Finding the best Applicant Tracking System (ATS) for your business

A good talent acquisition strategy is worthless without the right applicant tracking system. But with so many out there, which do you choose?

The task of finding, attracting, and hiring the right talent has become increasingly complex… and it would seem as if finding the right applicant tracking system (ATS) has become just as painful!

Whether you’re an internal recruitment team, HR professional or Head of People/HR/Talent, selecting the right ATS is crucial. In this guide, we will delve into the top 10 ATS systems, highlighting their pros and cons, and pointing you in the right direction of which is the best for your business.

What is an applicant tracking system?

If you’re new to the term application tracking system (ATS), it’s okay – we’ve got you! An ATS is your one stop shop for overseeing, managing and keeping track of all things talent acquisition.

A good ATS will;

• Parse and manage CVs and applications.
• Help you manage your database and build talent pools.
• Help you search/source for potential candidates.
• Let you save and automate email templates.
• Provide detailed analytics and reporting.
• Allow you to schedule interviews and document feedback.
• Have built-in automation to streamline the process.

+ a host of other very useful features!

What to look for when finding a new ATS?

Every company will always have its own needs and requirements from an ATS. A start-up and an enterprise company will quite often require very different things from their system, so it’s not a one size fits all approach.

When looking at an ATS, ask yourself:

• How can this streamline our process and save us time?
• How will this improve the candidate’s journey?
• Will this integrate with our current IT infrastructure and technology?
• How can this reduce our time to hire?

A big thing you need to look at now is how they use AI (artificial intelligence). AI is being used more and more in the talent acquisition process, saving recruiters and hiring managers time, whilst improving the candidate journey.

A side note when looking at new systems…

Be careful not to get confused between a CRM and an ATS though. Whilst things like Salesforce are incredible platforms, they’re definitely not fit for handling your talent acquisition. Trust us, we’ve seen it being done – and it’s not pretty!

What are the best ATSs on the market in 2023?

So, after all this talk of applicant tracking systems, which is the best for you?

We’ve definitely worked with our fair share of ATSs over the years, so here’s our guide to some of the best on the market at the moment and who they’re best suited for.

1. Team Tailor

Pros:

• Offers an intuitive and user-friendly interface, making it easy for your team to navigate and use the system (which is ideal when you’re looking for hiring managers to use the system as well!)
• Fully customisable careers page that you can align to your company’s branding.
• Fantastic customer support – especially with onboarding.
• Affordable pricing.

Cons:

• It’s just an ATS, meaning it’s lacking a lot of HR features some companies may be looking for.
• Relatively small user base compared to some competitors.
• Their data analytics functionality isn’t as comprehensive and customisable as other platforms.

Best For:

Team Tailor is ideal for small to medium sized businesses that are after a user friendly ATS with a strong focus on employer branding and user experience.

2. Workable

Pros:

• Tried and tested sourcing capabilities with AI powered candidate recommendations.
• Extensive integrations with various job boards and social media platforms.
• Collaborative features enable seamless communication among team members.
• A fantastic hub of resources for recruiters, HR professionals and hiring managers.
• A pay as you go costing model which allows you to pay for what you use.

Cons:

• Whilst it includes a pay as you go model, this can quickly get expensive.
• They’re quite far behind on their onboarding functionality – but have definitely stepped up their game recently.

Best For:

Workable is great for businesses of all sizes – particularly those who require a lot of functionality for managing their recruitment pipeline and sourcing candidates efficiently.

3. Ashby

Pros:

• Offers a wide range of platforms (ATS, scheduling, CRM, and analytics) covering all aspects of hiring. These can be mixed and matched, or seamlessly used together in their all-in-one platform.
• Modern and intuitive interface for an enhanced user experience.
• Many aspects of the platform are fully customisable.
• AI-driven candidate matching.

Cons:

• With such a big platform comes a lot of features to get your head around. You’ll need to take into account the learning curve when onboarding the platform with larger recruitment teams.

Best For:

Ashby is an excellent choice for mid-sized companies looking for an ATS that offers both user-friendliness and an advanced suite of features.

4. Lever

Pros:

• Intuitive drag-and-drop interface for easy customisation, which is quick and easy for new users to pick up.
• Great for both managing your current requisitions and building talent pools for future roles.
• Comprehensive reporting and analytics tools.
• Makes collaboration between team members easy and hassle free.

