Many AI recruitment software vendors do not publish complete pricing. The ones that do may separate core plans from add-ons. A platform advertised at $299/month can cost $556/month once you add video interviews, SMS texting, and candidate assessments. A $15-per-user plan costs $45/month for three users before integrations or specialist tools.
This guide pulls together verified pricing for eight AI recruitment platforms, builds the true monthly cost for a realistic SMB scenario, and gives you a budget framework based on team size and hiring volume. No aggregator rounding. No "contact for pricing" brushoffs. Just numbers.
For a full assessment of which tool is actually right for your team, see our best AI recruitment software guide for SMBs.
Published AI recruitment pricing starts at £25/month for Hire Forge AI's standalone screener and $15/user/month for Manatal's Professional ATS plan. Other products use company-size bands, usage credits, or custom enterprise quotes. Compare the complete working stack, including video, texting, assessments, API access, implementation, and contract length.
Why AI Recruitment Pricing Is So Hard to Compare
89% of organisations using AI in hiring report measurable time savings (SHRM, 2025) — yet most buyers discover the real cost only after signing a contract. Vendors have strong financial incentives to make pricing look lower than it actually is. Three tactics account for most of the confusion.
Per-user vs. flat monthly pricing. Manatal charges per user ($15/user/month annual). Breezy HR charges a flat monthly fee regardless of users ($157/month for unlimited users). Comparing these two at face value is meaningless; the right comparison depends on your team size.
Advertised price vs. functional price. Workable's Standard plan is $299/month. But video interview capability costs $109/month extra. SMS texting is $89/month extra. A team using Workable for full-cycle hiring typically pays $400–$500/month before any per-seat scaling.
Annual vs. monthly billing gaps. Manatal's Professional plan is $15/user/month with annual billing or $19/user/month when billed monthly. Compare offers on the same contract term before deciding.
Our finding: A two-person team can pay $30/month for Manatal Professional on annual billing, while Workable Standard with video, texting, and assessments totals $556/month. The products are not equivalent, but the spread shows why buyers must price the required workflow rather than compare one headline number.
How Much Does AI Recruitment Software Actually Cost?
AI recruitment software for SMBs ranges from £25/month for a standalone Hire Forge AI screening layer to custom enterprise contracts. All published prices below were checked against live vendor pricing pages on 25 July 2026; annual billing is used unless noted.
Hire Forge AI
| Plan | Monthly | CV Screening Credits | Key Feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free Trial | £0 (7 days) | 100 | Full platform, no card required |
| Starter | £25/month | 350 | AI CV screening, skill matching |
| Professional | £50/month | 1,000 | + Advanced filtering, analytics |
Pricing is in GBP. Approximate USD equivalent: Starter ~$32/month, Professional ~$64/month at current rates.
What's different: Hire Forge AI is a standalone AI screening layer, not a full ATS. It scores and ranks CVs against your job criteria automatically, without requiring a pipeline migration or job board switch. Teams already using a basic free ATS or receiving CVs by email can add AI screening without switching systems entirely.
Pricing model: Credit-based. Each CV screened uses 1 credit. Professional (1,000 credits/month) handles up to 1,000 CV reviews — suitable for teams with 10–20 active roles and moderate application volume.
Free trial: 7 days, 100 credits included, no credit card required.
For a 2-person HR team handling 10 active roles: £50/month Professional (hireforge.ai/pricing).
Manatal
| Plan | Monthly (annual billing) | Monthly (no contract) | Active Jobs | Candidates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Professional | $15/user | $19/user | 15 | 10,000 |
| Enterprise | $35/user | $45/user | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Enterprise Plus | $55/user | $68/user | Unlimited | Unlimited |
What's included: AI candidate scoring, LinkedIn profile enrichment, Kanban pipeline, basic reporting. ChatGPT integration and API access require Enterprise Plus.
What's not included: No video interview tool. No SMS. You'd integrate with a separate tool for these. For a 2-person HR team using Professional on annual billing: $30/month.
Free trial: 14 days, no credit card required.
Zoho Recruit
| Plan | Monthly (annual billing) | Key AI Features |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 (1 user) | None |
| Standard | $25/user | Basic ATS, no AI |
| Professional | $50/user | Zia AI, Sourcing Bot, Screening Bot |
| Enterprise | $75/user | All features + advanced analytics |
What's included at Professional: Zia AI candidate matching, automated candidate sourcing and screening, AI-powered assessments. Eight additional agentic AI features added Q4 2025.
