATS purchase | Hero $1,000/year; Plus $3,480/year; Pro $5,508/year (billed annually) | No free plan; free trial not advertised on the pricing page |
 iCIMS | Large enterprises with high-volume or complex global hiring | Custom quote (no public pricing on the vendor site) | No |
 SmartRecruiters | Enterprises wanting a modern ATS with an open marketplace | Custom quote (no public pricing on the vendor site) | No |
 Workday Recruiting | Enterprises already running Workday HCM | Custom quote (no public pricing on the vendor site) | No |
Is your product missing or out of date?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 talent acquisition software
Talent acquisition software has a transparency problem. The tools built for startups publish their prices; the tools built for enterprises hide them. That split tells you exactly who each vendor wants as a customer, and it should tell you which shortlist you belong on before you book a single demo.
The eight platforms below cover both sides. Workable, JazzHR, and Ashby show their prices. Greenhouse, Lever, iCIMS, SmartRecruiters, and Workday quote custom. Compare within your band first; crossing bands usually means crossing budgets.
#1
Greenhouse
Best for: Scaling companies that want structured, collaborative hiring
Visit greenhouse.com
Starting priceCustom quote (Core, Plus, and Pro plans; pricing varies by company)
Free planNo
Greenhouse is the structured-hiring standard for scaling companies. Interview kits, scorecards, and defined workflows keep hiring managers aligned and reduce the "we just liked them" hiring that plagues growing teams. The integration marketplace covers sourcing, assessments, and background checks, and the reporting supports real recruiting operations.
The commercial reality is custom quotes based on company size and hiring volume, so budget planning requires the sales process. Get the full module breakdown in the quote; advanced features and add-ons stack up. Setup is moderate, with workflow design as the main work. Contracts are typically annual; confirm user tiers and renewal terms. If hiring discipline is the goal, Greenhouse's structure is the reason to buy.
What we like- Structured hiring with interview kits and scorecards
- Large integration marketplace
- Solid recruiting operations reporting
Watch out for- No published prices
- Add-ons and advanced features push total cost up
#2
Workable
Best for: SMBs to mid-market companies that want an ATS with public pricing
Visit workable.com
Starting priceStandard $299/month ($3,588/year); Premier $599/month; Enterprise $719/month
Free planNo free plan; 15-day free trial of Standard (no credit card)
Workable is the no-gauntlet option: published prices, self-serve signup, and a 15-day trial that needs no credit card. Standard at $299 per month covers the full ATS, with Premier and Enterprise tiers above. The 200-plus job board distribution and 270-plus integrations mean small teams get real reach.
Do the add-on math before comparing. Texting at $89 per month, video interviews at $109, and assessments at $59 stack onto Standard quickly; price the plan plus the add-ons you will actually use. Setup is light; most teams are live in days. Monthly or annual billing. For SMBs that want to buy software rather than endure a sales cycle, Workable's transparency is the differentiator.
What we like- Transparent published pricing, rare in this category
- Full ATS plus optional HR suite
- 200-plus job board distribution and 270-plus integrations
Watch out for- Add-ons stack up on Standard (texting, video interviews, assessments)
- AI agent runs on paid credits after the free allotment
#3
Ashby
Best for: Startups to scale-ups wanting one recruiting system with serious analytics
Visit ashbyhq.com
Starting priceAll-in-One Foundations $400/month (up to 100 employees; 10% annual discount)
Free planNo
Ashby built its reputation on analytics: recruiting metrics that actually work out of the box, in an all-in-one platform covering ATS, CRM, sourcing, scheduling, and reporting. Foundations at $400 per month for up to 100 employees, with a 10 percent annual discount, is refreshingly public for this category.
The pricing cliff is the planning item. Pass 100 employees and you enter custom-quote territory for Plus and Enterprise tiers, so model that transition if you are growing fast. Setup is light to moderate. For startups that want data-driven recruiting from day one without enterprise process, Ashby is the modern default. Just know where the published pricing ends.
What we like- Published startup pricing, unusual transparency
- All-in-one ATS, CRM, sourcing, scheduling, and analytics
- Strong reporting out of the box
Watch out for- Only Foundations has public pricing
- Growth tiers are custom quote
#4
Lever
Best for: Companies that source proactively and nurture talent like a CRM
Visit lever.co
Starting priceCustom quote (based on company size and hiring volume)
Free planNo; demo offered
Lever's thesis is that great hiring is proactive: source candidates, nurture them in CRM-style pipelines, and convert them when roles open. The sourcing and relationship workflows are the product, wrapped in a UI that hiring managers actually use. Nurture automation keeps warm candidates warm.
Pricing opacity is the friction; benchmark Lever quotes against Greenhouse and Ashby for leverage. Reporting depth trails the analytics-led competitors, so data-heavy recruiting ops should verify the reports they need exist. Setup is light to moderate. Contracts are quote-based and annual; confirm what is in the bundle. For sourcing-led teams, the CRM approach fits how they already work.
What we like- CRM-plus-ATS for proactive sourcing
- Clean UI hiring teams adopt quickly
- Good nurture campaign automation
Watch out for- Fully custom pricing with no public tiers
- Reporting depth trails some enterprise competitors
#5
JazzHR
Best for: Small businesses making their first ATS purchase
Visit jazzhr.com
Starting priceHero $1,000/year; Plus $3,480/year; Pro $5,508/year (billed annually)
Free planNo free plan; free trial not advertised on the pricing page
JazzHR is the first-ATS purchase: honest small-business pricing starting at $1,000 per year for Hero, a simple workflow, and job board syndication that gets postings distributed. For businesses moving off spreadsheets and email, it is the right-sized step.
