Deciding to hire new employees can be daunting. You want to make sure you find the best possible candidate, but you also don’t want to spend too much time or money on the process. That’s where job search platforms like ZipRecruiter and Indeed come in. These platforms allow you to post your job listing and then search through a database of potential candidates. But which platform is right for you? We lay out the facts, so you can make an informed decision.
Indeed vs. ZipRecruiter at a Glance
Both Indeed and ZipRecruiter are popular platforms for posting job listings. They each offer a variety of features, but there are some key distinctions between the two.
Indeed allows you to post jobs for free, and aggregates job listings from other job boards. This means any job listing you post there shows on the same page as aggregated listings. You can make your job stand apart by sponsoring the listing on a pay-per-click (PPC) basis. This is a great option for employers who need more control over their budget for hiring campaigns.
ZipRecruiter costs money to post your listing, and even more if you want to make it a sponsored post. However, it doesn’t aggregate job listings from other sites, so your listing won’t be lost in the mix. Instead, it takes your listing and posts it to more than 100 other job boards, giving your job even wider access to pools of candidates.
ZipRecruiter
Free Trial
Four days
Free Plan
No
Pricing Starts At
$299
per month
Four days
No
$299
per month
The ZipRecruiter plan best suited for your company depends on how many résumé downloads you want, your industry, location, the number of job ads you need to post and how many user seats you need. However, pricing starts around $16 per job per day. If you go by per-job pricing, after a month, you’re spending nearly $500 for a single job. For positions that take a while to fill, it makes sense to go with a monthly plan, which starts at $299 per month for a single reusable slot.
There are also plans with multiple slots, which are best for companies with many open positions to fill. Its candidate evaluation tool learns what types of candidates you look for based on the rating you apply to incoming applications. The more you rate, the better its AI can give stronger matches. Each plan comes with reusable job slots, distribution to over 100 job boards and a dashboard to track and rate candidates.
- Over 500 customizable job description templates
- Search through applicants by keywords
- AI helps deliver strong candidates the more you rate incoming applications
- No free plan
- Only 32 million résumés in its database
- Must create an account to get plan pricing
Indeed
Free Trial
N/A;
it’s free by default
Free Plan
Yes
Pricing Starts At
$5
per post per day
N/A;
it’s free by default
Yes
$5
per post per day
With over 63 million monthly users, Indeed is the world’s largest job search engine. It provides employers with many posting options, including free and paid posting and access to its résumé database. You can handle the entire process of interviewing candidates from receiving applications and narrowing down top picks to making offers. You can even conduct virtual interviews right through the platform.
With Instant Match (available for paid posts), you can see résumés that match your job description and invite these candidates to apply. According to Indeed’s own usage statistics, sponsored jobs are four and a half times more likely to result in a hire.
There are three tracks you can take as an employer. First, post the job for free and appear in search results, accept mobile applications and manage your candidates from the dashboard. Then for as little as $5 per day, try creating a sponsored listing. This gives you more visibility in search results, ideal candidate invitations, job alerts to candidates and you only pay per click. The last option is setting up a hiring campaign, where you set a budget and Indeed will help you decide which jobs to sponsor from your career site or applicant tracking software.
- It’s free
- Over 200 million résumés in its database
- Applicant skills assessments
- Large volume of applications to sort through
- Sponsored listings can end up costing more than its competition
- Direct-posted listings and aggregated listings show on the same results pages
How the Services Stack Up
| ZipRecruiter | Indeed | |
|---|---|---|
|
Free Plan
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
Free Trial
|
Four days
|
Not needed; it’s free
|
|
Pricing
|
From $16 per job per day to $1,569 per month
|
Only pay-per-click for sponsored listings
|
|
Résumés in Database
|
More than 32 million
|
More than 200 million
|
|
Candidate Evaluation Tool
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Number of Job Boards It Posts To
|
More than 100
|
None; Indeed is an aggregator
|
|
Sponsored Listings
|
Pro plan comes with “TrafficBoost” credits, otherwise purchase à la carte
|
Pay-per-click
|
|
Skills Tests
|
No
|
Yes
|
Free Plan
ZipRecruiter is a paid service and does not offer a free plan. Indeed is free, but to get the best traction with your listing, it’s best to sponsor the job post.
