# The 11 Best Applicant Tracking Systems

> The best applicant tracking system is Greenhouse for its enterprise-grade scalability, followed by Lever for its powerful candidate relationship management and Workable for its SMB-friendly features.

- URL: https://topelevens.com/applicant-tracking-systems
- Last verified: 2026-06-09
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## Ranking

### #1 Greenhouse · 9.3/9.4
- Best for: Mid-market to enterprise companies seeking a highly structured, scalable, and data-driven recruiting platform.
- New York, USA · founded 2012 · $$$$ (Custom pricing)
- Greenhouse ranks #1 for its unmatched scalability and deep customization options, making it the gold standard for large, structured hiring organizations.
- Pro: Its powerful workflow automation and structured hiring kits enable consistency and fairness across complex, high-volume recruiting operations.
- Con: The platform's complexity and high price point make it overkill and cost-prohibitive for most small businesses.
- Risk signals (none, checked 2026-06-09): No material public risk signals as of 2026-06-09.

### #2 Lever · 9.1/9.4
- Best for: Fast-growing companies that prioritize candidate relationship management and proactive talent sourcing.
- San Francisco, USA · founded 2012 · $$$$ (Custom pricing)
- Lever secures the #2 spot by combining a full-featured ATS with a best-in-class recruiting CRM, making it ideal for teams that build talent pipelines proactively.
- Pro: The platform's unified candidate profile and Nurture campaigns are exceptional for maintaining relationships with passive talent over time.
- Con: While powerful, its analytics capabilities are generally considered less robust and customizable than those of Greenhouse.
- Risk signals (none, checked 2026-06-09): No material public risk signals as of 2026-06-09.

### #3 Workable · 8.8/9.4
- Best for: Small to mid-sized businesses looking for an intuitive, all-in-one hiring platform with transparent pricing and strong sourcing tools.
- Boston, USA · founded 2012 · $$$ ($149 to $719/mo+)
- Workable is the best all-around choice for SMBs at #3, offering a user-friendly interface, powerful AI-driven sourcing, and scalable plans without requiring a massive budget.
- Pro: Its one-click job posting to over 200 job boards and AI-powered candidate sourcing save immense time for smaller HR teams.
- Con: For larger organizations, the customization options for workflows and reporting can feel limited compared to enterprise-grade systems.
- Risk signals (none, checked 2026-06-09): No material public risk signals as of 2026-06-09.

### #4 Ashby · 8.6/9.4
- Best for: Data-centric recruiting teams, particularly in the tech industry, who need powerful analytics and scheduling automation.
- San Francisco, USA · founded 2018 · $$$ (Custom pricing)
- Ashby earns its rank for providing the most powerful and flexible recruiting analytics on the market, combined with slick automation for scheduling and sourcing.
- Pro: Its 'All-in-One' approach genuinely integrates ATS, CRM, and analytics, with dashboards that are miles ahead of most competitors.
- Con: As a newer player, its integration marketplace is still growing and not as extensive as more established platforms like Greenhouse.
- Risk signals (none, checked 2026-06-09): No material public risk signals as of 2026-06-09.

### #5 Teamtailor · 8.4/9.4
- Best for: Companies focused on building a strong employer brand and delivering a modern, engaging candidate experience.
- Stockholm, Sweden · founded 2013 · $$$ (Custom pricing)
- Teamtailor stands out at #5 for its exceptional, easy-to-build career sites and candidate-centric features that help companies attract, not just process, applicants.
- Pro: The drag-and-drop career site editor is incredibly intuitive and produces beautiful, mobile-first pages that showcase company culture effectively.
- Con: Its core reporting and analytics are more basic than competitors like Ashby or Greenhouse, focusing more on aesthetics than deep data.
- Risk signals (none, checked 2026-06-09): No material public risk signals as of 2026-06-09.

### #6 Recruitee · 8.2/9.4
- Best for: Collaborative hiring teams in SMB and mid-market companies who need flexible and customizable pipelines.
- Amsterdam, Netherlands · founded 2015 · $$$ ($222/mo+)
- Recruitee excels in fostering team collaboration, offering intuitive tools for shared candidate evaluation, communication, and customizable hiring workflows.
- Pro: The platform makes it incredibly easy for everyone on the hiring team, not just recruiters, to participate in the process with clear roles and communication streams.
- Con: Its reporting suite is functional but lacks the depth and advanced filtering required by highly data-driven talent acquisition leaders.
- Risk signals (none, checked 2026-06-09): No material public risk signals as of 2026-06-09.

