The best Greenhouse alternative depends on why you are leaving: Ashby if you want stronger analytics and scheduling in one system, Lever if sourcing and candidate relationships matter most, and Workable or Breezy if you are a smaller company that simply bought more ATS than you need. For teams hiring fewer than 20 people a year, a much lighter tool is usually enough.
Greenhouse is the structured-hiring standard for good reason, and for many companies staying is the right call. This guide covers Greenhouse pricing (what is public), Greenhouse vs Ashby, Greenhouse vs Lever and Lever vs Ashby, then the small-business alternatives. We make one of them, the Hiring template in KissMySkills AI Recruiting. It is deliberately simpler than everything else here, and we say where that is a weakness.
Prices checked October 2026 on each vendor's own site.
Why teams look for Greenhouse alternatives
We hear the same four reasons again and again:
- The renewal quote. Greenhouse is priced by quote, and the number often grows with headcount and plan.
- Bought too early. Founders get told to "just buy Greenhouse" at 15 people, then use a fraction of it.
- Reporting needs a separate tool. Talent teams that want deep funnel analytics sometimes find they need extra reporting work.
- Admin load. Structured hiring is powerful, but someone has to maintain interview kits, scorecards and permissions.
If none of these apply, and you hire dozens of people a year with several interviewers per role, Greenhouse is probably still the right tool.
Greenhouse pricing (what's public)
Greenhouse does not publish prices. Its pricing page says cost depends on the plan, your hiring volume and organizational complexity, and the features you need. There are three plans:
- Core: sourcing and CRM, structured interview kits and scorecards, an AI notetaker, scheduling, reporting and analytics, SSO.
- Plus: adds AI-powered report filters, a business intelligence connector, sourcing automation, texting, and fraud and spam detection.
- Pro: adds enterprise-level data configuration and security, an audit log, and a developer sandbox.
To get a number you request a demo. Treat any "Greenhouse pricing" figure you see on third-party sites as an estimate, and get your own quote before comparing.
Greenhouse vs Ashby
Ashby is the newer all-in-one ATS that many growth-stage companies compare with Greenhouse. Unlike Greenhouse, it publishes an entry price: the Foundations plan is $400 a month for companies with up to 100 employees, with a 10% discount for annual commitment. Plus (101 to 1,000 employees) and Enterprise are quoted. Ashby Analytics is also sold separately as a reporting layer for companies with 100+ employees.
Where Ashby wins: analytics and reporting built into the core product, and strong scheduling (advanced scheduling is an add-on). Teams that live in hiring dashboards tend to prefer it.
Where Greenhouse wins: a longer track record in structured interviewing, a very large partner ecosystem (Greenhouse lists over 400 pre-built integrations), and familiarity: many recruiters and hiring managers already know it.
Ashby pricing in short: public at the entry level, quoted above 100 employees. That alone makes it easier to budget for a small company.
Greenhouse vs Lever (and Lever vs Ashby)
Lever, now part of Employ, combines an ATS with a recruiting CRM in one platform. Pricing is not public; Lever says it is tailored to team size and hiring needs, with add-ons such as Candidate Insights, AI screening by VONQ and onboarding.
Greenhouse vs Lever: Greenhouse is stronger on structure: interview kits, scorecards and consistent evaluation. Lever is stronger on sourcing and nurturing: it treats candidates like relationships you build over months, which suits teams that recruit passive talent for hard-to-fill roles.
Lever vs Ashby: both offer ATS plus CRM. Ashby leans into analytics and scheduling; Lever leans into sourcing workflows and candidate nurture. If you need to report on every stage of the funnel, look harder at Ashby. If your recruiters spend their days sourcing on LinkedIn, look harder at Lever.
Lever pricing: quote only, so compare it with a written quote from Greenhouse and Ashby for the same headcount.
Comparison table
| ATS | Pricing model | Structured interviews | Analytics | Sourcing CRM | Best stage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greenhouse | Quote only (Core, Plus, Pro) | Strongest: kits and scorecards | Built in; BI connector on Plus | Included | Structured hiring, 100+ employees |
| Ashby | $400/month up to 100 employees; quote above | Yes | Strongest in this list | Yes | Growth-stage, data-driven teams |
| Lever | Quote only | Yes | Yes, plus add-ons | Core strength | Sourcing-heavy recruiting teams |
| Workable | From $299/month | Basic | Standard reports | Limited | SMBs hiring steadily |
| Breezy HR | Free (1 job), then from $157/month | Scorecards and interview guides on Growth | Basic | Nurture campaigns on Business | Small teams, unlimited users |
| KissMySkills Hiring | Free (300 AI CRM records incl. candidates, 1 user), then $15/month | No; AI writes interview questions per candidate | Ask your AI agent; no dashboards | No | Under 20 hires a year |
SMB alternatives
Workable
Workable is the most complete small-business ATS. Standard is $299 a month ($3,588 a year billed annually), Premier $599 and Enterprise $719, with a 15-day trial. It includes unlimited active jobs (fair use) and distribution to 200+ job boards, plus a credit-based AI agent for screening and sourcing. If you are leaving Greenhouse because you are smaller than you thought, Workable keeps most of what you used at a known price.
