The 11 Best Recruiting Software for Small Business Hiring Teams

“He who buys what he does not need steals from himself,” an old Swedish proverb says. This is pretty good advice for managing and building a small business.

After all, as a small business owner, investing in anything can feel like a risk. And that includes the people you recruit. Hiring is one area you really can’t afford to get wrong, which is where the right recruiting software for small businesses is a must-have.

This guide explores some of the best small business recruitment software options for companies like yours. We’ll also explain how you can use them for everything from applicant tracking to job posting to save money in the long term.

Best recruiting software for small business hiring teams

Here are the best software solutions for recruitment in small businesses and where they excel:

• Workable: Best for small businesses looking for customizable features in their recruitment processes
• BambooHR: Best for companies looking for personalized HR systems
• Toggl Hire: Best for small businesses looking for full-cycle recruiting tools that offer an exceptional candidate experience
• Breezy HR: Best for small businesses requiring customizable hiring workflows
• Jazz HR: Best for businesses that want to automate and optimize repetitive and tedious tasks
• Zoho Recruit: Best for businesses already in the Zoho ecosystem
• Manatal: Best for teams looking for an AI-powered recruiting process
• Pinpoint: Best for attracting top talent despite the size of your company
• TeamTailor: Best for small businesses looking for enterprise features
• Comeet: Best for small businesses looking for simple, entry-level software
• Remote: Best for small businesses looking to hire remotely

What to look for in small business recruitment software

If you don’t know which tools to shortlist, listing out the most desirable features is a great starting point. Here’s what to look for:

• Great pricing: The tool should be affordable and offer scalable pricing plans, allowing you to upgrade if your hiring needs increase.
• An applicant tracking system: The right platform streamlines the recruiting process, from writing a job description to candidate screening, all the way to making an offer.
• Ease of use: You probably have a small hiring team or no HR team at all, which is why the tool should be user-friendly for those without any experience using these types of software.
• Customizable workflows: You’ll want a tool you can adjust according to your candidate management, candidate screening, and assessment needs.
• Integrations: The best recruitment software will sync up with other key HR tools such as payroll, employee management software, LinkedIn, and everything else in your tech stack.
• Collaboration tools: Hiring is rarely a single-person effort, so your tool of choice should allow you to work with the rest of your team members in the cloud.
• Reporting and analytics: The best tools enable you to track and measure each step of your recruitment efforts, from application completion to offer acceptance rates.

11 best recruiting software for small businesses

Before you set out to choose your recruiting software (one or multiple), first determine what you really need in your tech stack. Do you just want to automate posting to job boards, or do you want a full-blown applicant tracking system that helps with everything from candidate sourcing to resume parsing?

Once you’ve narrowed down your options to just a few, ask as many questions as you need, take a look at reviews, book demos, and grab some free trials. These apps can get costly, and every penny counts. With that out of the way, let’s walk you through our top recommendations.

Workable

Workable includes all the tools small businesses need to build their recruitment process from the ground up. From sourcing passive candidates to posting on multiple job boards and providing help with federal contract compliance programs, Workable is the go-to for global hiring teams.

Features

• Careers pages and job postings across different platforms and job boards—even in different languages
• In-app candidate evaluation
• Hiring planning, electronic document signing, and automation features
• Onboarding support with compliance

Integrations

• Indeed
• BambooHR
• Bob
• Checkr
• Deel

Pros	Cons
• Very easy to use. Dikeshwari, a Talent Acquisition Specialist, states that it’s especially easy to put up job ads • Tons of integrations • An all-in-one solution for everything from posting job openings and resume management to analyzing and commenting on candidate profiles	• As one user states, Workable is one of the slower recruiting software solutions • While the software is super comprehensive, it’s expensive for most smaller businesses

Pricing

The Recruit package starts at $149/mo for up to 20 employees or $189 as part of an HR bundle.

BambooHR

BambooHR offers all the features your human resources department wished it had—even if you don’t have an HR team yet. What makes this one of the best recruitment software options for small businesses is the ability to enjoy an advanced set of fully customizable recruiting features in an easy-to-use package.

