Indeed Review: Is It Right for Your Business?
Charlette has over 10 years of experience in accounting and finance and 2 years of partnering with HR leaders on freelance projects. She uses this extensive experience to answer your questions about payroll.
Juvy has over 10 years of content writing experience and was a licensed teacher. She has evaluated and written about dozens of payroll and HR software solutions for small business to provide the best answers to your software questions.
This article is part of a larger series on Hiring.
With over 250 million unique visitors per month, Indeed provides businesses with the opportunity to reach millions of potential candidates through its recruitment advertising network. It has a built-in applicant tracking system (ATS) that enables you to manage your job postings, source candidates, review resumes, and schedule interviews. Job postings are free, but you can also pay to advertise your listings.
What We Like
- The largest candidate pool
- Built-in ATS
- Free plan
- Indeed Assessments evaluates candidates’ on-the-job skills and qualities
What's Missing
- Free job posts don’t get as much traction
- Free plan does not include branded job posting
- Comprehensive plans are expensive
Deciding Factors
- Free job posting
- Sponsored posts start at $5 daily
- Offers a recruiting solution to automate the hiring process and let you get to the interview quickly
What We Recommend Indeed For
Businesses of all sizes have used Indeed to hire dozens of employees as the platform provides immediate access to millions of resumes. Indeed is simple to learn and easy to use and provides hiring managers with quick access to qualified candidates. Setting it up only takes a few quick clicks and is well worth the short time investment.
In short, Indeed is best for:
- Small businesses: Small businesses often have difficulty finding and attracting top talent in their industry at an affordable rate. You can post an unlimited number of jobs for free on Indeed and only pay to promote them when you’re ready. It’s a top recommendation in our guides on best free job posting sites and best job posting sites.
- Recruiters: The numbers speak for themselves. Recruiters need to find candidates for jobs. They may have their own ATS with thousands or even tens of thousands of job candidates, but nothing compares to the 200 million resumes on Indeed. By posting a job for their client on Indeed, a recruiter can instantly have access to countless qualified resumes.
- Location-independent companies: With more and more businesses in countless industries going remote, using Indeed allows you to access potential employees in any location. This gives you access to a larger pool of more qualified candidates, ensuring that you don’t miss out on the perfect hire because you were looking in the wrong location.
When Indeed Would Not Be a Good Fit
- You need to diversify your workforce quickly: While Indeed has a large base of candidates, diversity recruiting is not its focus. Check out our top recommended diversity job boards for options that will help you recruit specific demographics.
- Companies that need high-quality, white-collar workers quickly: Although Indeed has a large number of candidates, they’re not always the most qualified for the positions employers post, especially those that require unique skill sets. Some candidates apply to different jobs without considering if it’s a good fit. Consider options like ZipRecruiter that gives you access to a large number of job boards with a diverse set of candidates, or LinkedIn, which connects a large network of professionals that you can both passively and actively recruit.
Indeed Top Alternatives At a Glance
 |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|
Visit ZipRecruiter | Visit LinkedIn | Visit Monster | |
Best for | Growing companies that want to post to multiple job boards | Recruiters and executive-level positions | Entry-level jobs |
Monthly fees from | $299 (daily fee starting at $16 per post) | $29.95; has a free plan | $279 |
Since Our Last Update:
Indeed has changed its Standard and Professional plans monthly pricing under Indeed Resume. Standard priced formerly at $100 is now $120 while Professional, priced previously at $250 is now $300.
Indeed Pricing
Indeed offers several solutions for recruiters of varying needs and budgets. With Indeed, you can post job listings for free or sponsor them at a pay-per-click scheme to attract more applicants. However, to contact applicants and search resumes, you need a subscription. Indeed also offers a unique platform that uses technology to automate the hiring process. Check the table below for the different Indeed packages.
Features | Free | Sponsored | Indeed Resume | Indeed Hiring Platform** |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Monthly Fees | None | $5 and up | $120 or $300* | Contact Indeed |
Job Posting | ✔ | ✔ | - | ✔ |
Sponsored Job Posting | - | ✔ | - | - |
Resume Searching | - | - | ✔ | - |
Email Reminders to Candidates | - | - | ✔ | - |
Direct Message Candidates | - | - | ✔ | - |
Hiring Insights | - | - | ✔ |
*Get a 20% discount on annual billing.
**This tool uses technology to automate the hiring process from job posting to interviewing candidates straight from Indeed.
Haven’t found what you’re looking for?
Check out our guide to the best recruiting software for small businesses.
After creating an employer account, you can start posting a job for free. Your job listing will appear in the general search results and are most visible within three days after posting. After this period, the listing will move further down the list. Indeed, however, doesn’t allow users to repost the same listing within a short period of time. Read our guide to maximizing your Indeed job postings to help attract the best candidates.
Indeed-sponsored job listings show up when certain general criteria are met. If you want to get more granular, you can use their targeted ads service.
