Recruiting software has taken over the recruitment and staffing industry by storm! Ask any recruiter, and they’ll rave about its benefits.
With so much to put to good use with this must-have tool, choosing the best recruiting software for your recruitment agency might sound daunting, but with proper research, you can ease your hunt and make an informed decision for your business.
We’ve created a complete guide to help you find the best recruiting software, including a list from top review sites like Capterra, G2, and Software Advice.
Here’s a quick rundown of some of the essentials we’ve covered:
What is a recruiting software?
Simply put, a recruiting software is an all-in-one tool for your recruitment process. The best recruiting software will allow you to post jobs to different platforms, manage candidates and clients, and ultimately manage your hiring process from start to finish.
With high-quality recruiting software, recruiters can forget about multiple tools and software cluttering their systems.
94% of recruiters say using a recruiting software has positively impacted their hiring process.
A recruitment software like an Applicant Tracking System will centralize all your favorite recruiting tools and your database onto one reliable platform that recruiters can access anytime and anywhere.
As recruitment technology becomes more mainstream in the recruitment industry, agency recruiters rely less on physical databases and more on their recruitment software to source candidates, store data, and much more.
Depending on your needs, you’ll find different types of recruiting software with different features best suited for your recruitment workflow.
Top 10 best recruiting software for search firms
1. Recruit CRM – Highest-rated of all!
Recruit CRM helps you streamline and automate your entire recruiting workflow. Right from sourcing quality candidates to screening and hiring them, recruiters can centralize client and candidate management and open positions with ease.
Trusted by recruitment agencies across 100+ countries, Recruit CRM’s team of experts work endlessly to provide the best product enhancements, smooth onboarding, and a live chat support system to all our users.
Recruit CRM’s ATS + CRM has also been recognized as the highest-rated software in the recruitment software category on Capterra, GetApp, and G2 and is the #1 recruiting software for staffing agencies on Software Advice!
You can get a free trial of the software or check out their pricing plans here.
Some of the most-loved Recruit CRM features include:
- Integrations with over 5000+ apps via Zapier and Integrately
- 100% customizability & ease of use
- 24*7 live support with customer queries answered in under 2 minutes!
- Super fast 5-minute setup
- Chrome extension for candidate sourcing
2. Ceipal – Best for passive candidate sourcing
CEIPAL is a fully scalable ATS that helps staffing and recruiting firms.
The tool offers fair and transparent pricing with three packages CEIPAL ATS, CEIPAL Advanced Automation Bundle, and CEIPAL Workforce Management.
Its features include:
- Integrations with over 50+ job boards
- Passive candidate sourcing
- Customized reporting
- AI chatbots
3. GoHire – Best for job postings
GoHire’s all-in-one talent-hiring platform is best suited for job postings. You can use it to post jobs to multiple sites and optimize your hiring spend.
Pricing plans start at $49 per month.
Its feature includes:
- One-click job posting to 15+ job boards
- Schedule interviews in no time
- 24*7 chat support
4. Workable – Best for collaborative hiring
Workable’s recruiting software is a great option for businesses of all sizes. Workable makes collaborative hiring a breeze for recruitment teams with its candidate assessment features.
Hiring teams can easily collaborate to evaluate applicants, gather feedback, and check for unconscious bias–all in one platform.
Workable features include:
- Email and calendar synchronization
- Hiring reports
- HRIS integration
- Interviewing kits
5. Greenhouse – Best for internal recruitment
Greenhouse is suitable for growing companies to streamline every step of their hiring and onboarding processes.
Their recruiting software reduces administrative work and keeps the hiring team engaged by fostering engaging candidate interactions at all touchpoints.
They have three types of pricing plans: Essential, Advance, and Expert.
Each package is accessible for businesses of all sizes and gives you the resources you need to set up a hiring process that grows with your business.
Greenhouse’s most loved features include:
- Sourcing automation
- Recruiting reporting tools
6. Clear Company – Best for onboarding candidates
ClearCompany assists search firms in sorting through millions of applicants to find, hire, engage, and retain them.
You’ll find tools for every stage of the talent lifecycle to enhance the candidate and client experience. They have transparent pricing options with no hidden fees. But you have to provide your credentials before getting the quote.
Its features include:
- Candidate onboarding and evaluation
- Easy interview scheduling
- Centralized candidate management
7. SmartRecruiters – Best for increasing recruiter productivity
SmartRecruiters offers a robust recruiting software that includes useful features guaranteed to boost recruiters’ productivity. With their applicant tracking system, you can alleviate the administrative workload through candidate assessment tools, automated communication, and more.
