Aside from offering free job postings, the best free job posting sites have features for showcasing your brand, basic filters to help employers narrow down applicants, a simple posting process, social media sharing tools, and an integrated applicant tracking system. It should also provide services similar to paid ones, allowing you to view resumes, filter potential candidates, and post jobs to top boards—all at no cost. This can increase your potential to hire top candidates in your industry.
While there are many sites to choose from, we have broken them down into the top eight, representing different categories.
- Indeed: Best overall job posting site
- LinkedIn: Best for professional networking
- GigSmart: Best for on-demand labor
- Wellfound: Best for startups needing tech workers
- OptimHire: Best AI-powered job posting site
- Handshake: Best for finding interns
- Guru: Best for finding freelancers
- VeteranJob: Best for hiring veterans
Best Free Job Posting Sites Compared
The top free job posting sites offer a combination of unlimited, no-cost job listings and applicant tracking capabilities. Many supplement their free offerings with paid tiers that provide additional services. While some free sites restrict the number of free postings and have limited applicant tracking, this comparison focuses on the best free job posting for specific needs (such as executive jobs, resume databases, professional networking, and more).
Applicant Tracking | Unlimited Job Posting | Additional Features with Paid Plan | Paid Options Start At | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ✓ | ✓ |
| $5/day or $150/month |
 | ✓ | ✕ |
| $170/month |
 | ✕ | ✓ |
| $90/week or $220/month |
 | ✓ | ✓ |
| $149/month |
 | ✓ | ✓ |
| 0.1% of the annual salary of the matching candidate |
 | ✓ | ✓ |
| Custom pricing |
 | ✓ | ✓ |
| 2.9% of each invoice you pay |
 | ✕ | ✓ |
| Free, but has the option to donate |
Indeed: Best Overall Free Job Posting Site
Pros
- Large user base
- Easy-to-use
- Broad range of filters for jobseeker search
- Candidate management tools
- Has a handy mobile app
Cons
- Posted job listings face fierce competition
- Overwhelming response
- Limited features for free job listings
- Lack of niche focus
Why We Chose It
Indeed reigns as the world’s largest job search engine, attracting over 250 million active and diverse job seekers every month. It provides a comprehensive suite of recruitment tools entirely free of charge, including unlimited job postings, applicant screening capabilities, and an integrated applicant tracking system. Moreover, Indeed facilitates a seamless application process for job seekers through its mobile app, further enhancing its unparalleled reach and accessibility within the global job market.
However, the sheer volume of applicants can be overwhelming for a small team to sort through, potentially leading to missed opportunities or hasty decisions. And, while it offers free job postings, its premium features and sponsored listings can get pricey quickly, which might stretch tight budgets for smaller operations.
If you have a small team or don’t have a dedicated recruiting team, OptimHire is a good alternative. Besides handling the screening and scheduling for you, you only pay once you successfully hire the candidate.
Pricing
Free
Indeed’s free plan allows you to post jobs for free. It also gives you access to Indeed’s applicant tracking system (ATS) for free.
Sponsored Jobs
- Pay-per-click: starts with a $5 per day budget
- Pay-per-application: starts with a $150 per month budget
LinkedIn: Best for Professional Networking
Pros
- Post to millions of professional potential candidates
- Cost affection pay-per-click options to promote jobs
- Completely free job postings
Cons
- Large volume of competition
- Limited to one free job posting at a time
- Unwanted individuals can seep through the cracks
Why We Chose It
As a premier networking site for millions of professionals around the world, LinkedIn serves as a dual-purpose platform for employers, offering both a professional network hub and a powerful recruitment tool.
Companies can create engaging profiles, share updates, and tap into a vast pool of skilled professionals. Thus, even if you are not actively recruiting, you already have the chance to interact with and know more about these potential candidates. Additionally, its advanced search filters and InMail feature make it easier to approach qualified candidates.
However, its premium services can be quite expensive for small business users, especially those operating on a shoestring budget. The cost factor might push smaller operations to explore more affordable alternatives like Wellfound, which is also a popular platform for finding tech talents.
Pricing
- Free: Create and search profiles, and connect with other professionals
- Premium Business ($59.99): Everything in Free + Message professionals outside your network, has unlimited browsing, and advanced search filters
- Recruiter ($170 to $1,080 per month): Detailed search and improved InMail reach (InMail is LinkedIn’s messaging feature), AI-powered message drafts
GigSmart: Best for On-demand Labor
Pros
- Access to gig workers
- Wide range of skills of jobseekers
- Connects you with insured workers
Cons
- High competition for some jobs
- Focuses more on temporary positions
- Costs more than the other providers on this list
Why We Chose It
GigSmart is a staffing platform that allows you to quickly fill hourly shifts and scale your workforce. By signing up for an account, you can create free ShiftGig posts. With GigSmart, you can hire hourly workers on the spot (or 30 days in advance), or you can advertise your open part-time or full-time positions on its job boards and the Get Gigs app. A pool of 330,000 pre-vetted and insured ShiftGig workers will see all active job postings when browsing through the platform or the app.
