In illustrative stacks built from published prices, a five-person UK perm agency spends roughly $5,000 to $15,000 a year on US-priced tools such as the ATS and LinkedIn, plus about £7,700 to £8,700 on job adverts, email and the ICO fee. The ATS is rarely the biggest line: LinkedIn seats and job adverts usually cost more. These are worked examples, not survey data: we found no sourced figure for average software spend per recruiter.
This guide lists sourced price points for each category, then builds three illustrative annual stacks for a five-person perm agency. Prices exclude VAT, are kept in their native currency, and were checked in October 2026 unless noted. They change often, so check them before you budget.
What does each type of recruitment software cost?
| Category | Option | Price | Source and date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ATS and CRM | Crumblelead | $30 per user per month, or $25 annually | crumblelead.com, October 2026 |
| ATS and CRM | Recruitly Pro | $80 per user per month | recruitly.io, October 2026 |
| ATS and CRM | Recruit CRM Pro / Business | $95 / $135 per user per month, annual | recruitcrm.io, October 2026 |
| ATS and CRM | Bullhorn UK Starter / Core | £80 / £120 per user per month | bullhorn.com/uk, October 2026 |
| ATS and CRM | Recruiterflow / Loxo Core | $149 per user per month | Vendor pages, October 2026 |
| ATS plus multiposter | LogicMelon | £70 per user per month | logicmelon.com, October 2026 |
| Recruiter Lite | About $170 a month or $1,680 a year; UK about £1,440 to £2,200 a year | Pin, 2026; Hireful, July 2025 (estimates) | |
| Job boards | Reed premium credit | £175 per advert (£89 new-customer offer) | reed.co.uk, October 2026 |
| Job boards | CV-Library | £149 per 28-day advert | June 2026 (secondary) |
| Job boards | Indeed | Sponsored only for agencies, pay per click or application | uk.indeed.com, October 2026 |
| Google Workspace Business Starter / Standard | £5.90 / about £11.50 to £11.80 per user per month, annual | workspace.google.com, October 2026 | |
| Microsoft 365 Business Basic / Standard | About £4.60 / £9.60 to £11.29 per user per month | Comparethecloud, February 2026; prices rose from 1 July 2026 | |
| Automation | Zapier Professional | $19.99 a month annually or $29.99 monthly, 750 tasks | 2026 (secondary) |
| Compliance | ICO data protection fee | £52 a year (smallest tier) | SI 2025/63, from 17 February 2025 |
LinkedIn does not publish Recruiter prices, so those figures are third-party estimates. We have left out prices we could not verify, including Recruiter Corporate seats, Broadbean, Totaljobs, e-signature tools and Vincere's AI packs as a market average.
What would a five-person agency spend in a year?
These three stacks are illustrative, built from the price points above. They assume a perm agency with five users, about four premium job adverts a month on Reed and CV-Library at about £150 to £175 each, and Google Workspace Business Standard. Currencies are kept native and totals exclude VAT.
| Line | Lean | Mid | Bigger platform |
|---|---|---|---|
| ATS and CRM, five users | Crumblelead annual: $1,500 | Recruit CRM Pro annual: $5,700 | Bullhorn Core: £7,200 |
| Two Recruiter Lite seats: about $3,360 | Five Recruiter Lite seats: about $8,400 | Five Recruiter Lite seats: about $8,400 | |
| Multiposting | None; post directly | None; post directly | None; post directly |
| Job adverts | About £7,000 to £8,000 | About £7,000 to £8,000 | About £7,000 to £8,000, plus Indeed sponsorship |
| About £690 | About £690 | About £690 | |
| Zapier | $240 | $240 | Often not needed |
| ICO fee | £52 | £52 | £52 |
| Total | About $5,100 plus £7,700 to £8,700 | About $14,340 plus £7,700 to £8,700 | About $8,400 plus £14,900 to £15,900, before Indeed |
We have not converted currencies, because rates move and many tools bill in US dollars. Treat the totals as orders of magnitude: advertising volume is an assumption, and none of the stacks includes a multiposter or LinkedIn Recruiter Corporate seats.
Why is the ATS rarely the biggest cost?
For a small agency, LinkedIn and job adverts usually cost more than the ATS. A Recruiter Lite seat is estimated at about $1,680 a year, against roughly $300 to $1,800 per user a year for the ATS options above. Four adverts a month add several thousand pounds more. If you are trimming software spend, check LinkedIn seats and advertising before switching your ATS to save a few pounds a seat.
What hidden costs should you watch for?
- Annual prepayment and minimum terms: some vendors require 12-month contracts or annual payment up front.
- Minimum seats on some plans.
- Onboarding and implementation fees. Bullhorn says implementation is free on its small-agency plans; others charge or do not say.
- Multiposter and job board fees, which are always separate from the advert price.
- Paid add-ons, such as AI packs or usage credits.
- API or LinkedIn integration fees charged by some ATS vendors.
Our guide to the real cost of a recruitment ATS covers setup, switching and renewal costs in more detail.
Where can a small agency save?
- Match LinkedIn seats to need. Not every consultant needs Recruiter Lite.
- Track which boards fill roles, and drop the ones that do not.
- Choose an ATS with published pricing and monthly terms, so you pay only for the seats you use.
- Check what is included, such as AI, GDPR tools and integrations, before comparing seat prices.
Crumblelead costs $30 per user per month, or $25 billed annually, with every feature on one plan and no seat minimum. It does not include job board posting, so advertising is a separate line. See pricing, our ATS pricing guide and the guide for solo recruiters.
What are the common misconceptions?
- "The ATS is the main software cost." LinkedIn and job boards are usually bigger.
- "The per-user price is the full price." Check terms, minimums, onboarding, add-ons and board fees.
- "LinkedIn Recruiter Lite integrates with my ATS." Not through LinkedIn's official Recruiter System Connect, which excludes Lite.
FAQ
How much does an ATS cost per user?
Published prices range from about $25 to $149 per user per month, or £70 to £120 in the UK, for the options above. Some vendors do not publish prices.
Is LinkedIn Recruiter Lite worth it for a small agency?
It depends on how much you source on LinkedIn. At an estimated $1,680 a year per seat, it often costs more than the ATS, so give seats to the consultants who source most.
How much does it cost to advertise jobs in the UK?
A Reed premium credit is £175 and a CV-Library 28-day advert £149, before new-customer offers. Indeed is sponsored-only for agencies.
Sources
Recruit CRM pricing. Checked 15 October 2026.
https://recruitcrm.io/pricing/
Bullhorn small agency pricing (UK). Checked 15 October 2026.
https://www.bullhorn.com/uk/small-agency-software/pricing/
LogicMelon pricing. Checked 15 October 2026.
https://www.logicmelon.com/pricing/
Reed, post a job. Checked 15 October 2026.
https://www.reed.co.uk/recruiter/post-a-job
Indeed UK pricing. Checked 15 October 2026.
https://uk.indeed.com/hire/pricing
Data Protection (Charges and Information) (Amendment) Regulations 2025, SI 2025/63.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/63/made
Pin, LinkedIn Recruiter pricing, February and April 2026.
Hireful, LinkedIn Recruiter Lite UK pricing, July 2025.
Google Workspace pricing. Checked October 2026.
Comparethecloud, Microsoft 365 UK prices, February 2026.
Eesel and Toolradar, Zapier pricing, 2026.
Recruitly, Recruiterflow and Loxo pricing pages. Checked 15 October 2026.