Best Applicant Tracking Software 2021

Applicant tracking software (ATS) is built to support various types of small businesses in managing their recruitment and hiring needs. Applicant tracking software is often used by human resource departments and staffing agencies.

These solutions typically offer features like creating and distributing job posts, managing interview pipelines, scheduling interviews, and onboarding applicants that have been hired. These features provide numerous benefits including saving time and eliminating human error from the hiring process.

Most small businesses with less than 25 employees should look for an applicant tracking module that's built into an all-in-one HR software platform. Larger organizations will likely benefit from purchasing a standalone applicant tracking system.

Research Led By:

We use a rigorous software review process to create our unbiased, in-depth research.
Learn more about our software review process.

Highest Rated Applicant Tracking Software

Applicant tracking software is used by all types of businesses to manage their recruiting and hiring. Applicant tracking software is often used for creating and distributing job posts, interviewing candidates, and automating onboarding and offboarding.

Applicant Tracking Software Prices

Applicant tracking software prices range from $5 to $99 per month per user. Most small businesses will pay around $5 to $15 dollars per month per user for applicant tracking software. Here are details that will help you compare prices for the most popular document management software platforms.

Software VendorStarting Monthly PriceFree TrialPricing Details
Zoho RecruitFreeYes
  • Free for 1 active job
BambooHR$99Yes
  • $99 for up to 12 users
  • Additional $8.25 per month per user for base plan
Sage HR$5.50 per userYes
  • None
Jobsoid$49Yes
  • None
Breezy HRFreeNo
  • None
Workable$50Yes
  • None

Applicant Tracking Software FAQs

Applicant tracking software allows small and medium sized businesses to create and distribute job posts across a variety of job boards. Once you've distributed your post, you can leverage an ATS to track, interview, and hire applicants.

There are numerous benefits that applicant tracking software offers. This includes:

  • Mass distributing job posts across popular online job boards
  • Running video interviews with applicants
  • Editing interview pipelines that applicants go through
  • Automating onboarding tasks once you hire applicants

The cost of applicant tracking software depends on the amount of job posts you create. You can expect to spend about $50 to $500 per month depending on which software and plan you're purchasing.

Note that if your ATS is part of a human resource software package, you will have to pay on a per month per user basis.

The best applicant tracking software for you depends on what your business needs. For businesses looking purely for ATS features in their software, Jobsoid is ideal. Companies in need of more advanced solutions that also feature human resource and employee management features should consider Zoho Recruit or Sage HR.

BambooHR is one of the most popular applicant tracking software solutions on the market today. It serves over 20,000 customers.

The most common applicant tracking software features are:

  • Recruiting
  • Interviewing
  • Onboarding automation
  • Analytics and reporting

Applicant Tracking Software Research & Advice

Why You Should Trust Our Recommendations

The team at SoftwarePundit has been testing software since 2017. We’ve hand-tested over 250 software products in that time, including four in the applicant tracking category. We applied the same rigorous process to each piece of applicant tracking software that we analyzed. The specifics of our applicant tracking category research process are outlined below.

Yousef led our analysis of applicant tracking software. He has spent more than 250 hours evaluating leading applicant tracking software solutions.

In addition, all research and content was overseen by Bruce Hogan, SoftwarePundit’s Co-founder & CEO. Bruce has more than a decade of experience researching, building, and reviewing the world’s best software products. His technology advice has been featured on a wide range of media sites such as AngelList, CMSWire, Dental Economics, iPhone Life, Reader’s Digest, Thrive Global, U.S. News, and the Zapier Blog.

How We Selected the Best Applicant Tracking Software

We selected the best applicant tracking software based upon a number of criteria. The most important criteria were each software tool’s features, usability, price, and customer support. The details of our analyses are captured in the in-depth reviews we publish about each software tool.

There are a handful of critical features that you should look for in applicant tracking software. We prioritized the following features in our analysis:

  • Job Posting: Applicant tracking tools allow you to recruit new employees by creating and distributing job postings. Most solutions integrate with popular job boards like LinkedIn or Glassdoor to make distribution easier.
  • Pipeline Editing: Editing your interview pipeline is a powerful way to organize the steps candidates take in the interview process. Robust ATS solutions give you a top-level view of your candidate pipeline.
  • Interviewing: Many applicant tracking tools offer a multitude of ways to interview your applicants. Some even come with integrated video conferencing software to speak with candidates in the same system you track them in.
  • Onboarding: Once you’ve decided to hire a candidate, a powerful ATS should give you the necessary tools to automate onboarding tasks. These tasks include sending onboarding documents and introductory emails to your new hires. This is an effective way to streamline repetitive onboarding processes your business has to manually go through.

How We Evaluated Applicant Tracking Software

We used the same rigorous process to evaluate applicant tracking software as all other software categories. For the applicant tracking category, Yousef invested several weeks researching the market, testing out key applicant tracking features, and publishing his insights about the tools.

Yousef signed up for free trials of each solution listed above to gain a deeper understanding of each applicant tracking tool. This allowed him to authenticate the features offered by each solution. He spent hours testing each tools’ recruiting, tracking, and onboarding capabilities. He also downloaded the mobile app version of applicant tracking solutions to understand the mobile experience for small businesses.