What Is Applicant Tracking Software and How Much Does It Cost?

Updated on :August 16, 2023
By :Ananya Jain

Hiring for a specific position should be simple for both the applicant and the recruiter. Although the whole process is done best when humanized, due to the enormous data-driven procedures, there can be a time when you miss out on the best of talents due to various reasons. Finding the right talent is critical, and companies cannot afford to miss the right pick. After all, it is about experience and satisfaction, with utmost transparency. Investing in an applicant tracking software can be a wise decision.

Recently, Harvard Business Review mentioned in one of its articles about a study that indicated that almost 80% of employee turnover is due to bad hiring decisions, and almost 45% of bad hires are due to the lack of efficient process.

What is Applicant Tracking Software?

Basically, applicant tracking software is a system that assists companies in the recruitment and hiring processes.  Each of the systems is packed with functional features like; posting job opportunities, distribution, receiving and filtering applications, database management, team collaboration, scheduling interviews, social media marketing, and so on.

In short, Applicant Tracking Software (ATS) primarily helps companies in the complete process of hiring, right from job advertisement till recruitment.

Why Do Companies Use Applicant Tracking Software?

Now, hiring has become a challenge in many companies because of the relative ease of submitting an online job application. When you post for a job online, it collects and filters hundreds of applications which take time when done manually. An applicant tracking system sorts all data and filters it according to the specifications, and this is one of the best solutions for the MNCs or the larger companies that need to recruit talents from time to time for the multiple positions and departments simultaneously.

Why is ATS Critical for both Job Seekers and Recruiters?

It is good for corporate recruiters to have their own ATS for recruitment as it can automatically extract all the required information for the applicant resumes, and filter them. The goal of ATS is to find the best one in lesser time.

How Much Does Applicant Tracking Software Cost?

Pricing is one the major factor in choosing the product, and if we are talking about Applicant tracking system, then it’s important to compare the prices. Some of the vendors serve you the transparent price information regarding the cost on their websites. However, most of them also prefer a specialized quote from the companies regarding the requirements. The cost actually varies from software to software.

Let’s see the price guide mentioned below. There can be additional costs in case of you choosing additional/customized features.

Pricing Modules of Application Tracking Software

Many of the applicant tracking tools are deployed in the cloud. Many are free and open source Application Tracking Software, where the users can enjoy a few basic features absolutely free of cost. Also, an open source version will allow users to make changes. Many vendors offer on-premise hosting. In the cloud-based deployment, vendors host the software, and then the company has to pay the monthly or annual subscription fee, and in the on-premise hosting, the client has to host their data on the servers and then pay accordingly for the software upfront and known as a perpetual licensing.

There are mainly three common types of pricing modules for ATS solutions:

Pay Per Recruiter- In this, vendors charge companies based upon the number of the employees who have the admin access to the software. You’ll have full access to post jobs and view the information regarding candidates from the accounts. Basically, recruiters are the standard users of this pricing model. Most of the vendors offer pricing tiers that deploy the strategy per-month/per-user ad gives you all features in the individual tier.

Pay Per Position- In this, some of the vendors offer price based on the number of requisition available in the company. This generally includes the unlimited application for each job and allows unlimited users to access. Charges are collected every month. The vendors of ATS who charge based upon the open positions are likely to focus on the opening of the job, and this model generally restricts offering features like video interview round, etc.

Pay Per Module- This is the pricing model that enables all solutions for onboarding like talent management and training. Sometimes these vendors also suggest having a complete HRMS suite and may not integrate with the other HRMS solutions. So, the client must have to purchase their own HRMS or have to pay for the whole suite, and the same goes for each module.

Additional Costs to Consider

Some of the amazing features are included in the price, and for few, the users are expected to pay. So, it is good to take them into consideration.

Features not included in the base price- Many features added by vendors like; onboarding and background checks. So, this company will only pay for the features they really need.

Implementation- Prices of implementation can vary from vendor to vendor, but includes access to a proper implementation specialist, installation, customization, data migration, and integration to the other software.

Training- Several vendors include the basic training service for free, or some of them offer it at additional cost, especially if the training is completed at the client’s side.

Support- The basic support like email generally comes with a cost, but some vendors also offer advanced supports, like priority support or access to specific customers or service managers.

Few Applicant Tracking Software and its Pricing

Here is a list of few popular ATS systems with their pricing details.

Alongside- This applicant tracking tool comes in four different tiers. The basic tier costs $35 per month; $25 if paid annually, this includes one active job, three user accounts, and email support. The standard tier is $65 per month, but the software is also available at $47 when you opt for annual payment. The package comes with three active jobs, enables five users accounts, and also includes both email and chat support. The premium tier costs $99 per month or $47 if you pay annually. This tier includes five active jobs, 10 user accounts, and phone chat, and email support. The enterprise tier costs $160 per month and $115 if you pay annually. This covers 10 active jobs with 20user accounts, and you can manage multiple companies at a single time.

