Resume Screening Tools: Types, Pros, Cons & Alternatives for 2025

We’re in the middle of a recruitment revolution, with technology rapidly transforming hiring processes. Every part of the recruitment pipeline is up for revision, but few areas are shifting as quickly as resume screening.

Corporations now routinely use automated resume screening tools to streamline candidate assessments. Their technology transforms thousands of applications into candidate shortlists without time-consuming manual screening or interviews.

Recruiters can identify top talent to set the stage for in-depth assessments — and it all happens in seconds. The accuracy and efficiency of automated screening make it a must-have for many employers. But which software should you choose?

It’s a crowded market, and bad decisions can ruin hiring outcomes. This guide will introduce the best options in 2025 and help you pick the ideal screening solution.

What is resume screening software?

Before we get into the details, resume screening software is a technological solution to an age-old problem: sifting through hundreds (or thousands) of resumes and candidate profiles and making sense of them at speed.

Automated resume screening software evaluates resumes based on keywords and essential criteria. It provides an initial screening service at the top of the pipeline, allowing companies to filter out unqualified candidates so you’re not wasting their time or yours.

Why is resume screening such a hard part of the recruitment process?

At first glance, automated resume screening seems fairly simple, but looks can be deceptive. Because actually, screening candidates is hard work.

Recruiters face vast amounts of resumes and must handle each applicant fairly — a serious challenge when we factor in more than 200 cognitive biases that exist in humans. So, it’s easy to take shortcuts and wave through the wrong candidates when you’re screening manually.

Resume screening must also be precise. Little details like qualifications or specialist project experience can make all the difference when seeking the best candidates for a specific job. But it’s hard to pinpoint essential skills based on generic resumes.

These problems influence your quality of hire. Poor screening can remove suitable candidates from your pipeline, so they never proceed to interviews or other assessments. Worse still, it also wastes time and resources. That’s why automated screening tools are so popular.

Pros and cons of automated resume screening

Humans are not good at screening documents. We tire quickly, make mistakes, and sometimes, we subconsciously choose people “just like us.” Automated resume screening tools could be the answer.

With the help of applicant tracking systems, HR teams can quickly and easily screen resumes, manage job postings, and communicate with candidates, improving the recruitment process and ensuring that the best candidates are hired.

Sumit Sabharwal, Vice President of HR at Fujitsu

✅ Benefits of using resume screening tools

Here’s the case for leaning on software to screen resumes:

• Efficiency: Ditch LinkedIn profiles and mountains of paper, opting instead for resume screening tools. Expect faster processing which reduces human workloads without losing precision.
• Consistency: A consistent resume screening process evaluates job applications fairly which can be hired when humans (and our many flaws) are involved. Automated resume screening tools rank candidates impartially so there’s less of a chance of mishiring.
• Improved quality of hire: Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) resume screening tools use algorithms to assess keywords, job qualifications, and applicable experience. AI can identify exceptional candidates that manual screening may ignore. AI and ML tools also learn continuously, improving the selection process.
• Cost savings: An automated resume screening process can cut hiring costs. How? Users need fewer HR personnel and can allocate resources to critical hiring tasks. Time savings also cut costs, allowing recruiters to focus on honing a strategic hiring process.
• Flexibility: Automated resume screening scales smoothly as applicant volumes change. You’ll find it easy to handle seasonal variations or business growth without losing quality or consistency.

❌ Drawbacks of relying on resume screening tools

Be aware of the following challenges of this type of technology:

• Over-reliance on keywords: Resume screening tools often compare keywords in resumes with job postings. This strategy can miss great candidates who deviate from key phrases. Keyword parsing also encourages job seekers to lean on keyword stuffing, potentially ruining your talent pool management.
• Potential for more bias: Algorithms trained on prejudiced data may inadvertently preserve unconscious biases. For instance, AI tools trained on male CVs have downgraded female applicants in the past. A recent study assessed 500 job descriptions and individual resumes, asking AI screening tools to recommend the best fit. Researchers found a significant bias towards male names and a skew away from names associated with minorities. In that sense, AI screening remains a work in progress.
• Technological limitations: Screening tools can make mistakes when processing resume formats or layouts. Something as basic as failing to process PDF files can miss outstanding talent.
• Difficulty recognizing non-traditional candidates: Resume screening software struggles to assess non-conventional applicants like career switchers or qualified candidates with unorthodox work histories. These applicants could bring creativity and fresh perspectives to the role, but because they differ from “the norm,” the technology could skip their potential.
• Inability to assess soft skills: Resume screening software also has trouble analyzing soft skills like communication, teamwork, and problem-solving. Keyword matching and qualifications may overlook essential qualities required by great candidates. We recommend employee skills testing to assess an applicant’s overall fit and identify if they could bring any transferable skills to the role.

