Ashby, Gem, Recruit CRM, Recruiterflow, Loxo, folk and HubSpot compared on published prices, who each fits, and one honest downside each.
The best recruiting CRM depends on who's hiring. Best for in-house startup teams: Ashby. Best free start for tiny teams: Gem. Best value for small agencies: Recruit CRM. Best for search firms: Recruiterflow. Best with a built-in candidate database: Loxo. Best lightweight option: folk. Best if you already sell with it: HubSpot.
A recruiting CRM keeps track of people you want to hire later: the runner-up from last quarter, the engineer who said "ping me in spring", the referral who wasn't ready. An applicant tracking system manages people who applied to an open job. Startups usually need the second first, then a CRM once the same roles keep coming back.
The 7 best recruiting CRMs at a glance
| Tool | Best for | Key stat | One limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashby | In-house teams under 100 people | $400 a month on the startup plan | Costs more than a solo recruiter needs |
| Gem | Pre-seed and seed teams | Free for 6 months under 30 employees | Paid pricing isn't published |
| Recruit CRM | Small agencies on a budget | From $95 per user a month | Credits for AI sourcing run out |
| Recruiterflow | Search firms | $149 per user a month | Built for agencies, not in-house |
| Loxo | Teams that want a database included | From $149 per user a month, yearly | No free plan |
| folk | Founders who want something simple | From $24 per member a month, yearly | Not built for hiring stages |
| HubSpot | Teams already on HubSpot | Free for up to 2 users | You build the recruiting setup yourself |
How we picked
We looked at 12 tools that show up in recruiter threads, buyer guides and our own conversations with startup hiring teams. To make the list, a tool needed a public pricing page or a dated, verifiable source, and a clear reason to pick it over the others. We dropped tools that only quote prices after a demo and have nothing else checkable, which ruled out most enterprise suites.
Prices come from each vendor's own pricing page in October 2026. Clera isn't on this list because it isn't a CRM. It's a hiring platform where candidates join once and startups bid on them, so it sits next to these tools, not in place of them. If you're still deciding how to find people in the first place, start with our list of the best sourcing tools for recruiters.
1. Ashby
Best for: in-house recruiting at startups that plan to grow past 20 people.
Ashby combines an applicant tracking system, a sourcing CRM, scheduling and analytics in one product. Its pricing page lists the Foundations plan for companies up to 100 employees at $400 a month, with 10% off for paying yearly. Foundations includes 200 sourcing email lookups and 1,000 outbound texts a month.
Why it made the list: one tool covers applicants and the people you're nurturing, so nothing falls between two systems.
Downside: at $400 a month it's more than a founder hiring one engineer a year needs, and extra email lookups and enrichment are paid add-ons.
Pricing: $400 a month on Foundations, custom above 100 employees.
2. Gem
Best for: very early teams that want a CRM and applicant tracking for $0.
Gem started as a recruiting CRM and now bundles sourcing and applicant tracking too. Its startup page offers Gem free for the first six months to companies under 30 employees. Gem raised a $100 million Series C led by ICONIQ in 2021 at a $1.2 billion valuation (CX Today).
Why it made the list: a mature CRM with no cost during the months when cash matters most.
Downside: after the free period, pricing is quote-only, so plan the switch or the budget before month six.
Pricing: free for six months under 30 employees, then custom.
3. Recruit CRM
Best for: small agencies and independent recruiters who want the most for the money.
Recruit CRM is a combined CRM and applicant tracking system built for recruitment agencies. Its pricing page lists Pro at $95 per user a month, Business at $135 and Enterprise at $215, with a 30-day free trial and up to 17% off for paying yearly. Each plan includes monthly credits for AI sourcing and data enrichment.
Why it made the list: the lowest published per-user price here for a tool built only for recruiting.
Downside: AI sourcing and enrichment spend credits, and Pro includes just 100 a month per user.
Pricing: $95 to $215 per user a month.
4. Recruiterflow
Best for: retained, contingent and executive search firms.
Recruiterflow runs candidates and clients in one place, with email sequences, a Chrome extension for bulk sourcing and reports. Its pricing page lists the Platform plan at $149 per user a month. A higher AIRA plan adds AI agents for notes, matching and submissions, priced by quote.