Cons:

• Lever’s pricing can definitely be out of many smaller companies’ budgets.
• The onboarding process could be smoother for new users.

Best For:

Lever is an excellent platform for larger companies or those with a high volume of recruitment, thanks to its powerful features and scalability.

5. Greenhouse

Pros:

• Customisable workflows to match the company’s unique hiring process.
• Offers an impressive line-up of integration capabilities with other HR tools.
• A fantastic onboarding capability, seamlessly taking candidates to employees.
• Offers an iOS and Android app (which is perfect for sorting tasks whilst not at your desk!)

Cons:

• Pricing is on the higher side for small businesses.
• Analytics capabilities could offer more customisation.
• The vast array of features might be overwhelming for some users.

Best For:

Greenhouse is an excellent choice for medium to large enterprises that require a highly customisable ATS that can cater to their specific talent acquisition and onboarding workflows.

6. BambooHR

Pros:

• User-friendly interface with straightforward navigation.
• Fantastic for those who are after an all-in-one platform to manage recruiting, onboarding and HR.
• Excellent customer support and resources for users.
• They offer a free trial, so you’re able to make sure it’s right for your business.

Cons:

• As the name alludes to, this is an HR platform with recruiting functionality (rather than the other way around). So, advanced features might be lacking for either complex or customisable recruitment needs.
• Limited integration options compared to other platforms on the market.

Best For:

BambooHR is perfect for small to medium-sized businesses looking for an integrated all-in-one solution that covers the whole life cycle of people management.

7. HireEZ (previously Hiretual)

Pros:

• AI-powered candidate sourcing and engagement for efficient talent acquisition.
• Its features are heavily focused on sourcing candidates, helping you find in-demand tech talent.
• Deep insights into the talent pool and market trends.

Cons:

• The interface might take some time to master due to its feature-rich nature.
• Expensive if you’re not taking advantage of its sourcing and AI features.

Best For:

HireEZ is a top choice for companies seeking advanced AI-driven sourcing and engagement capabilities, making it ideal for tech-savvy internal recruitment teams.

8. BreezyHR

Pros:

• Easy to use and relatively ‘clean’ user interface with customizable pipelines for different roles.
• An extensive set of automation features that streamline your recruitment process and save you A LOT of time (win-win, right?!).
• Budget friendly for all business sizes.

Cons:

• Its reporting features lack the depth more advanced recruitment teams require.
• Advanced customisation might require technical expertise.
• No integration with LinkedIn Recruiter ☹️.

Best For:

If you’re a small to medium sized business looking to automate a lot of your recruitment cost effectively, BreezyHR is definitely for you.

9. Recruitee

Pros:

• Offers a lengthy free trial and very competitive pricing.
• Huge list of job board integrations.
• Makes collecting employee referrals easy
• Home to a host of useful integrations with skill assessment tools to streamline your hiring process.
• Automated notifications that allow recruiters to keep on top of their tasks.

Cons:

• Some users have struggled with customer support.
• Key features aren’t available on all subscription tiers.

Best For:

Recruitee is great for small to medium sized businesses that are after a user-friendly and affordable way to hire.

10. Zoho Recruit

Pros:

• Easy to understand pricing based on usage with optional add-ons (such as video interviews)
• Both an ATS and CRM, covering your whole recruitment lifecycle.
• Built in background screening, removing the need for 3rd party applications.
• Great client portal, which makes working with 3rd party recruitment agencies easy.

Cons:

• Whilst having the flexibility of having optional add-ons, if you need a lot of them then Zoho Recruit loses its competitive price point.
• Lacks a lot of customisation ability.

Best For:

Zoho Recruit is a great ATS for mid to large companies looking for a generalist platform, which is perfect for companies hiring across a lot of domains.

Which one to choose?

As you can tell, there’s plenty to choose from! However, we hope that you’re much closer to making your decision after reading our guide.

Our advice

• Get a list of everything you’re after in a platform, then search for your software based on this.
• Speak with other recruiters in your network.
• Book in trials. It’s long and tedious but getting a good picture of what’s out there will help you know what you want.

And finally…

Are we missing any? Whilst there are plenty of platforms that deserve a shout out, we can’t list them all (as you’d be reading this forever!) However, if you think we’re missing a platform on our list please let us know.

(P.S. If you’re after more advice in hiring, why not head to our blog page? It’s home to 100s of articles to help you hire better.)