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There are seemingly countless candidate sourcing software solutions available, so figuring out which is best for you is tough. You want to utilizes advanced search algorithms and databases to scan various platforms, including job boards, social media, and professional networks, to find candidates who match specific job requirements—but now need to figure out which tool is the best fit. In this post, I make things simple, leveraging my experience as an HR expert and using dozens of different candidate sourcing tools to bring you this shortlist of the best candidate sourcing software overall.

What is Candidate Sourcing Software?

Candidate sourcing software is a specialized tool used in recruitment to identify and attract potential job candidates. It automates the process of searching for candidates by using advanced algorithms to scan various online platforms, such as job boards, social media, and professional networks. This software is designed to find individuals who match specific job criteria, thereby streamlining the recruitment process.

Candidate sourcing tools enable recruiters and hiring managers to efficiently build a pool of qualified candidates, reducing the time and effort typically required in the initial stages of sourcing. By leveraging this technology, organizations can enhance their recruitment strategy, improve the quality of their candidate pool, and expedite the hiring process.

Overviews Of The 10 Best Candidate Sourcing Software

Here’s a brief description of each candidate sourcing software that made my top 10 list, plus 10 additional software selections below. For my top 10 choices, I’ve highlighted each tool’s best use case, plus some noteworthy features, and screenshots to show you their user interface.

Time-saving candidate sourcing tool with helpful automations and AI-generated recommendations

  • Free demo available
  • Pricing upon request
Visit Website
Rating: 4.6/5

Fetcher’s AI-powered sourcing platform reduces the time it takes to source quality candidates by automating the candidate sourcing process and other top-of-funnel tasks. Hiring managers can enter distinct keywords for skills their candidates need and upload a job description. The system then automatically scours candidate databases using their auto-pilot feature to quickly deliver the top-matched results.

Their AI-powered platform also makes it easy to remove bias from the initial sourcing process, ensuring your candidate pools are more diverse from the start. The system also supports diversity metrics such as open rates, response rates, and interview booking rates for diverse candidates. This makes it simple to show key stakeholders how your recruiting team is progressing against your company’s hiring goals.

Fetcher integrates with ATS systems Greenhouse, Lever and SmartRecruiters, as well as common email programs, Slack, Google Calendar and Outreach Calendar. They also have a 1-click Chrome extension too.

Pricing details for Fetcher are not readily available, though you can request a free demo via their website.

Advanced ATS with AI-generated candidate scores and recommendations

  • 14-day free trial
  • From $15/user/month
Visit Website
Rating: 4.9/5

Manatal’s full-feature applicant tracking system (ATS) simplifies the recruitment process through AI-driven recommendations, job portal integrations and easy-to-manage talent pipelines. Key candidate sourcing features include a Chrome extension for LinkedIn that makes it easy to parse public information and add it to candidate profiles, and the ability to centralize all job applications into kanban-style boards. Their system also integrates directly to thousands of free and premium job posting boards, making it easy to advertise job openings.

To speed up the candidate screening process, Manatal’s AI framework scans job descriptions to extract the core skills and other requirements for each position. Its recommendation algorithm then quickly cross-references the data with candidates in your talent pools to highlight applicants with the closest match. The system also allots a score to each candidate, to make comparing candidates more objective. To improve candidate sourcing for advanced positions, Boolean candidate searching is also an option.

Manatal integrates with LinkedIn, Gmail, Outlook, Mailchimp, and other platforms. They also have an open API to support customized integrations, and a full-feature mobile app.

Pricing for Manatal starts at $15 USD/user/month. A free demo and 14-day free trial can also be requested via their website.

Best for global recruitment automation

  • 14-day free trial
  • From $50/user/month
Visit Website
Rating: 4.8/5

Recruit CRM serves as an all-in-one solution tailored for the recruitment industry, enabling agencies to manage candidates, clients, and internal team activities seamlessly. This platform combines robust applicant tracking systems with client relationship management features to simplify daily tasks and improve productivity.

Recruit CRM shines as a talent acquisition software by seamlessly integrating robust applicant tracking system (ATS) and customer relationship management (CRM) functionalities, making it an invaluable asset for recruiters. The ATS component is particularly adept at managing vast amounts of candidate data, from initial application to final hiring stages, ensuring a streamlined tracking process that reduces the likelihood of high-quality candidates slipping through the cracks. The CRM features enhance relationship management, allowing recruiters to build and maintain strong connections with both candidates and clients.

