10 Best Talent Acquisition Software Shortlist
Here's my pick of the 10 best software from the 20 tools reviewed.
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With so many different talent acquisition software solutions available, figuring out which is right for you is tough. You know you want to optimize the recruitment process for your company, making it more efficient and effective—but now need to figure out which tool is best. In this post, I'll help make your choice easy, sharing my personal experiences using dozens of different talent acquisition tools with teams of all sizes, with my picks of the best talent acquisition software overall.
What is Talent Acquisition Software?
Talent acquisition software is a digital tool designed to assist organizations in efficiently finding and hiring suitable candidates. It encompasses functionalities for job posting, applicant tracking, candidate sourcing, resume screening, and communication management.
The purpose is to streamline the recruitment process, from initial candidate attraction to final selection, by automating and organizing key tasks. It enables recruiters to manage large volumes of applicants, enhances candidate engagement, and provides insights for data-driven hiring decisions.
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Best Talent Acquisition Software: Pricing Comparison Chart
This comparison chart summarizes pricing details for my top talent acquisition software selections to help you find the best software for your budget and business needs.
Tool | Best For | Trial Info | Price | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Workable Recruiting Workable creates detailed candidate profiles and allows talent acquisition teams to leave notes on each profile. | Best talent acquisition software for AI matching | 15-day free trial + free demo | From $169/month, with up to 20 seats | Website |
2 | Canditech Canditech allows employers to assess a wide range of technical and soft skills through its assessments. | Best for skill-based, auto-scored assessments | Free trial available | From $45/month (billed annually) | Website |
3 | Pinpoint Pinpoint offers an intuitive dashboard to view important updates and metrics. | Best talent acquisition software for all stages of the hiring process | Free demo available | Pricing upon request | Website |
4 | eSkill eSkill allows users to create and score video, audio, and file-based interview responses with customizable evaluation criteria. | Best for customizable pre-employment assessments | Free demo available | Pricing upon request | Website |
5 | Manatal Manatal’s AI-sourcing and candidate scoring framework makes it easy to quickly identify top talent. | Best talent acquisition software for AI-driven candidate sourcing | 14-day free trial | From $15/user/month | Website |
6 | ClearCompany ClearCompany's recruiting module provides recruiters with an array of tools and services, like candidate relationship management and communications, job postings, and interview tools and assessments. | Best talent acquisition software for recruiting and onboarding | Free demo available | Pricing upon request | Website |
7 | Zoho Recruit Zoho Recruit helps you share your job posting on multiple free and premium job boards. | Best talent acquisition software for candidate sourcing | 15-day free trial + free plan available | From $25/user/month (billed annually) | Website |
8 | Freshteam Freshteam helps you oversee your hiring pipeline without difficulty. | Best talent acquisition software for career site creation | 21-day free trial | From $1.20/user/month + $71/month base fee | Website |
9 | SeekOut SeekOut creates 360-degree candidate profiles complete with social media links and verified email addresses, so you can improve your outreach efforts. | Best talent acquisition software for AI-driven candidate matching | 14-day free trial + free demo | Pricing upon request | Website |
10 | Yello Yello enables you to access a database of over 6 million diverse candidates. | Best talent acquisition software for diversity recruiting | Free demo available | Pricing upon request | Website |
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Paycor
This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.4.1 -
HiThrive
This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.4.6 -
Willo
This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.4.8
Best Talent Acquisition Software Reviews
Here’s a brief description of each top 10 talent acquisition software to showcase each tool’s best use case, their noteworthy features, and some pros and cons. Keep reading to find additional bonus picks at the bottom of the list.
Workable is a recruitment and applicant tracking software that uses AI to connect acquisition teams with qualified candidates.
The solution maintains a database of over 160 million job seekers and automatically provides you with a list of 50 candidates every time you post a job. This helps you speed up your hiring process and enables you to build a contact list of qualified people.
Workable’s passive candidate search functionality crawls social media platforms and creates detailed candidate profiles that include email addresses and social links, so you can contact highly skilled individuals directly. The platform also enables you to share your job on 200+ job sites, so you can increase your reach. Workable’s automation features make it ideal for businesses that are looking for candidates with specific skill sets, such as those operating in tech or SaaS.
Workable Standout Features and Integrations
Features include job advertising, onboarding, candidate assessments, AI-powered matching, video interviews, background checks, offer letters, and e-signatures.