On the other hand, GigSmart might not work for companies looking for talents that want to grow with their organization since their focus is on gig work. This also means that the pool of workers may be limited compared to larger job boards like Indeed and LinkedIn.
Pricing
GigSmart Plans are based on your post duration. You can also choose to boost your job posts for an additional price.
Posting Plans
- 1 week plan: $90
- 2 week plan: $150
- 3 week plan: $220
- 1 month plan: $270
- 3 month plan: $600
Boosting Plans
- 1 day plan: $5
- 1 week plan: $15
- 2 week plan: $25
- 3 week plan: $35
- 1 month plan: $45
- 3 month plan: $50
Wellfound: Best for Startups Needing Tech Workers
Pros
- Free job listings can come with company logos and profiles
- Advanced search filters to help find passive candidates
- Built-in applicant tracking system
Cons
- No automated candidate matching
- Can’t promote to social media platforms
- No job distribution to other job boards
Why We Chose It
Wellfound (formerly AngelList Talent) is fast becoming a popular hiring platform for the tech startup world. It has around 8 million active and passive candidates, including developers and designers that can be part of your team. Wellfound shines in its ability to showcase company culture and growth potential, which can be a big advantage for candidates passionate about innovative and innovative environments.
As a tech-centric job posting site, it might not be for businesses that are looking for a mix of different candidates for non-tech positions. If you are hiring for different positions, Indeed and LinkedIn have a wide range of talent pools for different positions. On the other hand, if you want someone with a military background or an intern, you can use VetJobs or Wellfound, respectively.
Pricing
Wellfound has three types of products—Attract Talent, Find Talent, and Manage Talent—with different pricing plans.
Attract Talent
- Access (Free): Wellfound’s free plan allows all users to post jobs, review applicants, and track candidates with a built-in ATS for free. Limited access to Source, Wellfound’s advanced recruitment tool that allows you to search, qualify, and hire candidates faster.
- Essentials ($149 per month): Includes all features from Access + Custom screening questions, Advanced applicant filters, and Save applications to prevent expiration.
- Promoted Jobs (Starts at $200): Includes all features in Essentials + top seated job listings, expanded reach
Find Talent
- Access (Free): Review applicants, access to ATS
- Recruit Pro ($499 per month): Everything in Access + resume filtering, custom screening questions
- Autopilot (Custom pricing): Everything in Recruit Pro + 1:1 sourcing expert, access to curated talent
Manage Talent
This is a free plan that gives recruiters and organizations access to Wellfound’s ATS and allows them to review applicants.
OptimHire: Best AI-powered Job Posting Site
Pros
- Automated pre-screening on paid plans
- Resume database access
- Dedicated hiring manager in higher tier plan
Cons
- Limited customization options
- Search features are limited
- Limited integration options
Why We Chose It
OptimHire is a cutting-edge AI-powered recruiting platform, and an intuitive ATS (Applicant Tracking System). It provides a comprehensive set of free features, including complimentary job postings, and unrestricted access to a pool of over 600,000 pre-screened candidates. With it, businesses can streamline their hiring process by tailoring candidate pre-screening to their specific hiring criteria, enabling them to secure the ideal candidates faster than usual.
While real-world users on third-party websites like G2 are satisfied with OptimHire, a majority think that it still lacks advanced features and integrations to cater to larger organizations.
Pricing
- Free: Up to 10 matching candidate applicants
- Pay per Matching Candidate (0.1 % of Annual Salary per Matching Candidate): Includes everything in Free + 10X Faster hiring with OptimAI Recruiter, A.I. Powered – Calling, Email and WhatsApp Campaign, and 100% Matching candidates
- Pay after Successful Hire (6 % of Annual Salary per Hired Candidate): Includes everything in Matching Candidates + 90 Days free One-Time Replacement, and Pay After 30 Days Onboarding.
Handshake: Best for Finding Interns
Pros
- Includes a customizable branded page
- Offers excellent search filters
- Employers can create assessment questionnaires
Cons
- Could be overly complicated for a small business’ needs
Why We Chose It
Handshake is a job posting and career website for college students. With 1,200 partner universities and colleges, it’s an extensive platform to find college students and fresh graduates who can work in a variety of fields like engineering, marketing, operations, sales, and HR. Handshake partners with startups and Fortune 500 companies for paid internships and jobs. It has a standard free product that allows you to post jobs and register for events and career fairs.
Handshake allows you to engage and build relationships with students who can potentially become your future employees. Additionally, start-ups and businesses that need to hire people with the technical know-how but for a lower cost.
