In the fast-paced hiring landscape of 2025, an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) has become an essential tool for companies of all sizes and sectors. Whether you’re a startup, an SMB, or a global enterprise, the right ATS can streamline your recruitment process, save time, and help attract top talent in a competitive market. Modern ATS software automates tedious tasks like job posting, resume screening, and interview scheduling, freeing HR teams to focus on engaging with candidates.
Importantly, ATS platforms have evolved with AI-driven features, diversity and bias reduction tools, and deep analytics to meet today’s hiring challenges. From cloud-based SaaS solutions to on-premise enterprise software, businesses worldwide are leveraging ATS technology to build efficient, fair, and scalable hiring pipelines. In this guide, we’ll explore the best applicant tracking systems of 2025, covering both cloud and on-premise options, their key features, pricing, pros/cons, and ideal use cases.
Let’s dive in and find out which ATS can help your organization hire better in 2025.
Cloud-Based vs. On-Premise ATS Solutions
When choosing an applicant tracking system, one major consideration is whether to go for a cloud-based (SaaS) ATS or an on-premise solution. Both have their merits:
- Cloud-Based ATS: Most of the top ATS tools in 2025 are cloud-based. They are hosted by the vendor and accessed through a web browser. This model offers easy accessibility (anywhere, anytime), automatic updates, and lower upfront costs (subscription-based pricing). Cloud ATS are generally quicker to deploy and scalable for growing businesses. All the leading platforms reviewed below – like Workable, Greenhouse, and Breezy HR – are SaaS solutions that serve companies globally with multi-language support and compliance features (e.g., GDPR). Cloud ATS are ideal for most businesses due to their convenience and continuous innovation by vendors.
- On-Premise ATS: On-premise or self-hosted ATS solutions are installed on your company’s own servers. These were more common historically for large enterprises with strict data control needs. In 2025, on-premise ATS are less common, but still used by certain organizations (e.g. government agencies or corporations with stringent data policies). They offer greater control over data and customization, but come with higher maintenance overhead and lack instant updates. Examples of on-premise or self-hosted ATS include legacy systems like Oracle Taleo (now part of Oracle Cloud Recruiting) and open-source solutions like OpenCATS. While on-premise ATS can be tailored extensively, they require IT resources to manage and may not have the cutting-edge features of modern cloud platforms.
Global Perspective: The best ATS software today caters to a global user base. Cloud ATS solutions typically provide multi-currency and multi-language capabilities, integration with global job boards, and compliance with international regulations (e.g., GDPR for data privacy in Europe). On-premise deployments might appeal to organizations in regions with data residency requirements or limited internet access, but many cloud ATS vendors also offer virtual private cloud or local data center options to meet these needs. In general, for most companies looking for agility and innovation, cloud-based ATS are the go-to in 2025, while on-premise solutions serve niche requirements.
The Top 10 Applicant Tracking Systems for 2025
Below is our curated list of the best ATS software in 2025, including both well-known global platforms and innovative newcomers. Each tool is described with its key features, pricing, pros and cons, and ideal use case to help you determine if it’s the right fit for your hiring needs.
The 10 Best ATS Platforms of 2025:
- Breezy HR – Best Free ATS for Small Businesses
- Workable – Best ATS for Medium-Sized Companies
- Recruitee – Best Collaborative Recruiting ATS
- Manatal – Best AI-Powered ATS for HR Teams
- Teamtailor – Best ATS for Employer Branding
- Greenhouse – Best ATS for Data-Driven Recruiting
- VIVAHR (AvaHR) – Best All-in-One Recruiting Platform
- JazzHR – Best ATS for Growing Small Businesses
- Lever – Best ATS + CRM for Scaling Enterprises
- SmartRecruiters – Best Enterprise ATS for High-Growth Companies
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1. Breezy HR – Best Free ATS for Small Businesses
Best For: Small to mid-sized businesses on a budget, especially those with occasional hiring needs who want a user-friendly solution with a free plan.
Pricing:
Breezy HR offers four packages with monthly or annual options. The Bootstrap plan is free for unlimited users, giving budget-conscious teams a basic ATS at no cost. Paid plans include Startup (around $189/month), Growth ($329/month), and Business ($529/month) – annual subscriptions come at a ~17% discount. All plans allow unlimited users and positions, so you won’t pay per seat. A 14-day free trial is available for premium features.
