By Louis Corneloup · Updated Out of 28 ats tools we track, 10 meet the startups bar: free or freemium pricing. Ranked by editorial score plus external signals (G2/Capterra reviews, media mentions, featured status).
Top 10 picks compared. Scroll horizontally on mobile.
| # | Tool | Pricing | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Freemium | 4.4(8,247) | View |
| 2 |  | Freemium | 4.5(2,097) | View |
| 3 |  | Freemium | 4.4(142) | View |
| 4 |  | Free | 4.8(52) | View |
| 5 |  | Freemium | 4.7(24) | View |
| 6 |  | Freemium | 4.7(24) | View |
| 7 |  | Freemium | n/a | View |
| 8 |  | Freemium | n/a | View |
| 9 |  | Freemium | n/a | View |
| 10 |  | Freemium | n/a | View |
Key features
Pros
Cons
Key features
Pros
Cons
Key features
Pros
Cons
Streamline your hiring process with an online applicant tracking system and automated resume reformatting.
Key features
Pros
Hire vetted remote tech talent in 190+ countries, 75% faster
Key features
Pros
Cons
Streamline your recruitment process with a comprehensive applicant tracking system.
Key features
Pros
Cons
Tailored Gen-Z talent matching platform for early and entry-level careers hiring.
Key features
Pros
Cons
Find your next career move on the world's largest professional network
Key features
Pros
Cons
Find your next remote job in 14+ categories worldwide
Key features
Pros
Cons
Your AI recruiting teammate that finds, messages, interviews, and scores candidates.
Key features
Pros
Cons
Step 1
We start from our full database of 28 ats tools and keep only those matching startups criteria: free or freemium pricing.
Step 2
Editorial score (out of 100) on utility, UX, value, support, and innovation, then layered with external signals: G2/Capterra review volume and average rating, recent media mentions, and featured status.
Step 3
We rank by combined score and surface the top 10 so the list stays scannable. Pricing is re-checked on rotation and the page rebuilds hourly via ISR so picks stay fresh.
Buyer's guide
Startups (pre-PMF to Series A) optimize for two things software-wise: speed to ship + low fixed cost.
The trap: is over-investing in enterprise tools (Salesforce, Workday, NetSuite) too early when free + freemium tiers cover 80% of the need. The pre-seed / seed startup stack: HubSpot Starter or Pipedrive (CRM), Loops or Customer.io (email), PostHog free tier or Mixpanel free (analytics), Linear (project mgmt), Vercel + Supabase or Railway (hosting + DB), QuickBooks Online or Xero (accounting), Mercury or Brex (banking + cards), Rippling or Gusto or Deel (payroll + HRIS). Total monthly software spend pre-PMF: $200-500. Series A+ adds: Stripe Billing + Maxio for subscriptions, dedicated DPA/security tools (Vanta, Drata), proper CDP (Segment, RudderStack). The single biggest leverage: pick tools your future $10M-ARR self will still use. Migration costs at $5M ARR are brutal.
Indeed ranks first in our ats list for startups, rated 4.4/5 across 8,247 verified user reviews. Strong runners-up are Breezy HR, Wellfound, Recruiteze.
Yes. Indeed, Breezy HR, Wellfound offer a free or freemium plan that fits startups.
We filtered our database of 28 ats tools to keep only those that match startups: free or freemium pricing. The remaining 10 are ranked by editorial score and external signals (G2/Capterra review volume, media mentions, featured status).
Based on our analysis of the top picks, prioritize: free and sponsored job posting with pay-per-application pricing, resume database search with advanced filters and candidate outreach, applicant tracking system for managing hiring pipeline, ai-powered candidate matching and screening questions. These are common to the highest-rated tools in this list.
We refresh editorial scores and pricing weekly. Tool pricing is re-checked on a rotation that touches every tool roughly monthly. The list above was generated on June 24, 2026.