Best Applicant Tracking Systems for Small Business

Who we are, and why this page is neutral: OneTwo Resume makes tools for job seekers — a resume builder, an ATS resume checker and a tailoring tool. We do not sell an applicant tracking system, we have no affiliation, partnership or referral deal with any vendor below, and there are no affiliate links or paid placements. We wrote this because job seekers ask us how the systems on the other side of the application work, and small employers ask which one to use.

Method: every price and plan limit below was read on the vendor's own pricing page on September 22, 2026, and each entry links to that page. We did not sign up for paid plans or test the products hands-on, so features are described only as the vendors document them. Where a vendor publishes no price, we say so rather than estimate one. Prices change; check the linked page before you buy.

What is the best ATS for a small business?

The honest answer is that it depends on two numbers: how many roles you have open at once, and how many people need to log in. Pricing models in this category differ more than features do, and picking the wrong model costs more than picking the wrong vendor.

• You hire occasionally, one role at a time: start on a free plan. Breezy HR's Bootstrap and Zoho Recruit's Free plan both allow one active job and cost nothing.
• One or two people run hiring, several roles open: per-user pricing is usually cheapest. Manatal is $15 per user per month billed yearly (up to 15 jobs); Zoho Recruit Standard is $25 per recruiter per month billed yearly (10 active jobs per recruiter license).
• Many hiring managers need access: flat pricing stops the bill growing with every login. Recooty Starter is $79/month billed annually for companies up to 20 employees; Breezy HR Startup is $157/month billed annually with unlimited users.
• You also need HR software (records, time off, onboarding): an HR suite with hiring built in may replace two tools. BambooHR includes applicant tracking in every plan (from $250/month flat for 25 employees or fewer); Workable's plans combine recruiting and HR (from $3,588/year for 1–20 employees).

How do the options compare?

All figures from the linked vendor pricing pages, read September 22, 2026. Zoho Recruit shows prices in local currency; the USD figures are the ones its page displays. Homerun prices in euros (or pounds).

Is there a free applicant tracking system?

Yes, two in this list — and both are genuine free plans, not trials. Breezy HR's Bootstrap is free forever with one active position or candidate pool at a time, unlimited users, a branded career site and distribution to 50+ job boards; candidate access covers candidates added in the last 30 days. Zoho Recruit's Free plan allows one active job per recruiter license, with candidate management, email, interview scheduling and 8/5 support.

The shared limit is one open role at a time. That is enough for a shop replacing one employee; it is not enough once two roles overlap. At that point the next step up is a trial of a paid plan — several of the vendors here offer 14 or 15 days without a card.

How much does an ATS cost for a small business?

From the vendors' own pricing pages on September 22, 2026, the lowest paid entry points are:

• $0: Breezy HR Bootstrap, Zoho Recruit Free (one open role each).
• Per seat: Manatal from $15/user/month and Zoho Recruit Standard from $25/recruiter/month, both billed yearly. Two recruiters on Zoho Standard is $50/month on annual billing.
• Flat, recruiting only: Recooty from $79/month, JazzHR Hero $1,000/year (about $83/month), Homerun Core €109/month and Breezy HR Startup $157/month — all on annual billing.
• HR suite with hiring: BambooHR from $250/month for 25 employees or fewer; Workable Standard $3,588/year for 1–20 employees.
• Quote only: Tellent Recruitee, Greenhouse, Teamtailor and Pinpoint publish no prices.

Three things move the real bill more than the headline: whether you pay monthly (every vendor that lists both charges more for monthly), whether the price scales with users, recruiters, job slots or company headcount, and add-ons (texting, video interviews, assessments and AI credits are sold separately at several vendors, including Workable and Breezy HR).

Tool by tool

Breezy HR — best free plan

The most generous free tier here: one active position, unlimited users and 50+ job boards at $0. Paid plans are flat-priced — Startup $157/month billed annually ($189 monthly), Growth $273 ($329), Business $439 ($529) — and the page notes annual billing includes two months free. Resume parsing (20+ languages) and candidate questionnaires that "qualify your applicants automatically" are on its feature list. Pricing page.

Zoho Recruit — cheapest per-recruiter plan with a free tier

Free plan with one active job; Standard is $25 per recruiter per month billed yearly ($30 monthly) with 10 active jobs per recruiter license, premium job boards and a branded careers site; Enterprise is $50 ($60). Hiring-manager licenses are sold separately in packs of 10. Zoho also advertises a 45-day money-back guarantee. Pricing page.

