Greenhouse vs SmartRecruiters (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Greenhouse 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.
Greenhouse
Structured-hiring ATS for growing and large companies, by quote
Paid
SmartRecruiters
Enterprise applicant tracking and hiring platform with AI features
Paid
Which one is for you
Pick Greenhouse if
- Fits if you want every interviewer scoring candidates against the same kit
- Works for larger firms that need audit logs, SSO and fine-grained permissions
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to try it before sitting through a demo, as there's no trial
- Not for you if you're a small company that hires now and then
- Tight if you want texting, sourcing automation or the BI connector, which need Plus or Pro
- Watch out: no price is published for any plan, so you can't compare it before a sales call
- Watch out: the App Store app is for iPhone only, and there's no desktop app
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
| 2.0GPAGreenhouseFair | 2.0GPASmartRecruitersFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CNo price is published: Greenhouse quotes Core, Plus and Pro from your hiring volume, complexity and features after a demo. So we can't say what a ten-person company pays, and with no figure to compare, it's a C. | CNo price is published, so it sits at the ordinary grade until the vendor says. |
| Free plan and trial | FNo free plan and no trial on the pricing page. You see it in a demo. | FNo free plan and no trial. The pricing page offers a demo. |
| Features | BInterview kits and scorecards, a prospecting plugin and candidate CRM, scheduling that respects working hours, an AI notetaker, resume anonymization and custom reports. The whole job, though texting and sourcing automation need Plus. | 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 structured hiring means building kits and scorecards for each role before you start. | CNo rating on record. An enterprise ATS that takes setup. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone, Android and a Chrome plugin, connected to over 400 other tools such as Checkr and TestGorilla. No desktop app. | BWeb only, with SAP SuccessFactors, Zoom, LinkedIn and DocuSign links. |
| Best for | structured hiring at growing companies | 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: Greenhouse and SmartRecruiters. How we grade
Where they differ
- Greenhouse also covers workflow automation.
- SmartRecruiters also covers chatbots.
In commonWebAI featuresReportsApplicant trackingJob board posting
At a glance
| Greenhouse | SmartRecruiters | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| Starts at | Not published | Not published |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Greenhouse Software, Inc. | SmartRecruiters |
| Price read from | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Greenhouse
- No prices are published: Greenhouse quotes Core, Plus and Pro from your hiring volume, complexity and features after a demo.
- Texting, sourcing automation, the BI connector and fraud and spam detection need Plus or Pro.
- The pricing page offers no free trial, and the App Store app is for iPhone only.
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
Greenhouse
- Interview kits and scorecards
- Structured interview kits and scorecards on every plan, with suggested scorecard attributes and interview questions.
- Sourcing and CRM
- Prospect pools, a prospecting Chrome plugin, bulk import and email automation, with texting and sourcing automation from Plus.
- Scheduling
- Scheduling suggestions that respect interviewer limits and working hours, scheduling links and candidate self-scheduling.
- AI Notetaker and Real Talent
- An AI notetaker for interviews and Real Talent matching on Core, with fraud and spam detection added on Plus.
- Fair-hiring tools
- Resume anonymization, US demographic questions, EEOC data management and DE&I reports.
- Reporting and governance
- Essential and custom reports, a BI connector from Plus, and an audit log, developer sandbox and enterprise security settings on Pro.
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
Greenhouse
Pricing could not be confirmed. See greenhouse.com.
SmartRecruiters
Pricing could not be confirmed. See smartrecruiters.com.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Greenhouse or SmartRecruiters?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Greenhouse has no price we could confirm, and SmartRecruiters has no price we could confirm.
Which has a free plan, Greenhouse or SmartRecruiters?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Greenhouse nor SmartRecruiters has a free plan.
Which platforms do Greenhouse and SmartRecruiters run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Greenhouse lists iOS and Android apps and 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.