With SmartRecruiters, you can complete all your recruiting tasks in one place, including:
- Candidate discovery for easy sourcing
- Automated job offering
- Advanced search for easy candidate tracking
- Integrations for candidate communication
8. Lever – Best for tracking recruitment metrics
Using Lever, talent teams can easily accomplish their major hiring goals.
The tool enables TA teams to scale and grow their talent pipeline, develop genuine and lasting relationships, and identify the most qualified candidates for recruitment.
It has two pricing plans: LeverTRM and LeverTRM for Enterprise.
Some of the popular features include:
- Efficient collaborative hiring
- Useful integrations
- AI chatbots
9. Beamery- Best for the candidate experience
Beamery is a talent lifecycle management system where recruiters can identify and engage candidates through talent networks quickly and efficiently. Their recruiting software uses AI to create a rich candidate experience and allows recruiters to prioritize DE&I hiring.
Best features:
- Easy candidate tracking and data management
- Talent rediscovery
- Recruiter productivity reports
10. Rippling- Best for recruitment & employee management
Rippling is a unified workforce platform where employers can manage all human resource functions, from hiring, applicant tracking, payroll, and attendance management.
Their applicant tracking system allows users to set up custom hiring workflows, automate interview scheduling, build reports on vital metrics, and one-click job postings.
Some of the best features of Rippling include:
- New hire onboarding automation
- Compliance tracking for businesses
- Applicant tracking + employee management tools
Types of recruiting software & their functions
Applicant Tracking Systems and Candidate Relationship Management systems are the most commonly used recruiting software in the recruiting industry. Let’s take a look at the primary differences between these two tools:
1. Applicant tracking system (ATS)
Applicant tracking systems are the most commonly used recruiting software by agency recruiters. An ATS acts as a repository for all your candidate and client information and helps manage the recruitment process from a single place.
An applicant tracking system can automate most stages of the hiring process, including candidate screening, communication processes, interview scheduling, resume parsing, candidate sourcing, posting jobs, and more.
Apart from handling the hiring process from top to bottom, recruiters can get deep insights into what is working for them through intelligent recruitment metrics and reports powered by artificial intelligence.
Applicant tracking systems automatically store handy data points that can help you make informed hiring decisions, allowing you to scale your business effectively.
2. Candidate relationship management system (CRM)
A candidate relationship management system allows recruiting teams to create a complete talent pipeline and nurture relationships with new and old candidates.
Investing in a recruitment CRM is crucial for recruiters as it helps build and maintain a well-functioning candidate database without relying on countless excel sheets and files.
With a CRM, recruiters have an ecosystem of all active and passive candidates and previous candidates who applied for a position.
Fortunately, most ATS’ are equipped with a CRM tool, eliminating the need to invest in multiple tools. Ultimately, an ATS and CRM function cohesively as a complete talent intelligence hub.
Must-have recruiting software features
Depending on your business requirements, your list of must-have features will vary, but here’s a list of recommended features you should consider to make the most of your recruiting software.
1. Automation & customization
Recruiting tasks like sourcing, nurturing, engaging, and interviewing candidates involve many tasks that pile up on the workload, making the hiring process highly time-consuming.
But with the help of a recruiting software, recruiters can sail through all those tedious tasks with the help of automation and customization.
Automation allows recruiters to schedule interviews, post job ads automatically, collect feedback, screen candidate profiles and resumes, and streamline communication at the click of a button!
HR departments and staffing agencies can now forget about manually sending job offers and follow-up emails thanks to best recruiting software.
With a customizable recruiting software, hiring teams can add more users or client profiles, change candidate requirements, and personalize viewing options, making the software more user-friendly.
2. Seamless integrations
The availability of third-party integrations and API is a must for any recruiting software.
When a recruiting software easily integrates with your social media, job boards, and email, the hiring process becomes much more streamlined and manageable.
With the help of third-party integrations and API, recruiters can keep all everything centralized under one platform, eliminating the need for multiple windows.
Without integrations, you’ll have a fragmented recruitment system that complicates your hiring process.
The integrations found in most recruiting software these days include–
- Job boards
- Social media platforms and career sites
- Email and other communication apps
- Your website
3. Mobile accessibility
With mobile gadgets taking over each aspect of our lives, it’s only natural to look for mobile-friendly tools.
People are opting for remote work now more than ever before, so a mobile-friendly recruiting software is a must for recruiting teams who don’t want to restrict themselves geographically.
Mobile accessibility is a must if you want to attract qualified candidates who prefer mobile job applications for open positions.
With more than 77% of job seekers using mobile for job searching, it’s crucial to invest in a system with mobile accessibility and adaptability to different devices and operating systems.
So while searching for the best recruiting software, make sure it comes with a mobile app for recruiting on the fly!
4. Automated communication
We all know timely communication is a big part of a recruiter’s job.
