Hiring process

15+ best recruitment apps for people-first hiring

We gathered the top recruitment apps that will help you get organized, simplify your hiring tasks and keep candidates (and your team!) happy.

15+ best recruitment apps for people-first hiring
Listen to this article. Audio recording by
Brook Fischer

It seems every week a new app comes out that's meant to make your life easier. With so many options out there, how are you supposed to choose an app for recruitment that's right for you? 😕

Well, first things first: when it comes to a job as important as hiring, you probably won't use just one recruitment app. You'll want a sweet suite of hiring apps that will help you with specific tasks.

By "sweet suite," we mean a small, manageable collection of apps. Think one dedicated recruiting app (an applicant tracking system) and some supporting apps to amplify your reach and ensure a positive candidate experience.

Let's get right into that list of the best hiring apps for recruiters and hiring managers.

Best recruitment apps

<a href="#ats">ATS</a>: Homerun

<a href="#project-management">Project management</a>: Asana, Slack

<a href="#productivity">Productivity</a>: Notion, Loom

<a href="#creative-assets">Creative assets</a>: Canva

<a href="#candidate-experience">Candidate experience</a>: Miro, Intercom

<a href="#assessments">Assessments</a>: Equalture

<a href="#scheduling">Scheduling</a>: Calendly

<a href="#sourcing">Sourcing</a>: LinkedIn Recruiter, Team Me

<a href="#job-ad-distribution">Job ad distribution</a>: VONQ

<a href="#interviewing">Interviewing</a>: Google Meet, BrightHire

<a href="#candidate-feedback">Candidate feedback</a>: Typeform

Disclaimer: App prices are subject to change after this article is published.


<div id="ats">ATS</div>

1. Homerun

This may seem like a shameless plug, but we really do believe Homerun is the best recruiting software for SMBs, startups and scaleups. It's a people-first hiring tool that streamlines the application process, making it easy to track, communicate with and evaluate candidates.

Homerun has built-in collaboration tools so your team can weigh in on candidates without clogging up your inbox and you can stand out to talent by creating a custom career site and job posts that showcase your unique culture and brand.

Homerun's hiring dashboard
Homerun helps you keep track of all your jobs and candidates in one clear dashboard.

ℹ️ Learning curve: Gentle. You don’t need any training, onboarding or tech expertise to start.

Homerun pricing: There's a Light Plan (€69/month paid annually, includes 3 job slots), Basic Plan (€129/month annually, includes 6 job slots) and a Plus Plan (€199/month annually, includes 10 job slots with the ability to add more).

Free trial? Yes. Take Homerun for a spin with a 15-day free trial.

Nicole Kohler, Operations Manager at Campfire Labs

Nicole Kohler Operations Manager @ Campfire Labs 📣

“Any time I speak with a recruiter or former colleague from my network, I highly recommend they try using Homerun. The best UI and most efficient workflow for an ATS I've ever used!”

<div id="project-management">Project management</div>

2. Asana

Some people forgo an ATS and set up a candidate tracking process in a project management tool like Asana. While we don't recommend doing this (it's labor-intensive and you'll miss many of the time-saving, candidate-focused features built into a classic ATS), we do see teams using Asana to get a visual overview of multiple tasks and deadlines related to hiring.

Candidate tracking with Asana

Asana's boards, timelines and calendars ensure no deadlines in your hiring workflow are overlooked. And their user-friendly interface means you’ll spend less time figuring it out and more time on what matters — engaging with candidates.

ℹ️ Learning curve: Gentle. Asana's user-friendly interface means you can hit the ground running, with minimal setup time required.

Asana pricing: There's a Free tier for basic needs, which is perfect for small teams, and a starter plan for €10,99 per user/month. For more advanced features, premium plans start at €24,99 per user/month (billed annually).

Free trial? Nope. But the Personal plan that lets you collaborate with up to 10 team members is free forever.

3. Slack

Slack allows you to easily chat with your team and keep everyone aligned on hiring objectives. Create a dedicated hiring channel where you can receive real-time notifications every time a new candidate has applied or you're mentioned in a note.