Breezy HR
Breezy has a free plan for one active job and paid plans from $157 a month billed annually ($189 monthly), all with unlimited users. Interview guides and scorecards appear on the Growth plan, candidate nurture campaigns and HRIS integrations on Business. AI evaluation is a paid add-on. It is a good fit for small teams where many people interview but nobody is a full-time recruiter.
KissMySkills Hiring
AI Recruiting is the hiring template inside KMS AI CRM. Each job gets a public job page and application form, candidates land on a simple board (Applied, Screen, Interview, Offer), and your own Claude or ChatGPT, through the KissMySkills connector, reads each CV, gives a fit score with the reasons, and writes interview questions for that candidate. It is free for up to 300 records in AI CRM (candidates count toward this limit), 1 user and unlimited job posts; the All-Access subscription at $15 a month or $129 a year removes the record limit and includes the other AI tools. A team setup with more users is arranged by email.
Be clear about what it is not. It has no structured interview kits or scorecards, no funnel analytics, no sourcing CRM, no job-board distribution and nowhere near 400 integrations. It is for a founder or office manager hiring a handful of people a year who wants every applicant read and scored without running an enterprise ATS. For more on building a repeatable process at that size, see our guide to the AI recruiting strategy agent.
How to compare quotes before your renewal
Because Greenhouse, Lever and Ashby's larger plans are all quoted, the only fair comparison is the one you build yourself. Do this two to three months before your renewal date:
- Count what you really use. Pull a list of active users, open jobs per month and hires in the last 12 months. Many teams pay for seats and features nobody touched.
- Ask every vendor for the same scope. Same headcount, same number of recruiters and hiring managers, same add-ons (scheduling, AI notetaker, SSO, analytics). Otherwise the quotes are not comparable.
- Price the add-ons separately. AI screening, advanced scheduling, analytics and SSO are often extra. Ashby, for example, lists SSO at $100 a month and sells advanced scheduling and its AI notetaker as add-ons.
- Include the switching cost. Rebuilding interview kits, retraining hiring managers and reconnecting integrations takes weeks of someone's time.
- Use the quotes honestly. If Greenhouse fits and the alternatives are not clearly better, a competing quote is still useful in the renewal conversation.
For a company hiring fewer than 20 people a year, this exercise often ends with a different conclusion: you do not need a quoted enterprise ATS at all. A tool with public pricing, or a free one, covers the job.
Migration checklist
Switching ATS mid-year is doable if you plan it. Before you sign anything:
- Export everything. Candidates, resumes, notes, scorecards and email history. Check what your current contract allows and in which format.
- Decide what to bring. Active candidates and a "silver medalist" list from the last 12 months are usually enough. Old rejected applicants can stay in an archive.
- Map your stages. Write down your current pipeline stages and how they map to the new tool.
- Rebuild interview kits. If you rely on structured interviews, check the new tool supports them before you move.
- List your integrations. HRIS, calendar, background checks, job boards, Slack. Confirm each one exists in the new tool.
- Run both for one role. Open one new job in the new tool while finishing current roles in the old one.
- Mind data retention. Delete candidate data you no longer need, in line with your privacy policy and local rules.
Which to pick by company stage
- Under 20 employees, a few hires a year: a free or very light tool. KissMySkills Hiring if you already use Claude or ChatGPT, Breezy's free plan if you need job-board reach for one role at a time.
- 20 to 100 employees, steady hiring: Workable or Breezy's paid plans. Ashby Foundations if analytics matter and $400 a month fits.
- 100 to 500 employees, structured hiring: Greenhouse or Ashby. Get quotes from both for the same scope.
- Sourcing-heavy teams hiring hard-to-fill roles: Lever, or Greenhouse with its CRM.
- Enterprise, compliance-heavy: Greenhouse Pro or the enterprise ATS platforms such as iCIMS and Workday.
Our roundup of the best AI recruiting tools and the explainer on whether you need an ATS, AI, or both help if you are still deciding what category you need.
FAQ
What is iCIMS used for?
iCIMS is an enterprise talent acquisition platform used by large employers to run high-volume recruiting: applicant tracking, career sites, candidate CRM, onboarding and compliance workflows. It competes with Greenhouse at the enterprise end and is usually more than a small business needs.
What is ATS in HR?
In HR, ATS means applicant tracking system: software that manages hiring from job posting to offer. It collects applications, keeps candidates in a pipeline, schedules interviews, records feedback and, in many tools, screens resumes with AI. An ATS covers hiring; an HRIS covers employees after they are hired.
Is Greenhouse worth it for a small company?
Usually not below about 50 employees or 20 hires a year. Its strengths, structured interviews, 400+ integrations and enterprise reporting, pay off at scale. Smaller teams generally get better value from Workable, Breezy or a lightweight AI tool.
What is the best Greenhouse alternative for startups?
For startups under 100 employees, Ashby Foundations ($400 a month) is the closest like-for-like alternative with public pricing. If you hire fewer than 20 people a year, Workable, Breezy HR or a lightweight AI tool such as KissMySkills Hiring will cost far less and cover what you actually use.
Summary
Greenhouse still wins on structured interviewing, integrations and enterprise reporting, and Ashby wins on analytics and scheduling. Lever is the pick for sourcing-heavy teams, and Workable or Breezy for small companies that bought too much. Hiring a handful of roles this year? Try the lightweight KissMySkills Hiring tool, free for up to 300 records in AI CRM (candidates count toward this limit) and 1 user at crm.kissmyskills.com.