Without a streamlined communication process, recruiters put themselves at risk for a sloppy client and candidate experience.
To avoid miscommunication with candidate pools and clients, recruiters must invest in a recruiting software that automates their communication process.
Some of the best recruiting software available in the market can automate repetitive messages such as interview reminders and selection or rejection notifications.
If you want to personalize your automated messages, you can choose a list of email templates within your recruiting software without having to draft an entire message from scratch.
5. Cloud-based software solution
Cloud-based technology has taken over the recruitment technology space today.
A cloud-based system might not be on the top of your list of must-have features, but it can significantly improve team productivity and collaboration and streamline the hiring process.
Cloud-based recruiting systems eliminate the possibility of restricted access to information, as hiring team members can access the database anywhere in the world.
A cloud-based recruiting system makes collaboration and data management much more seamless (allowing you to store data on cloud servers) without the risk of losing your data.
6. Easy candidate sourcing
Candidate sourcing is crucial yet highly strenuous and time-consuming.
A recruiting software with a candidate sourcing feature will create a robust talent pipeline and help you quickly source the best candidates for hard-to-fill roles.
A candidate sourcing feature will allow you to connect with suitable candidates in seconds by automatically scanning data and presenting you with the most relevant resumes.
Especially with Boolean search, recruiters can easily leverage large databases like LinkedIn and Indeed to perform high-quality candidate searches.
7. Reports & analytics dashboard
Many recruitment agencies have adopted a data-driven recruiting strategy to improve their quality of hire.
The best recruiting software can provide intelligent reports and analytics to help recruiters make informed hiring decisions and improve recruitment strategies.
These reports are based on tangible recruitment metric insights, allowing recruiters to understand which processes require attention and what is working for them.
With intelligent KPI reports and metrics, recruitment agencies can fine-tune their recruitment strategies and more effectively plan their business operations.
8. Automated interview scheduling
If you’re struggling to stay on top of all your candidate interviews, you need a recruiting software with automated interview scheduling.
An interview scheduling feature can help prevent interview overlaps, overbooked slots, and inaccurately recorded data.
Make sure your recruiting software allows the following:
- Quick interview scheduling without switching apps
- Easily view team members’ calendars
- Collect candidate feedback
An interview scheduling feature will also allow you to set automatic reminders and notifications for your hiring team and candidates. This way, you can stay on top of your busy schedule and keep candidates informed through automated messages.
An interview scheduling feature is a win-win for all, providing a positive candidate experience and keeping clients in check!
9. Resume parsing
With so many applicants in the hiring process, no one has the time and bandwidth to screen resumes manually.
Instead of relying on manual efforts, recruiters can rely on an in-built resume parser that can automatically scan hundreds of resumes at the click of a button!
The resume parsing tool automatically highlights the most qualified candidates and eliminates unqualified resumes so you can move on to the next hiring stage effortlessly.
Resume parsers automatically gather, store, and organize large quantities of resume data without manual sorting.
Once the data is acquired, it can be easily searched and filtered for top talent selection—speeding up the recruitment process.
Apart from automated resume screening, HR professionals can easily conduct background checks for new hires with an intelligent resume parsing feature.
10. Data compliance
Recruiters deal with sensitive data, making high-grade security and stability in a recruiting software a must.
With so many exciting features available in the market, it’s easy to get carried away. But without stability and security, any recruiting software will lose its integrity.
So before you dive in and make the final call, ensure your recruiting software meets all the security standards.
Remember to consider uptime and end-to-end data encryption and ensure the availability of SSL sessions and password protection.
If your hiring process and data are not safe and stable, you’re risking your recruitment agency’s authority.
Top review sites to shortlist the best recruiting software recommendations
1. Capterra
If you want insight into the latest technological tool or software, Capterra is your place to be!
Capterra is a goldmine filled with over 1.5 million validated customer reviews for over 800 software categories, including recruiting software like CRM tools and applicant tracking systems.
If you didn’t already know, Recruit CRM’s recruiting software is rated 4.9/5 on Capterra, so it’s worth checking out!
2. Software Advice
Software Advice offers a complete guide to the top software solutions in the market.
With in-depth research from the Software Advice team, users can confidently decide on the best software through a virtual chat via call or email, along with a personalized list of recommendations.
You can find various software categories for your needs, from recruiting software to other recruitment tools.
Before heading to Software Advice, you should know that Recruit CRM has been recognized as the #1 software for recruitment agencies, making it highly reliable among recruiters!
3. G2
If you’re still unsure about choosing the best recruiting software, check out G2—the largest and most trusted software marketplace.
With over 80 million annual users, including employees from Fortune 500 companies, G2 is the best platform for authentic peer reviews.
Check out Recruit CRM on G2 and discover why recruiters across 100+ countries love it!