What's not included: AI features require Professional tier minimum ($50/user). Teams that need AI cannot use Standard. For a 2-person HR team: $100/month.
Free trial: Free plan available for 1 user indefinitely. Paid plans have a 15-day trial.
CVViZ
| Plan | Monthly | Active Jobs | Key Feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $99 | 5 | AI screening + ranking |
| Basic | $199 | 10 | + 800M candidate database |
| Standard | $349 | 20 | + API access |
| Pro | $499 | 100 | + SSO, multi-domain |
Add-ons: Resume Screening at $25/job (pay-per-role model, suited for variable-volume hiring). Resume parser credits sold separately ($625/year for 10,000 credits).
What's different: CVViZ is the only platform here that functions as a standalone AI screening layer without requiring a full ATS switch. Existing Workable or Greenhouse users can add CVViZ via API.
For a team with 5 active roles at any time: $99/month flat.
Free trial: 14 days, no credit card required.
Breezy HR
| Plan | Monthly | Users | Key AI Feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 1 | 1 active position, no AI |
| Startup | $157 | Unlimited | AI evaluation, resume audit |
| Growth | $273 | Unlimited | + Video interviews, SMS included |
| Business | $439 | Unlimited | + Advanced analytics |
What's different: Flat pricing regardless of user count. A team of 5 hiring managers all get access at the same price. Growth plan bundles video interviews and SMS without add-on fees.
For a team with 3+ hiring managers needing shared access: $157–$273/month (no per-user scaling).
Free trial: 14-day trial on paid plans.
Workable
| Plan | Monthly (up to 20 employees) | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | $299 | AI screening, 200+ job boards, interview kits |
| Enterprise | $719 | Texting, video interviews, assessments and referrals included |
Add-ons on Standard:
- Video interviews: +$109/month
- SMS texting: +$89/month
- Candidate assessments: +$59/month
Standard with video interviews and texting: $299 + $109 + $89 = $497/month. Candidate assessments raise that combination to $556/month. Workable lists Enterprise at $719/month for 1–20 employees, with texting, video interviews and assessments included.
What's included that others lack: 400M+ candidate database for outbound AI sourcing. Teams hiring hard-to-fill roles benefit disproportionately from this.
Free trial: 15 days, no credit card required.
hireEZ
| Plan | Public starting price | Key Feature |
|---|---|---|
| Solo recruiter | $494/month | Sourcing, CRM, outreach and workflow tools |
| Enterprise | Custom | Pricing configured around the recruiting stack being consolidated |
Important: HireEZ now publishes a $494/month starting price for solo recruiters and offers a seven-day free trial. Enterprise pricing remains configured through a sales process and a four-week workflow verification. These figures were checked against HireEZ's official pricing page on 25 July 2026.
What's different: HireEZ now positions itself as a recruiting workflow layer on top of an existing ATS, combining sourcing, CRM, outreach, screening, scheduling and analytics. It does not replace the ATS system of record.
For a two-person or enterprise team, obtain a current quote and compare the total against the contracts HireEZ would replace; the public solo price should not be multiplied into an unsupported team estimate.
Greenhouse
Greenhouse does not publish pricing. Estimated costs based on SpendHound benchmarks and third-party analysis, April 2026:
| Company Size | Estimated Annual Cost | Monthly Equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| 1–50 employees | $5,100–$6,500 | $425–$542 |
| 51–200 employees | $7,000–$15,000 | $583–$1,250 |
| 200+ employees | $15,000–$70,000+ | Custom |
SpendHound data shows SMB pricing increased approximately 53% year-over-year.
Implementation cost: $1,000–$5,000 for basic setup, separate from the subscription.
Verdict for SMBs: Cost-prohibitive for most teams under 100 employees unless formal process compliance is a legal requirement.
Paradox
Paradox does not publish a standard price. Its official product pages direct buyers to schedule a demo for conversational apply, screening, scheduling, career sites, CRM and ATS workflows.
Its customer examples and product scope are oriented toward complex, high-volume hiring. An SMB should request a fully itemised quote and compare it with a narrower ATS or screening product; do not use an unverified third-party estimate as a budget.
