ATS Price Guide: How Much Does an Applicant Tracking System Cost?

Hiring teams are frazzled. They’re the frontline of your company’s employer brand—the face candidates will remember whether their application is accepted or rejected. And they’re busy.

Delivering timely candidate feedback, liaising with internal managers, and making objective, data-based hiring decisions are all part and parcel of your hiring team’s activities.

These tasks are made much easier with the right applicant tracking system—a tool that promises to streamline your hiring workflows while saving time and money as you hire the right candidate for the right role.

But ATS solutions aren’t created equal.

Not only do their features and functionalities vary wildly, but their pricing structures are different, too. This guide describes the different models you might see during your research and helps you pick a cost-effective ATS for your business.

TL;DR — Key Takeaways

• Pricing models for applicant tracking systems differ based on the number of job openings, users, candidates, or even the total number of employees.
• Many ATS vendors also charge extra for things like implementation, integration, or customer support.
• Understanding ATS pricing can help you project your return on investment (ROI) to build a strong business case for internal approval. It’s also important to ensure you’re getting value out of the software based on what you will actually use it for.
• Small businesses should set a budget that accurately reflects the organization’s hiring needs, preferred features, and projected ROI. ATS vendor’s free plans or trials may also support your decision-making.

How much does an applicant tracking system cost on average?

How much you end up paying for your applicant tracking system depends on:

• The features you need
• The size of your hiring team
• How many people you’re hiring

We’ve broken down how much you should expect to pay based on the size of your organization.

Small businesses (under ten employees)

For small businesses, an ATS might be the first investment you make into your recruitment tech stack. You likely have limited hiring needs and budget, which means you won’t need an extensive list of features and functionality. It might make the most sense to go for an ATS with a pay-per-user or pay-per-vacancy model.

💰 Expect to pay: $240 to $1,500 per year

Medium-sized businesses (10-50 employees)

As your company grows, so do your hiring needs. With a greater hiring volume, you’ll need a solution capable of handling more candidates. You may also want to lean on analytics to refine your recruitment processes.

💰 Expect to pay: $1,500 to $3,000 per year

Large businesses (over 50 employees)

At this size, opting for a plan with unlimited candidates and vacancies is your best bet. You don’t want to blow your budget and need the flexibility to adjust your recruitment cadence without worrying about unexpected charges.

💰 Expect to pay: $3,000 to $10,000 per year

Enterprise pricing

Once your business reaches a certain level, your ATS price is largely influenced by the custom features and implementations you need to support your well-oiled hiring processes. For example, you may need an ATS with extra security or compliance functionality. Or, you might need to connect to a certain API.

💰 Expect to pay: $15,000 to $50,000

ATS pricing models

Most ATS vendors stick to an assortment of tried-and-tested pricing models. To select the best fit, ensure you understand each model’s nuances and how it could support your hiring needs.

Pay-per-job

Pay-per-job ATS systems could be a good option if you’re only hiring a handful of people at once. This model charges a flat fee per job opening, so you only pay for the positions you’re actively hiring for.

Once you make your hire, the position is archived, and you’re no longer charged for it. This model doesn’t make sense for high-volume hiring, as costs will quickly add up.

💰 Expect to pay: Between $100 to $500 per open position

Pay-per-recruiter

Pay-per-recruiter, also known as pay-per-user, is one of the most common pricing models you’ll see with ATS solutions. Put simply, your price is based on how many recruiters use the ATS.

A pay-per-recruiter ATS also allows you to control each team member’s access rights. For example, a Head of Recruitment might have more user privileges than a hiring manager for a given department. Some ATS solutions price user seats differently based on the access granted.

This model is best for teams with dedicated hiring teams, as costs will stay predictable regardless of the number of job openings they’re dealing with at once.

💰 Expect to pay: $60 to $100 per month per user

Pay-per-employee

Some ATS systems charge based on an organization’s total number of employees. For example, companies with 100 employees will pay the same, even if Company A receives twice as many candidates as Company B.

It’s a slightly unconventional approach, but worth considering for very small companies. It’s also favorable to enterprises with large hiring teams, where paying per recruiter would be expensive.

As your company grows, the incremental cost per employee actually goes down. That’s economies of scale for you!

💰 Expect to pay: $4 to $7 per employee, dropping to $0.20 per person for enterprise organizations

Flat fee

Finally, we encounter the most conventional pricing model: a flat price for a given service. This can be a one-time license purchase or a monthly or annual subscription model.

If your recruitment team values a consistent and predictable budget, this is the simplest solution. Even if it isn’t the cheapest option, you might decide it’s worth paying a slight premium to eliminate the mental drain of calculating and projecting costs every quarter.

💰 Expect to pay: From $350 per month to much higher amounts depending on the licensing agreement involved

Additional costs (that add up quickly)

You should know that the base price of the ATS solution is rarely the price you end up paying. Here are some common additional costs to watch out for and factor into your ATS software budget.