What to consider when choosing the best recruiting software
Choosing the best recruiting software for your needs is a long and overwhelming process. But before you invest in any recruitment software solution, here are a few factors to consider:
1. What are your recruitment needs?
It’s easy to get carried away by flashy features that will probably end up unused by your team.
That’s why keeping a checklist handy while hunting for the perfect recruiting software for your needs is essential.
Each recruitment agency functions differently, so ensure you have a solid understanding of your challenges and what you expect from your recruiting software provider.
2. What does pricing look like?
You’ll notice that all recruiting software providers have different pricing models.
The most widely used pricing models you’ll find are:
- Charging by feature
- Per user through a monthly or annual subscription base
Pricing models can also depend on your team size.
3. How is the set-up & onboarding process?
Once you decide on the perfect recruiting software for your agency, your main concern will be the onboarding and migration process.
The process of changing your recruiting software will include training sessions and demos. Apart from these onboarding sessions, it’s essential to consider how long the migration process will take.
No one wants to go through a lengthy migration process, so research how your software provider will back up your existing data and how they can assist your team throughout onboarding.
Don’t forget that reliable customer support is another crucial factor that will affect your set-up and onboarding process.
How to get the best out of your recruiting software
By now, you’re probably well aware of the countless benefits of investing in a recruiting software.
A recruiting software can do everything from talent management to maintaining client communication!
But if you want to get the highest ROI out of your recruiting software, here are three ways to make the most of your system:
With platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter taking over our social lives, social recruiting and recruitment marketing have become a top priority has become a go-to strategy for talent acquisition professionals.
The best recruiting software in the market assists recruiters with their social recruiting strategies through integrations with job boards, social media, and email.
This way, hiring teams can automate the process of job postings, update job descriptions, send bulk emails, manage careers pages, and even source candidate profiles without relying on multiple tools.
The best part is, taking advantage of social recruiting will help you highlight your company culture, helping you attract top talent!
2. Talent rediscovery
Recruiters struggle to attract and source new talent for their job openings, but they completely overlook their existing database filled with potential candidates.
We all know how easy it is to store candidate data in a recruiting software, so you might as well take advantage of this information sitting in your database.
75% of resumes received for high-volume roles are ignored. Now, think of the possibilities you have by rediscovering old talent from your recruiting software!
3. Leverage psychographics
The best recruiting software will provide insightful recruitment metrics, allowing you to take advantage of a data-driven hiring process.
But did you know that your recruiting software can be a rich source of psychographic information?
Psychographics is a great way to determine your target audience’s behavior, including why and where they apply from. Recruiters can use this information to target their recruiting efforts further.
Why you should sign up for Recruit CRM
Recruit CRM’s recruiting software provides everything from parsing resumes to nurturing client and candidate relationships!
Trusted by recruitment agencies in 100+ countries, our ATS + CRM software ensures a smooth and efficient recruiting process through our intuitive features and supportive customer success team.
With the love and support of over 10,000 recruiters worldwide, we’ve been recognized as the highest-rated software in the recruitment software category on Capterra and the #1 recruiting software for recruitment agencies on Software Advice!
Apart from our powerful recruiting software, we’ve simplified candidate sourcing for recruiters through our Chrome extension.
So if you’re looking for one of the best recruiting software tailored to your recruitment needs, then Recruit CRM is perfect!
Frequently asked questions
1. What is a recruiting software?
A recruiting software is an all-in-one platform to streamline the recruitment process by staffing agencies and human resources teams today. The best recruiting software will automate and manage different stages of recruiting, including candidate screening, resume scanning, communication, job posting, sourcing, and more.
Investing in recruiting software is the best way to keep track of your talent pool, job listings, and client processes. With a top recruiting software, staffing agencies can centralize their recruitment system without relying on multiple tools cluttering their system.
2. How does a recruiting software work?
There are different types of recruiting software, including interviewing tools, Applicant Tracking Systems and Customer Relationship Management systems. But their primary function is to manage the recruitment process from start to finish.
Recruitment agencies can use a recruiting software for several tasks, including:
- Automation of manual processes like job posting, emailing, candidate follow-ups, interview scheduling, and more
- Resume parsing
- Candidate and client data management
- Sourcing candidates
- Boolean search
3. What kind of software do recruiters use?
Recruiters and talent acquisition professionals rely on several tools and systems for their hiring needs. These tools can range from video interviewing tools to candidate assessment tools and recruitment CRMs.
From large corporate HR teams to small businesses, the most widely used software for recruiters is an Applicant Tracking System. An ATS is the backbone of all recruitment solutions as it provides a centralized platform for recruiters to store and organize their data and automate several processes.
In short, applicant tracking systems store and track candidate and client data to streamline recruitment.
