Recruitment agency software: the tools agencies use, compared.

Updated 22 October 2026

What does recruitment agency software cover?

Recruitment agency software is the set of tools an agency uses to run its desk. That means tracking candidates and jobs, keeping client records, finding people, screening them, interviewing them and, for temp and contract work, paying them. Most tools in this comparison start with an ATS and CRM and add other parts around it. Tools differ in how far they go.

• ATS (applicant tracking system): holds candidates, jobs and the stage each candidate has reached. Every tool on this page except AI Interview Agents includes one.
• CRM (customer relationship management): holds clients, contacts, leads and deals, so the person who wins a job and the person who fills it see the same record.
• Sourcing: finding people outside your own database, through a Chrome extension, a talent database or job board posting.
• Screening: sorting applicants before a person spends time on them, through resume parsing, AI scoring or a short questionnaire.
• Interviewing: the first conversation with a candidate. Some tools here offer video or AI interviews, and some leave this step to a separate product.
• Back office: timesheets, billing, invoicing and payroll. This matters most to agencies that place temps and contractors.

Vendors use the words ATS and CRM in different ways. Agency tools usually combine both, which is why Bullhorn, Recruit CRM, Recruiterflow, Loxo and Crelate all describe an ATS and CRM in one system. Some tools, such as Tracker and Avionté, go on to payroll and billing. Others, such as Manatal and Zoho Recruit, serve HR teams as well as agencies.

Staffing and recruitment are not the same business in every vendor's wording. Staffing often means temp and contract work where the agency runs pay. Recruitment often means permanent placement. Check which one a vendor means before you read its feature list.

How do the 12 recruitment agency software tools compare at a glance?

The table below uses each vendor's own public pages, listed under sources at the end of this page. We checked them on 21 October 2026. Where a page says nothing on a point, the cell reads: Not stated on the pages we checked. The order is not a ranking. One row, Vincere, comes from an archived copy of its home page dated 25 September 2026, because its site returned a security check page to our automated request.

Prices are as we checked on 21 October 2026. Some are per user per month on annual billing and some are billed monthly, and several vendors quote only after a demo, so the rows are not like for like. A price per user also grows with your team. Ask each vendor for the full monthly cost at your headcount, then use the cost per hire calculator to see how that cost sits next to your cost per hire.

What does each of the 12 tools do, per its own site?

Each entry has two short paragraphs. The first says what the vendor says the product is. The second covers plans, limits and anything that matters when you compare. Every statement comes from the pages listed under sources.

Bullhorn

Bullhorn describes itself as AI-powered online recruitment software for agencies. Its home page lists an ATS and CRM, its Amplify AI, search and match, automation, reporting, a middle office and onboarding, with separate pages for small agencies, midsize firms and enterprise.

The pricing page shows two small-agency plans with prices and sends the rest to a quote. Starter covers applicant tracking, resume parsing, client management and job posting with a career portal, with free implementation. Core adds an app marketplace, custom fields and workflows, and LinkedIn integrations. The sales pipeline CRM and AI search start at Pro. Max lists agentic screening and interview scheduling. Among the larger-agency plans, Bullhorn One adds timesheet management, invoicing and billing, and pay and bill automation.

Recruit CRM

Recruit CRM calls itself an AI-powered ATS and CRM for recruitment firms. Its home page names permanent and direct hire, retained executive search, contract staffing, RPO and corporate recruitment. It keeps candidates, companies, contacts, jobs, deals, placements and activities in one database. It adds outreach by email, LinkedIn and SMS, workflow automation, analytics, and placements, invoices and contract timesheets.

Its AI agents cover resume formatting, candidate submissions, candidate pitches and custom field parsing. A screening agent is marked as coming soon on the home page. The pricing page lists Pro, Business and Enterprise, each with a monthly pool of credits. Some features use those credits, including AI sourcing, data enrichment, job multiposting and WhatsApp messaging. Read the credit table before you set a budget. A free trial is offered.

Recruiterflow

Recruiterflow describes itself as an AI-native ATS and CRM for executive search firms, recruiting agencies and staffing agencies. Its home page lists an integrated ATS and CRM, multichannel sequences, workflow automation and reporting. It also lists a set of AI agents called AIRA and a natural language search.

