Recruit CRM vs Top Echelon
We give Recruit CRM a 2.2 GPA and Top Echelon a 2.4, out of 4.0. Top Echelon 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.
Recruit CRM
ATS and client CRM for recruitment agencies, with AI agents
Top Echelon
ATS and recruiting CRM for recruiting agencies and staffing firms
How we grade them
| 2.2GPARecruit CRMFair | 2.4GPATop EchelonFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | 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 30-day free trial, which is long for this category. | 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 | 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. | 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 credits for sourcing, posting and texting take some working out. | 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, iPhone, Android and a Chrome extension, with LinkedIn, Gmail, Outlook, Zoom, Teams, Zapier and Broadbean, and an open API on Business. No desktop app. | 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 | recruitment agencies placing candidates | 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: Recruit CRM and Top Echelon. How we grade
Price against what you get
Recruit CRM starts at $95 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 Top Echelon starts $16 a month lower. Of the other hiring and applicant tracking tools on the chart, none scores higher than Recruit CRM 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
- Recruit CRM starts at $95 per user / month, billed annually ($109 billed monthly). Top Echelon starts at $79 per month, billed annually ($95 billed monthly).
- Only Recruit CRM lists iOS and Android apps.
- Recruit CRM also covers time tracking and AI agents.
- Top Echelon also covers reports.
At a glance
| Recruit CRM | Top Echelon | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $95 per user / month, billed annually ($109 billed monthly) | $79 per month, billed annually ($95 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial | 30-day free trial of TE Recruit, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Workforce Cloud Tech, Inc. | Top Echelon |
| Price read from | recruitcrm.io | topechelon.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Recruit CRM
- Recruitment agencies and executive search firms placing candidates with clients
- Contract staffing firms that bill clients for contractors' hours
- Agencies that source heavily from LinkedIn
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
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