Sponsored job listings are prominently displayed on relevant search results.
(Source: Indeed)
A sponsored listing is paid per-click—meaning you will pay each time a job seeker clicks on the post. You set the guidelines for who sees your ad based on numerous factors like location, previous job titles, search history, and more. According to Indeed, employers will only pay for clicks of qualified candidates based on your requirements.
Sponsored job posts costs at least $5 per day, and you’ll set the daily budget. When the daily budget is reached, Indeed will no longer display the job among sponsored listings.
For you to contact potential candidates, you need to have a subscription to Indeed Resume. This subscription provides employers with a certain number of contacts per month and access to set up resume alerts.
You can choose from two types of subscriptions:
- Standard: $120 monthly for up to 30 contact credits per month
- Professional: $300 monthly for up to 100 contacts per month
This is a paid service similar to using a recruiter. With a traditional recruiter, you pay them to source, interview, and negotiate with new hires. They may even manage your onboarding process.
Indeed Hiring Platform is different in that it uses technology to automate the steps in the hiring process. Using your job criteria and qualifications, Indeed will screen potential candidates and schedule interviews for you. The interview process will be hosted by Indeed’s video interview technology. This service is commission-based and you’ll need to contact Indeed for pricing.
Indeed Features
Indeed offers companies many ways to find and contact potential employees. Its core function is simple—connect job seekers with the right opportunities.
It takes just a few minutes to set up a free Indeed employer account. Doing so gives you quick access to free job postings, should you need them. Your company’s hiring needs could be just the right opportunity for candidates on Indeed.
Post your jobs for free with Indeed.
(Source: Indeed)
This is a free service provided to any business that takes the time to set up a company page. This is exactly what it sounds like. To start, you first need to claim your company page, which allows you the ability to add your logo and a company description, along with pictures and links.
If you have any current job listings, even free listings, your company page will display those. Job candidates can also follow your company page to stay updated on your brand. Importantly, company pages also allow employee reviews. This is important because potential employees will look to see what current employees say about your company. You can and should reply to any reviews.
Any hiring manager will tell you the value of a solid ATS. Getting resumes in your email inbox and trying to remember which candidates you wanted to call or schedule for an interview is a good way to lose out on making the right hire.
With Indeed’s built-in ATS, you can track candidates from application to rejection or hire. You can leave notes, schedule interviews, and make sure you don’t miss the perfect candidate.
Indeed’s applicant tracking system helps you stay on top of hiring.
(Source: Indeed)
Indeed offers job posters the ability to add screener questions to the job posting. When an applicant applies to your job, the system will ask them the screening questions.
These questions may include:
- Are you in the same location as the company?
- Are you authorized to work in the United States?
- Do you meet the minimum qualifications?
You can add your own questions, too. But be careful that your questions are compliant with employment laws.
Indeed makes connecting with candidates easy. When you see a resume you like, you can message that person directly on Indeed’s platform.
You can also schedule an interview directly with the candidate using the platform. Its intuitive software will allow you to suggest times to the candidate and, when they make a selection, automatically schedule that time for the interview.
If you choose to sponsor a job posting, you can set a daily budget. Much like your company’s marketing budget that sets a daily spend, you can do the same for your Indeed job posting.
Setting this daily budget will help you keep your hiring costs in check. Based on your budget, Indeed will also tell you approximately how many candidates you can expect to apply for your job. As you move the slider around, you will see the number of candidates change.
Indeed Ease of Use
- Intuitive user experience
- Quick and easy setup
- Comprehensive how-to guides
- Detailed applicant tracking
- Guided job postings and company page creation
Simply put, Indeed is incredibly easy to use. Its intuitive interface walks you through posting a job, giving you specific sections to add highlights of the role. Every feature Indeed offers makes for a positive user experience.
The only learning curve you might need to overcome depends on the Indeed plan you choose. If your plan includes resume searching and you’ve never searched for resumes on a job board before, learning how to get the most accurate results can be a hurdle. But it’s a minor hurdle and can be quickly overcome.
What Users Think About Indeed
Users Like | Users Don’t Like |
|---|---|
Easy to use interface | Low-quality entry-level candidates |
High-quality candidates | Lack of support |
High volume of candidates | Pay-per-click model can increase costs |
Based on user reviews of Indeed, it generally ranks high on user satisfaction. The biggest complaint is around unqualified job candidates, but Indeed is always innovating new ways to overcome that concern. At the time of publication, Indeed reviews earned the following scores on popular user review sites:
- Capterra: 4.5 out of 5 stars based on more than 6,700 reviews
- G2: 4.2 out of 5 stars based on about 500 reviews
Bottom Line
Indeed is a great option for finding new employees. With more candidates than any other job board, your company is likely to find the right person for the job on Indeed. What you see is what you get with Indeed—setup is simple and pricing is clear. Not only can your business find the right hire for your next open position, but you can do it fast and cost-effectively with Indeed. Sign up for your free Indeed for Employers account today.