Key Features:
Breezy HR provides a drag-and-drop pipeline interface that makes tracking candidates intuitive. You can create a branded career page and post job ads to over 50+ job boards globally with one click, expanding your reach to candidates worldwide. It supports resume parsing to automatically pull information from CVs, and includes collaborative tools like candidate scorecards and team feedback. Breezy also offers automation (e.g., auto-emails, interview scheduling) to save time, and it has mobile apps (iOS & Android) so you can review applicants on the go.
Ideal Use Case:
Breezy HR is perfect for small businesses and lean HR teams that need an affordable ATS to organize their hiring. If you’re hiring only occasionally or have a tight budget, Breezy’s free plan and simple interface will cover your needs without unnecessary complexity. It’s also a great starter ATS for companies new to recruiting software, providing core hiring tools (job postings, pipeline tracking, team collaboration) in an easy package.
2. Workable – Best ATS for Medium-Sized Companies
Best For: Medium-sized businesses (and growing small enterprises) that need a robust, scalable recruiting solution. Workable is popular among tech companies and international firms that hire frequently and value AI features and broad job board reach.
Pricing:
Workable has three main plans with a 15-day free trial on each. Starter starts around $149/month (billed monthly) for core hiring tools, suitable for smaller teams. Standard is roughly $360/month (with discounts on annual billing) and adds more advanced features and job slots. The Premier plan is enterprise-level (approximately $7,900/year, annual only), offering the full suite of features and high volume hiring support. Note that Workable’s pricing is based on the number of active jobs and features, not per user, and it can scale to support large hiring campaigns.
Key Features:
Workable is an all-in-one recruitment platform known for its rich feature set. It supports posting to 200+ job boards with one click, ensuring your job ads get maximum exposure. Workable’s standout capability is its AI-powered sourcing and screening: it can scan a database of over 400 million candidate profiles to suggest relevant candidates, and it uses AI to screen resumes to surface top matches quickly. The platform also includes self-service interview scheduling, allowing candidates to book interviews from available slots synced to your team’s calendars. Other features include customizable hiring workflows, integrated video interviews, assessment tools, and deep analytics for hiring metrics. Workable integrates with a wide range of HR tools (HRIS, background checks, etc.) and offers an API for custom integrations.
Ideal Use Case:
Workable is an excellent choice for mid-sized companies (around 50-500 employees) that do regular hiring and want a comprehensive solution without stepping up to enterprise-level complexity. It’s especially useful for organizations that value speed and intelligence in hiring – for example, tech startups or growing firms that need to source hard-to-find talent quickly. Workable’s ease of posting jobs globally and its AI screening make it a top pick for companies recruiting in multiple regions or scaling their teams rapidly. If you anticipate frequent hiring across various roles and want to ensure a steady pipeline of quality candidates, Workable can be your go-to ATS.
3. Recruitee – Best Collaborative Recruiting ATS
Best For: Teams that emphasize collaboration in hiring, such as companies where multiple stakeholders (HR, hiring managers, team leads) work together on candidate selection. Recruitee is popular with growing businesses and mid-market companies that want an intuitive, team-friendly ATS.
Pricing:
Recruitee offers three plans (with an uncommon 18-day free trial on each). The plans are Launch (around $269/month), Scale (~$479/month), and Lead (enterprise tier with custom pricing). Pricing can be billed monthly or annually (annual plans include roughly a 16% discount). All packages support unlimited users and differ by number of job slots and advanced features. Recruitee’s pricing is transparent for Launch and Scale; the Lead plan requires contacting sales for a quote, tailored to larger organizations.
Key Features:
Recruitee is known for its user-friendly interface and Kanban-style pipeline management. It allows easy drag-and-drop of candidates through stages, making it clear to see who’s in interview, who’s in screening, etc. Collaboration is a strong suit: team members can leave notes, tag colleagues, and set up role-based access so each collaborator sees appropriate data. Recruitee also provides built-in communication tools – for instance, two-way email sync so you can email candidates from within the platform and keep all correspondence logged, plus even a video interviewing module and a talent sourcing Chrome extension for proactive outreach.