Recruit CRM offers a variety of features to enhance recruitment processes, including applicant tracking system capabilities, customer relationship management tools, and job board integrations. It allows users to automate workflows, manage candidate pipelines, and generate detailed analytics and reports. The software also supports email and calendar synchronization, offers a mobile app for on-the-go access, and provides tools for team collaboration and communication.

Recruit CRM integrates natively with several tools to streamline recruitment activities. These integrations include LinkedIn, Gmail, Outlook, Zapier, QuickBooks, Xero, Twilio, RingCentral, Mailchimp, and Google Calendar. These connections help users efficiently manage communications, accounting, marketing campaigns, and scheduling directly from the platform.

Recruit CRM offers multiple pricing tiers starting from $69 per user per month.

Best for DEIB recruiting in the tech industry

  • Free demo available
  • Pricing upon request
Visit Website
Rating: 4.8/5

PowerToFly is a DEIB business suite that helps you source, recruit and manage the best talent while ensuring you develop and maintain a diverse and inclusive workplace. The platform offers a unique combination of talent management tools and on-demand DEIB training resources.

I picked PowerToFly because of how they've set up the platform. The DEIB Business Suite includes two products: Power Pro and Power Up. Power Pro is the candidate-facing product of this suite that lets you communicate with applicants and source talent. This will allow you to build a landing page where people can see your open positions, track recruitment processes in dashboards, and search through a pool of talent.

The feature you will be more interested in is Candidate Search. This allows you to search through a global pool of talent and apply advanced filters to narrow down your search. Among the filters you can use are the candidate's current position, skills, and diversity filters like gender, ethnicity, community groups, and generalized identity.

Another feature I like is the job posting wizard which lets you quickly create inclusive job postings using templates. All you need to do is select the template that best matches the position you are looking for and fill out a couple of job-specific information.

Definitely, a tool to consider if you are looking to build a more inclusive and equitable company and culture.

Scalable, enterprise-level recruiting platform with special tools for high-volume and career-fair recruiting

  • Free demo available
  • Pricing upon request
Visit Website
Rating: 4.3/5

SmartRecruiters is a flexible, modern and scalable recruiting platform with end-to-end features, suitable for teams of any size, all the way up to enterprise-level organizations. Their Talent Acquisition Suite includes tools to market job vacancies, source candidates, collaborate with hiring teams, track metrics and applicants through their ATS, and even send out offers and link up with onboarding processes.

Their system includes classic sourcing features like tools to discover candidates inside and outside of your organization, pre-existing integrations with popular job boards, and a customizable Sourcing Dashboard. Their integrated campaigns feature allows recruiting teams to nurture passive candidates and take advantage of both outbound and inbound recruiting approaches.

Another unique feature is their SmartRecruiters Field Recruiting App, which is tailored for recruiting events such as job fairs, recruiting meetups, and campus recruiting events. The app can function as a branded kiosk during the event, and parse resume details into candidate profiles in real-time. As a result of their useful automations and system scalability, SmartRecruiters is a great platform for high volume recruiting, or for organizations experiencing hyper growth. As an example, they are currently used by McDonalds.

It’s easy to use third-party tools with SmartRecruiters, and they currently boast connections with 600+ apps. On the off chance that your current HR tools are not part of their app Marketplace, their development team will integrate them for no additional cost.

Pricing details for SmartRecruiters are not readily available, though you can request a free demo via their website.

Sophisticated candidate sourcing software, well-suited for technical or expert-level positions

  • 14-day free trial + free demo
  • Pricing upon request
Visit Website
Rating: 4.5/5

SeekOut’s Talent 360 recruiting platform includes sophisticated features to enrich the hiring process. Their software can aggregate candidate data from multiple sources to form unified candidate profiles with rich details. Like many other platforms in this list, their candidate search function is also backed by an advanced AI framework that incorporates machine learning techniques with Boolean searching and candidate filters. They also have dedicated tools to improve diversity during the hiring process by incorporating highly qualified minority candidates.