• Add-on features: Some ATS systems offer a menu of customizable features to bolt onto your plan for an extra cost. This makes sense because not every company will need the same combination of features, allowing the ATS vendor to cater to a wider range of customers. Take the time to consider whether any of the essential features you need (or might need in the near future) fall outside the base plan of the ATS you’re evaluating and how much they could cost you.
• Training and support: Depending on the ATS and tier you choose, you might need to pay extra costs associated with onboarding, setup, or general customer support access. Many ATS platforms include some degree of support in the price, but you might be forking out between $100-$500 for online training, so be sure to read the fine print.
• Integrations: Some products will charge you for ATS integrations with other recruiting software or Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) platforms in your tech stack. For example, while a Google Calendar integration might come with the base plan, vendors could charge you between $30-$100 for extra integrations. They may also charge for access to their application programming interface (API.)
• Implementation: Depending on the complexity of your implementation, there might be a hidden cost based on the level of customization required during setup. This could be a one-time activation cost or may include fees for custom implementations.

Overview of some of the best ATS software pricing

As you start to look for the best applicant tracking system for your budget, you’ll likely encounter a few common tools. Here’s a brief overview of pricing plans from top ATS software solutions on the market.

Toggl Hire

Toggl Hire follows a pay-per-candidate model with transparent pricing from $20 to $469 per month, billed annually for premium plans.

Our free plan accommodates five candidates, making it ideal for small businesses with occasional hiring needs. It includes bias-free candidate screening, video interviewing, bulk invitations, and instant candidate feedback.

The Basic plan is for 20 candidates and includes full access to Reports & Analytics and a customizable candidate database. Premium pricing is available for up to 45 candidates and includes anti-cheating, AI features, candidate email login, and more.

The Business plan is available for unlimited candidates and includes customizable email templates, bulk actions for candidate management, URL redirects, and more for an enhanced customer experience.

Workable

Workable follows a pay-per-employee model, starting at $149 monthly for the Starter plan, which includes two active job openings.

Features include resume parsing, job postings, custom analytics, and more. The Standard plan allows you to post unlimited active jobs—customized pricing is based on your number of full-time employees.

Greenhouse

Greenhouse supports you in talent acquisition and management, interview scheduling and evaluation, and reporting and analytics.

The company’s Essential, Advanced, and Expert plans all run on bespoke pricing, which is not directly visible on their site. To get an accurate quote, you’ll need to book a product demo.

Zoho Recruit

Zoho Recruit follows a pay-per-user model, billed annually for its Standard, Professional, and Enterprise plans, ranging from $30 to $90 per user per month. A free forever version is also available.

Start with 100 active jobs on the Standard plan, rising to 750 on the Enterprise plan. Expect AI candidate matching, screening & assessments, talent sourcing, client and staffing portals, advanced analytics, and more.

Breezy HR

Breezy HR operates a flat fee model, starting at $157 per month, up to $273 per month and then $439 per month. A free “bootstrapped version” is also available if you’re hiring for a single position.

All premium plans allow unlimited job listings for job boards, users, and candidates. The difference is in the access to features and the level of customer support.

Other great ATS options

• Pinpoint hides its pricing behind a demo call, clarifying that accurate pricing is based on headcount, existing processes, and customer pain points.
• JazzHR runs its pricing model like an a la carte menu. You get three active job openings at $75 per month but can add more for $9 per job per month. If you’d rather get unlimited job openings, you can go up a tier for $269 per month, unlocking access to further features charged at $29 and $59 per month per feature. The highest tier, at $420 monthly, includes free Zoom integration and all-access support.
• Recruitee is priced at $199 per month for five job openings or $249 for unlimited job openings. Both tiers include features such as talent pipeline templates, talent pools, email automation, quick evaluations, and more. They also offer optional add-ons such as SSO and candidate texting for an extra fee.

How to calculate the ROI of an applicant tracking software

You’ve been on a few demo calls and have a gut feeling about which ATS software best suits your hiring team’s needs. Now, it’s time to convince the decision-maker to approve the budget. They’re going to expect numbers—in particular, ROI.

To illustrate return on investment, prepare some statements of what the tool can do for the organization. Remember: ATS vendors can often provide case studies and results they drove for similar businesses to yours to support projections and estimates.

How to set a budget for an applicant tracking system

Now you know all the different factors that contribute to the price of an ATS, and the different pricing models out there, you can create a budget based on your needs and company size.

Start by creating a business case to understand the software’s scope and estimated impact. Then, based on your hiring needs, company size, and projected ROI, set a sensible budget.

For example, if you’re a small business of 25 people expecting to manage five job openings per year, using an ATS might save you $10,000 per year in time and resources.

In this scenario, a flat fee budget of $1,500 per year, plus $500 for any extra support and implementation costs, would give you an ROI of 500%.

Try Toggl Hire for free

Getting your toes wet through a free trial or free account allows you to compare different ATS tools before committing to one. Doing so will help you familiarize yourself with the features and UI and get a sense of the value for money you’re getting with the product.

Toggl Hire is one of the most affordable options on the market and a great choice for various budgets.

We offer transparent pricing that aligns perfectly with the financial constraints of businesses looking for efficient recruitment tools. With a user-friendly platform, we aim to let it speak for itself and will never force you to contact a sales team just to take a peek at our software.

Toggl’s pricing options start with a free plan, so why not try it out for yourself right now? Create your free ATS account today to learn why Toggl Hire is the right ATS for you.