Hiring top talent is one of the most critical and challenging tasks for startups. With limited resources, lean teams, and the pressure to scale quickly, early-stage companies often face hurdles such as sourcing qualified candidates, managing high volumes of applications, etc. In a 2023 survey, 57% of recruiters said hiring new employees would be hard over the next year, showing that finding skilled workers was already a big challenge. These challenges can lead to prolonged vacancies, increased hiring costs, and missed opportunities for growth.

An applicant tracking system (ATS) can be a game-changer for many startups navigating these recruitment challenges. They automate job postings, streamline resume screening, and facilitate candidate communication—thereby improving the overall hiring experience for both recruiters and applicants. On top of that, they also enable startups to make informed decisions swiftly with additional features like data analytics.

Hence, having an ATS is crucial to any startup’s survival, including your own. To help you out, we're going through some of the best ATS for startups, helping you identify the right tool to optimize your recruitment process and support your company's growth.

Top 7 ATS For Startups

Company  

Best for  

Main Features  

Pricing  

JazzHR 

Small/growing businesses 

Customizable workflows 

Automated hiring tasks 

Integrations with various HR tools 

Starts from $99/month  

Teamtailor 

Companies that aim for a personalized candidate experience 

Branded career pages 

Candidate-centric hiring 

‘Connect’ feature 

Starting from $1250/year 

BambooHR 

Businesses requiring a flexible ATS solution 

Posting on multiple job boards 

Automated, personalized emails 

Mobile app facilitates the hiring process 

Customized pricing 

Workable 

Businesses that are looking for an all-in-one solution  

AI-powered candidate sourcing 

Customizable reports and dashboards 

An extensive set of evaluation tools 

Starting from $169/month 

Zoho Recruit 

Companies that want to incorporate AI into their hiring practices 

AI-Powered candidate matching 

Custom automations 

Personalized portals and licenses 

Starts from $0/month 

Greenhouse 

Global teams looking for structured hiring 

Structured hiring framework 

Wide range of integrations 

Customizable dashboards 

Customized pricing 

Breezy HR 

Companies seeking a visual hiring pipeline 

Drag-and-drop pipeline 

800 HR and recruiting templates 

Automated tools and reports that simplify compliance 

Starts with a Free plan 

JazzHR – Best For Small/Growing Businesses

JazzHR is a user-friendly and cost-effective ATS solution designed to simplify the recruitment process for small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs). With its intuitive interface, JazzHR enables companies to attract, screen, and hire top talent efficiently, making it an ideal choice for startups and growing organizations.

Standout Features

  • Customizable workflows that allow businesses to tailor their recruitment processes, ensuring that each hiring stage aligns with organizational needs
  • Automates repetitive hiring tasks, freeing up valuable time for HR professionals to focus on strategic activities
  • Offers integrations with various HR tools and platforms, including background check services and calendar applications, streamlining the recruitment workflow

Pricing

JazzHR offers three main pricing plans:

  • Hero: $99/month
  • Plus: $325/month
  • Pro: $499/month

Disclaimer: The pricing is subject to change.

Why Choose JazzHR

JazzHR stands out as an ATS solution that balances functionality with affordability, making it particularly appealing to startups and small businesses. Its user-friendly design ensures quick adoption, while its customizable features accommodate various recruitment strategies. Moreover, it allows users to post on multiple job boards and different social media channels with a single click, making it an excellent choice for businesses seeking a greater talent pool.

Teamtailor – Best For Candidate Experience

Teamtailor is a modern ATS solution designed to enhance employer branding and simplify recruitment processes for SMBs. With a focus on creating engaging career sites and automating hiring workflows, Teamtailor helps companies attract and hire top talent efficiently.

Standout Features

  • Enables businesses to build branded career pages that reflect their company culture, helping to attract the right candidates
  • Provides a candidate-centric experience by making it easier for them to apply (no lengthy job forms, supporting mobile job applications, etc.)
  • Teamtailor’s ‘Connect’ feature allows for proactive hiring, enabling prospective candidates to learn more about the company and show their interest in working there

Pricing

Teamtailor offers flexible pricing plans starting from $1250/year that are based on company size and specific needs.

Disclaimer: The pricing has been sourced from third-party websites and is subject to change.

Why Choose Teamtailor

Teamtailor is ideal for startups and growing businesses seeking to enhance their employer brand and streamline recruitment processes. Its user-friendly interface, automation features, and integration make it a valuable tool for attracting and hiring top talent efficiently. Companies aiming to provide an exceptional candidate experience while optimizing their hiring workflows will find Teamtailor a useful tool.

BambooHR – Best For Flexibility

BambooHR offers an intuitive applicant tracking system tailored for small to medium-sized businesses aiming to enhance their hiring and onboarding processes. With its user-friendly interface and comprehensive features, BambooHR simplifies the recruitment journey from job posting to employee onboarding.

Standout Features

  • Allows users to post job openings to multiple job boards like Indeed and ZipRecruiter directly from the platform
  • The software facilitates automated, personalized emails at every hiring stage, ensuring candidates remain informed and engaged throughout the process
  • With the BambooHR Hiring mobile app, hiring teams can review candidates, coordinate with team members, and communicate with applicants on the go

Pricing

BambooHR offers three pricing plans at custom pricing that are designed to accommodate businesses of varying sizes. The plans it offers are:

  • Core
  • Pro
  • Elite

Why Choose BambooHR

BambooHR stands out as an extensive yet flexible solution for startups and growing businesses. Its intuitive design, coupled with powerful features like automated communications, mobile accessibility, and analytics, empowers HR teams to attract and retain top talent efficiently. Additionally, its flexible pricing options help startups to scale the software’s features based on their requirements.