You can add as many channels as you like and decide per channel which notifications you want to receive there. You can also use Slack to announce to your entire team when a candidate accepts an offer! 🎉

Connect your Homerun account to Slack to keep your hiring team in the loop during the recruitment process and stay on top of notifications.

ℹ️ Learning curve: Gentle. Slack's intuitive interface and widespread use make it a breeze for teams to adopt.

Slack pricing: Slack offers a Free tier with limited message history and features, suitable for small teams. For more advanced needs, including unlimited message history and additional integration capabilities, paid plans start at €6,75 per user/month (billed annually).

Free trial? Yes, Slack provides a free trial for its paid plans, allowing teams to fully explore its features and see how it can enhance communication in the hiring process and beyond.

<div id="productivity">Productivity</div>

4. Notion

When you've got an ATS handling the heavy lifting of your recruitment process, Notion steps in to help you organize the supplementary aspects of hiring — from planning your recruitment strategy to onboarding new hires.

Using Notion for onboarding

With Notion, create shared workspaces for collaborative projects, like refining job descriptions or brainstorming interview questions. Its databases allow you to maintain a repository of resources, such as interview guides or candidate feedback templates, which are available to your entire team.

Notion's customizable recruitment templates let you design a hiring workspace that fits your team's unique needs. Whether you're tracking candidate outreach or consolidating post-hiring debriefs, Notion keeps all your auxiliary hiring tasks neatly organized in one place.

ℹ️ Learning curve: Moderate. Notion’s flexibility is its strength, but getting your workspace just right takes a bit of tinkering.

Notion pricing: Notion offers a Free plan that's great for individuals and small teams getting started. For teams needing more advanced collaboration features, paid plans begin at €7,50 per user/month (billed annually).

Free trial? Notion does not have a traditional free trial, but its generous free tier allows small teams to collaborate effectively and explore much of what Notion has to offer without any cost.

📣 More recruitment templates to make your hiring a breeze

5. Loom

Loom offers a unique way to add a personal touch and streamline communication with videos. It's a game-changer for hiring managers looking to make their recruitment process more engaging and efficient.

Imagine giving your candidates a warm welcome with a personal video message instead of a standard email. Or quickly recording a walkthrough of the job's responsibilities and the team's culture for potential applicants. Loom makes this possible, allowing you to convey tone and body language that text simply can't match.

Loom new hire video

But it's not just external communication where Loom shines. Use it internally to discuss candidates, providing a rich, asynchronous way to share feedback and make decisions without needing to align everyone's schedules for a meeting.

ℹ️ Learning curve: Gentle. Loom's intuitive design means you can start recording with just a few clicks, no extensive training required.

Loom pricing: Loom offers a Free plan with basic features, suitable for small teams or individual recruiters. For more advanced needs, including longer video lengths and additional storage, the Business plan is $12.50 per user/month (billed annually).

Free trial? Dive into Loom's capabilities with its free tier, exploring how video can enhance your hiring efforts without immediate investment.

<div id="creative-assets">Creative assets</div>

6. Canva

Canva is a secret weapon for hiring teams aiming to attract top talent. It can be used to craft eye-catching job advertisements, social media assets, personalized welcome kits for new hires, cover images (thumbnails) for your videos or engaging content for your career page.

Canva's huge library of templates makes it easy to create professional-looking designs that reflect your company's culture and brand, helping you stand out to candidates. Whether you want to update your employee value proposition or share success stories from your team, Canva's tools help you nail these types of projects.

Canva hiring templates for social media
Canva's well-designed templates are the starting point for all sorts of hiring assets.

ℹ️ Learning curve: Gentle. They don't call Canva the "visual suite for everyone" for nothing. Its drag-and-drop interface was made for non-designers, making it accessible to anyone on your team.

Canva pricing: Canva offers a Free plan with thousands of free templates and design elements. For teams seeking advanced features like Brand Kits and custom templates, Canva Pro is available at €109.99/year for one team member and €240/year for up to 5 people.

Free trial? Yes, you can explore Canva Pro and Canva Team's advanced features with a 30-day free trial, allowing your team to experiment before committing.