Features

• Employee records, workflows, and approvals
• Detailed reporting and analytics
• Applicant tracking with a mobile hiring app
• New hire onboarding and offboarding
• Electronic signatures and documentation

Integrations

• Slack
• Indeed
• Lattice
• Deel
• JazzHR
• Over 120 more

Pros	Cons
• Great product onboarding, even for small businesses with no experience in talent relationship management • User friendly—one director of human resources praises how easy it is to use across their HR team • Great hiring tool for hiring new applicants but also works great for managing your existing workforce	• Initial setup can be time-consuming • Preparing reports can be challenging, accordign to one senior people and culture manager

Pricing

Accurate pricing is available from the vendor if you sign up for a demo.

Toggl Hire

Toggl Hire is the number one recruiting software for small businesses looking to go from a job opening to a filled position. From hiring tools to customizable workflows you can adjust to your needs, Toggl Hire has everything a small business needs to efficiently hire top talent, all accessible from a central user-friendly platform.

Features

• Visual candidate pipeline to see how many applicants you have and their current stage in your hiring funnel
• Skills assessment tests for soft and hard skills that can reflect real-world performance on the job
• Database of questions created by experts. These are highly relevant questions for reach industry and role, vetted by industry professionals
• Job-specific templates stored in our test library database
• Asynchronous video interviews which allow you to ask candidates up to three questions and let them record their answers to review later
• Candidate scorecards for individual applicants
• Hiring funnel analytics which determine common drop-off points and refine your funnel

Integrations

• Greenhouse
• Workable
• Zapier
• Slack
• Public API

Pros	Cons
• Easy to use, according to one of many Toggl Hire users • Rich library of pre-made skills assessment tests with hard and soft skills tests • Affordable plans suitable for small businesses looking for a great candidate assessment and full-cycle hiring tool	• For tests with open-ended questions, you might have to spend more time assessing candidate responses to get a good number of qualified candidates. This is always worth the effort.

Pricing

You can create a free account and enjoy unlimited users, jobs, and tests if you need to hire up to three candidates. Paid plans start at $20/mo when billed annually. View more about Toggl Hire pricing to explore other plans.

Breezy HR

Speed up your hiring and get the best candidates, regardless of their backgrounds. Breezy HR has world-class inclusion features, such as incognito apply (to remove traits that can lead to hiring biases), candidate match score, and custom candidate scorecards.

Features

• Applicant tracking system
• Candidate management
• Collaborative hiring
• Self-scheduling and video interviews
• Workflow automation
• Diversity and inclusion features

Integrations

• Checkr
• Gusto
• Indeed
• BambooHR
• HiBob
• Slack
• HelloSign

Pros	Cons
• Easy to use • Great candidate management features • Solid customer support, as one managing director has stated on G2	• Reporting and analytics are lackluster compared to the competition • The tool can be very slow to load, which can ruin the user experience, according to this automation manager • The customization of the hiring workflows is not as stellar as Breezy HR promises

Pricing

Starts at $157/mo for the Startup plan which has the core Breezy HR features. A forever-free plan is also available.

JazzHR

Jazz HR is built for small businesses like yours. It allows you to automate tasks such as sourcing, screening, posting across job boards, and many others. Besides saving time, it adapts to your workflows and is fully customizable according to your specific hiring needs.

Features

• Customizable workflows
• Multi-task management with bulk actions
• Job board syndication
• Hiring analytics with an overview of your key HR metrics
• Customizable workflows built for your company

Integrations

• Checkr
• Accurate
• Recruiter.com
• Dice
• JobTarget
• Stack Overflow

Pros	Cons
• A great user interface, as Ashley A., an HR generalist states • Great resume management features • Good customer support	• The candidate management features need additional work. For example, one reviewer says that automatic candidate tagging does not function as designed • The reports are not easy to figure out and run • The ATS is underwhelming and not ideal for those with a large volume of candidates

Pricing

Prices start at $75/mo, which gets you three active jobs, but you can add more at $9/job/mo. The most expensive plan (Pro) has a free 14-day trial, and you can also book a demo with their team.