Beyond all that, Talent 360 is a valuable candidate screening tool for technical and expert-level positions, in particular. Their system sources candidates from 707M+ public profiles, with 29M+ developer profiles based on candidates’ GitHub activities related to developer programming languages. As well, their platform has aggregated 96M+ candidates profiles with deep subject matter expertise based on information like patents in their name, conference presentations, published papers, and how frequently they are cited among research papers. Talent 360 also has a roster of candidates with verified security clearances for filling roles in government, aerospace, defense and intelligence.

Talent 360 integrates with 20+ common applicant tracking systems, including Phenom People, Taleo, Workday, Talemetry, Jobvite, Gr8People, Crelate, RecruiterFlow, TrackTalents and others.

Pricing details for Talent 360 are not readily available, though a free demo can be requested via their website.

High-volume recruiting system with advanced candidate nurturing capabilities to keep applicants engaged

  • Free demo available
  • Pricing upon request
Visit Website
Rating: 4.2/5

High volume recruiting is Lever’s speciality. To help recruiting teams act fast, their system allows users to evaluate, skip, advance or archive candidates in seconds, or send them emails without leaving the system. Their Automation Hub takes care of time-consuming activities so you can spend more time on your strategy instead.

One feature that really stands out from the sourcing perspective is Lever’s ability to create an efficient, high-touch, personalized candidate experience. Their Advanced Nurture module makes it simple to personalize messages to make candidates feel important, while sending them in an automated sequence so you can set it and forget it. Through their Nurture module the system also makes it easy to reconnect with previous candidates still in talent pools too.

Lever integrates with 175 commonly used HR software applications, including background and reference checking platforms, video interviewing tools, and many other systems.

Pricing details for Lever are not readily available, though you can request a demo via their website.

Candidate sourcing software with tools for talent rediscovery and nurturing passive talent

  • Free demo available
  • Pricing upon request
Visit Website
Rating: 4.3/5

Yello’s recruiting software makes it easy to source qualified candidates by automating candidate scanning from many sources, and importing the data directly into Yello. Their tool filters information from sites like LinkedIn and DAXTRA boards, and centralizes the top-matching candidate profiles into Yello’s system. This also helps reduce job board license costs, since the integrations are already part of their software package.

Yello’s recruiting software has several interesting features to enrich the candidate sourcing process. To help hiring teams stay proactive, their system enables passive talent management through personalized nurture campaigns. This allows recruiters to cultivate top talent for future roles even before the job postings are live. Their talent rediscovery and recapture tools also help uncover talent that got lost in the shuffle of hiring processes, and initiate personalized re-engagement campaigns with them.

Other classic features worth mentioning are their advanced candidate search and filters, pipeline visualizations, and candidate engagement metrics. Their source channel tracking information is useful as it highlights which candidate sources are the most fruitful for your cause. In addition, their platform includes other insightful metrics and reporting functions too.

Yello integrates with all major applicant tracking systems (ATS), including Taleo, Workday, iCIMS, SAP SuccessFactors, Greenhouse, ADP, Kenexa and Lever. To improve pre-employment candidate testing, they also integrate with assessment providers such as HireVue, SHL, Pymetrics, Saville Assessment, and Cappfinity.

Pricing details for Yello are not readily available, though you can request a free demo via their website.

Comprehensive talent acquisition software including insightful forecasting tools and a talent CRM

  • Free demo available
  • Pricing upon request

Gem’s comprehensive talent acquisition software includes features that address the full talent lifecycle. Their all-in-one system pairs sourcing tools with user-friendly talent pipelines, and a Talent CRM (candidate relationship management) module. All these features are further augmented by their Talent Compass module, which helps teams review their recruiting flow, visualize their KPIs (key performance indicators), forecast for future hiring needs, and understand other valuable insights about their recruiting process end-to-end.

To streamline candidate sourcing, Gem integrates data from multiple sources into one platform where you can automate and personalize the next steps. This makes it easy to aggregate candidate data from external sources like LinkedIn, Indeed, GitHub, Greenhouse, Facebook, and other platforms into one single source of applicant information. You can also use it to centralize all your communications with applicants, including sending SMS text messages.

Gem integrates with common applicant tracking systems, as well as LinkedIn, Facebook, GitHub, SeekOut and SmartRecruiters.

Pricing details for Gem are not readily available, though you can request a free demo via their website. They also offer a free version for startup companies with less than 15 employees.

