Best Applicant Tracking Software in 2026

Workable is our pick for most small and mid-size teams that want to start hiring properly this month. The Standard plan is listed at $299 a month on annual billing for teams of 1 to 20 employees, with a 15-day trial, and pricing is published up to larger headcounts. Job posting, candidate pipelines, interview scheduling and team feedback are all in one place, so hiring stops living in shared inboxes.

The limit is depth on the entry tier. AI candidate sourcing and some advanced automation sit on higher plans, and reporting is less deep than Ashby. For a team that hires regularly but does not need enterprise analytics, Workable gives a clear price, quick setup and a workflow most hiring managers can learn fast.

Greenhouse is the structured hiring pick. Interview plans, scorecards and consistent stages help different interviewers judge candidates on the same criteria, which reduces guesswork and makes feedback easier to compare. It also offers a large integration library, analytics and compliance reporting that suit mid-size and enterprise teams.

Pricing is quote-only, with Core, Plus and Pro plans sold by demo, and recent comparisons place mid-market costs in the thousands per year. That makes Greenhouse a poor fit for a team hiring one role a year. For a company hiring across many roles, with large interview panels, Greenhouse is often the best applicant tracking software for consistency and control.

Lever combines an ATS with a candidate relationship system, which matters when hiring takes months or when you want to keep in touch with strong candidates who were not hired for one role. Recruiters can nurture talent pools, track outreach and move candidates into active roles without a separate CRM.

The cost is quote-only, and recent comparisons place it in the premium range for mid-market teams. A tiny team that only needs to post a job and track applicants will find Workable or Breezy simpler and cheaper. A growth-stage team that sources heavily and nurtures talent over time will get more value from Lever.

Ashby is the analytics pick for data-driven recruiting teams, especially in tech. It combines sourcing, scheduling, offers and reporting in one system, with custom reports that go beyond basic time-to-hire numbers. Teams that want to see where candidates drop off, which sources perform best, and how interviewers score can build those views without spreadsheets.

Pricing is published by company-size band in some recent listings, from around $300 a month for smaller startups to higher bands for larger teams, but it varies, so we list it as See website. Ashby is not the cheapest entry point, and its reporting power needs a team willing to learn it. For a team that treats hiring data as a core job, Ashby is a strong choice.

JazzHR is a good first ATS for a small business that has outgrown email and spreadsheets. Entry pricing is listed at $75 a month, with a free trial, and the system covers job posting, candidate tracking, interview scheduling and offer management. Unlimited hiring manager users on many plans make it easy to involve managers without paying per seat for every reviewer.

The limits are sourcing and analytics. JazzHR does not offer the same proactive candidate sourcing as Workable or Lever, and its reporting is simpler than Ashby. For a team that mainly needs to post jobs, track applicants and hire steadily, JazzHR is one of the best value picks in this list.

Breezy HR is the visual, small-team pick. Pipelines are drag-and-drop boards, so a hiring manager can see at a glance where each candidate sits, and paid plans include unlimited users, which helps small teams involve everyone without seat costs. The Startup plan is listed at $157 a month in recent comparisons, with a free tier for one open job.

That free tier is useful for a single hire, but it will not run a busy hiring operation. Reporting is also basic on lower plans. For a startup hiring one role at a time, or a team that wants a simple visual system, Breezy is easy to adopt and easy to explain to managers.

Zoho Recruit is the low-cost pick for staffing agencies and small teams, especially those already using Zoho apps. The free plan covers one open job, and paid plans start at $30 per recruiter per month in recent listings. It offers resume parsing, candidate sourcing, automated workflows, email templates and dashboards, which cover the core ATS job well.

The interface is functional rather than elegant, and some teams will prefer Workable for ease of use. The value is clear, though, for an agency that needs many recruiter seats at a low per-user price, or a small team that wants a free start. If you already use Zoho CRM or Zoho People, the integration is a further reason to trial it.

Manatal is the per-user value pick. At $15 per user per month in recent listings, with a 14-day trial, a small recruiting team can give every recruiter a seat without the flat monthly cost of larger suites. It offers candidate sourcing, AI recommendations, pipelines and reporting, which cover most small-team needs.

The trade-off is scale. Manatal does not match Greenhouse on structured hiring depth or Lever on CRM nurturing, and its integration library is smaller. For a team of a few recruiters that needs a proper ATS at a low per-user price, Manatal is a practical choice, and the entry plan already includes AI help that other tools reserve for higher tiers.

Recruitee, now part of Tellent in some listings, is built for collaborative hiring. Teams can share candidate profiles, collect feedback, automate stages and build branded career pages, which helps when many managers are involved in a hire. It suits mid-size companies that want hiring to feel like a team process, not a recruiter-only task.

Pricing has varied across recent comparisons, around $199 a month in some sources and higher in others, so we list it as See website. Check the current plan for your team size and region. For a collaborative, mid-size hiring team that wants strong branding and feedback tools, Recruitee deserves a trial beside Workable and Greenhouse.