Crelate vs Recruit CRM (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Crelate and Recruit CRM share a 2.2 GPA, neither has a free plan, and Crelate starts cheaper, at $85 a month for each person against $95 a month for each person.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Crelate grades higher on value for money. Recruit CRM grades higher on features. They get the same grade on the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Crelate
Applicant tracking and recruiting CRM for staffing and search firms
Recruit CRM
ATS and client CRM for recruitment agencies, with AI agents
Which one is for you
Pick Crelate if
- Fits if you run a small search firm and want ATS and CRM in one
- Works for agencies that want a mobile app as well as the web
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you are bigger than 2 users, as Essentials stops there with 20k contacts
- Pricey if you send email campaigns or texts, as they cost extra
- Watch out: Business Plus has no published price
- Watch out: the page does not say if the $119 Business price is annual or monthly
Pick Recruit CRM if
- Fits if you place candidates with clients and bill for contractors' hours
- Works for agencies that source most candidates from LinkedIn
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you're hiring your own staff, as it's built for agencies
- Tight if you run more than one pipeline, as Pro allows 1, with 15 custom fields and 1 sequence
- Pricey if your whole team needs a seat, at $95 each a month, or $135 for the open API and SSO
- Watch out: AI sourcing, posting, texting, calling and analytics all draw on credits, and more cost extra
- Watch out: timesheets use credits for each active contractor every month, and the website builder is extra
How we grade them
| 2.2GPACrelateFair | 2.2GPARecruit CRMFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C$85 a user a month annual on Essentials and $119 on Business, against a category middle of $85 and a dearer quarter from $149. | DGraded against the agency tools it's listed beside. Pro is $95 a user a month on yearly billing ($109 monthly), so ten users is $950. That buys 100 credits a user, unlimited jobs and the AI submission agents, but it's the dearest per seat of the lot. |
| Free plan and trial | CA free trial is offered, but its length and whether a card is needed are not stated. | CNo free plan, but a 30-day free trial. The listing doesn't say whether the trial needs a card. |
| Features | CATS, CRM, job portal, AI assistant and API. Email campaigns, texting and eSignature carry extra fees, and webhooks are not shown on Business. | BCandidates, clients, jobs and placements together, AI agents for submissions and pitches, sourcing, sequences over email, LinkedIn and WhatsApp, and timesheets that flow into invoices. The whole agency job, with contractor billing on top. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. Recruiting software with portals and workflows to configure. | CNo App Store rating on record, and credits for sourcing, posting and texting take some working out. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Indeed, Dice, Zapier, Outlook and Gmail links. No desktop app. | BWeb, iPhone, Android and a Chrome extension, with LinkedIn, Gmail, Outlook, Zoom, Teams, Zapier and Broadbean, and an open API on Business. No desktop app. |
| Best for | ATS and CRM for staffing and search firms | recruitment agencies placing candidates |
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: Crelate and Recruit CRM. How we grade
Price against what you get
Crelate starts at $85 a month for each person and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Recruit CRM starts at $95 a month for each person and scores 2.7.
Recruit CRM scores higher, and starts $10 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other hiring and applicant tracking tools on the chart, 4 score higher than Crelate for less, and none scores higher than Recruit CRM 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
- Recruit CRM also covers workflow automation, time tracking and AI agents.
At a glance
| Crelate | Recruit CRM | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $85 per user / month, billed annually | $95 per user / month, billed annually ($109 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | Free trial offered; its length is not stated on the pricing page. | 30-day free trial |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Crelate, Inc. | Workforce Cloud Tech, Inc. |
| Price read from | crelate.com | recruitcrm.io |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Crelate
- Essentials covers up to 2 users and 20k contacts, and is bought through sales.
- Email campaigns, text messaging, eSignature and contact enrichment carry an additional fee, per the plan table.
- Business Plus has no published price, and webhooks are not shown on the Business plan.
- The page does not say whether the $119 Business price is the annual or the monthly rate.