Sophisticated talent intelligence platform including a talent rediscovery tool that supports internal mobility

  • Free demo available
  • Pricing upon request

Eightfold’s Talent Intelligence Platform has a comprehensive set of tools to help teams hire, retain and grow their talent. Included in their software are tools to help with talent acquisition, potential candidate screening, candidate experience features, and talent management features to retain existing staff.

Eightfold’s sourcing tool starts with internal talent rediscovery first, to identify any existing employees who’d be a great fit for that role. This is a great feature as options for internal mobility are an important aspect of addressing employee retention. Their whole system is built on top of a deep AI learning structure. In their words, that means their software “uses neural networks that learn from 1 billion+ profiles, billions of global data points, and 1 million+ unique skills, to deliver bias-free, data-driven insights.”

Specific software integration details are not included on Eightfold’s website. However, customers will have access to an implementation services support team that can configure the system to work with the tools you’re currently using.

Pricing details for Eightfold are not readily available, though you can request a free demo via their website.

The 10 Best Candidate Sourcing Software Summary

Tools Price
Fetcher Pricing upon request
Manatal From $15/user/month
Recruit CRM From $50/user/month
PowerToFly Pricing upon request
SmartRecruiters Pricing upon request
SeekOut Pricing upon request
Lever Pricing upon request
Yello Pricing upon request
Gem Pricing upon request
Eightfold AI Pricing upon request
Preview Image - <h2 class="c-block__title b-summary-table__title c-listicle__title h3" > Compare Software Specs Side by Side</h2>

Compare Software Specs Side by Side

Use our comparison chart to review and evaluate software specs side-by-side.

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Other Candidate Sourcing Options

Here are a few more options that didn’t make the best candidate sourcing software list:

  1. AmazingHiring

    AI-powered sourcing tool for technical positions with advanced prospect management features

  2. Visage

    Global recruiting platform that blends human sourcing expertise with AI-powered candidate sourcing recommendations

  3. hireEZ

    Robust candidate sourcing tool with deep candidate pools and integrated processes for challenging niche industries

  4. Zoho Recruit

    An applicant tracking system that helps streamline the recruitment process

  5. Tracker

    Combined ATS and CRM platform with helpful AI and automated candidate ranking features

  6. Teamtailor

    Best candidate sourcing software for automating and analyzing candidate engagement

  7. Paycor

    Best for sourcing, recruiting, and onboarding new hires

  8. TalentReef

    Best for sourcing high-volumes of hourly workers

  9. Unnanu Hire

    Best robust talent database with advanced contextual resume search

  10. CVViZ

    Automated candidate sourcing tool that targets niche job boards based on industry, role and geography - available as a free trial.

Comparison Criteria

Wondering what I look for when selecting the best candidate sourcing software? Here’s a summary of my evaluation criteria: 

  1. User Interface (UI): I prefer software with a clean and colourful interface that makes the software enjoyable to use. 
  2. Usability: I prioritize software that’s simple and easy-to-use, with information clearly organized and easily accessible (i.e., no endless clicking or scrolling to find what I need). 
  3. Integrations: To maximize productivity, I prioritize systems that integrate with other software such as applicant tracking systems, communication tools, or digital calendars.
  4. Value for $: While I always appreciate software with transparent pricing structures, those details are not always readily available. Instead, pricing is often customized based on the volume of recruiting, job postings, or system users. 

Candidate Sourcing Software: Key Features

Here’s a summary of the key features you can expect to find in the best candidate sourcing tools: 

  1. Talent pools and pipelines: A talent pool is a roster of potential candidates for each position, whereas a talent pipeline is the visualization tool that tracks where each candidate is in the recruiting process. 
  2. Direct integrations with job boards & social network sites: The exact number of sites will vary with each platform, but candidate sourcing tools automatically scour candidate repositories like LinkedIn, GitHub, StackOverflow and many others to find top-matching candidates. Through these integrated networks, some sourcing tools give recruiters access to millions of candidate profiles.
  3. Advanced talent discovery tools: This includes features like talent rediscovery and recapture, which looks inward to find existing employees who have the required skills for a new position. This category also includes advanced searching capabilities (Boolean + Semantic), dedicated candidate diversity tools, and artificial intelligence (AI) that helps source and rank candidates for each position.
  4. Rich candidate profiles: Sourcing tools combine data from many sources to provide hiring teams with as much detail as possible about each candidate. This category also includes other features like resume parsing tools that scan resume contents and populate candidate databases automatically.
  5. Workflow automations: This includes features like automated candidate searches based on key criteria, automated candidate scoring, and talent pools or long lists of candidates that are auto-generated. 
  6. Customizable templates: This goes hand-in-hand with automations, but most sourcing tools have templates for candidate communications that can be customized and set to run in predetermined email sequences, saving recruiters lots of time. 
  7. Advanced metrics: This includes data on candidate sourcing (which sources are the most fruitful or lagging), candidate engagement, candidate diversity, and predictive analytics for future hiring needs.