The platform boasts over 120+ integrations with HRIS, assessment tools, and productivity apps (Slack, LinkedIn, Google Calendar, etc.), ensuring it fits into your existing tech stack. A highlight is Recruitee’s access to an enormous job board network – you can post to 2,900+ free and paid job boards through the system, which is one of the widest distributions in the market. Analytics and custom reporting are also available to help optimize your recruitment funnel.
Ideal Use Case:
Recruitee is ideal for mid-sized companies and global startups that rely on collaborative hiring. If your hiring process involves multiple decision-makers and you want to keep everyone on the same page, Recruitee provides an excellent platform for that. It’s especially useful for organizations that hire internationally or across many channels, given its huge job board integration. Companies in the tech sector, creative industries, or any field where team input on hiring is valued will find Recruitee’s shared pipeline and communication features very helpful. Overall, it’s a balanced ATS that scales from a handful of open roles to dozens, without becoming unwieldy.
4. Manatal – Best AI-Powered ATS for HR Teams
Best For: In-house HR teams and recruitment agencies that manage high volumes of resumes and want to leverage AI recommendations to find the right candidates. Manatal is a great fit for organizations that need a cost-effective solution with modern AI features for candidate sourcing.
Pricing:
Manatal offers simple, per-user pricing across three tiers, plus a 14-day free trial on the first two plans. The Professional plan starts at about $19/user per month (billed monthly, or roughly $15/user per month if paid annually). The Enterprise plan is around $39/user monthly (about $35 if annual), which unlocks more advanced features and integrations. For large deployments or additional capabilities, a Custom plan is available (pricing via quote). Manatal’s pricing is notably affordable compared to many competitors, and even the Professional tier includes generous functionality for small teams.
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Key Features:
Manatal stands out for its AI-driven candidate recommendations. It automatically analyzes job requirements and candidate profiles to suggest the best matches in your database, which can significantly speed up sourcing. It also enriches candidate profiles by pulling in data from over 20 social media platforms (like LinkedIn, GitHub, etc.), giving recruiters a richer view of each applicant. Manatal offers customizable recruiting pipelines and automated workflows – for example, you can set triggers to auto-send emails or move candidates when certain actions happen. It has strong resume parsing to build searchable candidate records, and a robust Boolean search function to filter your talent pool by skills, experience, and more. There’s a built-in compliance toolkit (GDPR, CCPA support) to handle data privacy rules. Integration-wise, Manatal connects with popular job boards and platforms like LinkedIn, Indeed, Gmail/Outlook, Slack, and has an API for further integration. However, note that Manatal currently does not offer a mobile app; it is accessed via web browser on desktop or mobile.
Ideal Use Case:
Manatal is a top choice for HR departments that deal with a large number of applicants and want to leverage AI to streamline candidate selection. If you’re a recruiter who spends hours sifting resumes, Manatal can cut that time by intelligently ranking and recommending candidates for you. It’s also great for companies in cost-sensitive regions or startups, given its low cost. Moreover, recruitment agencies or headhunters on a budget will appreciate Manatal’s AI matching to fill roles faster. Just be ready to invest a little time in training your team on the system’s nuances. Once set up, Manatal provides a powerful yet affordable engine to power your hiring in 2025.
5. Teamtailor – Best ATS for Employer Branding
Best For: Small and mid-sized businesses (roughly 5–200 employees) that want to attract talent by showcasing their brand and culture. Teamtailor is designed for companies that need an easy-to-use ATS with excellent career site and employer branding capabilities to engage candidates.
Pricing:
Teamtailor uses a custom pricing model – there are no fixed prices publicly listed. Interested companies must contact Teamtailor for a quote, and pricing is typically tailored based on company size and needs. While specific numbers aren’t published, Teamtailor is generally considered cost-effective for small businesses when compared to enterprise ATS. They often provide a dedicated rep to help configure a plan. (Note: Despite the invite-only pricing, Teamtailor has offered free trials or demos on request to let you test the platform.)
Key Features:
Teamtailor’s hallmark feature is its career site builder. With it, you can easily create a branded careers page that highlights your company’s culture, values, and open roles without needing coding skills. The pages are modern, mobile-friendly, and support rich media (images, videos, even emojis) to give candidates an engaging experience.