Recruit CRM
- Built for agencies placing candidates with clients, not for a company hiring its own staff.
- AI sourcing, data enrichment, job posting, texting, calling, workflow automation and analytics all use credits from a shared pool; more can be bought.
- Pro allows 1 hiring pipeline, 15 custom fields, 1 mailbox per user and 1 outreach sequence.
- Timesheets use credits for each active contractor every month, and the Recruit Craft website builder is priced separately except on Enterprise.
Key features
Crelate
- Applicant tracking and CRM
- One system holds candidates, client contacts and placements, with full-text and Boolean search and resume parsing.
- Job portal and job distribution
- A branded job portal with custom application forms. The comparison table lists free job board distribution at 50 postings per user.
- Client and team portals
- Clients and hiring managers get a portal to review candidates. User limits per portal differ by plan, from 10 to 100 users.
- AI assistants
- An AI Assistant is on Business, with Discover Agent for finding talent, Insights Agent and Data Quality Agents listed as options.
- Mobile recruiting
- The plan table lists mobile recruiting on iOS and Android on every plan.
- API and webhooks
- The plan table lists API access at 60 requests per minute on Business and 120 on higher plans; webhooks are not shown on Business.
Recruit CRM
- ATS and client CRM
- Candidates, client companies, contacts, jobs and placements in one system, with hotlists, talent pools and a kanban pipeline.
- AI agents
- Agents parse custom fields from resumes, build client-ready submissions, write candidate pitch emails and, from Business, reformat resumes in your branding.
- Sourcing and enrichment
- A Chrome extension adds profiles from LinkedIn and the web; AI search of 800M+ profiles and contact enrichment use credits.
- Outreach
- Two-way email and calendar sync, bulk email with open tracking, and sequences across email, LinkedIn and WhatsApp.
- Job multiposting
- Posts a job to 3,000+ boards for credits, with XML job feeds and Broadbean, LogicMelon and CV-Library on Business.
- Timesheets and billing
- Contractors log hours, managers approve them and approved time flows into invoicing, with contractor and client portals.
Plans
Crelate
Essentials$85
per user / month, billed annually
Applicant tracking, recruiting CRM, job portal and resume parsing for up to 2 users and 20k contacts. Contact sales to buy.
Business$119
per user / month, annual or monthly
Adds the AI Assistant, client and team portals, reports and analytics, email connections and technical support.
Business PlusCustom
Adds advanced AI Assistant, premium client portals, automation and sequences, full API and more storage. Billed annually.
PlatformCustom
Usage-based pricing on a user or site license, quoted by sales.
Recruit CRM
Pro$95
per user / month, billed annually ($109 billed monthly)
100 credits per user a month, unlimited jobs and candidates, 1 hiring pipeline, 15 custom fields, the Chrome extension and AI submission agents.
Business$135
per user / month, billed annually ($159 billed monthly)
200 credits per user a month, 100 pipelines, a resume formatting agent, multichannel sequences, job feeds, open API, SSO and audit logs.
Enterprise$215
per user / month, billed annually ($259 billed monthly)
Sold through a demo. 2,000 credits per user a month, the Recruit Craft website builder and a named account manager.
Ways to pay less
Crelate
No public discounts listed.
Recruit CRM
- Annual discount
Save up to 17% with annual billing
Recruit CRM's pricing page says annual billing saves up to 17%: Pro is $95 per user a month billed annually against $109 billed monthly.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Crelate or Recruit CRM?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Crelate is cheaper to start with: $85 a month for each person, against $95 a month for each person for Recruit CRM. Crelate starts at $85 per user / month, billed annually, and Recruit CRM starts at $95 per user / month, billed annually ($109 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Crelate or Recruit CRM?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Crelate nor Recruit CRM has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
Which platforms do Crelate and Recruit CRM run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Recruit CRM lists a browser extension. Both list a web app and iOS and Android apps. 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.