📣 Take a look at these career page examples to see how other companies attract top talent

<div id="candidate-experience">Candidate Experience</div>

7. Miro

Miro enhances candidate engagement by offering a visual and interactive platform that's especially accommodating for neurodiverse candidates. Its collaborative whiteboards can serve multiple purposes in hiring:

  • Pre-Interview – Share interactive boards that depict company culture and team dynamics with candidates, easing pre-interview nerves and setting clear expectations.
  • During Interviews – Use Miro for live problem-solving or collaborative tasks, allowing candidates to demonstrate their skills in a dynamic setting.
  • Assignments – Assign take-home projects on Miro, allowing candidates to showcase their abilities through interactive presentations; good for roles that demand strategic thinking or design skills.
Miro candidate interview preparation template

ℹ️ Learning curve: Moderate. Familiarity with digital tools helps, but Miro’s intuitive design already makes it accessible. They've got plenty of tutorials to help you get started.

Miro pricing: There’s a Free plan for basic use. Paid plans offering more features start at $8 per user/month (billed annually) and $16 per user/month for advanced collaboration.

Free trial? Ja. Explore the full range of Miro's capabilities with a free trial before committing to a paid plan.

📣 Our go-to guide on how to conduct a job interview

8. Intercom

Intercom is an excellent chatbot tool for customer service and communication so why not use it for hiring?

🔥Tip: Embed the Intercom messenger widget into job posts and your career page to enhance your hiring process and the candidate experience.

With Intercom chat, you can answer candidate’s questions about job openings, assist during the application process, initiate interview scheduling conversations (which you can later confirm via email/calendar invite in your ATS), provide a link to sign up for job alerts, send surveys and collect candidate feedback.

Intercom chatbot for hiring

ℹ️ Learning curve: Gentle. Intercom’s intuitive interface ensures quick adoption, allowing teams to start improving candidate interactions without a steep learning curve.

Intercom pricing: The Essential plan for small businesses and startups clocks in at $39/seat/month. The Advanced plan at $99/seat/month includes automation tools and AI features. You can sign up for a demo to find a plan to fit your specific needs.

Free trial? You can try it free for 14 days to see if it's a good fit for your team.

📣 Interested in supercharging your ATS and improving your hiring workflow? Check out our favorite ATS integrations

<div id="assessments">Assessments</div>

9. Equalture

Assessing candidates goes beyond browsing CVs and conducting interviews. Equalture uses gamified neuroscientific assessments to make the evaluation process not only insightful but also engaging for candidates. This approach helps mitigate hiring biases, creating a level playing field for all applicants and revealing their potential.

Equalture complements your hiring toolkit by offering objective, data-driven insights to help you make informed hiring decisions. Whether you're gauging technical abilities or soft skills, Equalture's assessments provide a comprehensive view of each candidate, beyond what a résumé can convey.

Equalture candidate profile

ℹ️ Learning curve: Easy to moderate. While the platform is user-friendly, familiarizing yourself with the range of assessments and interpreting results may require some initial guidance.

Equalture pricing: Equalture tailors its pricing based on the size of your team and specific needs, ensuring you get a personalized package. Contact them for a customized quote.

Free trial? No, but you can dive into Equalture's innovative assessment approach with a demo (or try a game yourself) to see how you might enhance your hiring process and evaluate top talent.

<div id="scheduling">Scheduling</div>

10. Calendly

Calendly simplifies the interview scheduling process by eliminating the back-and-forth emails traditionally required to pin down a meeting time. It's a game-changer for recruiters and hiring teams looking to streamline communication with candidates and ensure a smooth scheduling experience.

Let candidates choose from available slots based on your predefined schedule and start arranging your interviews with ease.

Integrations with popular calendars like Google, Outlook and iCloud ensure that scheduling conflicts are automatically avoided, and reminders help keep everyone punctual, reducing no-shows.

Calendly scheduling example

ℹ️ Learning curve: Gentle. Calendly's no-fuss interface and straightforward setup process mean you can start optimizing your scheduling almost immediately.

