Best Applicant Tracking Systems 2026: Recruiting Software
We rank applicant tracking systems (ATS) and recruiting software using only facts from the vendors' own sites: posting jobs to many job boards at once, a careers page builder, interview scheduling, interview scorecards, a candidate CRM for talent pools and nurture campaigns, a public API, built-in GDPR tools for consent and data retention, an independent security audit (SOC 2 or ISO 27001), single sign-on, data storage in the EU, EEO and diversity data tools, whether the price is published, the monthly price of the cheapest paid plan, a permanent free plan, the year the company started and a public status page. Every fact links to an official page with a check date. We do not use reviews, user scores or demos, and paid placements never change the Score.
| # | Company | Who it serves | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zoho Recruit | 80 | Yes | Not verified | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Price shown Free plan Multiposting Scheduling GDPR tools EU data |
| 2 | Breezy HR | 74 | Yes | $189.00 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Price shown Multiposting Scheduling Candidate CRM GDPR tools EU data |
| 3 | Greenhouse | 73 | No | Not verified | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not verified | Multiposting Scheduling Candidate CRM GDPR tools |
| 4 | Ashby | 71 | Yes | $400.00 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not verified | Price shown Multiposting Scheduling Candidate CRM GDPR tools |
| 5 | Workable | 71 | Yes | Not verified | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not verified | Price shown Multiposting Scheduling Candidate CRM GDPR tools |
| 6 | Pinpoint | 70 | No | Not verified | Not verified | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Multiposting Scheduling Candidate CRM GDPR tools EU data |
| 7 | Manatal | 66 | Yes | $19.00 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not verified | Price shown Multiposting GDPR tools |
| 8 | Teamtailor | 66 | No | Not verified | Not verified | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not verified | Multiposting Scheduling Candidate CRM GDPR tools |
| 9 | Tellent Recruitee | 65 | No | Not verified | Not verified | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Multiposting Scheduling Candidate CRM GDPR tools EU data |
-
- Published price
- Yes
- Cheapest paid plan, monthly billing
- Not verified
- Free plan
- Yes
- Posting to many job boards
- Yes
- GDPR tools (consent, retention)
- Yes
- SOC 2 or ISO 27001
- Yes
- Data stored in the EU
- Yes
Pros
- Posts jobs to many job boards at once
- Built-in GDPR consent and retention tools
- Independent security audit (SOC 2 or ISO 27001)
- Prices published on the official site
Details Visit site ↗ 80% backed by facts
-
- Published price
- Yes
- Cheapest paid plan, monthly billing
- $189.00
- Free plan
- No
- Posting to many job boards
- Yes
- GDPR tools (consent, retention)
- Yes
- SOC 2 or ISO 27001
- Yes
- Data stored in the EU
- Yes
Pros
- Posts jobs to many job boards at once
- Built-in GDPR consent and retention tools
- Independent security audit (SOC 2 or ISO 27001)
- Prices published on the official site
Cons
- No permanent free plan
Details Visit site ↗ 86% backed by facts
-
- Published price
- No
- Cheapest paid plan, monthly billing
- Not verified
- Free plan
- No
- Posting to many job boards
- Yes
- GDPR tools (consent, retention)
- Yes
- SOC 2 or ISO 27001
- Yes
- Data stored in the EU
- Not verified
Pros
- Posts jobs to many job boards at once
- Built-in GDPR consent and retention tools
- Independent security audit (SOC 2 or ISO 27001)
- Careers page builder
Cons
- Price only on request
- No permanent free plan
Details Visit site ↗ 86% backed by facts
-
- Published price
- Yes
- Cheapest paid plan, monthly billing
- $400.00
- Free plan
- No
- Posting to many job boards
- Yes
- GDPR tools (consent, retention)
- Yes
- SOC 2 or ISO 27001
- Yes
- Data stored in the EU
- Not verified
Pros
- Posts jobs to many job boards at once
- Built-in GDPR consent and retention tools
- Independent security audit (SOC 2 or ISO 27001)
- Prices published on the official site
Cons
- High entry price
- No permanent free plan
Details Visit site ↗ 86% backed by facts
-
- Published price
- Yes
- Cheapest paid plan, monthly billing
- Not verified
- Free plan
- No
- Posting to many job boards
- Yes
- GDPR tools (consent, retention)
- Yes
- SOC 2 or ISO 27001
- Yes
- Data stored in the EU
- Not verified
Pros
- Posts jobs to many job boards at once
- Built-in GDPR consent and retention tools
- Independent security audit (SOC 2 or ISO 27001)
- Prices published on the official site
Cons
- No permanent free plan
Details Visit site ↗ 76% backed by facts
-
- Published price
- No
- Cheapest paid plan, monthly billing
- Not verified
- Free plan
- Not verified
- Posting to many job boards
- Yes
- GDPR tools (consent, retention)
- Yes
- SOC 2 or ISO 27001
- Yes
- Data stored in the EU
- Yes
Pros
- Posts jobs to many job boards at once
- Built-in GDPR consent and retention tools
- Independent security audit (SOC 2 or ISO 27001)
- Careers page builder
Cons
- Price only on request
Details Visit site ↗ 75% backed by facts
-
- Published price
- Yes
- Cheapest paid plan, monthly billing
- $19.00
- Free plan
- No
- Posting to many job boards
- Yes
- GDPR tools (consent, retention)
- Yes
- SOC 2 or ISO 27001
- Yes
- Data stored in the EU
- Not verified
Pros
- Low entry price
- Posts jobs to many job boards at once
- Built-in GDPR consent and retention tools
- Independent security audit (SOC 2 or ISO 27001)
Cons
- No permanent free plan
Details Visit site ↗ 71% backed by facts
-
- Published price
- No
- Cheapest paid plan, monthly billing
- Not verified
- Free plan
- Not verified
- Posting to many job boards
- Yes
- GDPR tools (consent, retention)
- Yes
- SOC 2 or ISO 27001
- Yes
- Data stored in the EU
- Not verified
Pros
- Posts jobs to many job boards at once
- Built-in GDPR consent and retention tools
- Independent security audit (SOC 2 or ISO 27001)
- Careers page builder
Cons
- Price only on request
Details Visit site ↗ 71% backed by facts
-
- Published price
- No
- Cheapest paid plan, monthly billing
- Not verified
- Free plan
- Not verified
- Posting to many job boards
- Yes
- GDPR tools (consent, retention)
- Yes
- SOC 2 or ISO 27001
- Yes
- Data stored in the EU
- Yes
Pros
- Posts jobs to many job boards at once
- Built-in GDPR consent and retention tools
- Independent security audit (SOC 2 or ISO 27001)
- Careers page builder
Cons
- Price only on request
Details Visit site ↗ 70% backed by facts
Not ranked yet: not enough verified data
These services are known to us, but we haven't verified enough facts to rank them fairly.