Workable – Best For An All-In-One Solution

Workable ATS is a comprehensive applicant tracking system designed to streamline the hiring process for businesses of all sizes. With its exhaustive list of features and AI-driven tools, Workable simplifies candidate sourcing, evaluation, and onboarding, making it an ideal solution for startups and growing companies.

Standout Features

  • Allows users to access a database of over 400 million profiles and utilize AI to identify and engage with passive candidates effectively
  • Provides users with insights into recruitment metrics with customizable reports and dashboards, aiding in data-driven decision-making
  • Offers a variety of evaluation tools such as anonymized screenings, one-way video interviews, etc.

Pricing

Workable offers a range of pricing plans to accommodate various business needs. The platform also offers a free trial that lasts 15 days. It offers the following pricing plans:

  • Starter: $169/month
  • Standard: $360/month
  • Premier: $599/month (billed annually)

Disclaimer: The pricing is subject to change.

Why Choose Workable

Workable stands out for its scalability and extensive feature set, making it suitable for startups and expanding businesses. Its AI-powered sourcing tools and comprehensive job board integrations enhance candidate reach, while automated workflows and customizable career pages improve the overall hiring experience. With flexible pricing plans and a massive list of features, Workable provides an efficient solution for managing recruitment processes effectively.

Zoho Recruit – Best For Customizable, AI-Driven Hiring

Zoho Recruit is a cloud-based ATS that simplifies candidate sourcing, evaluation, and onboarding. It does this by combining both its CRM and ATS, allowing companies to effectively manage and automate their talent acquisition pipeline.

Standout Features

  • Utilizes AI to match candidates to job openings based on skills, experience, and other criteria, enhancing the quality of hires
  • Provides custom automations that keep candidates moving throughout the entire hiring pipeline
  • Offers personalized portals and licenses for candidates, allowing businesses to track every candidate’s application

Pricing

Zoho Recruit offers several pricing tiers to accommodate various business needs. It also provides a 15-day free trial. For staffing agencies, the pricing tiers are:

  • Forever Free: $0/month
  • Standard: $30/user/month
  • Professional: $60/user/month
  • Enterprise: $90/user/month

However, for corporate HRs, the pricing plans are:

  • Free - $0/month (Forever Free)
  • Standard - $30/recruiter/month
  • Enterprise - $60/recruiter/month

Disclaimer: The pricing is subject to change. 

Why Choose Zoho Recruit

Zoho Recruit stands out for its scalability and AI capabilities, making it suitable for startups and expanding businesses. Its candidate sourcing tools and extensive job board integrations enhance candidate reach, while automated workflows and customizable career pages improve the overall hiring experience. With a free option and a slick user interface, Zoho Recruit provides an efficient solution for many promising but fledgling startups.

Greenhouse – Best For Structured Hiring

Greenhouse software ATS solution caters to all kinds of teams, including global ones. With a focus on structured hiring, Greenhouse provides tools and features that promote consistency, reduce bias, and improve overall recruitment efficiency.

Standout Features

  • Greenhouse emphasizes a structured approach to hiring, offering customizable interview kits, scorecards, and planning tools that ensure consistent evaluation criteria across candidates
  • Offers customizable dashboards as well as reports that set, track, and share company-wide hiring goals
  • With over 500 integrations, including HRIS, background checks, and assessment tools, Greenhouse ensures seamless connectivity within your HR tech stack

Pricing

Greenhouse offers 3 pricing plans at custom pricing, based on requirements and the size of your organization. These plans are:

  • Essential
  • Advanced
  • Expert

Why Choose Greenhouse

Greenhouse stands out for its commitment to structured hiring and its ability to scale with growing organizations. Its user-friendly interface, combined with powerful AI tools and extensive integrations, makes it a preferred choice for companies aiming to optimize their recruitment processes.

Breezy HR – Best For Visual Hiring Pipelines

Breezy HR is an ATS solution that’s designed to streamline the hiring process by eliminating tedious and repetitive tasks. With its intuitive drag-and-drop interface and strong collaboration tools, Breezy HR simplifies candidate management and enhances team coordination throughout the recruitment journey.

Standout Features

  • Utilizes a customizable drag-and-drop pipeline that provides a clear overview of the hiring process, allowing teams to track candidate progress effortlessly
  • Provides more than 800 HR and recruiting templates
  • Offers automated tools and reports that simplify compliance, such as GDPR, EEOC/OFCCP, etc.

Pricing

Breezy HR offers 4 pricing plans to accommodate various business needs, such as:

  • Bootstrap: Free (Free Forever)
  • Startup: $189/month
  • Growth: $329/month
  • Business: $529/month

Disclaimer: The pricing is subject to change.

Why Choose Breezy HR

Breezy HR stands out for its ease of use (cutting down tedium, a large number of templates), making it an ideal choice for teams that want to improve their hiring processes. Its visual pipelines and automation tools help reduce time-to-hire, while integrated communication and reporting functionalities ensure a seamless recruitment experience.

Which ATS Software Should You Choose As A Startup?

You now have a detailed overview of the best applicant tracking systems for startups, each offering unique strengths to meet your recruitment needs. Finding the right ATS is crucial for building efficient, scalable hiring processes that can keep up with your startup’s pace.

From AI-powered sourcing to collaborative hiring tools and customizable workflows, the platforms listed above are built to solve common startup challenges like limited HR bandwidth, inconsistent communication, and manual recruitment tasks. Whether you're a team of 5 or 50, these solutions can help you attract, evaluate, and hire top talent faster and smarter.

Still unsure which one fits your team best? Explore more of our software guides and comparisons in our resource center.