The ATS itself covers standard recruiting functions: job posting (to free and premium boards, plus social media), applicant tracking through stages, interview scheduling, and candidate communication (including bulk emails).
It also offers features to support Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI), such as anonymous applications to reduce bias and tools to track diversity metrics.
Teamtailor has a unique “social recruiting” twist – there’s a referral feature where employees can share jobs and a built-in chatbot to engage career site visitors. While it’s an all-in-one recruitment tool, Teamtailor intentionally keeps things simple to ensure ease of use. Integrations exist for common HR tools and they offer an API, but one limitation is it doesn’t have a large ecosystem of add-ons beyond core recruiting.
Ideal Use Case:
Teamtailor is perfect for companies that want to boost their employer brand to compete for talent, especially if they’re not widely known. For example, a mid-sized manufacturing firm or a growing tech startup can use Teamtailor to create a slick career site that rivals those of larger corporations, thus attracting more applicants. It’s also great for HR teams of 1-5 people who need an easy system that doesn’t require much training or IT support. If you value candidate experience and branding in hiring, and you’re in the small-to-medium company range, Teamtailor should be high on your list. It will help make your recruitment process feel engaging and modern without overwhelming you with complexity.
6. Greenhouse – Best ATS for Data-Driven Recruiting
Best For: Midsize to large organizations that prioritize analytics, structured hiring processes, and extensive integrations. Greenhouse is frequently the ATS of choice for fast-growing tech companies and enterprises that want to make data-driven hiring decisions and need a customizable, robust platform.
Pricing:
Greenhouse uses a tiered pricing model (often three plans), but it does not publicly disclose prices. You must contact Greenhouse for a tailored quote based on your company’s size and needs. Generally, Greenhouse is considered a premium ATS – costs can range from a few thousand dollars per year for smaller teams up to well into five or six figures for large enterprises. While pricing is on the higher side, it’s commensurate with the depth of features and support provided. Expect an annual contract rather than month-to-month. (For evaluation, Greenhouse offers demos and sometimes pilot programs, but no self-service free trial.)
Key Features:
Greenhouse is known for its structured hiring approach. It enables you to create standardized interview kits, scorecards, and feedback forms so that every candidate is evaluated on consistent criteria. This fosters more objective hiring decisions.
The platform’s analytics and reporting are top-notch – Greenhouse provides detailed pipeline reports, time-to-hire metrics, source quality analytics, and more, all customizable to your needs. There’s even a feature to track DE&I metrics (like diversity of candidates at each stage) for inclusive hiring. Greenhouse also boasts one of the largest integration ecosystems: over 300 integrations (HRIS, background checks, assessments, sourcing tools, etc.) plus open APIs, allowing Greenhouse to serve as a central hub in your recruiting tech stack.
Additional features include: 1,000+ job board postings (through partners, you can broadcast jobs widely), interview self-scheduling, offer management and e-signatures, and a built-in CRM module for nurturing passive candidates.
Greenhouse has separate modules for Onboarding and CRM that can be added, making it a comprehensive talent acquisition suite. It’s also updated frequently and has strong support for global compliance (GDPR, etc.).
Ideal Use Case:
Greenhouse is an excellent fit for organizations that treat recruiting as a strategic, data-centric function. If you are a company experiencing rapid growth (adding many roles across departments) and need to ensure consistency and quality in each hire, Greenhouse will support that with its structured process and analytics. It’s widely used in the tech industry (think Silicon Valley startups scaling to IPO) but also in financial services, consulting, and other industries where hiring top talent fast and efficiently is critical. Companies that have dedicated recruiting coordinators, analysts, and large hiring panels will benefit from Greenhouse’s granularity. In short, choose Greenhouse if you need a powerful, enterprise-ready ATS and are prepared to invest time and resources to leverage its full potential for a more optimized and fair hiring process.
7. VIVAHR (AvaHR) – Best All-in-One Recruiting Platform
Best For: Small and medium businesses that want an affordable, all-in-one ATS to handle everything from job postings to candidate tracking without unnecessary complexity. VIVAHR (recently rebranded as AvaHR in some markets) is ideal for companies with limited recruiting budgets that still need a full-featured solution.