The pricing page shows a Platform plan with the ATS and CRM, sequences, automation, reports and API access. The AIRA plan adds agents such as a notetaker, a matchmaker, a submission agent and a task agent, and is quoted on request. The page says there are no add-ons. A spreadsheet import is free. A migration done by the Recruiterflow team is paid and typically takes 6 to 8 weeks, by its own estimate.

Loxo

Loxo calls itself a talent intelligence platform. Its home page says it puts sourcing, CRM, ATS, outreach and AI agents into one system, backed by a talent database that Loxo says it built itself. The Core plan is the ATS and recruiting CRM, with AI search, email and calendar sync, a Chrome extension, pipelines and reporting.

Professional adds the sourcing database and what Loxo calls an agentic workforce, which runs searches, shortlists and outreach, using a monthly pool of credits for each seat. The agents include an AI notetaker, and scheduling is marked as coming soon. Loxo offers a free 7-day trial of the full Professional platform with no credit card. Migration is free for Core teams of three or more seats.

JobAdder

JobAdder describes its product as a recruitment platform for growing agencies. Its home page lists client relationship management, recruitment marketing, applicant tracking, placement management, operations and analytics, and says it covers both permanent and temp or contract placements. Its AI, called Adder Intelligence, summarizes and rates applicants and drafts client-ready candidate overviews.

JobAdder does not publish prices. Its pricing page says it builds a tailored proposal after a conversation and a demo. It does show the plan structure. Lite is for new and boutique agencies. Essential, Pro and Business follow. Agency plans are grouped by team size: 1 to 5 users, with 5 as the cap on that band, then 6 to 20 and 21 or more. Add-ons include an API sandbox, single sign-on, a dedicated IP address and a hiring manager portal.

Vincere

Vincere is now sold as Access Vincere Evo, part of Access Recruitment. Its live site returned a security check page to our request, so this entry uses an archived copy of its home page dated 25 September 2026. That page describes a CRM, an ATS and automation in one product. It also lists client and candidate portals, a tool for temps and contractors called TimeTemp, a communication tool called VinnyChat, and video interviewing with AI candidate scoring.

The archived page shows the CRM and ATS from £69 per user per month. The AI add-on starts from £25 per agency per month and needs a CRM license first. These prices are in pounds, come from the archived copy and may have changed. The page names temp, contract, permanent, executive search, healthcare and IT staffing among the agency types it serves.

Manatal

Manatal calls itself AI recruitment software for HR teams, recruitment agencies and headhunters. Its home page lists an applicant tracking system, a recruitment CRM for agencies, job posting to many job boards, candidate profile enrichment from social platforms, AI recommendations, a branded career page and placement management.

Manatal also sells an AI Interviewer as an add-on. The pricing page describes automated video screening, an interview builder and interviews in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. The Professional plan is priced for individuals and small teams and lists limits on jobs and candidates. Enterprise Plus adds an open API and single sign-on. A 14-day free trial with no credit card is offered.

Zoho Recruit

Zoho Recruit describes itself as recruitment software for HR teams and staffing agencies, with an ATS and a recruitment CRM in one app. Its home page lists an AI assistant called Zia, job posting to job boards and a careers site, automation with Blueprints and Workflows, and portals for hiring managers, clients, vendors and candidates.

There is a free plan with one active job per recruiter license. Standard is $25 and Enterprise is $50 per recruiter per month billed annually, with a monthly option and a choice of currency. AI candidate matching, staffing portals and automation sit in Enterprise. Video interviews, one-way or live, are a paid add-on. The 15-day free trial opens the Enterprise features.

Crelate

Crelate calls itself a strategic recruiting platform that unifies sourcing, recruiting CRM and applicant tracking with AI. Its home page groups users into executive search, in-house talent, and staffing and consulting. For staffing it lists bulk email and text campaigns, onboarding with I-9 and E-Verify, and links to back office, HCM and payroll systems.

Pricing is public. Essentials is listed for up to 2 users and 20,000 contacts. Business adds an AI assistant, client and team portals, and reports. Business Plus and Platform pricing is custom. Crelate says you can start a free trial without talking to sales and bring a sample of your own data to test the workflow you run.

