Best ATS For Small Businesses: Which Platforms Won't Crush Your Budget Or Overwhelm Your Team
You're a team of 15 people. You hire maybe 10 people per year. And your recruiting tech budget is approximately $zero.
Enterprise ATS platforms like Greenhouse and Lever want $30K-$50K annually. That's not happening. But you also can't track candidates in a spreadsheet anymore because it's chaos.
You need an ATS that's actually built for small businesses—affordable, simple, and capable of handling 10-20 hires without requiring a dedicated recruiting ops person to manage it.
Here's what works.
What Small Businesses Actually Need In An ATS
Before comparing platforms, understand what small businesses DON'T need:
❌ Advanced reporting and analytics: You're making 10 hires. You don't need 47 custom dashboards.
❌ Complex workflow automation: Your hiring process is "screen → interview → offer." You don't need 12-stage pipelines.
❌ White-glove implementation: You can't afford months of onboarding. You need something that works immediately.
❌ Unlimited integrations: You're not using 15 different HR tools. Basic integrations are fine.
What you DO need:
✅ Affordable ($100-$500/month, not $5K/month)
✅ Simple to set up (hours, not weeks)
✅ Easy for hiring managers to use (they're not recruiters—interface matters)
✅ Good candidate experience (career site, mobile-friendly applications)
✅ Basic collaboration (hiring managers can review candidates, provide feedback)
✅ Compliance (EEOC data collection, record retention)
Breezy HR: The Budget-Friendly Favorite
Breezy HR is designed specifically for small and mid-size businesses.
Pricing: Starts at $189/month for up to 3 users. Scales to $359/month for unlimited users and positions.
What it does well:
Affordable: At under $200/month, this is accessible for most small businesses. You can actually afford it.
Easy setup: Most teams are live within a day. No technical implementation required.
Candidate experience: Branded career pages, simple application forms, mobile-friendly interface. Candidates don't hate applying.
Collaboration tools: Hiring managers can review candidates, leave ratings and comments, and participate without training.
Job board posting: One-click posting to Indeed, LinkedIn, ZipRecruiter, and other major boards.
Chrome extension: Source candidates from LinkedIn and save them directly to Breezy.
What it doesn't do well:
Limited advanced features: No AI matching, limited automation, basic reporting. But small businesses don't need those anyway.
Support could be better: Email support is solid, but phone support costs extra.
Customization limits: You can't build complex workflows or deeply customize the interface.
Best for: Small businesses (5-50 employees) making 5-20 hires per year who want something affordable and simple.
Skip if: You're hiring high-volume (50+ hires/year) or need advanced analytics and automation.
JazzHR: The Feature-Rich Small Business Option
JazzHR positions itself as "powerful enough for enterprises, priced for small businesses".
Pricing: Starts at $75/month (1 user, 2 jobs). Hero tier at $359/month gets you unlimited users and jobs.
What it does well:
Flexible pricing: You can start super cheap if you're only hiring for 1-2 roles, then scale up.
Robust feature set: More features than Breezy—advanced interview scheduling, SMS communication, offer letter templates.
Candidate texting: Built-in SMS allows you to text candidates directly from the platform. Improves response rates significantly.
Integrations: Connects with QuickBooks, Slack, Google Calendar, and other small business tools.
Compliance support: EEOC reporting, OFCCP compliance, veteran and disability self-ID.
What it doesn't do well:
Pricing can get confusing: Different tiers have different limits on users, jobs, and features. Make sure you understand what you're paying for.
Learning curve: More features mean more complexity. Not quite as plug-and-play as Breezy.
UI feels dated: The interface works but isn't modern or beautiful.
Best for: Small businesses that want more features and customization than Breezy offers but can't afford enterprise platforms.
Skip if: You want the absolute simplest solution or have a tiny budget ($75/month might not be enough—you'll likely need the $359 tier).
Freshteam: The Free-Tier Option
Freshteam by Freshworks offers a genuinely useful free tier.
Pricing: Free for unlimited users, up to 50 employees. Paid plans start at $71/month per recruiter.
What it does well:
Actually free: The free tier isn't a trial—it's permanent. If you're under 50 employees, you can use Freshteam forever without paying.
HR management included: Freshteam isn't just an ATS—it includes basic HRIS functionality. Employee directory, time-off tracking, onboarding.