True Monthly Cost: A Realistic SMB Scenario
For a 2-person HR team running 10 active roles, published monthly cost ranges from $30 for Manatal Professional without video to $497 for Workable Standard with video and texting. These are different products, but the roughly 17-fold spread shows why features and add-ons must be normalised before comparison.
The chart above shows why advertised price is a misleading starting point. Breezy HR Growth ($273/month) looks more expensive than Workable Standard ($299/month), but Workable Standard requires $109/month in video interview add-ons for the same capability, making the true comparison $273 vs $408.
AI Recruitment Pricing by Company Size
Different SMB sizes have meaningfully different pricing sweet spots. Here's a decision framework based on hiring volume and team structure.
10–30 employees, fewer than 10 hires per year
At this scale, you don't need a full ATS. The bottleneck is screening quality on the small number of roles you do fill. A dedicated AI screener or the entry tier of a lightweight ATS is the right match.
- Recommended range: £25–$120/month
- Best fit: Hire Forge AI Starter (£25/month, add AI screening to an existing workflow), Manatal Professional (2 users, $30/month annual), or CVViZ Starter ($99/month for 5 roles)
- Avoid: Workable ($299+), the cost-per-hire economics don't support it below 15 hires per year
30–100 employees, 10–25 hires per year
This is where a full ATS with AI pays for itself. You need workflow automation, structured interview support, and consistent candidate communication, not just a screener.
- Recommended range: $100–$280/month
- Best fit: Zoho Recruit Professional ($100/month for 2 users) if you're in the Zoho ecosystem; Breezy HR Startup ($157/month flat) for larger hiring teams
- ROI check: Measure annual applications, active review time, loaded recruiter cost, shortlist quality, and the percentage of work the tool actually removes
100–200 employees, 25–50 hires per year
Volume justifies more sophisticated tooling. Workflow automation, sourcing access, and structured reporting return real value at this scale.
- Recommended range: $250–$720/month
- Best fit: Workable Standard with required add-ons, Workable Enterprise ($719/month for 1–20 employees), or Breezy Business ($439/month)
- Watch: Build a full cost model including implementation time. At this scale, a botched ATS migration can cost more than a year's subscription in lost recruiter productivity
Staffing agencies, 1–10 recruiters
Agencies need variable-volume pricing and multi-client separation. Flat monthly fees and per-job billing both work, the right choice depends on how consistent your volume is month to month.
- Recommended range: $99–$200/month
- Best fit: CVViZ Basic ($199/month, 10 roles) for consistent volume; CVViZ Starter + per-job add-ons ($99/month + $25/job) for variable flow
For agency-specific guidance beyond pricing, see our complete guide to AI tools for staffing agencies.
Hidden Costs: What the Pricing Page Won't Tell You
The largest clearly published add-on gap in this comparison is Workable: Standard starts at $299/month for 1–20 employees, reaches $497 with video and texting, and reaches $556 when assessments are also added.
Add-ons that inflate cost:
- Video interviews: $59–$109/month extra (Workable), or bundled (Breezy Growth+, Zoho Professional)
- SMS/text communication: $89/month extra (Workable), or bundled
- API access: Usually Enterprise tier only, relevant if you're integrating with a custom HRIS
- SSO (Single Sign-On): Enterprise tier on most platforms, often required by IT teams at larger SMBs
- Additional user seats: Per-user pricing compounds with team size. Manatal at $15/user for 5 users is $75/month on annual billing
Implementation and setup costs:
- Greenhouse: $1,000–$5,000 for basic implementation, separate from subscription
- Workable: Typically self-serve, but configuring structured interview kits and pipeline stages takes 4–8 hours of recruiter time in month one
- Manatal and CVViZ: Same, expect 2–4 hours of setup per role type in the first month
Renewal pricing:
Most platforms offer introductory pricing or first-year discounts that expire on renewal. Build your budget on the renewal rate, not the sign-up rate.
How to Calculate Whether AI Recruitment Software Is Worth the Cost
The break-even calculation is simpler than most vendors suggest.
Step 1: Find your baseline cost-per-hire. SHRM's 2025 benchmark reports an average nonexecutive cost per hire of $5,475 (SHRM Recruiting Benchmarking Report, 2025). Your number may be higher or lower depending on role type and geography.