3 main types of resume screening tools

Before we break down types of resume screening tools, it’s important to note that most applicant tracking systems include basic screening functions as a core part of the recruitment pipeline.

There are three main types of resume screening tools: resume parsers, resume enrichers, and AI resume screening software. Let’s take a quick look under the hood of all three (but if you scroll down just a bit, you’ll find a side-by-side comparison of other types of tools).

Resume parsers

Parsing is the process of scanning data from documents and analyzing the role played by different semantic components.

In resume screening, parsing extracts relevant information like contact details, previous work experience, qualifications, and skill certifications. Parsers structure this information in a standardized format. This makes searching and analyzing candidate data easier as you shortlist potential interviewees.

This sounds great, but resume parsing tools aren’t flawless. Candidates may supply resumes in non-standard formats, causing parsers to overlook data and discard applicants. For instance, parsers sometimes fail to process image-based PDFs.

Parsing tools also aren’t always 100% accurate when evaluating job candidates. Systems may not properly match information supplied by candidates with the job description, resulting in poor-quality hiring decisions.

Resume enrichers

Resume enrichers go beyond resumes, giving HR teams a more detailed portrait of each candidate. They generate candidate profiles using social media activity, online portfolios, and other online resources.

Without needing to meet or even speak to applicants, recruiters can gain insights into who they are. Hiring teams can make informed decisions about who would be a good cultural fit for their organization and whether candidates have the necessary soft skills to succeed.

Resume enrichers are also useful because they suggest candidate potential. Resumes show achievements and experience. Enrichers are a bit more subtle and may highlight candidates who you would otherwise miss.

However, they’re heavily skewed toward candidates with an online presence. People who don’t use social media or don’t actively share their work in a digital sphere are disadvantaged. This may also favor younger over older applicants.

AI resume screening software

Standard parsers or enrichers require human operators to evaluate decisions and data outputs. AI tools remove human eyes from the screening process. Instead, AI resume screening tools use machine learning to learn from patterns and improve performance.

AI tools search resumes for terms, data points, or concepts related to the initial job description. As models improve, they learn how to find better matches while avoiding bias (provided the models are trained on neutral data sets).

Ideally, AI screening cuts out secondary data like age, gender, or race. Screening tools focus on role-related factors like skills and job requirements. In theory, this should identify the best talent for every open position.

In the real world, AI recruitment automation can’t work alone. Humans still play critical roles in approving AI decisions and setting initial parameters.

Type	Description	Pros	Cons
AI-driven Resume Screening	These tools utilize Machine Learning algorithms to assess resumes for job-relevant keywords and phrases. Their precision increases with use.	AI-driven hiring systems become more accurate over time as they learn from past hiring decisions. Focusing on qualifications alone can help to reduce bias.	Could potentially overlook distinctive applicants who do not meet standard criteria; Can be costly to establish and sustain.
Traditional ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems)	Recruiting systems store and track job applicants’ data, utilizing keyword searches that do not change.	A recruitment management system simplifies the task of managing numerous job applicants with the applicant tracking system.	Keyword searches may cause desired candidates to be overlooked, and those not familiar with technology may find the system difficult to navigate.
Resume Parsing	Resume parsing tools extract data from resumes and convert it into an organized format quickly and efficiently.	Automation of resume data entry into a database saves time and makes it easier to search for specific skills and qualifications.	Automating resume data entry into a database saves time and makes searching for specific skills and qualifications easier.
Semantic Search & Matching	These tools go beyond keyword matching to understand the context and concepts behind the words in a job description and a resume.	More precise matching by understanding the context of words; Improves the quality of matches.	Hiring for complex roles can be costly; A well-crafted job description is essential for success.
Recruitment Assessment Tools	Companies can now use modern tools to assess candidates’ skills instead of relying on traditional testing methods. Such tools allow for tests or challenges to be administered to candidates.	Evaluate a candidate’s abilities without relying on their own reports of their skills.	A requirement for a higher commitment from candidates could shrink the applicant pool if the tests are seen as challenging or irrelevant.