Modern interface: Looks and feels like a modern SaaS product. Clean, intuitive, pleasant to use.
Mobile app: Recruiting on the go is easier with Freshteam's mobile app.
Candidate portal: Candidates can check application status, schedule interviews, and upload documents.
What it doesn't do well:
Free tier has limitations: No custom career site branding, limited interview scheduling, no background check integrations. You get what you pay for.
Support for free tier is limited: Email only, slower response times. Paid tiers get better support.
Less specialized than pure ATS platforms: Freshteam tries to be HRIS + ATS. It's good at both but not best-in-class at either.
Best for: Very small businesses (under 50 employees) who want a free solution and are okay with limited features.
Skip if: You need branded career sites, advanced features, or priority customer support.
Recruiterbox (by Trakstar): The Midpoint Option
Recruiterbox is simple enough for small businesses but powerful enough to scale.
Pricing: Starts at $199/month (unlimited users). Pricing increases based on active job postings, not users.
What it does well:
Unlimited users: Every tier includes unlimited users. Great for small companies where multiple people recruit occasionally.
Simple interface: Designed to be intuitive without training. Hiring managers can jump in and use it immediately.
Candidate pipeline view: Visual pipeline makes it easy to see where every candidate is in the process.
Interview scheduling: Integrated scheduling with Google Calendar and Outlook.
Mobile recruiting: Full-featured mobile app for recruiting on the go.
What it doesn't do well:
Limited customization: You can't heavily customize workflows or interface. What you see is what you get.
Reporting is basic: Standard reports work, but you can't build complex custom reports.
Job posting limits: Higher tiers are needed if you have lots of open roles simultaneously.
Best for: Small businesses that want something between "very basic" and "enterprise complex."
Skip if: You need deep customization or have very limited budget (under $200/month).
The "Just Use Greenhouse/Lever On Their Small Business Tier" Argument
Greenhouse and Lever both offer small business pricing tiers. Should you consider them?
Greenhouse Essentials: Starts around $6,500/year. Scaled-down version of enterprise Greenhouse.
Lever Basic: Similar pricing. Fewer features than their enterprise tier.
Pros:
- You're using the same platform big companies use
- Easier to scale as you grow
- Name recognition helps with candidates
Cons:
- Still expensive compared to Breezy ($189/month = $2,268/year vs. $6,500+/year)
- More complex than most small businesses need
- Implementation and setup still take time
Verdict: If you're growing fast and expect to make 30+ hires in the next 12 months, consider it. If you're stable at 10-15 hires annually, stick with small business platforms.
What About Google Sheets / Airtable?
Some small businesses try to use spreadsheets or Airtable as a makeshift ATS.
Pros:
- Free (or very cheap)
- Customizable
- Familiar tools
Cons:
- No compliance (EEOC data collection, record retention)
- No candidate experience (they email you resumes instead of applying through a portal)
- Manual everything (no job board posting, no resume parsing, no scheduling)
- Doesn't scale
Verdict: Fine for 1-2 hires per year. Not viable for consistent hiring.
How To Choose The Right ATS For Your Small Business
Ask yourself:
What's your budget?
- $0: Freshteam free tier
- $75-$200/month: Breezy HR
- $200-$400/month: JazzHR or Recruiterbox
- $500+/month: Consider Greenhouse/Lever small business tiers
How many hires per year?
- 1-5 hires: Freshteam free tier or Breezy HR
- 5-15 hires: Breezy HR or JazzHR
- 15-30 hires: JazzHR or Recruiterbox
- 30+ hires: Greenhouse/Lever small business tier
How tech-savvy is your team?
- Not very: Breezy HR (simplest)
- Somewhat: Freshteam or Recruiterbox
- Very: JazzHR or Greenhouse/Lever
Do you need HRIS features too?
- Yes: Freshteam (includes basic HR management)
- No: Breezy HR, JazzHR, or Recruiterbox
The Bottom Line
Small businesses don't need enterprise ATS platforms. You need something simple, affordable, and capable of handling 5-20 hires without overwhelming your team.
Start with Breezy HR if you have a modest budget ($189/month) and want something that works immediately.
Try Freshteam if your budget is $0 and you're willing to accept limitations.
Upgrade to JazzHR if you want more features and customization.
Consider Greenhouse/Lever only if you're growing fast and will outgrow small business platforms within a year.
Don't use spreadsheets. Just don't.
Sources:
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