Integrations are natively available with dozens of apps, including BambooHR, Factorial, Gmail, HR Cloud, Microsoft Outlook, Namely, Sapling, ZipRecruiter and Zoom.
Workable Plans and Pricing
Plans begin at $129 per job posting, per month. They also offer a 15-day free trial.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Offers a variety of templates
- Workflows are easy to set up
- Good onboarding
Cons:
- Search filters could be better
- Some email templates need more customization options
Canditech is a pre-employment assessment platform that offers over 500 customizable skill assessments and job simulations to help employers evaluate candidates' technical and soft skills, cognitive abilities, and personality traits.
Why I picked Canditech: The platform's extensive library of over 500 skill assessments can be customized to fit specific roles and employer branding. This allows companies to evaluate both technical and soft skills through job-simulation tests and video interviews, providing a more holistic view of a candidate's potential.
The software also automates many time-consuming tasks, such as resume screening and interview scheduling, which not only speeds up the recruitment process but also reduces the resources spent on lengthy hiring procedures. Additionally, Canditech restricts the collection of personal information such as age, gender, and race, to promote a more diverse and equitable hiring process.
Canditech Standout Features and Integrations
Features include job simulation assessments that predict future job performance through real job task simulations, helping to avoid costly mis-hires. The platform's cheat-proof assessments also ensure the integrity of candidate evaluations with advanced anti-cheating measures, including ChatGPT detection.
Integrations include Lever, SmartRecruiters, Greenhouse, Workable, Pinpoint, Ashby, Comeet, JazzHR, Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack, OpenAI, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Microsoft Teams, and Zendesk.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Tests are highly customizable
- Assesses both technical skills and soft skills
- Comprehensive library of tests suitable for various roles and industries
Cons:
- Customization may present a learning curve
- Initial setup and integration with existing systems can be time-consuming
Pinpoint
Best talent acquisition software for all stages of the hiring process
Pinpoint is a talent acquisition software designed to assist in-house talent acquisition and HR teams in optimizing their recruitment processes, from attracting to hiring and onboarding top talent.
Why I picked Pinpoint: I chose Pinpoint because it offers a holistic solution that addresses all stages of the hiring process. Its powerful candidate attraction tools, seamless hiring workflows, and comprehensive onboarding processes make it an invaluable asset for any recruitment team. The platform's focus on improving the candidate experience and achieving diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals is particularly helpful in ensuring that organizations can attract and retain top talent while promoting a fair and inclusive workplace.
Pinpoint Standout Features and Integrations
Features include branded career sites for companies to create attractive job sites that engage candidates and a job advertising tool that enables targeted advertising across multiple platforms to reach the right candidates.
Pinpoint also offers automated workflows for tasks like interview scheduling and candidate feedback collection. The collaborative hiring feature allows multiple stakeholders to participate in the hiring process through shared notes and evaluations. Furthermore, the platform has an onboarding portal to provide new hires with essential information, forms, and training materials.
Integrations include Asana, DocuSign, Clickup, Canditech, Criteria, Jotform, Checkr, Sterling, ADP, BambooHR, Gusto, NetSuite, Paycor, SAP, myInterview, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Glassdoor, Indeed, LinkedIn, Slack, Salesforce, and more.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Robust reporting and analytics features
- Customizable hiring processes
- Intuitive user interface
Cons:
- Could use more automation capabilities
- No free trial available
eSkill is a pre-employment assessment platform that aids organizations in refining their hiring processes by offering a wide array of customizable assessments. These assessments, which include skills testing, behavioral evaluations, and cognitive aptitude tests, are crucial for effectively evaluating candidates in various sectors.
Why I picked eSkill: One reason I like eSkill is its extensive assessment library, which includes a wide range of subject- and job-based tests. This allows your team to select or customize assessments that align with the specific requirements of the positions you're hiring for, ensuring a more accurate evaluation of candidates' capabilities.
Another valuable feature is eSkill's video response questions, which enable candidates to record and upload their responses. This functionality is particularly useful for assessing abilities such as verbal communication and language proficiency, providing deeper insights into a candidate's suitability for roles that require strong interpersonal skills.
eSkill Standout Features and Integrations
Features include behavioral assessments that help you determine if candidates are a good fit for your company culture, simulations that allow candidates to demonstrate their skills in real-world scenarios, and the support of a dedicated assessment expert to assist in developing effective hiring strategies.