Zoho Recruit

Zoho Recruit is ideal for those who need a generous entry-level plan and are already using one of the many capable Zoho tools. If you can get past the steep-ish learning curve, it’s a great way to test the waters with hiring tools for your small business.

Features

• Candidate sourcing
• Job advertising
• Career sites
• Hiring pipeline
• Resume management
• Social media hiring tools
• Background screening
• Hiring analytics
• Assessment tools

Integrations

• Zoho tools (Zoho CRM, Zoho Analytics, Zoho People, Zoho Campaigns)
• LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter
• Indeed, Foundit, CareerBuilder
• Slack

Pros	Cons
• The low entry pricing point, according to Michael V., a lead consultant • Excellent resume parsing tool • Integrates well with the rest of the Zoho tools	• The onboarding and overall user experience could be better—the learning curve is fairly steep • Customer support options aren’t stellar but improve for those in the higher pricing plans • The customization options are limited in terms of internal workflows. For example, one review says that sending customized emails is “a bit annoying.”

Pricing

The standard plan with 100 active jobs starts at 25EUR per user/mo. A forever-free plan is also available for one active job.

Manatal

Like Trello for hiring, Manatal helps simplify recruitment processes. Create visualizations of your hiring funnels, share your job postings on 2,500+ job boards, and get AI recommendations for the best candidates, all in one place.

Features

• Multiple candidate sourcing channels (think job boards, LinkedIn, social channels, and your own career page)
• Recruitment CRM to keep your recruitment process and candidate information all in one place
• AI recommendations for the best applicants for the job
• Detailed reports and analytics
• A full-scale applicant tracking system

Integrations

• LinkedIn
• Indeed
• Monster
• Talent
• Glassdoor

Pros	Cons
• Extremely easy to use • Good customer service, as one recruitment consultant notes	• Can be expensive for some small businesses • Some users face issues with job postings on different platforms and job sites • Lack of automation, especially in candidate communication, according to a CEO of a company

Pricing

Starts at $15 per user/mo after a 14-day free trial.

Pinpoint

If you’re looking for recruitment software that offers more than just the ability to post jobs or view candidate profiles, Pinpoint is great. Eliminate the busy work in your recruitment process and simplify your job postings with an applicant tracking system you can customize according to your needs.

Features

• On-brand career sites with job postings that are super easy to apply for
• Simplify the recruitment process by posting on multiple job sites at once
• Employee referrals and a recruitment agency portal

Integrations

• BreatherHR
• Cintra
• Gusto
• Iris Cascade

Pros	Cons
• Easy to use • Solid customer service, as evidenced by an account from Melanie W., a People Operations Specialist	• Some integrations don’t work the best. • For example, Lynne, who is in a director position, states that the Docusign integration needs more work.

Pricing

Accurate pricing is available from Pinpoint’s sales team on request.

Teamtailor

Teamtailor makes it easy to create branded career sites and run your entire recruitment process. The ease of use and vast array of applicant tracking features ensure both applicants and hiring managers love this hiring tool.

Features

• Fully customizable applicant tracking system according to the needs of your recruitment process
• AI assistant for helping you post job ads, summarize resumes, get interview questions, and more
• Create a full hiring pipeline with employee referrals and more built-in from-scratch

Integrations

• BambooHR
• LinkedIn
• CareerBuilder
• Deel

Pros	Cons
• Easy to set up: Declan B., a People and Talent Partner, says it’s great for first-time users • Unlimited job postings and unlimited users • Over 250 features (and growing) • A huge number of available integrations with job boards and other recruitment software	• Initial setup is easy, but as Marc-Olivier, a Client Solutions Lead, says, making mistakes in the initial phase can come back and haunt you later • Some integrations don’t work as intended • Pricing is not transparent

Pricing

Accurate pricing is available from Teamtailor on request.

