Best Free Applicant Tracking System for Small Businesses

Applicant Tracking System (ATS) frees hiring teams by automating tasks like resume parsing, data collection, interview scheduling, candidate ratings, onboarding, etc.

Currently, the global market size of ATS is above $15 billion. By 2030, it is expected to surpass $26 billion^[1]. The reason behind this massive growth is simple.

While the above stat showcases the growing demand for efficient talent acquisition software, here is the catch: only 20% of SMEs^[2] use ATS in their recruitment process. 

Ever wondered what stops an SMB from adopting an ATS? It is often their limited budget for upfront costs. However, small businesses can opt for free ATS to get its benefits without spending a dime.

Geekflare tested the best free Applicant Tracking Systems based on user-friendliness, integration, customization, and overall effectiveness without hidden costs or fees.

• Zoho Recruit – Best for Solopreneurs and Micro-businesses
• BreezyHR – Prioritize Collaborative and Mobile-friendly Hiring Experience
• MightyRecruiter – Robust Free ATS with Advanced Features
• monday.com – Integrate Hiring into Monday.com Workflow
• Dover – Best FREE ATS for Startups
• Loxo – ATS with Inbuilt Recruitment CRM

Zoho Recruit

Zoho Recruit is an all-in-one ATS solution with CRM functionality. This scalable software offers hiring tools ideal for internal HR teams and staffing agencies. For job requirement management, it offers a career site, free job posting, and posting on the paid job portal. 

Since its establishment in 1996, Zoho has launched more than 55 products. Currently, it has 100 million global users.

Zoho Recruit Features

• Schedule interviews for shortlisted applicants and take notes
• Create web forms for the candidates and make auto-response rules
• Simple search to find the right candidate
• 5 email templates for communication with the applicants
• Zapier integration for third-party integration support
• 256 MB file storage for each organization
• 1000 record import per batch and 500 API calls/day

Try Zoho Recruit

BreezyHR

BreezyHR makes hiring easier for businesses by attracting better candidates. From job postings to making final offers to the selected ones, companies can perform tasks in less time. Its free Bootstrap plan supports unlimited users and other useful basic features.

BreezyHR Features

• Check unlimited candidates added within the last 30 days
• Mobile-friendly career and employee referral sites
• Customer support through email and web
• Online knowledge base for instant self-service support
• Publish jobs on 50+ job boards for custom audience
• Searchable resume parsing for quick review and identification
• Candidate consent collection for GDPR compliance

Try BreezyHR

MightyRecruiter

MightyRecruiter was founded in 2015 and has robust recruitment features such as unlimited user accounts, simultaneous job posting without limits, and unrestricted resume searching. This intuitive, end-to-end recruiting process helps attract, source, and hire the most relevant applicants.

MightyRecruiter Features

• One-click posting to the network of free job board
• Auto publish jobs on social networks
• Candidate management with history tracking
• Company career center and branded job posting
• Customizable email templates for communication
• Intelligent analysis engine to suggest the best candidates
• Reports on candidate source, job posting performance, and more
• Public or private notes on employees

Try MightyRecruiter

monday.com

monday.com offers a space for applicant tracking that companies can use to locate and hire the best talents in the industry. It enables recruiters and hiring teams to turbocharge their full-cycle applicant tracking process. This space improves hiring time by 17% and helps to process 29% more candidates. monday.com was launched in 2014, and now 225K+ customers in 200+ countries use it.

monday.com Features

• Table for open positions and interested applicants
• Applicant pool with a directory containing personal information
• Applicant analytics visualization with bar graphs, pie charts, line graphs, etc.
• Candidate sorting based on the hiring manager
• Applicant categorization depending on hiring status
• Calendar view of interview schedules for each manager
• Onboarding list with starting date, position, site, department, etc.

Try monday.com

Dover

Dover enables companies to attract and interview talented candidates without mundane administrative tasks. It helps recruiters post on 50+ job boards and automatically ranks applicants across sources. Founded in 2019, Dover is trusted by 600+ top companies worldwide, including OpenSea, Descript, Panther, Scale, etc.

Dover Features

• Use AI to generate career pages and job descriptions
• Default templates to schedule interviews or reject them
• Single hub to view all applicants from all sources
• Kanban view for an organized overview
• Built-in scheduling and communication
• Add collaborative notes on candidates and use @mentions

Try Dover

Loxo

Loxo’s interactive ATS solution and recruiting CRM allow companies to build a true talent database. Its mobile app allows recruiters to stay in touch with hiring activities. Users can also forward resumes to higher officials for hiring confirmation. Loxo started its journey in 2012 and serves more than 125,000 recruiters globally.