Pricing:
VIVAHR stands out for its budget-friendly pricing with four plans, all of which come with a 7-day free trial. The plans include Starter ($89/month), Essential ($119/month), Grow ($179/month), and Pro ($279/month) as the top tier. These prices are for monthly billing; if you opt for annual subscriptions, you get about a 20% discount on all plans. Notably, all plans allow unlimited users, candidates, and job postings (the main differences are in number of active jobs at once and advanced features). This transparent pricing makes VIVAHR one of the most accessible ATS options for SMBs.
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Key Features:
VIVAHR offers a well-rounded set of recruiting features to cover the entire hiring cycle. You can easily create and publish job listings to 50+ job boards (including major free boards and social sites) for wide distribution. The platform provides a centralized dashboard where you can track applicants, manage your pipeline, and collaborate with team members on candidate reviews.
VIVAHR also includes a career page builder (to create branded job pages on your website). Other features include bulk actions (e.g., mass emailing candidates), automated email notifications, and a simple drag-and-drop pipeline management.
While it may not have as many bells and whistles as enterprise ATS, VIVAHR covers all core ATS functionalities in a straightforward way.
They also offer unique touches like “culture profiles,” where you can showcase company culture aspects to candidates. Integration-wise, VIVAHR provides connections to common apps and has an API, but the pre-built integrations list is shorter than some larger competitors.
Ideal Use Case:
VIVAHR (AvaHR) is tailor-made for small businesses, startups, and lean HR teams that need a full-service recruiting solution on a budget. For example, a growing local retail chain, a small marketing agency, or a tech startup hiring their first 20 employees could all benefit from VIVAHR’s simplicity and low cost. It’s also a good option for organizations that might be using spreadsheets or email for hiring and are ready to upgrade to an ATS for the first time – VIVAHR will make that transition smooth and affordable. If you want to spend more time connecting with candidates and less time learning complex software, and if your hiring volume is moderate, VIVAHR provides an excellent balance of functionality and value.
8. JazzHR – Best ATS for Small Business Hiring
Best For: Small to mid-sized companies and teams that want to move beyond spreadsheets in hiring and need a proven ATS with strong core features. JazzHR is especially popular with businesses that have outgrown manual hiring processes and want an affordable solution to automate posting, tracking, and managing candidates.
Pricing
JazzHR offers three plans (billed annually for the best rates). The Hero plan starts at about $99/month (when paid annually; roughly $119 if month-to-month), allowing a handful of active jobs and basic features. The Plus plan is around $259/month (annual) and supports up to 50 open positions with additional capabilities like bulk emails and custom branding. The top Pro plan is roughly $369/month (annual) which includes up to 100 open jobs and all advanced features (e.g., eSignatures, premium support). Note: JazzHR traditionally did not have a free trial or free plan (it was demo-based), though some sources mention a 14-day trial – check with JazzHR as this may be a recent change. Importantly, all plans allow unlimited users at no extra cost, and you can purchase add-ons like text messaging or extra active jobs as needed.
Key Features:
JazzHR covers the full recruitment workflow for small businesses in a straightforward way. You can create job postings and automatically syndicate them to 15+ popular job boards (including Indeed, LinkedIn, Glassdoor) with one click. The ATS tracks applicants through custom stages and sends email alerts for new candidates. It has email templates and interview scheduling tools to streamline communication.
JazzHR also provides offer management with e-signature integration (especially in the Pro plan), which is handy for closing candidates. Reporting tools are included, although they’re more basic – covering things like pipeline overview, time-to-fill, and source analytics. One of JazzHR’s strengths is its flexibility with add-ons: for example, you can add on a candidate texting module, advanced reporting, or an onboarding integration as your needs grow.
The platform integrates with various HR and productivity tools (background check providers, HRIS like BambooHR, Google/Microsoft calendars, etc.). JazzHR’s interface is relatively clean and it’s accessible via web (no dedicated mobile app, but the site is mobile-friendly). Overall, it focuses on being an easy-to-use, no-frills ATS that covers recruiting essentials for smaller organizations.