Pricing
- Basic (Free): Up to 100 talent matches per month, message up to 25 candidates a month
- Plus (Custom pricing): Message 200 candidates per month, unlimited talent matches up to 10 jobs a month, school recommendations for up to 10 jobs
- Talent Engagement Suite (Custom pricing): Unlimited talent matching, messaging, and school recommendations for up to 25 team members, a dedicated customer success manager
Guru: Best for Finding Freelancers
Pros
- Offers multiple payment methods
- Provides freelancer management functionalities
- 24/7 support
- Allows unlimited job posting
Cons
- Lacks candidate matching
- Complaints of unreliable customer support
Why We Chose It
Guru is one of the most established technical and design hubs for online freelancers. It allows you to post job opportunities and get access to a global pool of talented professionals to manage your projects and tasks. It features WorkRoom, a dedicated workspace for every job, where you can collaborate, communicate, and track freelancer work.
While Guru presents a large pool of candidates, it may not be suited for businesses looking for a long-term full-time employee. Additionally, the quality of the talents available on the platform can be inconsistent, which could take time to find the right fit for what you need.
Pricing
Posting jobs on Guru is free. However, they charge a nominal 2.9% fee for every invoice if you choose to pay the freelancer through its platform.
VeteranJob: Best for Hiring Veterans
Pros
- Specifically tailored for veterans, military personnel, and their spouses
- Offers additional resources like interview guidance, resume-building tips, and career fairs for veterans
Cons
- Some job listings aren’t up to date
Why We Chose It
VetJobs is a specialized job board that connects military veterans, transitioning service members, and their spouses with employment opportunities. It offers employers a unique platform to tap into a pool of disciplined, skilled, and experienced candidates with military backgrounds.
The site allows companies to post job listings, search resumes, and participate in virtual career fairs tailored to the veteran community. While it might not be as extensive as Indeed or LinkedIn, posting your job on VetJobs not only helps military veterans transition smoothly to a civilian career. It is also a good way to demonstrate your organization’s commitment to your DEI initiatives.
Pricing
Posting jobs on VetJobs is free of cost. Funding, according to the site, comes from corporate giving, philanthropy, and family foundations.
Job Posting Tips
To save money and maximize your recruiting efforts, we recommend following these job posting guidelines:
- Sign up: To get access to some of the free job posting sites online, you are required to sign up for an account as an employer. Some job boards ask for a credit card when you sign up—which may mean it is not free. Pay close attention when signing up to post jobs.
- Obey site rules: Free job postings typically have rules that must be followed to post your job opportunities. For example, some will not allow you to post jobs that require the applicant to pay a fee. Others do not allow commission-only jobs (like Ladders). Still, others require you to mention if the role is remote (like Indeed). Be sure to read the fine print before posting your first job.
- Use specific keywords: To find top talent, be sure to be specific when selecting job titles and keywords. Keep in mind that when you post jobs for free, it will be near the top when you submit it, but eventually, it will fall further down in the list of search results. If you need to find the job you posted after a while, you have to use a popular job title and the right keywords.
- Advertise sparingly: Sometimes paid job ads result in more applicants, even more than you need since many of them cross-post your job to other job boards. Paid ads can make your open job role stand out to job seekers and help you narrow down the list of applicants with screening questions and pre-hire tests. However, using paid ads no longer makes your job posting free, so we suggest using them sparingly.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
There’s not a single answer to this question because free job posting sites vary in their offerings. However, the best free job posting site for you would primarily depend on your hiring requirements and priorities. Hiring an intern vs looking for a freelancer, for example, would give you different options.
Many platforms offer completely free job posting. However, advertising your job to make it stand out would usually require a fee.
It depends on the site. However, employer registration is an essential step to prevent scams or job listings that don’t comply with the posting requirements. Employer registration also helps to improve your credibility and earn the trust of job seekers.
Not all free job posting websites need a credit card to post. However, it’s not unusual for job posting sites to require a credit card for verification.
Google for Jobs increases the visibility of your job posting. However, you need to optimize it so that search engines can understand and display your job information more effectively in search results. It can be done by structuring your job listing using schema.org markup, which would typically go in this order:
- Job title
- Job description
- Date posted
- Application deadline
- Employment type (full-time or part-time)
- Hiring company
- Job location
- Salary
Bottom Line
Free job posting sites help get your job in front of thousands of potential job seekers, creating a greater opportunity to capture strong candidates at no cost to you. Other sites, like Indeed, offer an applicant tracking system (ATS) that monitors which jobs are posted where, gathers applications in one place, and shows which free and paid job posting sites are providing you with the best candidates possible. Determining which free job posting site is right for your business may be determined by your industry or the type of job you need to fill.
