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Indeed Alternatives for Recruiters & Talent Acquisition Specialists
Explore the top alternatives to Indeed that help recruiters connect with better-fit candidates faster and streamline the hiring process.
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While Indeed remains one of the largest job boards on the market, it’s not the perfect fit for every recruiter or hiring need. Between limited filtering tools, AI-driven changes and an overwhelming volume of applicants, many talent acquisition specialists are searching for smarter, more targeted platforms.
We’ll explore the best alternatives to Indeed for recruiters and talent acquisition professionals. Whether you’re hiring niche talent, need advanced screening tools, or want to access a curated talent pool, the platforms listed below offer unique advantages that may better align with your hiring goals.
LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network, offering recruiters unparalleled access to a vast talent pool.
Why should you use LinkedIn over Indeed?
LinkedIn offers direct access to a professional network of over 1 billion users, allowing recruiters to actively search for candidates instead of waiting for applications. Its targeting options, detailed profiles and messaging capabilities offer more precision and outreach for employee recruitment than Indeed.
Here are some key reasons recruiters prefer it:
- Easily spot fake resumes: LinkedIn’s profiles and visibility make it far easier to detect fraudulent candidates than Indeed. “It’s much easier on LinkedIn to spot the fake ones, which is why I prefer LinkedIn to Indeed,” said Krista Morris, chief resume writer at Virtuoso Resumes and Recruiting. “It’s impossible to spot anything in Indeed because there’s no photos, there’s no people, there’s nothing.”
- Target the right candidates: LinkedIn’s advanced filters and profile tools make it easier to zero in on active job seekers. Candidates can switch their profile to say “Open to Work,” allowing recruiters using LinkedIn’s advanced filters to easily target professionals who are actively applying. They can even filter candidates by name, title, skill or country. “LinkedIn gives you insight into people’s personas, and you’ll find out what’s important to them or not because maybe they’re not active,” explained Patrice Williams Lindo, CEO of Career Nomad.
- Access unmatched features and reach: Recruiters will benefit from applicants who turn to LinkedIn because of its wealth of features. Harleny Vasquez, career coach for Gen Z and millennial college grads and founder of Your EVOLVED Mind LLC, emphasized that LinkedIn is where the job seekers — and the recruiters — are. “LinkedIn is not only a networking platform,” said Vasquez. “LinkedIn offers many different features for you to find [a] job and even find the potential hiring manager or recruiter, whether it’s through engaging in someone’s post, [or] whether it’s through using the job search feature or using groups.”
Key features
- Advanced candidate search filters
- InMail for direct outreach
- User-friendly tools for creating a LinkedIn business profile
- Interview preparation help
- LinkedIn groups to connect with other users
- Save your searches
- Private account mode
- Personalized profiles
- Company newsletters
- Dedicated pages for services, products, sub-brands or company initiatives
- Carousel posts
- See who’s viewed your profile
- LinkedIn Learning for Premium Business users
Pricing
LinkedIn offers several pricing tiers:
- LinkedIn basic plan: Free with limitations
- LinkedIn Premium Career: $39.99 per month for job seekers
- LinkedIn Premium Business: $69.99 per month for sales professionals wanting to generate leads
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator Core: $119.99 per month for sales reps to find, connect and build relationships with potential buyers
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator Advanced: $149.99 per month as a more advanced Sales Navigator Core account
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator Advanced Plus: Quote upon request; designed for enterprises
- LinkedIn Recruiter Lite: $139.99 per month for recruiters and hiring managers
- LinkedIn Recruiter: Quote upon request
While some talent acquisition professionals prefer to use the free version, Williams Lindo said paying for LinkedIn is worth it for greater insight into candidates.
“It’s worth paying for the paid subscription because the information that it makes available makes it worth the increased visibility that I have into who’s been on my profile, what they’ve done, [and] what post brought them in,” Williams Lindo explained.
Glassdoor
Glassdoor is known for its focus on company reviews and salary transparency, making it a valuable platform for employer branding and attracting informed candidates.
Why should you use Glassdoor over Indeed?
Glassdoor’s employer reviews offer job seekers insights into company culture, employee satisfaction and salary information, which helps them make informed decisions. “Glassdoor gives you insight into the company culture,” said Vasquez. “[It] also provides a little bit of context of the highs and the lows of a company.”
For recruiters, this means attracting applicants who are genuinely interested and aligned with your company’s values. Here are a few reasons why recruiters might opt for Glassdoor over Indeed:
- Candidates often reference Glassdoor: Williams Lindo said recruiters should use Glassdoor because it’s one of the first places a candidate visits before applying for a job. “They go to Glassdoor to hear what the boots on the ground are saying about the different organizations and going from there,” Williams Lindo explained.
- Recruiters can defend the company: Glassdoor’s reviews include an overall rating, the percentage of employees who would recommend the company to a friend, and the percentage of employees who approve of the company CEO. As a recruiter, you’ll have the chance to defend your company against any negative comments by responding to and addressing employee reviews.
- Glean insights for improvement: Talent acquisition specialists can see detailed reports on employment-related categories to determine how to improve employer-to-employee relationships or stay as one of the best reviewed. The reports cover topics like the best jobs in America, the best places to work, top CEOs and the best cities for jobs.
Key features
Glassdoor’s features are designed to enhance the employer brand. With Glassdoor, you’ll be able to:
- List and update basic company information
- Showcase your company’s mission statement
- Respond to employee reviews
- View employer profile analytics
- Upload and manage resumes
Pricing
Glassdoor is free for job seekers and offers a free basic version for employers. To access premium packages, which include advanced insights, competitive benchmarking and premium branded content, you’ll need to contact Glassdoor’s sales department for pricing.
