Top Echelon vs Zoho Recruit
We give Top Echelon a 2.4 GPA and Zoho Recruit a 2.6, out of 4.0. Zoho Recruit 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.
Top Echelon
ATS and recruiting CRM for recruiting agencies and staffing firms
Zoho Recruit
Per-recruiter ATS and recruitment CRM with a free one-job plan
How we grade them
| 2.4GPATop EchelonFair | 2.6GPAZoho RecruitGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | BStandard is $25 a recruiter a month on yearly billing ($30 monthly), so a ten-person company with one recruiter pays $25 for 10 active jobs, a branded careers site and premium boards. That's in the cheaper quarter, but hiring managers need licences sold in packs of 10. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan, but a 30-day trial of TE Recruit with no card needed. That's longer than most trials in this category. | CA free plan with 1 active job per recruiter licence, candidate and email management and interview scheduling. The branded careers site and premium boards start on Standard. The 15-day trial needs no card and drops you onto the free plan. |
| Features | 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. | BPosting to a careers site, 75+ job boards and social media, a candidate CRM, Blueprints and workflows, portals for managers, clients and candidates, and AI matching. The whole job, though AI and automation need Enterprise. |
| Ease of use | CNo App Store rating on record, and you'll set up pipelines, a careers page and job board links before it earns its keep. | CNo App Store rating on record, and Blueprints, portals and licence packs take some learning. |
| Platforms and integrations | 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. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with 200+ integrations such as Google Meet, Teams, Slack, Mailchimp and TestGorilla. No desktop app. |
| Best for | small recruiting agencies and solo recruiters | low-cost hiring for teams already on Zoho |
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: Top Echelon and Zoho Recruit. How we grade
Price against what you get
Top Echelon starts at $79 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Zoho Recruit starts at $25 a month and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and Zoho Recruit starts $54 a month lower. Of the other hiring and applicant tracking tools on the chart, none scores higher than Top Echelon for less, and none scores higher than Zoho Recruit 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
- Top Echelon starts at $79 per month, billed annually ($95 billed monthly). Zoho Recruit starts at $25 per recruiter / month, billed annually ($30 billed monthly).
- Zoho Recruit has a free plan. Top Echelon does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Top Echelon lists a browser extension.
- Only Zoho Recruit lists iOS and Android apps.
- Zoho Recruit also covers skills tests.
At a glance
| Top Echelon | Zoho Recruit | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $79 per month, billed annually ($95 billed monthly) | $25 per recruiter / month, billed annually ($30 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | Forever Free: 1 active job per recruiter license, with candidate and email management, interview scheduling and 8/5 support. No add-ons. |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial of TE Recruit, no credit card required | 15-day free trial of Enterprise features, no credit card required; it then drops to the free plan |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Top Echelon | Zoho Corporation |
| Price read from | topechelon.com | zoho.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
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
Zoho Recruit
- Small HR teams that want a free or low-cost ATS
- Staffing agencies that need client and vendor portals
- Teams hiring for several roles at once on a per-recruiter budget
Worth knowing
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.
Zoho Recruit
- Active jobs are capped per recruiter license: 1 on Free, 10 on Standard and 20 on Enterprise.
- Hiring manager and employee licenses are sold only in packs of 10, and video interviews are charged per job opening.
- AI candidate matching, automation, custom reports and Teams or Meet links need Enterprise.
Key features
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.
Zoho Recruit
- Job distribution
- Publishes openings to a customizable careers site, 75+ free, paid and premium job boards, and social media.
- ATS and candidate CRM
- Tracks applicants through hiring pipelines and keeps a candidate relationship database for future roles.
- Blueprints and workflows
- Automates candidate emails, offer approvals and other steps with Blueprints, workflows and custom functions on Enterprise.
- Portals
- Separate portals for hiring managers, clients, vendors and candidates; the vendor portal and employee licenses are paid add-ons.
- AI help
- AI drafts job descriptions, emails and assessments and, on Enterprise, matches candidates to openings.
- 200+ integrations
- Connects out of the box with over 200 apps, such as Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Mailchimp and TestGorilla.
Plans
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.
Zoho Recruit
Free$0
1 active job per recruiter license, candidate and email management and interview scheduling.
Standard$25
per recruiter / month, billed annually ($30 billed monthly)
10 active jobs per recruiter license, sourcing, premium job boards, a branded careers site, referrals, assessments, reports and 50+ integrations.
Enterprise$50
per recruiter / month, billed annually ($60 billed monthly)
20 active jobs per license, AI candidate matching, candidate and staffing portals, Blueprint, automation, custom reports, SMS and Teams/Meet.
Ways to pay less
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.
Zoho Recruit
- Annual discount
Save up to 16% with yearly billing
Zoho Recruit's pricing page says yearly billing saves up to 16%: Standard is $25 per recruiter a month billed annually against $30 billed monthly.