- JazzHR (61% backed by facts)
- Lever (29% backed by facts)
- Recruit CRM (48% backed by facts)
- SmartRecruiters (site closed to automated checks, )
Sites marked as closed refuse automated reading (403 error, captcha or a robots.txt ban). We don't bypass such protection, so we can't verify their facts and they are not ranked. This says nothing about their quality. A company can send links to its official pages to [email protected].
How we calculate the Score
35%
Hiring features
Whether the ATS posts a job to many external job boards at once (weight 2), has a careers page builder (weight 1), interview scheduling with calendar sync or candidate self-booking (weight 1), interview scorecards or structured evaluation forms (weight 1), a candidate CRM with talent pools or nurture campaigns (weight 1) and a documented API (weight 1). The fact shows that a feature exists on some plan, not that the cheapest plan has it: check the note under each fact.
30%
Privacy, security and compliance
An ATS stores CVs and personal data of every applicant, so this factor carries 30%. Built-in GDPR tools such as consent capture, retention rules or automatic deletion (weight 2), a current SOC 2 report or ISO 27001 certificate for the vendor or its group (weight 2), single sign-on (weight 1), the option to keep data in the EU (weight 1) and tools to collect or report EEO and diversity data (weight 1). We record the vendor's statement; we do not audit it.
20%
Price transparency
Many ATS vendors sell only through a sales call. We give points for publishing prices on the official pricing page (weight 1) and for a permanent free plan (weight 1). The monthly price of the cheapest paid plan with monthly billing, as visible text on the pricing page, scores on a scale from $0 (100 points) to $300 or more (0 points) (weight 2). Plans are priced per recruiter, per company size or as a flat fee, so the price is an entry ticket, not a like-for-like comparison. Annual-billing prices, prices drawn only by a script and prices we would have to calculate are not used; a free trial is not a free plan.
15%
Track record
How long the company has been running: 20 years or more scores 100 (weight 2), and whether it publishes a public status page with incidents (weight 1).
How to choose an applicant tracking system
Count recruiters, jobs and employees
ATS prices depend on the number of recruiters, active jobs or employees in your company. Ask for the price at the size you will reach in a year, not today.
Check where jobs are posted
Free job boards in your country, paid boards and LinkedIn often work differently. Make sure the boards you rely on are connected and find out what posting to them costs.
Set up consent and retention from day one
If you hire in the EU, turn on consent capture and automatic deletion of old applications, choose the data region and sign the data processing agreement before the first candidate applies.
Make sure you can leave
Ask how to export candidates, CVs and notes, and whether the API is included in your plan. Moving years of applications to another system is much easier with a full export.
Frequently asked questions
Which applicant tracking system is best?
The system in first place has the highest Score under our open method, but the Score does not measure ease of use or how well a tool fits your hiring. Shortlist two or three systems with the features you need and run a real job through each during the trial.
Why do many ATS vendors not show prices?
Several vendors sell only through a sales call and quote by company size and modules. We record that as a fact: a system with a published price gets points for transparency, a system with a price on request does not, and its price stays empty.
Why is the price empty even when a vendor publishes prices?
We take only the monthly-billing price shown as text on the official pricing page. If the page shows annual billing by default and draws the monthly price only with a script, or if we would have to calculate it, the fact stays empty. The note on the vendor's page shows the price we saw.
Do you check GDPR compliance?
No. We record whether the vendor's own pages describe tools for consent, data retention and deletion, an EU data location and a SOC 2 or ISO 27001 audit. Whether your hiring process complies with the law depends on how you use the tool.
What does an empty fact mean?
We could not confirm it on an official page, sometimes because the site refused automated access or describes the feature only behind a login. An empty fact scores zero and lowers data completeness. A system with too little data is not ranked.