Loxo Features

• Unlimited seats for company employees
• Unlimited job postings or projects
• Drag and drop candidate pipelines
• Interview scheduling and applicant scoreboard
• Job board boosting to reach talented candidates
• Chrome extension to import candidate info with one click
• Client portal for agencies to manage the hiring process

Try Loxo

The ATS platforms below deserve recognition for their unique features and user-friendly interfaces. Tools like Recooty, Manatal, and GoHire offer free trials and are solid solutions for startups and SMBs looking to streamline recruitment processes.

Recooty

Recooty is a modern ATS software trusted by 15,000 companies worldwide. It comes with a 15-day free trial. It has a library of 700+ job description templates and allows users to post on free and paid job boards, the company website’s career page, and social platforms. Recooty offers interview scheduling, candidate assessment, and calendar integration.

Manatal

Manatal is a cloud-based ATS for candidate matching, effective pipelines, candidate management, and AI insights. Users can opt-in for the 14-day free trial to check its functionalities. Its drag-and-drop interface is easy to use, and recruiters can visualize candidates, jobs, and clients using Kanban and list views. It also allows database search, holistic candidate profiling, workflow implementation, and custom automation.

GoHire

GoHire is ideal for organizations that need to hire employees instantly. Its 14-day free trial includes features such as unlimited team members and best-in-class customer support. GoHire supports one-click job postings on 15+ job boards, seamless candidate tracking, interview scheduling, candidate nurturing through the pipeline, and questions for candidate screening and evaluation. It also helps to index jobs by Google for Jobs.

Comparison of the Best Free Applicant Tracking Systems

The following table summarizes the rating, ideal for, and key features of the best free applicant tracking system.

What is an Applicant Tracking System (ATS)?

An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is an application that automates recruitment. It is a centralized database for job applications that helps companies screen resumes, schedule interviews, manage candidates, and handle the hiring workflow. Many ATS tools enable organizations to create custom workflows to speed up hiring. They even help rate candidates and make the onboarding process smoother.

A free ATS is highly beneficial for businesses, especially for startups and small enterprises. It is a cost-effective solution for automating the recruitment process. Using a free ATS, organizations can save valuable time and resources while ensuring a professional hiring process.

Companies with limited manpower benefit from these applications as their employees can focus on something more important than regular HR tasks. Despite having limitations compared to paid versions, free ATS is a valuable asset for companies with limited budgets or who want to improve their hiring efficiency without upfront investment.

Which Industries Can Benefit Most From a Free ATS?

A free ATS is useful for any company with a budget constraint or who does not want to spend money on purchasing an ATS. Startups and small businesses greatly benefit from a free ATS, which requires no significant upfront investment.

Nonprofits can use a free ATS to efficiently manage many applications and ensure transparency in their hiring practices. Free ATSs are also used in industries like education and government to optimize hiring resources and make informed decisions.

Are Free ATS Platforms Secure and Compliant With Data Protection Regulations?

Data security and regulatory compliance have become integral parts of the software industry. Just because an ATS is free does not mean it will not take necessary measures to protect user data. Most ATS comply with popular regulations such as GDPR and CCPA. To confirm, businesses can go through the legal statement on the company website or get confirmation by contacting customer support before choosing a free ATS.

Businesses in industries with rigorous data privacy and compliance requirements can consider paid ATS solutions explicitly designed to meet regulatory needs. These plans usually offer comprehensive security features and have dedicated compliance teams to ensure data protection.

Can Small Businesses Benefit From a Free ATS?

A free ATS is a lifesaver for small businesses. Since small businesses do not have to recruit in bulk, choosing a free ATS, even with limited features, will benefit them. It automates tasks like resume screening and candidate communication, so a company with limited manpower can save time.

What are the Limitations of Using a Free ATS?

Using free ATS or its free plans often has limitations. These limitations include fewer job postings, limited storage capacity, and inadequate customer support. The unavailability of advanced features like analytics or custom workflows is also common in free ATS software. Hence, they cannot provide data insights into candidates and automate regular dependent tasks in the hiring process.

Moreover, free ATS may have fewer integrations with other HR tools, requiring organizations to perform more manual data entry and transfer. Their user interfaces might not be as intuitive or customizable as paid software, so users must spend more time using or learning them. These limitations often make it more challenging for businesses to manage their recruitment processes efficiently.

How Easy is it to Upgrade From a Free ATS to a Paid Plan?

Upgrading from a free ATS to a paid plan is usually smooth. ATS solutions that offer both free and paid plans allow flexible upgrade options. Instead of trying the free trial of paid ATS tools, small businesses can use the recommended free ATS solutions and move to the paid plans when their company grows.

Final Words

Most free ATS solutions offer necessary features that small businesses can leverage to streamline recruitment. In this list, we have included ATS software with varying functionalities. Small businesses can review the features and choose the most suitable application for their needs.

References

View Details

1. Fortune Business Insight ATS Market Report

2. SelectSoftware Review ATS Statistics

3.