Ideal Use Case
JazzHR is an excellent solution for small businesses hiring regularly but not at an extreme volume. For example, a company of 50 employees planning to hire 10-20 people this year would find JazzHR hits the sweet spot – it automates posting, keeps candidates organized, and helps the team collaborate on hiring decisions, all at a reasonable cost. It’s also a good fit for companies making their first move from email-based recruiting to an ATS, due to its simplicity. Industries like nonprofits, retail, tech startups, agencies, and education have all used JazzHR successfully. If you want a reliable, “tried and true” ATS that covers all the bases without too much complexity, JazzHR is a strong contender that will scale with you from a handful of roles to a larger hiring program.
9. Lever – Best ATS + CRM for Scaling Enterprises
Best For: Rapidly growing mid-size to enterprise companies that need an ATS with built-in recruitment CRM capabilities. Lever is ideal for organizations that want to proactively source talent and build candidate relationships (talent pools, nurturing campaigns) in addition to tracking active applicants.
Pricing:
Lever has a two-tier package structure, but specific pricing is not publicly listed. Typically, they offer Lever Hire (the core ATS) and Lever TRM (Talent Relationship Management) which includes CRM features – these can be purchased together or separately depending on needs. Lever operates on a quote-based pricing model; you’ll need to contact them for a custom price. Median costs reported by some third-parties suggest around $15,000+ per year for mid-sized teams, but this can vary widely based on company size (number of employees or recruiters) and additional modules. There’s no free plan; however, you can request a demo or trial sandbox. Given Lever’s client base, expect pricing to be on the higher end (comparable with other top-tier ATS).
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Key Features:
Lever uniquely combines ATS and CRM functionality in one platform. This means not only can you manage applicants for open jobs, but you can also source and nurture passive candidates. Lever lets you create talent pools (pipelines of potential candidates for future roles) and engage them with personalized email campaigns.
It tracks all touchpoints with candidates, so your recruiting team can build long-term relationships. On the ATS side, Lever provides a modern interface for job postings, pipeline management, interview feedback, and analytics. Notable features include automated workflows with triggers (to streamline tasks like emailing a candidate or moving them to a new stage), and highly customizable hiring workflows. Lever has strong DEI features, for example, built-in diversity survey tools and analytics to help reduce bias in hiring. It also ensures global compliance (GDPR) by allowing candidate data to be managed and deleted per regulations. The platform integrates with a wide range of HR systems, background check services, assessment tools, and offers open APIs and webhooks for custom integrations. While Lever doesn’t have a traditional “reporting module”, it provides interactive dashboards and the ability to extract data for analysis. Additionally, Lever is known for its user-friendly UI – it looks and feels like modern software, which helps with recruiter adoption.
Ideal Use Case: Lever is best suited for companies that are in scale-up mode – for example, a tech company that just got funding and plans to double its headcount, or a mid-market firm expanding into new markets. These organizations often need to fill roles rapidly and continuously, and can’t rely only on inbound applicants. Lever enables a proactive approach: you can keep silver-medalist candidates warm, engage past applicants, and source new ones, ensuring you have candidates ready when a job opens. It’s also a strong fit for companies that have dedicated recruiting teams (including sourcing roles) and want a unified view of all talent leads. If your recruiting strategy involves outreach and cultivation of candidates (not just posting jobs and waiting), and you have the budget to invest in a robust platform, Lever will likely pay off by improving both the efficiency and quality of your hires.
10. SmartRecruiters – Best Enterprise ATS for High-Growth Companies
Best For: Enterprises and fast-growing organizations (including startups aiming to scale quickly) that need a comprehensive, enterprise-grade recruiting platform. SmartRecruiters is a great choice for companies looking for an ATS with a wide array of features, an easy-to-use interface, and a rich ecosystem of add-ons/integrations.
Pricing:
SmartRecruiters follows an invite-only, custom pricing approach. You won’t find fixed pricing on their website; instead, they tailor quotes based on factors like company size (number of employees or recruiters), hiring volume, and required modules. They offer a core ATS product and additional modules (for example, for recruitment marketing, CRM, etc.) which can affect pricing. In practice, SmartRecruiters is comparable in cost to other high-end ATS solutions – medium to large enterprises should expect an annual subscription likely in the five-figure range or more, depending on scope. A direct quote from SmartRecruiters is needed for accurate pricing. There is no free version, but they do often provide demos and might set up a sandbox for serious prospective customers.