Integrations include Paylocity, iCIMS, Workday, UKG Pro, Bullhorn, Avionte BOLD, Jobvite, SAP SuccessFactors, ApplicantPro, Greenhouse, and Taleo.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Detailed reporting and analytics
- Flexible test customizations
- Comprehensive assessment library
Cons:
- Assessment experts may only be available for higher-tier subscriptions
- Not all assessments are relevant to specific user needs
Manatal
Best talent acquisition software for AI-driven candidate sourcing
Manatal is an advanced talent acquisition system that utilizes artificial intelligence to efficiently and effectively source and identify the best candidates for job positions. With its AI-driven candidate sourcing capabilities, Manatal stands out as the best tool for HR teams, recruitment agencies, and headhunters to source and hire candidates faster and more effectively.
Why I picked Manatal: I decided to include Manatal in this list after evaluating its AI-driven candidate sourcing capabilities. Their AI Engine simplifies the hiring process by suggesting the best candidates for a job and automating redundant tasks. This technology, combined with the ability to enrich candidate profiles with data from over 20 social media and public platforms, makes Manatal distinct in the market. Their AI-sourcing agent is an intelligent matching system with extensive reach to over 2,500 job boards, making it an effective solution for sourcing top talent.
Manatal Standout Features and Integrations
Features include candidate sourcing from various channels, an applicant tracking system with customizable fields and powerful search capabilities, a recruitment CRM for tracking leads and managing client relationships, AI recommendations to automate tasks and score applicants, collaboration and activities management, reports and analytics tools, a branded career page, support and assistance, and data privacy compliance.
These features, combined, offer a comprehensive solution for all aspects of the recruitment process, aiming to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of recruitment operations. And for recruiters on the go, Manatal also provides a full-feature mobile app.
Integrations are available with LinkedIn, Gmail, Outlook, Mailchimp, and other platforms. They also have an open API to support custom integrations.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Ability to share job openings on many job boards with one click
- Customizable job pipeline and recruitment stages
- Responsive and helpful customer support
Cons:
- Could use more native software integrations
- No multi-lingual user interface abilities
Best talent acquisition software for recruiting and onboarding
ClearCompany is a talent acquisition software that provides recruiters with an all-in-one solution for finding and managing the best talent available, while centralizing their entire recruitment process.
ClearCompany offers a full suite of products designed to make recruiting easier and more efficient. Its applicant tracking system (ATS) allows employers to post jobs on their website or other job boards and track applicants through the hiring process. You can create job descriptions and postings, manage incoming applications, conduct interviews, and onboard new hires.
Recruiters can easily search for candidates based on criteria such as experience level, skillset, or location. It also has automated workflow tools that allow them to quickly identify qualified candidates from the applicant pool, saving hours of manual work on their part.
ClearCompany provides recruiters with data-driven insights into their performance and how it compares to industry standards. This allows employers to get an objective view of how effective their recruiting efforts are and adjust accordingly, if necessary.
The software provides guidance on best practices when it comes to talent acquisition strategies. For instance, the platform offers advice on how to create more attractive job postings that will draw in more qualified applicants and tips on how to conduct better interviews that focus on assessing soft skills rather than just technical knowledge.
The software also includes an automated onboarding system that makes the process of bringing new employees into an organization simpler and faster. The system creates personalized onboarding plans for each employee based on their role in the company and provides tools such as checklists, reminders, documents, and approvals needed throughout the process. This helps reduce paperwork and administrative time while ensuring accurate data is collected from each new hire before they start work.
ClearCompany Standout Features and Integrations
Features include an applicant tracking system, branded career sites, job postings & job board management tools, video interviewing, text recruiting tools, background-checking workflows, interview scheduling automation, rich candidate profiles, and detailed reports & analytics covering all aspects of your recruiting funnel, including time-to-hire metrics.
Integrations are available natively with 100+ popular HR software solutions, including payroll providers, time-tracking apps, and performance management solutions. Key integrations include Absorb LMS, ADP, BambooHR, eSkill, Glassdoor, Gmail, Indeed, LinkedIn, Microsoft Office 365, Okta, OneLogin, ScreeningOne, SimpliVerified, Sterling, and many others.
ClearCompany Plans and Pricing
Pricing details for ClearCompany are available upon request. You can also request a free demo through their website.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Integrated e-signature capability saves time and removes hassles
- User-friendly virtual onboarding process works well for remote staff
- Well-rounded talent management features cover the whole employee lifecycle
Cons:
- No free trial available
- Pricing details are not transparent
Zoho Recruit is a recruitment management solution that helps in-house talent acquisition specialists and staffing agencies source great candidates.