Free Trial
While ZipRecruiter advertises a four-day free trial, what it means is you can post a single job listing and it won’t cost you anything. If you want to keep the listing up beyond your trial, you need to pay for a plan. Employers sometimes receive mailers with an offer code for one free job listing, but it’s the same thing as the four-day trial. The code just lets ZipRecruiter know which advertising campaign brought you in. Indeed offers no free trial because it’s free.
Pricing
ZipRecruiter plans start at $16 per job per day and go up to $1,569 per month. Indeed is free to get started, and sponsored listings are based on performance. You only pay when the applicant interacts with your listing. Other services include featuring your business, buying a monthly or annual subscription to reach out to candidates directly and the ability to claim your company page.
Résumé in Database
Indeed’s résumé pool is over 200 million, and ZipRecruiter has over 32 million. Indeed has more résumés because it’s a worldwide job listing site operating in most countries.
Candidate Evaluation Tools
Indeed Assessments is Indeed’s version of a candidate screening tool where candidates can take skills-based quizzes and tests to help narrow down qualified candidates. You can also ask screening questions to see if a candidate is qualified.
ZipRecruiter also has an applicant screening tool to ask questions to candidates. You can identify which of your questions are deal-breakers; if a candidate doesn’t answer the question or gets it wrong, it hides applicants who don’t meet your basic qualifications.
Number of Job Boards
While ZipRecruiter cross-posts your listing to over 100 job boards, including those for veterans, Indeed operates differently. Indeed is a job aggregator, so it sources job listings from other boards in addition to allowing employers to post directly to its platform. The only way to distinguish your post from aggregated listings is to pay to sponsor it.
Featured Partners
1
BambooHR
Yes
Yes
ATS
2
Pinpoint ATS
Yes
Yes
24/7 customer support, easy-to-use interface, fast and flexible workflows, hundreds of integrations
3
ClearCompany
Yes
Yes
Employee engagement
Sponsored Opportunities
Indeed sponsored job listings operate on a pay-per-click (PPC) basis. This means, when a candidate interacts with your listing (views or applies), you pay. You can sponsor a listing for as little as $5 per day.
To promote your job with ZipRecruiter, use TrafficBoost, which promotes your job at the top of daily targeted email alerts. The Pro plan comes with 100 TrafficBoost credits. When you apply a TrafficBoost, ZipRecruiter bumps your job for up to 30 days or until it receives 100 views. You can also purchase double and triple boost views (single boost = 100 views). Take care when buying credits because they expire three months after purchase.
Skills Tests
Indeed has skill assessment tests so you can screen applicants by skills required for the job. This differs from ZipRecruiter, which only lists the applicant’s self-reported skills. With Indeed, you’ll know the candidate’s aptitude for the skill you require.
Bottom Line
Both ZipRecruiter and Indeed are great places to find talent for your business. But if you’re looking for a better bang for your buck, Indeed is the better option as you only pay when you sponsor posts and someone interacts with your listing. ZipRecruiter offers more expensive plans and fewer features than Indeed but casts a wide net to draw in candidates. If you’re looking for a screening tool, ZipRecruiter offers screening questions while Indeed has skills assessments.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Which is better: ZipRecruiter or Indeed?
It depends on your business’s specific needs, though both are great solutions to locate talent. Indeed allows you to post jobs for free, along with sponsored listings, and it aggregates job listings from other job boards, which makes it a great option for employers who need more control over their budget. ZipRecruiter has fees to post a listing but doesn’t aggregate job listings from other sites, so your listing won’t be lost in the mix.
Can I post a job for free on Indeed?
Yes, but to reach a larger audience, you’ll likely need to sponsor your Indeed listing. The system is similar to pay-per-click (PPC) ads, where you get charged for each post that an applicant clicks on.
Where does ZipRecruiter post my jobs?
ZipRecruiter posts all jobs to more than 100 job boards and hiring sites. These jobs are distributed to other sites in one of three ways:
- Traditional partners automatically receive your job post.
- You can handpick which social media platforms to put your jobs on.
- You can also post specific jobs on LinkedIn through ZipRecruiter for an additional fee.
What criteria should organizations consider when deciding on a recruiting software tool?
When choosing recruiting software, consider overall pricing, how well the platform scales, how easy it is to use and whether its features align with your specific hiring requirements. Most recruitment software comes with a free trial so that you can check out the platform before you invest in it.