Step 2: Measure the removable work. SHRM reports that 89% of organisations using AI in recruiting save time or increase efficiency and 36% report lower recruiting, interviewing, or hiring costs. It does not provide a universal percentage reduction. Measure active review time and rework in your own baseline.
Step 3: Calculate the annual benefit. Multiply the hours genuinely removed by the loaded hourly cost, then add any measured reduction in agency, advertising, or vacancy costs. Keep time savings separate from cash savings.
Step 4: Compare with complete platform cost. Include subscription, add-ons, implementation, integration, training, and ongoing human review. Divide measured annual benefit by that complete cost.
Run the calculation as a range and replace assumptions with pilot data. Break-even depends on role type, applicant volume, existing workflow, and configuration quality.
For a worked example with your specific numbers, see resume screening ROI: is AI worth it for teams under 200?.
For compliance-related costs (EEOC audit logging, California ADS features), see our AI resume screening bias risk and compliance guide.
Pricing Tier Summary
| Tool | Starting Price | True Cost (2 users, 10 roles, video) | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hire Forge AI Starter | £25/mo (~$32) | £25–£50/mo (screener add-on, no ATS) | Teams adding AI screening to existing workflow |
| Manatal Professional | $15/user/mo (annual) | $30/mo for 2 users (no video native) | Budget ATS + AI |
| Zoho Recruit Professional | $50/user/mo (annual) | ~$100/mo | Zoho ecosystem teams |
| CVViZ Starter | $99/mo | $99/mo (no video) | Standalone AI screening |
| Breezy HR Growth | $273/mo | $273/mo (video included) | Multi-user flat pricing |
| Workable Standard + adds | $299/mo | ~$497/mo | Watch add-on costs |
| Workable Enterprise | $719/mo for 1–20 employees | $719/mo | Full-featured ATS |
| hireEZ Solo | $494/mo | $494+/mo | Sourcing and workflow layer |
| Greenhouse | ~$425/mo est. | $425–$542 + implementation | Mid-market/compliance |
| Paradox | Custom quote | Confirm scope in writing | Conversational, high-volume hiring |
Published prices for a small business with 1–2 HR staff range from $30/month for two Manatal Professional seats on annual billing to $719/month for Workable Enterprise at the 1–20 employee band. The correct budget depends on whether you need only screening, a full ATS, sourcing, video, texting, assessments, or API access.
Yes on published entry price: Manatal Professional costs $30/month for 2 users on annual billing. Workable Standard starts at $299/month for companies with 1–20 employees, plus $109/month for video interviews. The products include different capabilities, so compare the complete workflow rather than treating the prices as equivalent.
Both models exist. Manatal and Zoho Recruit charge per user, while Breezy HR and Workable use flat company-size bands and CVViZ scales primarily by active jobs. hireEZ publishes a flat $494/month Solo starting price and custom Enterprise pricing. Normalise every quote to the same users, roles, and required features.
Calculate ROI from your measured annual applications, active review minutes, loaded reviewer cost, and the share of work a pilot actually removes. Add implementation, integration, training, and human-review costs to the subscription. SHRM's $5,475 average nonexecutive cost per hire is a benchmark, not a promised saving.
Free plans and trials change frequently, and free ATS tiers often exclude advanced AI features. Use a trial to test a real role with a labelled application set, and confirm the plan, credit limit, data-retention terms, and card requirement on the vendor's current pricing page.
The Bottom Line on AI Recruitment Pricing
The tool that's cheapest on a pricing page is rarely the tool that's cheapest to operate. Build your cost model around three questions: how many users need access, what features are non-negotiable (video, SMS, API), and what's your annual hiring volume.
For a two-person HR team, the published options in this guide range from a £25 standalone screener to several hundred dollars per month for a broader ATS or sourcing layer. The right range depends on the capabilities the team will actually use.
For direct buying decisions, compare Hire Forge AI with Manatal, Hire Forge AI with Workable, or the sourcing-focused Hire Forge versus Hiretual guide. Enterprise buyers considering conversational automation should also review the Paradox AI alternatives comparison.
Ready to compare the tools side by side on features, not just price? See the full best AI recruitment software guide for SMBs.
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About the author
Ben Lovis·Founder, Hire Forge AIA professional recruiter who built and deployed AI-powered screening systems internally before founding Hire Forge AI. He now designs AI recruitment systems for hiring teams worldwide.
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