ZipRecruiter vs Indeed: Price, Features & Key Differences

ZipRecruiter and Indeed are two of the most popular job boards employers use to find top talent. Both platforms are well-reviewed by job seekers and employers, with many finding them user-friendly and efficient in bridging the gap between potential employers and a large number of job-seeking professionals.

Although they have similar job posting and recruiting tools, some differences in functionalities may help you choose between ZipRecruiter vs Indeed. Here’s a quick look at our recommendations before we dive into our reasoning:

• ZipRecruiter: Best for growing businesses with plans to scale and hire regularly
• Indeed: Best for free job postings and recommended for companies with small recruiting budgets needing to hire quickly

ZipRecruiter vs Indeed At-a-Glance

Free Plan	✕	Free job postings
Multiple Job Posting Packages	✓	✕
Pricing	Usage plans cost $16 and $24 per job post daily; Monthly plans start at $299 for one reusable slot	Pay-per-click “Sponsored Jobs” with a daily budget of $5–$499 per job post
Unlimited Candidate Applications	✓	✓
Job Description Templates	Customizable	Standard
Screening Questions	✓	✓
Resume Database	32M+	200M+
Smart Search Tools	✓	✓
Candidate Contact Views	Included in the Premium Usage and monthly plans (except the basic tier)	Costs extra
Online Skills Assessment	✕	✓
Company Page	✕	✓
Employer Dashboard	✓	✓
Mobile Recruiting App	✓	✓
	Visit ZipRecruiter	Visit Indeed

ZipRecruiter vs Indeed: Key Differences

• Indeed is a job board, while ZipRecruiter is a web-based software that lets you post jobs to 100+ job boards.
• ZipRecruiter doesn’t have a free plan, while Indeed has one that lets users post jobs to appear on the general results page.
• Indeed’s sponsored jobs charge you per click, but ZipRecruiter has pay-per-post plans.
• Both offer job templates, but only ZipRecruiter’s templates are customizable.
• While Indeed has a built-in ATS, ZipRecruiter lets you manage the recruitment process via integration with a third-party app.

When to Use ZipRecruiter vs Indeed

• ZipRecruiter
• Indeed

ZipRecruiter

What We Like

• Easy to use
• Has customizable job templates
• Uses AI candidate matching technology
• One click to post to more than 100 job boards

What's Missing

• Expensive compared to software offering similar tools
• Additional charges if you need access to specialty job boards
• Very short trial period of four days
• Monthly plans are automatically renewed

Deciding Factors

• Pricing:
  • No free plan
  • $16–$24 (daily pricing)
  • $299–$899 monthly
• Features:
  • TrafficBoost tool for advertising jobs
  • Comprehensive knowledge base
  • AI candidate matching
• Customer Support:
  • Email
  • Chat
  • Phone
• User Reviews: 4.45 out of 5 stars averaged on popular review websites

When comparing ZipRecruiter vs Indeed, we found both to be excellent recruitment software choices for employers and recruiters. However, we recommend ZipRecruiter for companies planning to scale and hire regularly since it gives you a fixed number of reusable job slots.

To expand your search, it posts your jobs to over 100 other job sites and proactively invites potential candidates that best match your open roles to apply, which saves time and makes hiring move quickly. Unlike Indeed, ZipRecruiter offers employers and recruiters a monthly plan.

Indeed

What We Like

• Built-in applicant tracking system (ATS)
• Has a free plan
• Has the largest candidate pool

What's Missing

• Free jobs don’t get as much attention
• Branded job posting isn’t included in the free plan
• Full packages are pricey

Deciding Factors

• Pricing:
  • Free plan allows unlimited job posting
  • Paid plans to let you search resume range, from $120 to $300 per month
  • Sponsor jobs for a minimum of $5 daily
• Features:
  • Offers a recruiting solution that helps automate hiring flow
• Customer Support:
  • Online ticket
  • Email
• User Reviews: 4.35 out of 5 stars averaged on popular review websites

Indeed, which is our top-recommended free job posting site, is the best choice if you have a small recruiting budget and do not hire regularly. It lets you post as many jobs as necessary, as little or often as needed, at no cost.