Calendly pricing: Calendly offers a basic Free plan, perfect for an individual recruiter or hiring manager. For more features like automated reminders, multiple calendar connections and team scheduling options, plans start at $10 per seat/month.

Free trial? Yes, Calendly offers a 14-day free trial of its premium features, allowing teams to evaluate its impact on their hiring workflow before signing up for a paid plan.

<div id="sourcing">Sourcing</div>

11. LinkedIn Recruiter

For hiring teams aiming to cast a wide net or pinpoint niche skills, LinkedIn Recruiter provides the tools to make these tasks both achievable and efficient. The platform allows recruiters to search for candidates using a variety of filters, including job function, experience level and location, making it easier to find matches for open roles.

LinkedIn Recruiter also enhances engagement by facilitating direct communication with candidates through InMail, LinkedIn’s messaging feature. This direct line can significantly increase response rates, especially when personalized messages are crafted based on the information available in LinkedIn profiles.

LinkedIn Recruiter search example

ℹ️ Learning curve: Moderate. While LinkedIn Recruiter is packed with features, its interface is intuitive, and most users will find navigating the platform straightforward after an initial exploration.

LinkedIn Recruiter pricing: LinkedIn Recruiter operates on a subscription model, and pricing can vary based on the specific needs and size of your team. For example, a Recruiter Lite plan will get you 20+ advanced search features, candidate recommendations and 30 InMails per month. Contact LinkedIn directly for pricing information.

Free trial? LinkedIn occasionally offers a 1-month free trial of Recruiter. You can chat with a sales consultant to ask questions and request a free demo, which will give you a glimpse into how this tool can enhance your sourcing strategy.

12. Team Me

Team Me offers a fresh approach to talent sourcing with its focus on using personalized video content to improve recruitment outreach. By helping teams share employee-generated videos, Team Me provides potential candidates with a vivid look into your company's culture and what it's like to be part of the team.

This recruitment method not only makes your message more engaging but it also helps you stand out in a crowded inbox, boosting your response rates.

Team Me sourcing example

ℹ️ Learning curve: Gentle. Team Me has straightforward tools to create and embed video content into your recruitment strategy.

Team Me pricing: You'll need to book a demo to find out.

Free trial? Yes, there is a 14-day trial so you can see how video can engage and convert more candidates.

<div id="job-ad-distribution">Job ad distribution</div>

13. VONQ

VONQ offers a streamlined solution for job ad distribution, allowing recruiters to post job listings across a wide range of job boards (including niche ones), social media platforms and other relevant channels. This tool uses intelligent targeting to ensure your ads reach the most suitable candidates, boosting your recruitment efforts.

Additionally, VONQ provides valuable analytics to track the performance of your ads, so you can continually optimize your hiring strategy.

ℹ️ Learning curve: Moderate. Users need to familiarize themselves with VONQ's targeting and analytics features to make the most of the platform.

VONQ pricing: For detailed pricing information, contact VONQ directly, as they offer customized quotes based on your specific needs and hiring goals.

Free trial? Start with a demo and ask about free trial options.

<div id="interviewing">Interviewing</div>

14. Google Meet

Google Meet has become an indispensable tool for navigating the nuances of remote hiring. Its integration into the Google ecosystem makes it a go-to option for team members and candidates alike, making sure the hiring process remains fluid and accessible from anywhere.

For candidates, Google Meet offers a straightforward way to engage in video interviews, removing geographical barriers and allowing for a more personal connection than a phone call. You can use all the same questions as you would in a phone screen, but have the advantage of seeing one other and incorporating screen sharing and live captioning features.

Google Meet hiring chat

Google Meet's ease of use ensures that all applicants can join interviews without a hitch, making the experience inclusive and stress-free. Hiring teams can also use Google Meet for a quick catch-up to discuss candidate evaluations or more in-depth meetings to align on hiring strategies.

ℹ️ Learning curve: Gentle. Most users find Google Meet straightforward, thanks to its simple interface and integration with other Google apps.