Key Features:
SmartRecruiters markets itself as a Talent Acquisition Suite – beyond just ATS functionality, it includes features for recruitment marketing, collaborative hiring, and analytics.
Core ATS capabilities include multi-channel job posting (it can distribute jobs to 200+ job boards and social networks globally), applicant tracking through custom workflows, interview scheduling, and offer management.
SmartRecruiters also has built-in CRM features: you can create talent pools, run email campaigns, and even design landing pages for specific hiring events or campaigns.
It provides a centralized dashboard that’s very user-friendly, often praised for being intuitive for hiring managers as well as recruiters. The platform includes AI-driven recommendations and a feature they call “SmartAssistant” which can automatically screen and score incoming applicants to identify top matches.
Another strength is SmartRecruiters’ marketplace of over 350+ integrations and apps – you can plug in a huge variety of third-party tools (background checks, assessments, video interviews, etc.) easily.
It’s also compliant with global standards (GDPR, OFCCP) and supports multiple languages, which is crucial for multinational companies. Collaboration features allow hiring teams to rate and discuss candidates within the system, and there are analytics dashboards for KPIs like time-to-fill, source effectiveness, and diversity metrics.
SmartRecruiters frequently updates its platform (cloud-based updates to add features and avoid bugs), so customers benefit from continuous improvements.
Ideal Use Case:
SmartRecruiters is best for large and fast-growing companies that want a robust platform capable of handling enterprise requirements while still being modern and user-friendly. Think of a company expanding from 500 to 5,000 employees across multiple countries – SmartRecruiters can accommodate that growth and complexity. It’s also a great choice for organizations that want to elevate their hiring process with integrated marketing (like creating branded career pages and campaigns easily). If you have many hiring stakeholders (recruiters, HR, hiring managers, approvers) who all need to collaborate, SmartRecruiters’ intuitive design will ensure everyone actually uses the system. It’s commonly used in industries like tech, retail, hospitality, and finance for large-scale recruiting. In summary, choose SmartRecruiters if you need a full-featured, enterprise ATS that remains easy to use and configurable as you scale up your talent acquisition efforts.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the best applicant tracking system in 2025?
The “best” ATS depends on your specific needs, but a few standout leaders in 2025 are Greenhouse, Workable, and SmartRecruiters for their comprehensive features. Greenhouse is often hailed for its advanced analytics and is great for data-driven teams. Workable is praised for ease of use and AI capabilities, making it a top all-around choice for mid-sized companies. SmartRecruiters offers an excellent enterprise suite with a user-friendly interface for large organizations. That said, if you’re a small business, solutions like Breezy HR or JazzHR might be the best for you because of their affordability and simplicity. In summary, the best ATS is the one that aligns with your company’s size, budget, and hiring process – our top 10 list in this article can guide you based on common scenarios.
What ATS is best for small businesses or startups?
Small businesses and startups often have unique needs – they require something affordable, easy to use, and scalable. Breezy HR is a top pick because it even has a free plan and very intuitive interface, which is great for startups on a budget. JazzHR is another excellent choice; it’s reasonably priced and offers all the core hiring features without complexity. VIVAHR (AvaHR) is also worth mentioning for small companies due to its low cost plans and straightforward design. These systems let small teams automate postings, keep track of candidates, and collaborate on hiring without a steep learning curve or big expense. They’re basically “small-business-friendly” in both price and functionality.
Can ATS software integrate with my other HR tools (HRIS, payroll, etc.)?
Yes, most modern ATS software offers integrations with other HR and productivity tools. For example, many ATS can integrate with HRIS/HRMS systems (like BambooHR, Workday, ADP) so that once a candidate is hired, their information can be transferred to your core HR system without manual data entry. They also typically sync with calendars (Google Calendar, Outlook) for scheduling interviews seamlessly. Integrations with email (Gmail, Outlook) are common, allowing you to send and receive candidate emails from within the ATS and log those communications. Additionally, ATS platforms often connect with payroll or onboarding software, background check services, skills assessment tools, and more. Some, like Greenhouse and SmartRecruiters, have entire marketplaces of integrations (hundreds of apps). If a specific integration isn’t available out-of-the-box, many ATS provide an API or tools like Zapier to set up custom integrations. When evaluating an ATS, it’s a good idea to make a list of your existing tools and check if the ATS either has a native integration or open API to connect with each. Integration capabilities ensure that your recruiting software plays nicely in your overall HR tech stack, reducing duplicate work and keeping data consistent across systems.