The solution integrates with dozens of free and premium job boards and with your social media channels, so you can maximize your reach and increase your chances of finding top talent. Hiring specialists can map skill sets to job descriptions, allowing the software’s artificial intelligence to match candidates automatically.
Zoho Recruit makes candidate sourcing easy, so it’s ideal for freelance recruiters, staffing agencies, and the HR departments of medium to large organizations.
Zoho Recruit Standout Features and Integrations
Features include social recruiting, reference checking, onboarding tools, AI matching, and career site creation.
Integrations are natively available with dozens of solutions, including all Zoho products, Checkr, DocuSign, LinkedIn, Mailchimp, Microsoft Outlook, and Slack.
Zoho Recruit Plans and Pricing
Plans begin at $30 per user, per month. They also offer a 15-day free trial and a free-forever version for one active job.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Customizable workflows
- Free plan available
- Customizable career page
Cons:
- Tool may seem overwhelming at first
- Career page can sometimes look bad on mobile devices
Freshteam is a HR software that enables businesses to create customizable career sites without writing code.
Thanks to its drag-and-drop website editor and the variety of templates it offers, Freshteam makes it easy to create a branded career site to attract job seekers. The software also integrates with free and premium job boards, so organizations can attract leads from multiple channels.
Freshteam is an ideal recruiting tool for startups and small businesses because it offers a free-forever plan for organizations with up to 50 employees. Businesses can use the software to find the right candidates as they scale and upgrade their plans whenever necessary.
Freshteam Standout Features and Integrations
Features include applicant tracking system, talent pool management, interview scorecards, offer management, onboarding and offboarding, and recruitment reporting.
Integrations are available natively with multiple tools, including Indeed, Jooble, LinkedIn, Instahyre, Microsoft Office 365, and ZipRecruiter.
Freshteam Plans and Pricing
Plans begin at $71 per month plus $1.20 per employee, per month. They also offer a 21-day free trial and a free-forever plan for up to 50 employees.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Free plan for startups and small businesses
- Good automation features
- Comprehensive learning guides and tutorials
Cons:
- Automatic triggers can be difficult to set up
- User interface could be improved
SeekOut
Best talent acquisition software for AI-driven candidate matching
SeekOut is a talent intelligence platform that helps recruiters attract and retain job seekers with AI.
SeekOut allows you to expand your talent pool with AI-driven candidate matching. The tool can automatically identify candidates based on your job description, and you can trim your results using software’s advanced search capabilities with a combination of keywords and filters.
SeekOut is a talent sourcing tool that helps businesses connect with the right candidates. Thanks to the software’s ability to access platforms like GitHub to source candidates, it’s ideal for organizations that are looking for tech talent.
SeekOut Standout Features and Integrations
Features include AI matching, ATS rediscovery, candidate engagement, diversity hiring, and talent analytics.
Integrations are available natively with multiple apps, including Ascendify, Greenhouse, iCIMS, Lever, SAP SuccessFactors, and Workday.
SeekOut Plans and Pricing
SeekOut offers custom pricing upon request, as well as a free demo.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Great for advanced, niched searches
- No outreach limits
- Sources talent from rarely used social platforms
Cons:
- Candidate social profiles could be updated more frequently
- The large number of features can seem overwhelming at first
Yello is a talent acquisition software that enables recruiters to connect with top diverse talent from 7,000+ campuses across the US.
The software allows businesses to access a database of over 6 million candidates in WayUp and use their self-reported data to create engaging job opportunities. The data is Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) compliant, and recruiters can segment candidates based on their major, gender, location, ethnicity, and more.
Yello allows recruiting teams to speed up their hiring process. The software can automatically identify qualified candidates with its built-in screening feature and can knock out unqualified individuals based on custom criteria. The tool sends an automatic response to all candidates within 24 hours, improving their application experience.
Yello Standout Features and Integrations
Features include campus recruiting, events management, built-in screening, and automated messages.
Integrations are available natively with several tools, including iCIMS, Lever, Pymetrics, SAP SuccessFactors, Taleo, WayUp, and Workday.