Google Meet pricing: Google Meet offers a free version with a 60-minute time limit on meetings. For extended sessions and more robust features, such as larger meeting sizes and recording capabilities, Google Workspace plans start at $6 per user/month.

Free trial? Yes, Google Workspace plans, including Google Meet's premium features, come with a free trial period of 14 days.

15. BrightHire

BrightHire is a smart app for recruitment that allows interviewers to focus more on the conversation and less on note-taking (thanks to its real-time interview intelligence and guidance). With BrightHire, interviews are recorded and transcribed automatically, so that key moments and insights aren’t lost.

You can share interview highlights (clips) with team members which leads to a more transparent and inclusive evaluation process. This not only speeds up decision-making but also helps in reducing bias, ensuring candidates are evaluated on their merits.

BrightHire interview tools

BrightHire also offers guidance on best practices and question prompts directly within the interview interface, helping interviewers conduct more structured and meaningful conversations.

ℹ️ Learning curve: Moderate. The platform is designed for quick adoption, with features that integrate smoothly into existing workflows.

BrightHire pricing: BrightHire tailors its pricing to the needs of each team. Contact them directly for a custom quote.

Free trial? Teams can request a demo to see how BrightHire could fit into their hiring process.

📣 Find more remote hiring tools here!

<div id="candidate-feedback">Candidate feedback</div>

16. Typeform

Typeform lets you create forms and surveys to gather insights from candidates about their interview experience. Their customizable templates help you create aesthetically pleasing, branded forms that can improve response rates and provide deeper insights.

Typeform candidate feedback template

Candidate feedback will help you understand where there’s room for improvement and reveal concrete ways to improve your hiring process.

ℹ️ Learning curve: Gentle. First-time users can quickly create forms without any extensive technical knowledge.

Typeform pricing: There's a Free plan with limited features. Premium features start with the Basic plan (1 user) at €21/month.

Free trial? No, but you can get a taste of Typeform on the Free plan and see if you want to upgrade.

Build up your sweet suite of hiring apps

Once you've chosen your suite of apps for recruitment, you and your team will be ready to tackle hiring. Whether you want to improve candidate engagement, streamline interviews, manage applications or reduce hiring bias, each app will offer unique benefits.

For a smoother and more productive hiring process, you'll need to select apps that address your current pain points. Test and add these recruitment apps to your hiring toolbox and you'll be well-equipped to attract, evaluate and onboard the best talent for your team.

A hiring app you can count on

With Homerun, you can stand out to talent and streamline your hiring process in one easy-to-use tool.

Start free trial

What apps do recruiters use?

Recruiters use a variety of hiring apps depending on their specific needs. One must-have recruitment app is an Applicant Tracking System such as Homerun's ATS to organize hiring and manage all jobs, candidates and messages in one space. Beyond that, recruiters and hiring managers will want apps for project management, productivity, creative asset creation, candidate experience enhancement, scheduling, interviewing, sourcing, job ad distribution and a platform to collect candidate feedback.

Can hiring apps be used from any device?

Most hiring apps are designed to be accessible across devices, including smartphones, tablets and computers. This flexibility lets recruiters and hiring managers manage the recruitment process anytime, anywhere, to improve efficiency and responsiveness.

Do I need multiple recruitment apps if I’m hiring?

Not necessarily! The choice of apps depends on your specific hiring needs, the size of your company and the roles you're filling. A well-chosen selection of recruitment apps can streamline your hiring process, but it's important to assess which tools will genuinely benefit your recruitment strategy without causing unnecessary headaches or requiring extensive onboarding.

What is the best platform for recruitment?

There's no one-size-fits-all answer, as different platforms offer unique strengths in areas like applicant tracking, candidate experience, communication and specialized sourcing. It's important to evaluate each platform based on how well it aligns with your recruitment goals, the features it offers and its ease of integration into your existing processes.

About the author
With a background in education and journalism, Brook has spent the past 18 years crafting and editing insightful content for small to medium-sized businesses. Her current favorite topics in the hiring space include employer branding and how to create a positive candidate experience. She lives in Toulouse with her husband, two sons and one sweet Staffy.

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