It is also a good choice if you need to post a large volume of jobs without committing to a monthly plan. To attract more quality job seekers, you may invest in its sponsored job listings to get better visibility and higher chances of hiring the right talent.

When Neither Is a Good Fit

If you’re a startup needing a recruiting platform, Freshteam offers a free plan with all the tools you need to find employees for your business. It also offers scalable and affordable plans with transparent pricing details so you’ll know which tools you get should you decide to shift to a paid subscription. Paid plans start at a base fee of $71 plus $1.20 per employee monthly.

Best for Affordability: Indeed

Multiple Job Posting Plans	✓	✕
Pricing	Usage plans cost $16 and $24 per job post daily; Monthly plans start at $299 for one reusable slot	Free job postings; $120–$300 to search resumes
Sponsored Jobs	“TrafficBoost” credits included in premium monthly plans	Pay-per-click “Sponsored Jobs” with a daily budget of $5–$499 per job post
User Seats	Up to 8	1
Monthly Candidate Contact View Credits	Starts at 25*	30 or 100
	Visit ZipRecruiter	Visit Indeed

*The number of candidate contact credits vary depending on the plan selected. However, this feature isn’t available in the basic Usage and Monthly plans.

With Indeed, small business owners can make unlimited job posts in its general search results for free. The free option lets employers accept hundreds of applications and manage potential candidates using their Indeed accounts. However, these free job posts will fall out of search results as they become less relevant unless employers get its pay-per-click “Sponsored Jobs” option.

Employers and recruiters can set a budget as low as $5 per day (max of $499 daily), making Indeed a flexible and affordable option for those with a tight recruitment budget. Sponsored postings can be viewed by job seekers on desktop and mobile, and you only pay when a candidate clicks on your listing. You can also create a hiring campaign with a custom budget. Plus, you are granted access to Instant Match, which lets you view resumes of qualified candidates and invite them to apply.

ZipRecruiter Pricing

Unlike Indeed, ZipRecruiter does not offer free job postings. It has two plans: Usage, which follows a pay-per-job post pricing scheme, and Monthly.

Usage Plans

With Usage, you can make as many job postings as you need. Users are charged per post, per day.

• Standard: $16 per job post daily
• Premium: $24 per job post daily

Note that you get billed monthly when your account hits $500 or upon cancellation—whichever comes first.

Monthly Plans

ZipRecruiter’s Monthly plans are based on the number of reusable job slots you need (1, 3, 4, 10, 20, or 20+) and the distribution level (Standard, Premium, and Pro).

*These credits promote your job post to the top job boards for 30 days.

Best for Job Postings: ZipRecruiter

One-Click Job Postings	✓	✓
Job Description Templates	Customizable templates	Examples included
Job Post Visibility	Depends on selected plan; with Standard to Pro levels	Free job listings appear prominently for the first 2–3 days after posting
Job Ads Promotion	“TrafficBoost” credits included in highest tier	“Sponsored Jobs” with add-on PPC pricing
	Visit ZipRecruiter	Visit Indeed

When comparing Indeed vs ZipRecruiter for job postings, they have several similar features, like one-click job postings that send your ads to their networks of partner job boards and sites. However, ZipRecruiter has a few functionalities that are slightly more robust than those of Indeed—it even topped our list of best job posting sites.

When it comes to job postings, ZipRecruiter provides access to 500+ customizable templates that make it easy for you to write the position’s details, including the job description. Templates are available for a variety of industries and roles, so you are more likely to find content that matches your job postings. You can also add to your job description time-saving screening questions to weed out unqualified applicants. Once submitted, it will be instantly posted to leading job boards, social networks, and veteran job sites.

