Ashby vs Kula (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Ashby grades higher than Kula: 2.0 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Ashby grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Ashby
All-in-one ATS, sourcing, scheduling and analytics priced by headcount
Which one is for you
Pick Ashby if
- Fits if you want hiring numbers you can dig into, with an AI report builder
- Works for teams that do their own sourcing and outreach
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to try it before a demo, as there's no free plan or trial
- Tight if you're about to pass 10 staff, as the price steps up with headcount, to $400 a month at 11 to 25
- Pricey if you need SSO, at $100 a month extra on Foundations, with the AI Notetaker and Advanced Scheduling as add-ons
- Not for you if you hire from a phone, as there's no native app, only the browser
- Watch out: texting covers US and Canada only, extra messages are $90 per 1,000, and Plus and Enterprise are quoted
Pick Kula if
- Fits if you're a company of up to 50 and want one hiring tool in place of several
- Works for teams that would rather pay by headcount than count recruiter seats
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you're tiny: $5,120 a year is the floor, and it's per company
- Watch out: script data on the pricing page holds figures different from the $5,120 shown, so the quote may differ
- Not for you if you want to try it first, since there's no free plan or trial, only a demo and tour
- Skip it if you're above 50 employees and want a price, as larger bands are quoted on a call
- Too light for AI agents today: the vendor lists them as coming soon
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAAshbyFair | 1.8GPAKulaWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CFoundations is $270 a month on yearly billing for up to 10 employees ($300 monthly), so that's a ten-person company's bill. That's high for this category, and 11 to 25 people pay $400 a month, billed monthly. Pricing is reassessed each year. | D$5,120 a year for 1 to 50 employees is about $427 a month, past the $335 where the category's dearest tenth starts. It's a company price, so a team of five pays it all; one person pays the same. |
| Free plan and trial | FNo free plan or trial on record. Foundations is sold after a demo. | FNo free plan and no trial is listed; the site routes you to a demo. A demo request isn't a trial. |
| Features | BSourcing and outreach sequences, AI application review with fraud checks, booking links and visual scheduling, offers with e-signatures, approval chains and an AI report builder. The whole job in one product. | BATS, CRM with data enrichment, AI scoring, scheduling, a notetaker and analytics. The listing names no gap in the core hiring work, though AI agents are only listed as coming soon. |
| Ease of use | CNo App Store rating on record, and with this much in one product, there's a fair bit to set up. | CNo store rating on record, and the listing shows pipelines, scorecards and integrations to set up. That puts it at C. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb and a Chrome extension, with Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Slack, LinkedIn, Indeed and Workday, plus an MCP server for ChatGPT and Claude. No phone app, only the browser. | BWeb product with Slack, Zoom, LinkedIn, ADP, BambooHR, Rippling, Gusto and Paychex connections. No desktop or phone app, so B. |
| Best for | startups that want tracking and analytics in one ATS | an all-in-one ATS priced by company size |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Ashby and Kula. How we grade
Price against what you get
Ashby starts at $270 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Kula starts at $426.67 a month when paid by the year for each person and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and Ashby starts $156.67 a month lower. Of the other hiring and applicant tracking tools on the chart, 1 scores higher than Ashby for less, and 1 scores higher than Kula for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Ashby also covers workflow automation and job board posting.
- Kula also covers meeting notes and auto-scheduling.
At a glance
| Ashby | Kula | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| Starts at | $270 per month for up to 10 employees, billed annually ($300 billed monthly) | $5,120 per year for companies of 1 to 50 employees |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Ashby, Inc. | Kula.ai |
| Price read from | ashbyhq.com | kula.ai |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Ashby
- Only Foundations, for up to 100 employees, has a published price; Plus and Enterprise are quoted, and pricing is reassessed each year.
- SSO costs $100 a month on Foundations, and the AI Notetaker, Advanced Scheduling and candidate data enrichment are paid add-ons.
- Texting covers US and Canada numbers only, with extra messages at $90 per 1,000.
- There is no native phone app: mobile use is through the browser.
Kula
- The pricing page shows a dollar figure only for the 1-50 employee band; larger bands are priced on a call.
- Script data on the pricing page holds figures different from the displayed $5,120, so the quote may differ.
- No free plan or free trial is listed; the page points to a demo and a product tour.
- The vendor lists AI agents as coming soon.
Key features
Ashby
- Sourcing and outreach
- A Chrome extension, sourcing projects, AI candidate search and multi-step sequences over email and LinkedIn, with 200 email lookups a month.
- AI application review
- AI checks inbound applications against criteria you set, flags fraudulent candidates and resurfaces past applicants, using AI credits.
- Interview scheduling
- Direct booking links, availability requests, visual scheduling, interviewer limits and reminders, with an Advanced Scheduling add-on.
- Analytics
- Job and core dashboards, a report library, drilldowns and an AI report builder, with custom dashboards and alerts from Plus.
- Offers and approvals
- Offer letters from templates with e-signatures, and approval chains for offers, jobs and openings, approvable from Slack.
- AI assistant and agents
- A chat assistant that answers questions and acts across Ashby, custom AI agents and an MCP server for ChatGPT and Claude.
Kula
- ATS and pipeline management
- Pipelines, scorecards and offers sit in one application, alongside built-in assessments and referral management.
- Sourcing and CRM
- A built-in recruiting CRM with talent pools, email templates, automated outreach and data enrichment for finding candidate emails.
- AI resume scoring
- Candidates are scored against a role and summaries are generated automatically, so reviewers can sort applicants by fit.
- Scheduling and AI notetaker
- Interviews can be scheduled manually or by self-scheduling link, and an AI notetaker produces interview notes and call summaries.
- Analytics
- Prebuilt and custom dashboards cover hiring progress, EEO and diversity reporting, and team performance, with a conversational AI analytics option.
Plans
Ashby
Foundations$270
per month for up to 10 employees, billed annually ($300 monthly)
Sold after a demo, for companies of up to 100. Rises with headcount: $400 a month at 11–25 employees and $900 at 76–100, billed monthly.
PlusCustom
For about 101 to 1,000 employees, priced on company size, usage and commitment; adds up to 5 brands, custom dashboards and alerts.
EnterpriseCustom
For 1,000+ employees, with unlimited brands and custom permission roles, on a predictable pricing model.
Kula
1-50 employees$5,120
per year, for companies of 1 to 50 employees
Full platform: ATS, CRM, scheduling, AI notetaker and analytics. Price shown reflects annual billing; other terms are flexible.
Larger companiesCustom
The pricing page offers 51-75, 76-100 and 101-1k+ employee bands; the page text shows a price only for 1-50 and a call for the rest.
Ways to pay less
Ashby
- Annual discount
10% off with an annual plan
Ashby's pricing page says annual plans save 10% against the equivalent monthly option, for example $270 against $300 a month for up to 10 employees.
- By country
Emerging market pricing
The pricing page says pricing for emerging markets is available on Foundations; the discount and the countries are not stated.
Kula
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Ashby or Kula?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Ashby starts at $270 per month for up to 10 employees, billed annually ($300 billed monthly), and Kula starts at $5,120 per year for companies of 1 to 50 employees. One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Ashby or Kula?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither Ashby nor Kula has a free plan.
Which platforms do Ashby and Kula run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Ashby lists a browser extension. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.