Manatal — lowest per-user price

Professional is $15 per user per month billed yearly ($19 monthly), up to 15 jobs and 10,000 candidates, with unlimited hiring managers — so the managers who only review candidates do not add seats. It lists CV parsing, screening and knockout questions, and job sharing to free and premium channels. 14-day trial, no card. Pricing page.

Recooty — lowest flat price for very small companies

Starter is $79/month billed annually ($99 monthly) for companies of up to 20 employees, with 5 active job posts, posting to 200+ boards including Indeed, LinkedIn and Google for Jobs, AI resume parsing and scoring, and knockout questions. Standard is $149/month billed annually at the 1–20 employee tier, with unlimited job posts; price rises with headcount. 15-day trial, no card. Pricing page.

JazzHR — flat annual plans

Hero is $1,000/year, Plus $3,480/year and Pro $5,508/year on annual billing (the page says annual saves up to 24% over monthly). Hero includes posting to free job boards; Plus and Pro allow up to 200 active jobs. Its feature list includes a resume parser and knockout questions. No free plan or trial is listed on the pricing page. Pricing page.

Homerun — priced by open role, in euros

Homerun charges by job slot (one live job post per slot): Core, with 3 slots, is €109/month on annual billing or €139 monthly; Plus, with 5 slots, is €195 or €215. The model fits a team that has a few roles open at a time. 15-day free trial, no card. Pricing page.

BambooHR — if you need HR software as well

BambooHR is an HR platform, and applicant tracking is included in all three plans (Core 5 job openings, Pro 25, Elite 50). For 25 employees or fewer it charges a flat rate from $250/month; above that, $10, $17 or $25 per employee per month. That is more than the recruiting-only plans above, so it makes most sense if it also replaces a separate HR system. Pricing page.

Workable — recruiting and HR bundled, priced by headcount

Workable's plans bundle recruiting and HR. Standard is listed at $3,588/year (shown as $299/month) for a company of 1–20 employees, and the price rises with headcount; Premier and Enterprise cost more. It lists distribution to 200+ job boards and automated resume parsing. The 15-day trial includes the Standard feature set and needs no card. Pricing page.

Tellent Recruitee — formerly Recruitee, price on request

Recruitee now sells as Tellent Recruitee (the old recruitee.com address did not resolve when we checked). Its Start plan, "for early-stage teams," includes 5 active job posts and multi-job-board posting, and its feature list includes CV parsing and knockout questions. Prices are not publicly listed — the page offers a demo or a free trial and says annual billing saves 20%. Pricing page.

What we left out

Greenhouse (pricing "customized based on your company's hiring needs"), Teamtailor ("let us give you a quote") and Pinpoint (a request-pricing form) publish no prices, so we could not compare them on cost. They may still be a good fit, particularly as a company grows; ask for a quote with your headcount and expected number of open roles so you can compare like with like.

What this means for job seekers applying to small businesses

If you are on the other side of the form, the useful thing to know is what these systems actually do with your application. Based on the vendors' own feature lists and the sourced research we have traced:

• Your resume is parsed into fields. Most systems here list resume or CV parsing: the file is read into name, titles, employers, dates and skills so the employer can search and sort. A clean, single-column file with standard headings parses more reliably than one built from tables and text boxes. A free ATS resume checker shows you what a parser is likely to extract.
• Knockout questions can filter automatically. JazzHR, Recooty, Manatal and Tellent Recruitee list knockout questions, and Breezy HR's questionnaires "qualify your applicants automatically." These are yes/no screening questions the employer writes — work authorization, a required licence, willingness to work on site. Answer them accurately and read them carefully: a wrong answer can screen an application out before a person reads it. How often that happens has not been measured in any dataset we could find.
• Ranking is not rejection. Several of these systems score or rank candidates (Recooty lists "AI resume parsing & score"; Manatal lists relevance scores). In Harvard Business School's 2021 survey, more than 90% of employers said they use their recruiting system to initially filter or rank candidates — but in Enhancv's 2025 interviews, 23 of 25 recruiters said their ATS does not auto-reject resumes. The widely repeated claim that 75% of resumes are rejected by an ATS has no primary source; we traced it in ATS statistics with primary sources.
• Write for the person on the other end. Match the posting's stated requirements in plain words, and make your titles, employers and dates easy to find — that serves both the parser and whoever opens your application.