The 9 best resume screening tools to use in 2025

Resume screening tools vary in quality, price, and depth. We want you to find a solution that suits your needs, but in a crowded marketplace, it’s easy to take a wrong turn without expert advice.

To help you avoid hiring mistakes, we’ve assessed popular screening software. Our favorites all score highly according to the following criteria:

• Ease of use: Can users start screening in minutes, or is there a steep learning curve?
• Integrations: Does the software integrate with full-cycle ATS functions, collaboration tools, and HR systems?
• Customization: Can you toggle filters to capture certain skills or qualifications needed by top candidates or focus on keyword groups? Is there scope for automatic candidate shortlisting?
• Scalability: Does the software work best when screening a few resumes, or does it struggle at scale?
• AI: Do AI tools screen candidates fairly and efficiently, or are you losing top-caliber candidates?

#1 – Zoho Recruit

Zoho Recruit is a resume management software that helps recruiters save time on shortlisting, engaging, and hiring candidates. It lets you parse multiple resumes and transfer candidate information to your candidate or client database.

Category: Applicant tracking system with multiple solutions

Key features: Candidate sourcing, resume management, social recruiting, employee referrals, job advertising, background screening, AI behavioral assessments

G2: 4.4 (1,752)

Price:

• Standard: $25/year. Covers 100 active jobs. Includes resume management, but not complete screening features.
• Professional: $50/year. Covers 250 active jobs. Includes screening and assessment functions, alongside AI candidate matching.
• Enterprise: $75/year. Covers 750 active jobs. Adds more templates and integrations but no extra screening tools.

The Zoho Recruit Forever Free package does not include resume management.

What customers say:

Zoho Recruit is tailor-made for a recruiter so that I can interact with my client in real-time, 24/7 no matter where I am. I don’t have to do a lot of documentation that in itself is worth a million bucks.

Katari Grassiel, MD, Seattle BC Group, Seattle

#2 – Ideal

Ideal is an AI-driven HR software platform that enables hiring managers to make better, faster, and unbiased talent decisions.

Category: AI-driven Resume Screening

Key features: AI-powered screening, resume parsing, job board integration, chatbot assistant, candidate ranking and scoring, workflow automation, collaborative hiring

G2: 4.7 (16)

Price: The Ideal Talent Marketplace is completely free to use.

What customers say:

The IDEAL project team is easy to work with and aren’t “Locked In” to their own way of doing things rather they are willing to listen and open to new concepts. Ideal brought an entire integration project team to the table from day 1 to help us integrate and get launched.

Robert B, Director, Talent Acquisition Systems and Strategy

#3 – Oracle Talent Management Cloud (formerly Taleo)

Oracle Talent Management facilitates strategic review and analysis of talent, retention and improvement of skills, provision of career opportunities, coaching of goals and performance, talent reviews, and succession planning to keep talent engaged and productive.

Category: Traditional applicant tracking system

Key features: Recruiting, candidate relationship management (CRM), onboarding, performance management, learning and development, succession planning, compensation management, analytics and reporting, integration and API, compliance and security, and mobile accessibility.

G2: 3.4 (364)

Price: The Oracle Talent Management Cloud costs $7 per month, in addition to the base Oracle Cloud subscription, which costs $15 per month.

What customers say:

Detail-oriented recruitment tool. Globally used, and I have been using this tool for the past 5 years. Easy to understand and use the tool for creating candidate experience and others with respect to recruitment.

Priyanshul G., Talent Acquisition – Sourcing & Identification Specialist

#4 – Sovren

Sovren is a software company that specializes in creating configurable, scalable, and precise recruitment intelligence software.

Category: Resume parsing

Key features: Resume parsing, job order parsing, skill extraction and matching, semantic search, AI-powered matching, data standardization

G2: 4.0 (1)

Price: Sovren provides its parsing services with textual analysis partner Textkernel. Customers can try the parser free of charge. The free trial provides 500 free credits, giving you a sneak preview. If you like what you see, Sovren offers two pricing tiers:

• Professional: Starts at $99/month. Annual plans extend to 100,000 credits (max), cover 29 languages, and access the company’s LLM parser.
• Enterprise: Prices vary according to client needs. Users have no limits and can integrate LLM parsing with APIs for full customization.