Why it made the list: search firms sell to clients and recruit candidates at the same time, and this tool tracks both sides.
Downside: it's built for agencies, so in-house startup teams pay for client features they won't use.
Pricing: $149 per user a month, AIRA custom.
5. Loxo
Best for: teams that want a CRM with a candidate database already inside it.
Loxo pairs a recruiting CRM and applicant tracking with a talent graph it says covers more than 850 million professionals. Its pricing page lists Core from $149 per user a month, billed yearly and paid up front. Professional adds Loxo's sourcing and AI agents, priced by demo, and there's a 7-day free trial with no card.
Why it made the list: you can search, store and follow up with candidates without stitching tools together.
Downside: there's no free plan, and the sourcing features sit in a tier with no published price.
Pricing: from $149 per user a month on Core, yearly only.
6. folk
Best for: founders who recruit and fundraise from the same contact list.
folk is a general-purpose CRM with LinkedIn import, email sequences and custom pipelines that work fine for hiring. Its pricing page lists Standard at $24 per member a month billed yearly, or $30 monthly, with a 2-week free trial.
Why it made the list: it's cheap and fast to set up, and it doesn't force a hiring process you don't have yet.
Downside: it has no interview stages, scorecards or offer tracking, so you'll outgrow it once hiring gets busy.
Pricing: from $24 per member a month.
7. HubSpot
Best for: startups whose sales or marketing team already lives in HubSpot.
HubSpot is a sales and marketing CRM that some teams bend into a recruiting pipeline. Its pricing page says the free CRM covers up to 2 users with no card, and paid Starter seats begin at $7 a month.
Why it made the list: if your company already pays for it, a hiring pipeline costs nothing extra to try.
Downside: nothing is set up for recruiting, so you build stages, fields and templates yourself.
Pricing: free for 2 users, Starter from $7 per seat a month.
What Clera's data says about how long searches run
From every open role on Clera in mid-October 2026:
- The typical open role has been live for 40 days.
- 38% have been open more than 60 days, and about a quarter for more than 90.
- Roles that closed in the last six months stayed open a median of 76 days.
Two and a half months is long enough to lose track of the people you met in week one. That's the job a CRM does: your second-choice candidate for this role is often the first choice for the next one.
How to choose
- If you're under 30 people and cash-tight, take Gem's free six months.
- If you're an in-house team growing past 20, pick Ashby so applicants and nurture lists live together.
- If you run an agency, compare Recruit CRM on price with Recruiterflow on depth.
- If you hire a few times a year, folk or HubSpot's free tier is enough. When hiring picks up, look at AI recruiters for startups or recruiting agencies before adding headcount.
Frequently Asked Questions
An applicant tracking system manages people who applied to an open role, through interviews and offers. A recruiting CRM manages relationships with people who haven't applied yet or might fit a future role. Ashby, Gem, Recruit CRM and Loxo combine both, which is usually simplest for a startup.
Yes, with limits. HubSpot's CRM is free for up to 2 users, though you build the recruiting setup yourself. Gem is free for six months for companies under 30 employees. Recruit CRM, folk and Loxo offer free trials of 30 days, 2 weeks and 7 days.
Published prices in October 2026 run from $24 per member a month for folk to $95 to $215 per user for Recruit CRM, $149 per user for Recruiterflow and Loxo, and $400 a month for Ashby's startup plan. Enterprise tiers are almost always quote-only.
Not on day one. If you're making your first two or three hires, a spreadsheet and your inbox are fine. A CRM starts paying off when you hire for the same role more than once, or when good candidates keep saying "not now" and you want to follow up later.
For a small team, yes. folk and HubSpot both handle pipelines and follow-ups. What they lack are hiring-specific pieces like interview scheduling, scorecards and offer tracking. Once more than one person runs interviews, a recruiting-specific tool saves time.
Sources
- Ashby pricing
- Gem for startups and CX Today on Gem's Series C
- Recruit CRM pricing
- Recruiterflow pricing
- Loxo pricing
- folk pricing
- HubSpot CRM pricing
- Clera job data, all open roles in mid-October 2026
Fill the pipeline, not just the CRM
A CRM only helps if there are good people in it. Hire through Clera: candidates who already want to join a startup, warm intros, and you pay only when you hire.