Tracker (TrackerRMS)

Tracker calls itself an ATS and CRM built for staffing and recruiting agencies. Its home page describes a front office with applicant tracking, a sales CRM, job board posting and marketing automation. It describes a middle office for onboarding and compliance. It describes a back office with timesheets, invoicing and payroll integration. All three sit on one record. Its AI is called TrackerAI.

The plans page lists Launch for up to 5 recruiters, then Core, Professional and Enterprise. Launch and Core show prices. Professional adds a video suite with video resumes and asynchronous interviews, multichannel sequences, candidate compliance, a candidate portal, timesheets, payroll integrations and a REST API. Enterprise adds case management, shift and workforce tools, and full back office and payroll. Prices can be shown in US dollars, pounds, euros, Australian dollars or Canadian dollars.

Avionté

Avionté describes itself as an end-to-end staffing platform that connects front office recruiting to back office payroll and billing. Its pages list a CRM and ATS, payroll and billing, reporting, a mobile app for workers, AI and automation, and APIs. Its platform page says it is built for high-volume agencies.

Avionté PIXEL is its AI agent for screening. Avionté says PIXEL runs structured AI interviews, scores the responses and writes qualification summaries into the system. The ATS page also lists a pre-screening chatbot interview and an AI interview script and summary generator. We found no prices on its pages. Visitors are sent to a demo request.

AI Interview Agents, the interview layer

AI Interview Agents (AIIA) is the interview layer in this list. It is not an ATS or a CRM, so it does not hold your client records or placements. It runs two-way spoken first-round interviews in the candidate's browser, with no app install.

The employer sets the job title, job description and areas to cover, and the questions are built from that. The interviewer asks follow-up questions based on what the candidate said. Interviews run in 75 languages, including English, Hindi, Arabic and Spanish. The team gets a transcript, a scored report with written reasoning, a recording when one is available, and short answer clips. There is a free plan to start and no per-seat fees.

What should staffing agency software handle that a perm desk does not?

A permanent placement ends when the candidate starts. A temp or contract placement keeps going. The agency tracks hours, bills the client and, in many cases, pays the worker. Staffing agency software needs to cover that weekly cycle as well as the recruiting.

• Timesheets: workers log hours and a manager approves them. Bullhorn lists timesheet management on its Bullhorn One plan. Tracker lists timesheets and invoicing. Recruit CRM lists contract timesheets that flow into invoicing.
• Billing and invoicing: Avionté lists payroll and billing. Bullhorn One lists invoicing and billing with pay and bill automation. Tracker's Core plan lists raising and sending invoices.
• Payroll: Avionté lists integrated payroll processing. Tracker's Professional plan lists native sync with QuickBooks, Xero and Sage. Crelate says it connects to payroll and HCM providers.
• Onboarding and compliance: Crelate lists federal and state forms with I-9 and E-Verify. Avionté lists I-9 verification and E-Verify integration. Tracker lists right-to-work status and credentials held on the record.
• A worker app: Avionté lists a mobile app where workers search jobs, finish onboarding, manage schedules, track time and view pay. Vincere lists TimeTemp for scheduling temps and contractors.

If you place permanent hires only, you can skip most of this and pay for a lighter tool. If you place temps, ask each vendor who runs payroll: the tool itself, or a separate provider the tool connects to. The answer changes your cost and your workload. For more on how agencies hire, see our page for staffing agencies.

How do you choose recruitment agency software for one person or ten?

If you are a one-person agency

A solo recruiter needs the basics to work well on day one: a candidate database, job records, a client list, email and calendar sync, and a way to post jobs. You do not need role-based permissions, team dashboards or payroll. Pay for what you use.

Several vendors name a small-team plan on their own pages. Manatal lists Professional for individuals and small teams, with limits on jobs and candidates. Zoho Recruit lists a free plan with one active job per recruiter license. Crelate lists Essentials for up to 2 users. JobAdder lists Lite for new and boutique agencies. Recruit CRM lists Pro for startup recruitment businesses. Tracker lists Launch for up to 5 recruiters. Check each limit against the jobs you run at one time.