How Does Artificial Intelligence Support Candidate Sourcing?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a welcome addition to many candidate sourcing software platforms. AI supports the process by flagging job-related skills in job descriptions and searching the web for candidate profiles that match. Traditionally, this was a very time-consuming manual process that recruiters spent hours undertaking. Now, with AI, they can upload the parameters and let the sourcing software generate the list while they focus on other tasks. AI also helps reduce unconscious biases by adhering strictly to skill-based screening protocols.

AI also goes hand-in-hand with workflow automations - another time-saving feature. For example, AI-based tools like chatbots help create a positive candidate experience by managing candidate communications. Recent research indicates that recruiters using AI find it most helpful for: sourcing candidates (58%), screening candidates (56%), and nurturing candidates (55%). 

Related Read: How Contact Management Software Can Benefit Your Business

If you’re still curious about how AI has infiltrated the recruitment market, you might find these statistics interesting:

  • 80% of executives believe AI improves performance and productivity
  • 35% of talent professionals report that AI is the top trend influencing how they hire
  • 38% of organizations are increasing their efforts to use AI for talent acquisition
  • Data has shown that the cost of recruiting per role decreased by 75% due to AI-powered recruiting, and employee turnover reduced by 35%. 

What Are Passive Candidates? 

Passive candidates are professionals who aren't necessarily even looking for a job. Yet, they may have the exact skills and experience you're looking for. Even though these individuals are already employed, they may still show interest in a new career opportunity. This is especially true if they appear to have plateaued in their current role.

Sourcing tools identify these individuals by searching public candidate profile sites. Often using the power of AI, these tools match job requirements with overt skills mentioned in candidate profiles.

What Is Internal Mobility And Why Is It Important?  

Internal mobility describes the ability for employees to change positions within an organization. Upward mobility (or vertical mobility) describes an employee moving up to a more advanced level. Lateral mobility (or horizontal mobility) is when an employee changes positions within an organization, but not levels. For example, a manager may receive a lateral position change to manage a different department, but still at the same technical level. 

Many candidate sourcing systems automatically assess existing staff for internal mobility opportunities. This increases employee retention as staff who have opportunities to advance are more likely to stay with the company. 

Related Read: HR Software: What It Costs And How To Decide What’s Best For Your Company

Additional Resources

I hope this article gave you a greater understanding of how candidate sourcing tools can support and advance your recruitment efforts. 

If you’re interested in other software recommendations to help your recruiting team, take a look at our lists of the best recruiting software and best applicant tracking systems for small businesses too. 

You may also benefit from some tips on How to Manage the Candidate Experience Through Rapid Scaling, especially if your business is in a period of rapid growth. 

If you’re up to your eyeballs in applicants and need extra help, you may want to enlist some outside help. Here’s our list of 7 Recruitment Process Outsourcing Companies & Benefits to get you started. 

Last but not least, before you go, it’d be great if you took a moment to subscribe to our People Managing People newsletter. By signing up, you’ll gain access to the latest articles covering a whole range of HR-related topics. 

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By Kim Behnke

Kim Behnke is an HR Tool Expert & Writer for People Managing People. She draws on her 9 years of human resources experience and her keen eye for systematic processes to support her analyses of the top HR tools on the market. She is passionate about maximizing efficiencies and streamlining workflows to ensure internal systems run smoothly. Kim's HR experience includes recruitment, onboarding, performance management, training and development, policy development and enforcement, and HR analytics. She also has degrees in psychology, writing, publishing, and technical communication, and recently completed a Certified Digital HR Specialist program through the Academy to Innovate HR. When away from her desk, she can usually be found outside tending to her ever-expanding garden.