What customers say:

Their technology affords you an opportunity…a means to do what you do at a higher level, more efficiently, more effectively…than ever before.

#5 – DaXtra Parser

DaXtra Parser is the most accurate multi-lingual job parsing software. It can convert unstructured documents into structured XML/JSON in multiple languages.

Category: Resume parsing

Key features: Resume parsing, job parsing, skill extraction, semantic search, multi-language support, industry-specific taxonomies, data standardization, integration capabilities, configurable rules and filters, and compliance and privacy.

G2: 4.3 (2)

Price: Daxtra does not publish fixed prices, as packages vary between clients. You can request a free demo to explore the platform and test its parsing capabilities.

What customers say:

They did exactly what they told us they could do. Efficient parsing, comprehensive search.

#6 – Affinda

Affinda‘s machine-learning system identifies more than 100 details from resumes, organizing the information into a searchable format.

Category: Resume parsing

Key features: Document processing, data extraction, entity recognition, language detection, sentiment analysis, named entity recognition (NER), optical character recognition (OCR), text classification, relationship extraction, and data visualization.

G2: 4.8 (6)

Price: Affinda operates a custom pricing model based on document volumes and business types. Contact the company directly to ask for quotes.

What customers say:

When I compared the accuracy of the Affinda resume parser to 8 other resume parsers, Affinda was better than or equal to the others. But where Affinda really stood out head and shoulders above the others is in their level of support and attention to the customer.

#7 – Tracker

Tracker is a web-based recruitment management and CRM solution designed for recruiting professionals across all industries.

Category: Semantic search and matching

Key features: Applicant tracking, job posting and distribution, resume parsing, candidate database, interview scheduling

G2: 4.6 (125)

Price: Tracker’s ATS starts at $80/user per month for its basic package, including resume parsing. You can also add extra features for $16/month. Extras include sentiment analysis. This enriches simple parsing but is not essential.

What customers say:

As the marketing director for our firm, I am already seeing an increase in productivity and ease of use for implementing all strategies. The built-in campaign and sequencing are clutch for our prospecting. Data import and access to both client and candidate data online has been terrific.

#8 – Eightfold.ai

Eightfold.ai is an AI-driven, continuous learning platform which mines millions of data points and billions of interactions to bring intelligence to your organization.

Category: Semantic search and matching

Key features: Talent intelligence platform, candidate relationship management, personalized candidate experience, AI-powered candidate matching, diversity and inclusion analytics

G2: 4.2 (197)

Price: Eightfold.ai does not publish fixed prices on its website. Customers can download a free demo to learn basic features and sample the interface.

You can also schedule live demos with Eightfold experts, which are a good way to explore AI features and determine whether you need automated analysis.

What customers say:

The Eightfold AI is very intuitive and brings in several dimensions to present employees with quality recommendations. The combination of jobs, learning, mentors, and projects helps employees and the enterprise connect all the dots. It is truly a dynamic tool delivering a quality employee experience.

#9 – Toggl Hire

Toggl Hire is a skills assessment platform with powerful applicant tracking system capabilities. It gives hiring teams incredible insight into candidates’ job-specific skills with smart screening tools. Instead of focusing on self-reported competencies on candidates’ resumes, recruiters and hiring managers can get reliable proof of competence via pre-employment assessments, pre-recorded video interviews, and homework assignments. You’ll find and shortlist quality talent faster.

Category: Skills-based hiring platform

Key features: 200+ skills, 180+ ready-made assessment templates, anti-cheating automatic tracking system, different types of tests: skills tests, video tests, homework assignments, hiring pipeline, talent pool, team collaboration

G2: 4.7 (13)

Price: Users start with a feature-rich free account which includes basic AI screening that generates “pass scores” for candidates. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Two pricing tiers enable deeper resume screening:

• Starter: $199/month. Adds unlimited skills tests and candidates for up to 3 active job openings at a time. Access a 19k+ skills question library, fully customizable assessments, async interviews, and really helpful candidate screening tools like AI evaluation, automatic candidate feedback, and more.
• Premium: $349/month. Covers unlimited candidates and job openings plus access to more advanced analytics, homework assessments for more in-depth screening, and powerful integrations.