Read the terms before projecting growth onto it. Job posting allotments and feature caps constrain the lower tiers, and the standard pricing excludes staffing agencies, franchises, and companies over 250 employees. Setup is light. Annual billing carries up to 24 percent savings versus monthly. For small businesses hiring steadily but not massively, the value is excellent; for everyone else, it is a stepping stone.
What we like- Published annual pricing built for small-business budgets
- Simple, usable ATS with job board syndication
- Affordable $1,000/year entry
Watch out for- Job posting allotments and feature caps on lower tiers
- Eligibility fine print excludes larger companies
#6
iCIMS
Best for: Large enterprises with high-volume or complex global hiring
Visit icims.com
Starting priceCustom quote (no public pricing on the vendor site)
Free planNo
iCIMS operates at enterprise scale: thousands of hires, global compliance, multi-language support, and an integration ecosystem of 800-plus partners covering job boards, assessments, and background checks. High-volume hiring workflows and automation are the core competence.
This is enterprise buying through and through: quote-based pricing, professional services implementations, and annual or multi-year contracts. Smaller teams will find the process and cost disproportionate. Confirm user and integration tiers in the contract. For large organizations where hiring is an industrial operation, iCIMS's scale tooling justifies the enterprise motion. For mid-market teams, the SMB tools deliver faster value.
What we like- Enterprise ATS with 800-plus partner integrations
- Strong high-volume hiring workflows
- Global compliance and multi-language support
Watch out for- Quote-based pricing with no public reference
- Enterprise depth means longer implementations
Starting priceCustom quote (no public pricing on the vendor site)
Free planNo
SmartRecruiters' pitch is modern usability plus openness: an enterprise ATS with an interface teams do not hate, and a marketplace of hiring apps that extends the platform without custom development. Global enterprise talent acquisition is the target.
Total cost is the comparison point. Quote the full platform against point solutions and against the SMB tools to make sure the enterprise premium buys something you need. Setup runs moderate to heavy depending on scope. Contracts are quote-based and annual; confirm user tiers and whether marketplace apps carry separate costs. For enterprises that want modern UX without sacrificing scale, it belongs in the evaluation.
What we like- Modern, usable interface at enterprise scale
- Marketplace of hiring apps and integrations
- Strong for global talent acquisition
Watch out for- Fully custom pricing
- Enterprise positioning means higher total cost than SMB tools
#8
Workday Recruiting
Best for: Enterprises already running Workday HCM
Visit workday.com
Starting priceCustom quote (no public pricing on the vendor site)
Free planNo
Workday Recruiting makes sense in exactly one situation: you already run Workday HCM. Then the unified HR data model, global compliance, and workforce planning integration compound into real value, and recruiting lives in the same system of record as everything else.
Standalone buyers rarely choose it, and should not. The pricing, implementation scale, and contract structure assume an enterprise already committed to Workday; evaluated alone against best-of-breed ATS tools, it loses on recruiting-specific depth and agility. Implementations are major projects. Contracts are quote-based, typically multi-year. If Workday is your HCM, evaluate Recruiting first. If it is not, this is not your shortlist.
What we like- Native to the Workday HCM suite
- One system of record for HR and recruiting
- Strong global compliance and workforce planning integration
Watch out for- Enterprise quote-based pricing
- Best value only inside the Workday suite
Frequently asked questions
How much does an ATS cost?
Published prices: JazzHR from $1,000 per year, Workable Standard $299 per month, Ashby Foundations $400 per month. Enterprise tools (Greenhouse, Lever, iCIMS, SmartRecruiters, Workday) quote custom based on company size and hiring volume. Add-ons for texting, video interviews, and assessments stack up on most platforms; price the bundle, not the base.
Should we buy an ATS or use our HRIS recruiting module?
If you run Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, or a similar suite, the native module's unified data usually wins. Otherwise, a best-of-breed ATS gives you better hiring workflows, more integrations, and faster innovation. The tipping point is whether recruiting is a competitive function or an administrative one at your company.
How long does ATS implementation take?
Days for Workable or JazzHR. Weeks for Greenhouse, Lever, or Ashby with workflow design. Months for iCIMS, SmartRecruiters, or Workday with integrations and global rollout. Data migration from your current system and interview process redesign are the usual long poles.
What integrations matter most?
Job boards for distribution, assessments for screening, background checks for offers, and your HRIS for the hire-to-employee handoff. Calendar and Slack or Teams integration drive daily adoption. Verify each integration is native and bidirectional where it matters; "integrates with" on a marketing page can mean a CSV export.
Can we switch ATS vendors later?
Yes, but migration is real work: candidate databases, historical pipeline data, email templates, and interview kits all move. Most vendors offer migration assistance; take it. Time the switch for a slow hiring period, and keep the old system read-only for at least a quarter for reference checks and compliance.
Do we need AI features in an ATS?
Useful AI in recruiting means resume screening assistance, interview scheduling automation, and candidate rediscovery, not chatbots. Evaluate whether the AI works on your data in a trial; generic models trained on other companies' hiring can import other companies' biases. The vendors with published AI credit models (Workable) are easier to evaluate than those bundling it opaquely.
How we chose
We started with the searches buyers actually run: best talent acquisition software and its variants. For each candidate we opened the vendor's own homepage and pricing page, recorded published prices where they exist and marked custom quote where they do not, and compared hiring-workflow depth, pricing transparency, and company-size fit against practitioner discussion and public reviews. Where a vendor page did not verify a fact, we said so rather than filling the gap.
Sources we checked (9)
- https://greenhouse.com/
- https://www.greenhouse.com/pricing
- https://www.lever.co/
- https://www.ashbyhq.com/pricing
- https://www.workable.com/pricing
- https://jazzhr.com/pricing/
- https://www.icims.com/
- https://www.smartrecruiters.com/
- https://workday.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 5+ years in B2B and SaaS SEO. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.