Manatal vs Top Echelon
We give Manatal a 2.8 GPA and Top Echelon a 2.4, out of 4.0. Manatal 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.
Manatal
Low-cost per-user ATS and recruitment CRM with AI candidate matching
Top Echelon
ATS and recruiting CRM for recruiting agencies and staffing firms
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAManatalGood | 2.4GPATop EchelonFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AProfessional is $15 a user a month on yearly billing ($19 monthly), and hiring managers are unlimited, so a ten-person company with one recruiter pays $15. That buys AI recommendations, a career page and a CRM, well under this category's cheaper quarter of $74. | CGraded against the agency tools it's listed beside. Standard is $79 a month on yearly billing ($95 monthly), but the page doesn't say if that's per user or per agency, so a ten-person agency pays $79 or many times that. Data enrichment is $29 a month more. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan, but a 14-day trial of every plan with no card. It leaves out job board posting, mass email and email automations, so you won't see the whole thing. | CNo free plan, but a 30-day trial of TE Recruit with no card needed. That's longer than most trials in this category. |
| Features | BResume parsing with profiles filled in from LinkedIn and GitHub, AI candidate suggestions, a sourcing extension, a career page, posting to free and paid boards, and a client CRM. Covers the job, with workflow automation from Enterprise. | BCandidates, client companies, job orders and placements in one system, with resume parsing, hotlists, a careers page and one-click job posting, plus sequences and automations on Professional. The whole agency job, with enrichment as a paid extra. |
| Ease of use | CNo App Store rating on record, and job board posting only opens once your account is verified after paying. | CNo App Store rating on record, and you'll set up pipelines, a careers page and job board links before it earns its keep. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb and a Chrome extension, with LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster, ZipRecruiter, Zapier, Google Workspace, Teams and Outlook. No phone apps, only a progressive web app, and the API needs Enterprise Plus. | BWeb and a browser extension, with Indeed, ZipRecruiter, Dice, ZoomInfo, Checkr and RingCentral linked, and an API on Professional. No phone or desktop app on record. |
| Best for | cheap recruiting for small teams and agencies | small recruiting agencies and solo recruiters |
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: Manatal and Top Echelon. How we grade
Price against what you get
Manatal starts at $15 a month for each person and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Top Echelon starts at $79 a month and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and Manatal starts $64 a month lower. Of the other hiring and applicant tracking tools on the chart, none scores higher than Manatal for less, and none scores higher than Top Echelon 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
- Manatal starts at $15 per user / month, billed annually ($19 billed monthly). Top Echelon starts at $79 per month, billed annually ($95 billed monthly).
At a glance
| Manatal | Top Echelon | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $15 per user / month, billed annually ($19 billed monthly) | $79 per month, billed annually ($95 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of all plans, no card required | 30-day free trial of TE Recruit, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Manatal | Top Echelon |
| Price read from | manatal.com | topechelon.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Manatal
- Small teams that want a low per-user price
- Recruitment agencies that also need a client CRM
- Recruiters sourcing heavily from LinkedIn and job sites
Top Echelon
- Independent recruiters and small recruiting agencies
- Executive search firms that track clients and job orders
- Agencies moving off Big Biller or another agency ATS
Worth knowing
Manatal
- Professional caps an account at 15 jobs and 10,000 candidates; workflow automation needs Enterprise, and SSO and API access need Enterprise Plus.
- The AI Interviewer and the branded guest portal are add-ons with no price on the pricing page.
- The trial leaves out job board posting, mass email and email automations; job board posting needs account verification after paying.
- There are no native phone apps: mobile use is through a progressive web app.
Top Echelon
- Built for recruiting agencies placing candidates with clients, not for a company hiring its own staff.
- The pricing page does not say whether prices are per user or per agency; contact Top Echelon to confirm the seat count.
- Data Enrichment costs $29 per agency a month for 100 credits, then $0.50 each; texting and job board posting may need extra subscriptions.
- TE Network is a separate membership: $150 per agency a month with a $350 startup fee, or $135 a month billed annually with the fee waived.
Key features
Manatal
- AI candidate enrichment
- Parses resumes and fills candidate profiles with data from LinkedIn, GitHub and other social networks.
- AI recommendations and copilot
- Suggests candidates for a job and jobs for a candidate, scores fit with adjustable weighting, and summarizes and compares candidates.
- Sourcing extension
- A Chrome extension adds candidates from LinkedIn, LinkedIn Recruiter, Xing, Indeed, SEEK, GitHub and other sites.
- Career page and job posting
- A branded career page in several languages, posting to free and premium job channels and to social media.
- Recruitment CRM
- Tracks leads, clients and contacts with mass emailing, sales reports and revenue tracking, for agencies placing candidates.
- Privacy compliance
- GDPR, CCPA and PDPA tools to request, track and record candidate consent and delete data on request.
Top Echelon
- ATS and client CRM in one
- Tracks candidates, client companies, job orders, communications and placements together, with hotlists of people, companies or jobs.
- Resume parsing and search
- Parses resumes and job descriptions, with full-text and advanced search on Standard and natural-language search on Professional.
- One-click job posting
- Posts openings to several job boards and a custom careers page at once, with boards such as Indeed, ZipRecruiter and Dice linked.
- Sequences and automations
- Professional adds email sequences, automated workflows, inbound email sync and Smart-TE AI for repetitive recruiting steps.
- Data enrichment
- A paid add-on that adds missing emails, phone numbers and work history to records, with 100 credits a month for $29 and more at $0.50 each.
- TE Network split placements
- A separate membership for recruiters based in the US and Canada to share candidates and job orders with each other and split placements.
Plans
Manatal
Professional$15
per user / month, billed annually ($19 billed monthly)
Up to 15 jobs and 10,000 candidates per account, unlimited hiring managers, AI recommendations, career page and CRM.
Enterprise$35
per user / month, billed annually ($39 billed monthly)
Unlimited jobs and candidates, and adds workflow automations.
Enterprise Plus$55
per user / month, billed annually ($59 billed monthly)
Adds an advanced report builder, ChatGPT and Claude links, open API, a candidate portal, user groups, SSO and priority support.
CustomCustom
Everything in Enterprise Plus with an account manager, phone support and custom features, integrations and compliance reports.
Top Echelon
Standard$79
per month, billed annually ($95 monthly); seat basis not stated
Resume and job parsing, pipelines, hotlists, a careers page, browser extension, job board links, 5,000 emails a month and 10 GB of storage.
Professional$95
per month, billed annually ($115 monthly); seat basis not stated
Adds Smart-TE AI, automations, email sequences, inbound email sync, custom application forms and domain, API access, 10,000 emails and 100 GB.
Ways to pay less
Manatal
- Annual discount
Lower per-user price with yearly billing
Manatal's yearly plans cost $15, $35 and $55 per user a month against $19, $39 and $59 on monthly plans.
Top Echelon
- Annual discount
Lower price with annual billing
TE Recruit Standard is $79 a month billed annually against $95 billed monthly, and Professional $95 against $115.