Yello Plans and Pricing
Yello offers custom pricing upon request, as well as a free demo.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Event management tools
- Mobile-friendly career site
- Branded job boards
Cons:
- Not many native integrations
- Pipeline progression reports could be more detailed
Other Talent Acquisition Tools
Here are a few more options that didn’t make the best talent acquisition software list. I didn't have room for a full review for each of these but they are still worthy of consideration:
- Fetcher
Talent acquisition software for automated outreach sequences
- TalentReef
Talent acquisition software for sourcing and hiring hourly workers
- Journeyfront
For data-driven hiring decisions
- iCIMS Talent Cloud
Talent acquisition software for customizable workflows
- LeverTRM
Talent acquisition software for referral tracking
- Eightfold.ai
Talent acquisition software for unbiased candidate selection
- Evolve Talent Acquisition Suite (by Jobvite)
Talent acquisition software for applicant tracking
- Recruit CRM
For global recruitment automation
- Teamtailor
Talent acquisition software for automated candidate engagement
- Greenhouse
For detailed tracking across the candidate journey
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Selection Criteria for Talent Acquisition Software
Wondering what criteria I used to select the best talent acquisition software for this list? Here’s a summary of my evaluation criteria:
Core Functionalities (25% of total score): To be considered for inclusion in this list, each solution had to fulfill these common use cases first:
- Post and manage job listings across multiple platforms
- Track and manage candidate data in a centralized system
- Automate resume parsing and candidate scoring
- Schedule and track interviews and feedback
- Collaborate with team members throughout the hiring process
Additional Standout Features (25% of total score): To help me find the best software out of numerous available options, I also kept a keen eye out for unique features, including the following:
- AI-powered candidate matching and recommendations
- Integrated video interview platforms
- Advanced analytics and reporting that predict hiring trends
- Customizable hiring workflows to match specific recruitment strategies
- Mobile-friendly candidate experience platforms for easier engagement
Usability (10% of total score): To evaluate the usability of each system, I considered the following:
- Intuitive, drag-and-drop functionality for managing workflows
- Clean, organized dashboards for quick access to key metrics
- Simplified navigation between hiring stages
- Role-based access for secure data handling
Onboarding (10% of total score): To get a sense of each software provider's customer onboarding process, I considered the following factors:
- Step-by-step guides and interactive product tours during initial setup
- Availability of pre-built templates and customizable workflows
- Automated data migration from previous systems
- Training resources like videos, webinars, and chatbots for support
Customer Support (10% of total score): To evaluate the level of customer support each vendor offered, I considered the following:
- 24/7 chat support and dedicated account managers
- Access to comprehensive help centers or knowledge bases
- Prompt resolution times for technical issues
- Availability of onboarding and training assistance post-purchase
Value for Price (10% of total score): To gauge the value of each software, I considered the following factors:
- Transparent pricing with flexible plans based on company size
- Features offered at each pricing tier compared to competitors
- Inclusion of necessary integrations without additional costs
- A clear ROI in terms of reducing time-to-hire and automating manual tasks
Customer Reviews (10% of total score): Evaluating customer reviews is the final element of my selection process, which helps me understand how well a product performs in the hands of real users. Here are the factors I considered:
- High ratings for ease of use and customer satisfaction
- Feedback on product reliability, stability, and ease of integration
- Consistent praise for user-friendly design and support quality
- Common pain points mentioned in reviews, such as slow updates or difficult navigation, and whether these are addressed by the company
Using this assessment framework helped me identify the software that goes beyond basic requirements to offer additional value through unique features, intuitive usability, smooth onboarding, effective support, and overall value for price.
Talent Acquisition Software: Frequently Asked Questions
What is talent acquisition software and what does it do?
What are the main features you should look for when evaluating talent acquisition software?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of using talent acquisition software?
What’s the difference between talent acquisition and recruitment?
Other Resources
Talent acquisition strategies can help your business scale. As Marc Benioff, co-CEO of Salesforce, said:
"Acquiring the right talent is the most important key to growth. Hiring was — and still is — the most important thing we do."
Read our article on Why And How To Create A Proper Talent Management Strategy if you want to discover how to build a long-term strategy that makes your business attractive to top performers.
Our article on How To Attract And Retain Top Talent Through The Employee Life Cycle explains how to improve the way you’re perceived as an employer. And our article – Talent Management Versus Learning And Development – helps you understand how to promote a culture of self-development in your organization.
If you want to receive actionable advice on how to improve your talent acquisition efforts in order to increase your organization’s performance directly in your inbox, subscribe to the People Managing People newsletter.