Job slots are also reusable. If you fill one of the jobs you are posting, you can take that post out, save it in drafts, and post a completely unique position in its place to run the remainder of the 30-days or end of billing.

With ZipRecruiter, you can easily post a job in a few clicks.

When to Consider Indeed for Job Postings

Those with limited recruiting budgets can upload unlimited job posts in Indeed’s general search results for free. It advertises the ad to millions of job seekers and enables employers to accept hundreds of applications. While it also has job description templates that you can use when creating job ads, it isn’t customizable like ZipRecruiter. Plus, as the job posts get older and less relevant, the ads will fall to the bottom of Indeed’s search results. You can improve job posting reach and visibility by having your ads sponsored (daily PPC costs range from $5 to $499 per job post).

When sponsoring a job ad, Indeed recommends a daily budget for your job posting.

Best Recruitment Features: Indeed

Number of Job Seekers	10M	250M
Number of Resumes	32M+	200M+
Unlimited Monthly Resume Views	✓	Paid add-on
Resume Parsing	✓	✓
Search Filters	✓	✓
Instant Resume Matches	✓	With paid option
View Candidate Contact Information	Included in non-starter Usage and Monthly plans	Included in paid add-on
Candidate Management Tools	✓	✓
Applicant Tracking System (ATS) Integrations	45	101
Company Page	✕	✓
Background Screening	✓	✕
	Visit ZipRecruiter	Visit Indeed

While Indeed and ZipRecruiter both have resume parsing, search filters, candidate management, and artificial intelligence (AI) tools to help you find qualified applicants who best fit your job hiring requirements, Indeed has a better set of recruiting features. It is mainly because of its extensive resume bank (over 200 million vs ZipRecruiter’s 32+ million), large marketplace of job seekers (10 million vs 250 million), and robust ATS integrations.

Business owners can also use Indeed to create a free company page with information about the company, photos and videos, and basic performance metrics. This can help you promote your employer brand to job seekers, allowing them to know more about your business’ corporate culture and work environment.

When to Consider ZipRecruiter for Recruitment Features

Unlike Indeed, which requires you to purchase its resume solution to view and search through candidate profiles, ZipRecruiter lets you search its resume bank at no extra cost. The platform offers unlimited previews that show you the resume details without the applicant’s contact information. If you subscribe to its non-starter Usage and Monthly plans, you get candidate contact view credits that start at 25 per month.

Best for Ease of Use & Customer Support: ZipRecruiter

Ease of Use	Good	Good
Phone, Email, and Chat Support	✓	✓
24/7 Customer Service	✓	Weekdays only
Online Help Center With How-to Articles	✓	✓
	Visit ZipRecruiter	Visit Indeed

When comparing ZipRecruiter vs Indeed for customer support, only ZipRecruiter provides customer service that’s available 24/7. However, we found that both have extensive libraries of how-to articles that you can access online. Both also offer phone, chat, and email support.

Both also have user-friendly platforms—employers and job seekers reported that they make the job posting and application processes more efficient. Users also like that they proactively filter resumes and send interview invites to highly qualified candidates, saving them time.

How We Evaluated ZipRecruiter vs Indeed

We evaluated ZipRecruiter and Indeed using their pricing structures, job posting tools, and capabilities. We also considered both providers’ reputations among job seekers, including customer reviews. Their customer support was also a major consideration since a lot of small business owners may need assistance in navigating through their systems.

Bottom Line

ZipRecruiter and Indeed offer robust tools for recruiters and job seekers. Both have helped countless employers find highly-qualified candidates that were perfect for their jobs. Hence, choosing either of them could be difficult for a business owner since they both ranked high in many reviews.

Before you choose, consider your budget and the number of postings you need each month. For companies with a larger budget, ZipRecruiter’s job posting and recruiting tools may be worth the extra cost. Alternatively, companies with a smaller budget may be better served by Indeed’s pricing structure—plus, you can post jobs for free.