Both ZipRecruiter and Indeed are two of the most popular job boards employers use to find the right talent. Both platforms received high marks for their stellar performance and are well-reviewed by both job seekers and employers. The majority of users find both user-friendly and efficient in bridging the gap between potential employers and a large number of professionals.
Although both offer free use of their platform, there are still some differences in functionalities that may make you choose ZipRecruiter over Indeed or vice versa. Here’s a quick look at our recommendations before we dive into our reasoning:
- ZipRecruiter: Best for growing companies with plans to scale and hire regularly
- Indeed: The best option for companies with a small recruiting budget that need to hire quickly
The Why Behind Our Recommendations for ZipRecruiter vs Indeed
We recommend ZipRecruiter for companies that are 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, which saves time and makes hiring move quickly. Unlike Indeed, ZipRecruiter offers employers and recruiters a monthly plan. For these reasons, it’s a better option for companies that have a more robust budget and need to hire regularly.
ZipRecruiter Pros and Cons
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Intuitive user-interface | Pricing is steep for some employers |
| Customizable job templates and alerts | Auto-renews your plan |
| Interview scheduling and background checking | Unverified emails, alerts, and notifications over-populate employer’s account |
| Simplified recruitment due to the smart matching technology | There’s an extra charge for posting on a specific job board |
We recommend Indeed if you prefer the free job posting option. It is the best option for startups or companies with a small recruiting budget and do not hire regularly. Indeed is also a good choice if you need to post a large volume of jobs without committing to a monthly plan. If you want to attract more quality job seekers, you may invest in their sponsored job to get better visibility and higher chances of hiring the right talent.
Indeed Pros and Cons
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| The job posting is free | The free version has limited access to some applicant information |
| Pay-per-click for Sponsored Jobs | Reports of unfiltered applicants |
| Accessible for People with Disabilities (PWDs) to find jobs | Search keyword sensitive |
| Third-party integrations | Reports of unresponsive client support |
If you need help learning how to advertise your open position, check out our guide on how to post a job ad.
How We Evaluated ZipRecruiter vs Indeed
We evaluated ZipRecruiter and Indeed using their pricing structures, job posting tools, and capabilities. We also considered both provider’s 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.
ZipRecruiter vs Indeed Side-by-Side Comparison
Features | ZipRecruiter | Indeed |
|---|---|---|
Pricing | Pay per post; starts at $249.00 per month for one reusable slot | Free posting; Pay per click (Sponsored Jobs); set your daily pay per click budget |
Customer support | Phone, email, and chat | Phone, email, and chat |
Job Posting | Customizable template, posts at 100+ job sites | Standard template, job description and optional screener questions, general search results; Sponsored Jobs can be posted on 1,000+ partner sites |
Resume database | ✔ | ✔ |
Resume parsing and candidate management* | Smart matching technology; automatic applicant invitation | Yes; Instant Match |
Activity dashboard | ✔ | ✔ |
Access to candidate contact information* | Yes; extra cost | Yes; offered by Indeed Resume |
Interview scheduling | ✔ | ✔ |
Background screening | ✔ | N/A |
Applicant tracking system | Built-in ATS | Built-in ATS |
ATS integration | Hire Vue, Bullhorn, Apploi, Max Hire Greenhouse | Workable, Breezy, ApplicantPRO, ApplicantStack |
Mobile application | ✔ | ✔ |
Widget | ✔ | N/A |
Workflow management | N/A | ✔ |
Budget control and accounting management | N/A | ✔ |
Social advertising | ✔ | N/A |
Social recruiting | N/A | ✔ |
Customizable branding | ✔ | N/A |
Communication management | N/A | ✔ |
Supports People with Disabilities (PWDs) accessibility | N/A | ✔ |
Free trial | Yes, a credit card required | Yes, no credit card required |
Free plan | N/A | ✔ |
*Note that some of these recruitment tools are only available as a paid add-on
Common Features Both ZipRecruiter and Indeed Offer
- Resume database
- Resume parsing and candidate management
- Employer activity dashboard
- Interview scheduling
- Mobile application (available for iOS and Android)
- Customer support is available on phone, email, and chat
Takeaway: ZipRecruiter and Indeed are both excellent recruitment software choices for employers and recruiters. If your company is planning to grow rapidly and add new employees in the near future, ZipRecruiter is the best option. On the other hand, Indeed is the best choice if you want to post as many jobs as necessary at a cheaper price. For small companies with limited budgets, Indeed offers the best deal with its sponsored posts.
ZipRecruiter vs Indeed Pricing
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, since these posts are not sponsored, they will fall out of search results as they become less relevant.
Indeed’s paid options are structured on a pay-per-click basis. Employers and recruiters can set a budget as low as $5 per day, making Indeed a flexible and affordable option for those with a tight recruitment budget. Sponsored postings can be viewed by job seekers on desktop, mobile, and in Job Alerts, and you only pay when a candidate clicks on your listing. Plus, employers who use sponsored posts to get access to Instant Match, which lets them view qualified candidates first. Employers can also create a hiring campaign with a custom budget.
Unlike Indeed, ZipRecruiter does not offer a free plan for employers. It offers two plans: Usage (daily) and Monthly. With Usage, you can make as many job postings as you need. Users are charged per post, per day:
- Standard $16/ day per post
- Premium $24/day per post
It is prorated and billed when you close your last job if you hit your $500 due, or when you have already actively used it for 30 days.
Their monthly plans depend on the number of reusable job slots (1,3,4,10, 20, or 20+) and the level of distribution (Standard, Premium, and Pro). It can be a prepaid or a pay-as-you-go monthly plan. ZipRecruiter’s Simple Standard plan starts at $249 up to $599 per month for one job slot, but it also offers plans for teams starting from four job slots at $449 per month.