Applicant Stack- In this, companies can either purchase the ApplicantStack recruit or ApplicantStack onboard, and it costs you each $95 per month. You can even buy both the packages for $135 per month. The amount covers the single administrator license with five hiring manager licenses. Interestingly, there is no contract. So, the companies can cancel at any time, or they can change their plans as well.

Big Biller- The pricing of Big Biller starts at $60 per user per month, and like other software, if you pay annually, you end up paying only $55 per user per month. It covers access to the application tracking software and recruiting CRM system, with support and training.

CATS- The pro plan costs $89 per user per month and they provide many ATS features in it, and the other premium plan costs $119 per user per month which comes with more powerful features like career portal and workflows, API access and many more other features.

CEIPAL TalentHire- The monthly amount of this software is based upon the number of recruiters that will use the software. Like, if five recruiters are using the software, then it will cost $113 per month, and for 20 recruiters it will cost $399 per month and so on. Some of the features are optional, like unlimited mass emails, proactive email cleanup and etc.

Crelate Talent- Crelate Talent comes with four pricing plans: Essentials costs $55 per user per month; Professional costs $69 per user per month; Business costs $89 per user per month; and for Enterprise, you have to contact them directly for a price quote.

Execlare- The standard plan comes at $79 per user per month for 3 users as administrator and $69 per user per month for 10 users, and for 11 or more users, the charges are $59. The premium plan comes with additional features like custom reports, dashboards, unlimited customization, and VMS integration. This plan costs $109 per user per month.

Recruiterflow- This applicant tracking system offers customized plans that are aimed at staffing agencies and internal recruiters. They offer two plans for the staffing agencies; Growth and Enterprise. The plan; growth costs $59 per user per month, but it includes unlimited job openings and CRM functionality along with chat and email support. The enterprise plan costs $99 per user per month and comes with unlimited campaigns as well as the priority phone, chat, and email support.

For the internal recruiters, they offer three plans; Growth, Scale, and Enterprise. The plan Growth costs $99 per user per month for up to five active jobs and the other plan; Scale costs $149 per user per month for up to ten active jobs and the last plan; Enterprise costs $249 per user per month for up to the twenty active jobs. If you require additional job openings, it will cost extra for each plan.

TrackerRMS- Basically, this applicant tracking tool comes with three pricing tiers with annual billing. The first one is the professional tier, which costs $80 per user per month, and it boasts your 30 GB of data storage. The package comes with many amazing features like custom report builder. The next plan is premier, and it costs $90 per user per month with 40 GB of data storage in addition to the premium job board integration. The last one is the Enterprise plan, and it costs $105 per user per month, which includes custom features with API access.

Zoho Recruit- This Applicant tracking software provides the users with the forever free plan, and three best priced plans: standard costs the $25 per user per month, and the second is professional which costs $50 per user per month, and the last one is Enterprise costs $75 per user per month. The free plan provides basic features like email management, candidate management, and interview scheduling. There are some added features in the standard plans like job posting templates, reporting tools, and many more. The professional plan provides you the social recruiting and pre-screening assessments and has automated responders and custom profiles too.

Workpop- This software offers three types of pricing tires. The essential plan includes the $49 per location per month and provides basic applicant tracking features, email support, and job posting, the second plan Growth costs $79 per location per month providing customizable career sites, advanced features and the live chat support. Now, the last one is a professional plan that costs $149 per location per month with many advanced features.

Key takeaways

Pricing varies depending upon the users and features. On the whole, for advanced features, you need to shell out a bit more. If you are only looking for some basic features, then there are umpteen number of software that offers an unlimited free trial. Basically, you have to decide on those features that will best suit your company and business. Entering a contract or choosing the pay-as-you-go option is purely based on your budget.

Vultus Recruit, Recruit CRM, EjobsiteSoftware, Zenefits, Bamboo HR  are other Applicant tracking software that you can try. Check the entire list of top Applicant tracking software to gather more insights.

Conclusion:

Handling the recruitment and hiring process with an automated system is always a boon. It is all about saving time and refining your business strategies efficiently with minimal errors. Some of the best Applicant tracking software available today stands as a comprehensive platform that even assists users with artificial intelligence-based screening and applicant tracking facilities. Such systems are sure to empower HR professionals as it enables them to work with more streamlined data and gain insight for better recruitment and employee management.

Ananya Jain
Ananya Jain

Ananya Jain is a Digital Marketing Executive at Tech Gropse Pvt. Ltd., an iPhone app development company. She has been offering her services independently. Ananya enjoys writing, and knows basics of web development too.

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