What customers say:

We’ve been using Toggl Hire for almost 3 years, with more than 20,000 test-takers that completed one of the 20+ tests we have on the platform. The service is easy to use and helps us perform quick and effective top-of-the-funnel filtering while keeping a great Candidate Experience.

Gilad Bornstein, Co-Founder and CEO at Flatworld.co

Are skills tests a better way to find the best candidates?

This is a great and very important question.

AI is a tempting technology, and its cost and time savings certainly sound great on paper. But before you choose any of the suggestions above, let’s throw a curveball into the mix. You may not need AI-powered resume screening, and we certainly don’t recommend relying on candidate screening tools alone to shortlist interviewees for your open roles.

In many situations, targeted skill assessments offer more value. Here’s why. 👇

Skills tests demonstrate actual ability

Skill assessments let candidates show off their aptitudes and skills. Employers gain reliable evidence of their abilities, not self-declarations on resumes.

Candidates can also demonstrate role-related competencies. Tests prove candidates can perform the real-life tasks of a digital manager or web designer in your organization.

Assessments also show the ability to perform under pressure, which may be an important indicator of how they’d fare in your workplace. Parsers and machine learning tools can’t emulate these insights — at least not yet.

Skills tests reduce bias

Skill assessment tools counteract bias by focusing on practical abilities. They test what candidates can do, not who they are. Facts about the candidate, like their gender or ethnicity, don’t enter the equation. Instead, Human Resources teams focus attention on what really matters and avoid subjective elements.

Skills tests are applicable to various roles

One of the great things about skill assessments is their flexibility. HR teams can design custom assessments for each job opening or even create tests for different components of every role.

You can test virtually any discipline, from Python coding to content production. Employers can drill down into candidate potential, taking a job-specific approach. This should generate shortlists filled with relevant, highly-skilled candidates.

Skills tests ensure data-driven decisions

Skill assessments generate quantifiable metrics about aptitudes, enabling data-driven decision-making in the recruitment process.

HR teams can set data criteria for different job titles and rank applicants based on test scores. Combining personality traits and screening outputs like qualifications and experience results in better hiring decisions.

3 expert tips for candidate screening

Although we recommend integrating tests and other assessments into your hiring process, you might continue resume screening as a form of gatekeeper.

After all, screening could pinpoint which candidates merit assessments and which applicants to discard. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? The truth is that you need to be smart about screening to get accurate results.

The tips below come straight from our talent team. Toggl Hire has spent the last decade hiring remotely, so we’ve learned how tech can compensate for distance and the absence of face-to-face contact. Here’s how to get the most from your recruitment software:

Define your screening criteria

Firstly, set clear guidelines for screening remote candidates. Recruiters need to know what they’re looking for when evaluating resumes.

It’s hard to calibrate parsing tools when you’re unclear about what makes an ideal candidate. Fuzzy criteria produce inaccurate results, leading to wasted interview time and (eventually) bad hires.

Clear criteria also ensure consistency for all candidates and help stamp out subjective biases. Plan your screening requirements before firing up software solutions.

Use skills assessments to shortlist candidates

We’ve also learned the value of combining automated resume screening with skills assessment tools. The two technologies work together.

Screening removes clearly unsuitable candidates. Tests and assessments narrow your candidate pool, filtering applicants with talent and the right personality traits. Employee skill testing also digs deeper than resume information, creating a far fuller portrait of potential hires.

Remove degree requirements from job listings

Degrees can be great evidence of specialist skills, but they aren’t essential when sourcing candidates, and you should probably leave them off job listings.

This sounds counter-intuitive. Surely most professional roles require degree-level competency? We’d counter that by suggesting you can assess skills and competencies later in the talent pipeline.

Job listings aim to expand your talent pool. They should encourage people to apply without deterring potential hires. Academic requirements can put off minority candidates or anyone lacking self-confidence.

Screen candidates faster with Toggl Hire

Toggl Hire combines reliable resume screening with flexible, high-quality skills assessments. Users can save time screening initial applications and then go deep with skills tests or homework assignments before contacting top candidates for interviews.

Online payments company Monese has seen this work in real life. Monese needed a quick but accurate way to screen applications. Working with Toggl Hire experts, they used targeted pre-employment skills testing to pre-screen candidates before they submitted applications. Only applicants who passed the skills test could apply. The result was a 72% reduction in time-to-hire and significant time savings for busy recruiters.

Want to achieve similar results in your organization?