What’s the difference between an ATS and a recruitment CRM?
An ATS (Applicant Tracking System) is primarily focused on managing active job applicants through the hiring process – it’s job-centric. It helps with posting jobs, collecting resumes, tracking interview stages, and hiring decisions for specific openings. A recruitment CRM (Candidate Relationship Management) system, on the other hand, is more person-centric and is used for managing relationships with potential candidates before they apply to a job. Think of it as a marketing tool for talent acquisition: a CRM allows recruiters to build talent pools, keep profiles of passive candidates, and engage them through newsletters, events, or personalized outreach so that when a relevant job opens, those candidates can be tapped.
In practice, the lines have blurred. Some modern ATS (like Lever or SmartRecruiters) include CRM-like features to nurture passive candidates, and some CRM tools include basic applicant tracking. If you’re actively sourcing candidates and want to maintain a pipeline (even when they’re not applying to a current job), a recruitment CRM is very useful. But if your main need is handling active applicants who have applied, a traditional ATS might suffice. Many large organizations use both: a CRM for long-term candidate nurturing and an ATS for the formal application and hiring workflow. For a smaller company, having an ATS that includes some CRM features can give you the best of both worlds under one roof.
Are applicant tracking systems secure and compliant with data privacy laws?
A: Reputable ATS providers take security and data privacy very seriously. Since they handle personal data (candidates’ contact info, resumes, possibly sensitive details like EEOC data or background check results), they implement measures such as encryption, regular security audits, and compliance with standards like SOC 2 or ISO 27001 to protect that data. Most ATS are cloud-based and will host your data on secure servers (often using major providers like AWS or Azure which have robust security).
Regarding data privacy laws: Yes, modern ATS are built to help you comply with regulations like GDPR (in Europe) and similar laws. For instance, under GDPR, candidates have rights to access or request deletion of their data. An ATS will typically have features to handle this – e.g., you can delete a candidate’s profile upon request, or the system can automatically purge candidate data after a certain retention period. Some ATS let you include consent checkboxes on application forms and easily honor “right to be forgotten” requests. For US companies dealing with EEOC guidelines, an ATS can collect and report on diversity data in a compliant way (usually this data is kept separate and used in aggregate to avoid bias in individual hiring decisions).
When choosing an ATS, it’s a good idea to ask vendors about their security certifications and compliance features. Look for things like data encryption (in transit and at rest), two-factor authentication options, and roles/permissions to control who in your team can access sensitive info. Also check if the data is stored in a region that aligns with your legal needs (some companies need EU data residency, for example).
Final Thought
Selecting the right ATS is a critical step toward optimizing your recruitment in 2025. The best applicant tracking systems we’ve covered offer a range of options for every business size and hiring style – from Breezy HR’s free and simple approach for small teams, to Greenhouse and SmartRecruiters’ feature-rich platforms for enterprises. By understanding your needs and leveraging the insights in this guide, you can implement an ATS that saves time, improves candidate quality, and enhances your employer brand.
In today’s talent-driven market, an effective ATS isn’t just a “nice to have” – it’s a strategic advantage. It enables you to compete for top talent by streamlining the hiring experience for both your team and your candidates. As you consider the tools and tips outlined above, remember that the ultimate goal is to find a system that empowers your recruiters and delights your applicants.
Ready to transform your hiring process? Now is the time to take action. Evaluate the recommended ATS platforms, take advantage of free trials or demos, and involve your team in the decision. By investing in the right applicant tracking system, you’ll set the foundation for successful hiring in 2025 and beyond. Good luck, and here’s to finding your next great hire with the help of a stellar ATS!
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Snehil Prakash is a serial entrepreneur, IT and SaaS marketing leader, AI Reader and innovator, Author and blogger. He loves talking about Software's, AI driven business and consulting Software business owner for their 0 to 1 strategic growth plans.