A solo desk also runs short on time for first-round conversations. A spoken AI first round gives you a transcript and a scored report to read when you are ready. That is the job AI Interview Agents does beside your ATS. For more on hiring many people at once, see our page on high-volume hiring.

If you run a ten-person agency

Ten people change the questions. You need to see who owns which job, share a client list without double entry, report on each consultant's activity and keep access sensible. Per-user prices also multiply. A difference of $20 per user per month is $200 a month across ten users.

Look at the plan that names your team size. JobAdder groups its agency plans as 1 to 5, 6 to 20 and 21 or more users, and its 6 to 20 band lists multiple workflows, automations and consultant dashboards. Recruit CRM Business lists teams and an open API, plus single sign-on with custom roles and permissions. Crelate Business lists client and team portals and reports. Tracker Core lists a client portal and placement workflow automation. Bullhorn Core lists custom fields and workflows. Loxo Core lists pipelines, activities and reporting.

Also ask who will administer the system, what migration help is included, and how credits work. Recruit CRM and Loxo both use credits that pool across users, so ten people share one pool. Ask what happens when the pool runs out.

What should you check in a trial of recruitment agency software?

A trial is short, so plan it before you start it. Use your own data and your own jobs. These checks cover the steps that cost agencies the most time when a tool gets them wrong.

1. Import a real sample of your own candidates and jobs. Check that names, emails, work history and notes arrive in the right fields. Crelate says you can bring a sample of your own data to a trial.
2. Run one live job from intake to submission. Time each step and count the clicks.
3. Connect your own email and calendar. Check that sent messages and meetings log to the right record without manual work.
4. Post a job to the boards you actually use. Check that applicants flow back into the pipeline.
5. Test the AI on your own data. Read each summary or match score next to the resume and check that it says what the resume says.
6. Ask for the full price in writing at your headcount. Include credits, add-ons, implementation and migration fees.
7. Check how you get your data out. Ask for an export of candidates, clients and notes in a file you can open.
8. Send support a real question. Note how long the reply takes and whether it solves the problem.
9. If you place temps, run a timesheet through to an invoice and, if the tool handles it, to pay.
10. Check the interview step. If the tool has its own video or AI interview, run three real candidates through it. If it has none, decide what you will use instead.

Trial length varies. Loxo lists a 7-day trial of its Professional platform. Manatal lists 14 days. Zoho Recruit lists 15 days with the Enterprise features. Recruit CRM and Crelate both offer a free trial.

Where AI Interview Agents fits beside your ATS

AI Interview Agents (AIIA) is not an ATS or a CRM. It does not keep your clients, placements or invoices. It does one job: it runs a two-way spoken first-round interview in the candidate's browser, with no app install. It sits beside the ATS or CRM an agency already uses, and that system stays the record of each candidate.

• Setup: you set the job title, the job description and the areas to cover, and the questions are built from that.
• Conversation: the interviewer listens and asks follow-up questions based on what the candidate said.
• Languages: interviews run in 75 languages, including English, Hindi, Arabic and Spanish.
• Candidate experience: candidates join from a link sent by email or WhatsApp. They install nothing.
• What your team gets: a transcript, a scored report with written reasoning tied to what the candidate said, a recording when one is available, and short answer clips.
• Decisions: a person on your hiring team makes every hiring decision.
• Cost: there is a free plan to start and no per-seat fees. The pricing page lists the plans.

In an agency, the applicant sits in the ATS first. AIIA also offers AI resume screening for that early step. The spoken first round comes next. Your team then reads the report and records its decision in the ATS. To see how it works, read about the AI interviewer, or draft your own questions with the free interview kit generator.

Several of the 12 tools above include their own interview or screening step. Bullhorn lists agentic screening on its Max plan. Manatal sells an AI Interviewer add-on for video screening. Avionté lists PIXEL for structured AI interviews. Vincere lists video interviewing with AI scoring. Tracker lists asynchronous video interviews on Professional. Zoho Recruit sells video interviews as an add-on. If your ATS already has one, trial it first. If you want a spoken, two-way first round that asks follow-up questions based on what each candidate says, compare the options in AI interview tools compared and on the compare hub.