Comeet

This applicant tracking system for remote teams aims to simplify their recruitment process and offer more visibility into their hiring pipeline.

Features

• Built-in candidate pipeline
• Sourcing and screening within the product
• Video interviews, e-signatures, branded job boards, and more employer branding features

Integrations

• LinkedIn
• ZipRecruiter
• GlassDoor
• Indeed

Pros	Cons
• Extremely easy to use for most candidates • Plenty of integrations out of the box, as one user states • Designed specifically for global, remote teams	• Design and UX could use some improvements, and as this director of research says, modifying the workflows and steps for each candidate is not easy • The wealth of features can be overwhelming for new users who may just want to post job openings and schedule interviews

Pricing

Accurate pricing is available from Comeet on request.

Remote

Remote hiring comes with its own set of challenges, but Remote can help you manage most of them. Employer of record features, contractor manager, global payroll, HRIS, and many other features are included to help you hire the best people worldwide.

Features

• Advanced EOR features, including payroll management, employee benefits, time and attendance tracking, compensation explorer, and others
• Contractor invoicing and management
• Global payroll management across countries and jurisdictions
• Remote job board with inclusive hiring features

Integrations

• Greenhouse
• Bob
• Gusto
• BambooHR

Pros	Cons
• Great interface and recruitment software that’s easy to use. Jay W., a software developer, praises the interface and minimal learning curve of this tool • A comprehensive set of tools in one place, replacing an applicant tracking system entirely	• Can be very slow at times, and as one VP of Global People and Culture states, it’s not always intuitive • Customer service is based on a 24/7 help center library or an email address you can contact

Pricing

Small teams can choose a free HR plan, while the Remote Talent plan starts at $119/mo.

Our methodology for ranking the best recruitment software

Several elements determine if a tool makes it into our final cut. Here’s how we choose each recruiting solution on our list:

• Core recruiting features: Applicant tracking system, candidate relationship management tool or CRM, interview scheduling, candidate communication tools, workflow customization, etc.
• Nice-to-have hiring features: Candidate assessments, AI-powered messaging tools for candidates, career site creation, resume parsing, and others).
• Ease of use: How easy and intuitive the tool is to use, especially for novice users with no previous HR experience.
• Pricing: The availability of a free plan, the cost of the cheapest plan, the flexibility in pricing.
• Customer reviews: We use online platforms like G2, Capterra, TrustPilot, and others.
• Customer support: If you get stuck during setup or down the line, how easy it is to get hold of someone who can help.

Do you really need recruitment software as a small business?

With just a handful of employees, do you really need recruiting tools to do something you can do with a Gmail account and some Excel sheets?

You actually do. Here’s what proper recruiting tools accomplish:

• Streamline your talent acquisition process: Cut down the time it takes to hire and snag the top talent on the job market
• Improve the candidate experience: Tedious but crucial tasks such as interview scheduling, posting on job boards, new hire onboarding, and others become easier with the right tools for the job
• Enhance collaboration and communication: Your hiring managers, executives, assistants, and just about anyone in your company can use recruitment software to collaborate in the cloud
• Make data-driven decisions: Instead of running hiring processes based on gut feeling, you’ll have the data behind everything thanks to HR software. For example, which job boards and job listings produce the most qualified candidates, which email templates work the best when reaching out to passive candidates, etc.
• Attract top talent: Using a great recruitment platform is a bonus for your employer branding and a neat way to entice the best candidates to apply

Try Toggl Hire as your small business ATS

When recruiting for your startup or small business, you want to hire the best person for the job—not the person who writes the best resume or performs the best in interviews. To do that, you need a full-cycle hiring tool that handles the most demanding of HR tasks.

And, what a coincidence…Toggl Hire helps you do just that! We offer a free plan suitable for small businesses looking to attract top talent, improve the candidate experience, decrease hiring costs, and improve the quality of hire.

Sign up today and try Toggl Hire with a free account!