Ashby vs SmartRecruiters (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Ashby and SmartRecruiters share a 2.0 GPA, neither has a free plan and their prices can't be set side by side, so the choice depends on which platforms you need.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on all five counts.
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
SmartRecruiters
Enterprise applicant tracking and hiring platform with AI features
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 SmartRecruiters if
- Fits if you are a large employer wanting an ATS in many languages
- Works for teams on SAP SuccessFactors
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you are a small team, as no self-serve plan is shown
- Skip it if you want a price, as none is published
- Watch out: Winston Chat is an add-on
- Watch out: no free plan or trial
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAAshbyFair | 2.0GPASmartRecruitersFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CNo price is published, so it sits at the ordinary grade until the vendor says. |
| Free plan and trial | FNo free plan or trial on record. Foundations is sold after a demo. | FNo free plan and no trial. The pricing page offers a demo. |
| 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, job distribution, messaging, analytics and a sandbox. Winston Chat is an add-on, but the listing shows no gap in the core ATS job. |
| 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 rating on record. An enterprise ATS that takes setup. |
| 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 only, with SAP SuccessFactors, Zoom, LinkedIn and DocuSign links. |
| Best for | startups that want tracking and analytics in one ATS | enterprise applicant tracking |
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 SmartRecruiters. How we grade
Where they differ
- Ashby also covers workflow automation.
- SmartRecruiters also covers chatbots.
At a glance
| Ashby | SmartRecruiters | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| Starts at | $270 per month for up to 10 employees, billed annually ($300 billed monthly) | Not published |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Ashby, Inc. | SmartRecruiters |
| Price read from | ashbyhq.com | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Nov 12, 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.
SmartRecruiters
- No prices are published: the pricing page only offers a demo and a conversation with an expert.
- Winston Chat, the conversational AI, is described as an add-on to the core platform.
- The vendor says the interface is available in 37 candidate-facing languages and 31 languages for hiring teams.
- The site describes a customer base of large enterprises; smaller teams may find no self-serve plan.
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.
SmartRecruiters
- Applicant tracking
- Tracks candidate status across workflows, with advanced search, talent pools, saved searches and synced candidate email and messages.
- CRM and job distribution
- Lists a candidate CRM for sourcing and nurturing talent, plus job distribution and an agency portal for outside recruiters.
- Winston AI
- Winston is the vendor's AI layer, with a talent matching engine, candidate screening and a hiring agent that handles tasks such as scheduling.
- Candidate messaging
- Reaches candidates by SMS, WhatsApp and online messaging, and Winston Chat is an add-on for conversational job discovery and applying.
- Analytics and sandbox
- Includes built-in recruiting analytics and dashboards, and a sandbox environment for testing configuration changes.
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.
SmartRecruiters
Pricing could not be confirmed. See smartrecruiters.com.
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.
SmartRecruiters
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Ashby or SmartRecruiters?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Ashby starts at $270 per month for up to 10 employees, billed annually ($300 billed monthly), and SmartRecruiters has no price we could confirm.
Which has a free plan, Ashby or SmartRecruiters?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Ashby nor SmartRecruiters has a free plan.
Which platforms do Ashby and SmartRecruiters run on?
As of Nov 12, 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.