- Standard plan: For jobs with low levels of urgency or those that need limited experience or skill sets (receptionists, waiters, baristas); it also naturally falls down quicker in the search results.
- Premium plan: Keeps your job ad circulating longer and gives you access to 16 million+ resumes to source candidates.
- Pro plan: Gives you maximum exposure plus traffic boost credits; these credits promote your job post to the top job boards for 30 days.
Simple | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Features | Standard | Standard Premium | Standard Pro |
Pricing (1 job slot) | $249 | $349 | $599 |
User Seats | 1 | 2 | 8 |
Hiring Companies | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Traffic Boosts | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Resume database views | 0 | 25 | 200 |
ZipRecruiter vs Indeed Job Posting Features
Both ZipRecruiter and Indeed are popular online employment marketplaces. Employers can get access to their resume database with millions of candidates to choose from anytime, anywhere with their mobile application. However, there are still some differences between them that will prompt you to choose one from the other
ZipRecruiter Job Posting
When it comes to job posting, ZipRecruiter gives employers 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 employers are more likely to find content that works for them. You can also add time-saving screening questions to weed out unqualified applicants into your job description. Once submitted, it will be instantly posted to 100+ leading job sites, including Google for jobs.
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 use more than 500 customizable templates that will make it easy for you to write your job description, including screening questions.
Indeed Job Posting
Employers 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. However, as they get older and less relevant, the ads will fall to the bottom of the search results.
ZipRecruiter vs Indeed Recruitment Features
Both Indeed and ZipRecruiter have resume parsing features that try to match potential candidates with the right employers. The two providers can also invite and arrange applicants to a scheduled interview using the employer dashboards. They can also both integrate with applicant tracking systems that will provide more visibility for job posts and attract more job seekers.
Indeed Recruitment Features
Indeed offers its Sponsored job feature to increase your chances to fill your roles quickly. This service enables employers to increase the visibility of their job postings by appearing at the top of search results. Indeed also distributes sponsored jobs to partner job boards as well as business information sites, blogs and search engines, publishers, and career expert sites.
Its employer dashboard lets recruiters manage applicant resumes, job listings, candidate communication, and recruitment results. In addition to managing active postings, users can view paused and closed jobs. And, if your company has several hiring professionals, they can also add feedback to candidate profiles. Finally, the robust and user-friendly dashboard makes it easy to evaluate candidates and generate performance reports to analyze individual job posts.
Apart from the Sponsored Job feature, business owners can also use Indeed to create a free company page with information about your company, photos and videos, and basic performance metrics. Indeed also lets job seekers read company reviews that include salaries and benefits, worker happiness scores, and interview insights. This resource can provide extensive details about a company’s corporate culture and is a helpful tool when deciding whether to interview or take a job with a company.
For job seekers, Indeed also strives to make it more accessible even with people with disabilities (PWDs). It complies with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to meet the needs of all people as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 508 or the Rehabilitation Act that requires electronic and information technology to be available to PWDs.
ZipRecruiter Recruitment Features
Aside from ZipRecruiter’s AI matching technology, it also offers Traffic boost features that prioritize your job ads in search results on Ziprecruiter.com, partner sites, and job alerts. This means that your job ad will be given maximum exposure throughout their marketplace, including channels in which they use smart matching technology to connect the right jobs with the right job seekers. You can use their resume database for the location and job type to view how many people are in the area. The platform offers unlimited previews that show you the resume details without the applicant’s contact information.
ZipRecruiter vs Indeed: Ease of Use, Customer Support, and Integrations
ZipRecruiter and Indeed have user-friendly platforms. Job seekers and employers report that both of them make the job posting and application process more efficient. Users also liked that both providers proactively filter resumes and send interview invites to highly qualified candidates, saving them time.
Both ZipRecruiter and Indeed offer online support options. ZipRecruiter users can contact customer service via live chat; Indeed has a help center that lets users request support via an online submission form.
In contrast, only ZipRecruiter offers a phone support option. It offers 24/7 customer support and users find them responsive and helpful.
Both ZipRecruiter and Indeed have built-in applicant tracking systems, but they can integrate with your existing ATS.
Here are some of the two providers’ integration options:
- ZipRecruiter: Hire Vue, Bullhorn, Apploi, Greenhouse, and Pereless
- Indeed: Workable, Breezy, ApplicantPRO, and ApplicantStack
ZipRecruiter and Indeed: User Reviews
- ZipRecruiter: This software earned 4.7 out of 5 stars on G2, and 4.2 out of 5 stars on Capterra. Reviewers liked that it is simple to set up and easy to use. They also appreciate that it is highly accessible because of its mobile app. Employers can view their dashboard anytime and applicants can be notified immediately of any potential positions that match their qualifications. On the other hand, some users complained of having experienced occasional system glitches and inconsistent customer support. Others also noted that they received a lot of spam emails and notifications from ZipRecruiter.
- Indeed: Users who left online reviews rated this software 4.3 out of 5 stars on G2 and 4.5 out of 5 stars on Capterra. Most clients like its user-friendly interface, adding that its layout is simple and straightforward. Reviews reveal that the platform helped them post and fill positions quickly and effectively. There are also mixed reviews about its customer support—many users noted that the support team is helpful, while others said that they received poor service.
Bottom Line
ZipRecruiter and Indeed both offer robust tools for both 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 advanced tools may be worth the extra cost. Alternatively, companies with a smaller budget may be better served by Indeed’s pricing structure. You can try both for free.