### #7 Pinpoint · 8/9.4
- Best for: Mid-market companies wanting to combine talent acquisition and talent marketing in a single, cost-effective platform.
- St Helier, Jersey · founded 2016 · $$$ (From ~$600/mo)
- Pinpoint earns its spot by tightly integrating employer branding and recruitment marketing tools with a solid ATS, offering great value for the mid-market.
- Pro: The platform includes built-in tools for email marketing campaigns to talent pools and creating compelling, content-rich career sites.
- Con: The user interface for recruiters can sometimes feel less intuitive and modern compared to more recent entrants like Ashby.
- Risk signals (none, checked 2026-06-09): No material public risk signals as of 2026-06-09.

### #8 Breezy HR · 7.8/9.4
- Best for: Small businesses and startups needing a simple, visually-oriented, and affordable ATS with a generous free plan.
- Jacksonville, USA · founded 2014 · $ ($0 to $479/mo)
- Breezy HR is the top choice for startups due to its intuitive drag-and-drop pipeline, robust free tier, and simple, no-nonsense approach to hiring.
- Pro: Its Kanban-style pipeline view is incredibly easy to use and provides an at-a-glance status of all candidates for busy teams.
- Con: The platform lacks the advanced automation, reporting, and compliance features needed by companies as they scale beyond the early stages.
- Risk signals (none, checked 2026-06-09): No material public risk signals as of 2026-06-09.

### #9 JazzHR · 7.6/9.4
- Best for: Budget-conscious small businesses that need a straightforward, effective tool for organizing their hiring process.
- Pittsburgh, USA · founded 2009 · $$ ($49 to $449/mo)
- JazzHR provides a solid, no-frills ATS experience for small businesses, focusing on core functionality like job syndication and candidate tracking at a very competitive price point.
- Pro: It offers unlimited users on all paid plans, which is a significant cost advantage for small but growing teams.
- Con: The user interface feels dated compared to modern competitors, and it lacks sophisticated features for sourcing and analytics.
- Risk signals (none, checked 2026-06-09): No material public risk signals as of 2026-06-09.

### #10 SmartRecruiters · 7.4/9.4
- Best for: Large global enterprises with complex hiring needs, particularly those requiring multi-language support and robust compliance.
- San Francisco, USA · founded 2010 · $$$$ (Custom pricing)
- SmartRecruiters is a comprehensive Talent Acquisition Suite built for the complexity of global enterprise hiring, offering extensive features for compliance, internal mobility, and large-scale recruitment.
- Pro: Its marketplace of third-party integrations is one of the largest available, allowing enterprises to build a highly customized recruiting stack.
- Con: The platform can feel bloated and less intuitive for day-to-day recruiting tasks, and its candidate experience is not as modern as newer systems.
- Risk signals (none, checked 2026-06-09): No material public risk signals as of 2026-06-09.

### #11 [WILDCARD] Homerun · 7.1/9.4
- Best for: Creative and culture-driven small businesses that want to tell their story and attract mission-aligned candidates.
- Amsterdam, Netherlands · founded 2014 · $$ (€75 to €399/mo)
- Our wildcard, Homerun, is not a traditional ATS; it's a hiring tool for businesses that hire based on culture and mission, prioritizing beautiful job posts and a human-centric process over complex workflows.
- Pro: It empowers small teams without design resources to create stunning, magazine-style job posts and career pages that truly reflect their brand.
- Con: It lacks the robust automation, integrations, and reporting features that are standard in most other ATS platforms, making it unsuitable for high-volume hiring.
- Risk signals (none, checked 2026-06-09): No material public risk signals as of 2026-06-09.

## FAQ

**What is an Applicant Tracking System (ATS)?**

An ATS is a software that acts as a central database for all recruitment activities. It helps companies collect and sort thousands of resumes, manage job postings on various boards, and track candidates through every stage of the hiring pipeline.

**How much does an ATS typically cost?**

Costs vary widely. SMB-focused platforms can range from $50 to $400 per month. Mid-market and enterprise systems are often priced per employee or per recruiter annually, ranging from $5,000 to over $100,000 per year, frequently with an implementation fee.

**What's the difference between an ATS and a recruiting CRM?**

An ATS is designed to manage active applicants for specific, open roles (a reactive process). A recruiting CRM (Candidate Relationship Management) is for proactively building and nurturing relationships with a pipeline of passive talent for future roles.

**How do I choose the right ATS for my company size?**

Small businesses (under 50 employees) should prioritize ease of use and affordability (e.g., Breezy HR, JazzHR). Mid-size companies (50-500) need more robust features and integrations (e.g., Workable, Lever). Enterprises (500+) require scalability, advanced security, and complex workflow customization (e.g., Greenhouse, SmartRecruiters).

**Can an ATS help with diversity and inclusion (D&I)?**

Yes. Many modern ATS platforms include features to support D&I initiatives, such as anonymized resume screening to reduce unconscious bias, EEO/OFCCP compliance tracking, and analytics to measure the diversity of applicant pools at each stage.