Google for Jobs
The Google for Jobs search feature aggregates listings from across the web, providing job seekers with a centralized platform to find opportunities.
Why should you use Google for Jobs over Indeed?
You can increase visibility without additional costs by optimizing your job postings for Google for Jobs. This Google tool allows your listings to appear directly in Google search results, reaching a broader audience organically.
You can’t post jobs straight to Google for Jobs, but you can help ensure your listings show up there. You’ll need to publish them on your company’s career site or an applicant tracking system (ATS) using the right structured data format. Google explains in detail how to connect your postings to Google for Jobs.
Here are a few reasons to use Google for Jobs over Indeed:
- Google visibility is crucial: Google for Jobs can help you attract more qualified candidates organically and reduce reliance on paid ads or third-party job boards. Approximately 78 percent of job searches start with Google before any other platform, making visibility here essential.
- Control over branding and candidate experience: By optimizing your company’s career site or ATS postings, you avoid having your jobs buried under duplicates on third-party boards and keep candidates engaged with your company throughout the application process.
- Higher-quality candidates: Google for Jobs prioritizes well-structured postings with clear job titles, salary ranges and location details, which tend to attract more qualified applicants.
- Improved SEO for your jobs: Properly optimized postings can generate consistent, long-term traffic directly from search results, unlike Indeed’s paid ads, which stop when you stop paying.
Key features
Key aspects of Google for Jobs include:
- Filtering options to help candidates narrow their search
- Jobs displayed based on search queries
- “Jobs near me” regional search results
- Search history tools
- Central roles assigned to career websites
- Google Sitemaps notifications about job posting changes
Pricing
Google for Jobs is a free service. However, implementing structured data on your job postings may require technical resources.
ZipRecruiter
ZipRecruiter helps employers connect with job seekers faster by using AI-powered matching across many industries.
Why should you use ZipRecruiter over Indeed?
Recruiters like ZipRecruiter for its speed, reach and automation. Here’s why it may be a better fit than Indeed for your hiring needs:
- AI-powered candidate matching: ZipRecruiter’s AI actively promotes your job postings to suitable candidates, increasing your chances of finding the right fit quickly.
- Extensive distribution network: The platform automatically sorts an employer’s job posting to over 100 different job boards, so you’ll always get a large number of applicants.
- Find qualified candidates quickly: ZipRecruiter says four out of five employers see a strong candidate apply within the first day of posting a job.
- User-friendly interface: ZipRecruiter is straightforward and intuitive to work with, allowing recruiters to easily create and manage job postings.
Key features
ZipRecruiter offers several features that make the hiring process smoother:
- AI-powered candidate matching
- Invite-to-apply tools
- Job candidate ranking
- Attentive customer service
- Job post templates
- ATS integrations
Pricing
To find the price of the three plans (Standard, Premium, Pro), you’ll have to live chat, call or email ZipRecruiter. The Standard and Premium plans offer free trials.
Monster
Monster is a well-known job site that helps recruiters and talent acquisition professionals connect with candidates all over the world, with tools that make hiring easier.
Why should you use Monster over Indeed?
Here’s why recruiters might choose Monster:
- Robust search and advertising tools: Monster gives you access to resume searches and targeted job ads, so you can find and engage with candidates more effectively.
- Flexible pricing for any business size: Its pricing options work for small businesses and larger organizations alike, making it easier to find a plan that fits your budget.
- Industry-specific recruiting: If you’re looking for highly specialized candidates, Monster can help. It gives you access to niche markets and industries, so your job postings are more likely to be seen by the right professionals.
- Fits into your workflow: Monster connects with many recruiting systems, so it’s easy to plug the platform into the tools and processes you’re already using.
Key features
Monster’s platform includes:
- Smart job matching algorithms
- Industry-specific talent pools
- Employer branding options
- Candidate recommendations based on your postings and preferences
- Access to global and local markets
- Advanced search capabilities to hone in on specific skills
Pricing
Monster offers several plans:
- Monster Free: Only free for job seekers
- Monster+ Standard: Starts at $18 a day
- Monster+ Pro: Monthly subscription at $299 a month with two months free or $2,990 for the annual plan
Handshake
Handshake is a career platform designed to connect employers with students and recent graduates from universities and colleges. It’s the best site for college students to find jobs.
Why should you use Handshake over Indeed?
Here’s why recruiters might go with Handshake:
- Focus on early talent: Handshake specializes in connecting employers with students and recent graduates looking for jobs. It’s a great way to connect with talented young professionals.
- Large education network: The platform partners with over 1,400 higher education institutions, including more than 260 community and technical colleges, so your postings will reach a broad range of candidates with various talents and experiences.
Key features
Handshake’s offerings include:
- School network management
- On-site and virtual interviews
- Registration for virtual or in-person career fairs at schools
- Embedded video tool for virtual career fairs
- Ability to create your own event in virtual, on-campus, off-campus or hybrid formats
- Search filters like school, major, graduation date and other data points
- Candidate matching
- Candidate contact management
Pricing
Handshake offers three different tiers based on a company’s hiring goals, team size and budget. You’ll need to contact the platform’s team for exact pricing on the Plus and Talent Engagement Suite tiers.
- Basic: For startups or smaller businesses, this free version lets you message 25 candidates per month and gain up to 100 talent matches.
- Plus: Employers on the Plus tier can promote job listings and message 200 candidates a month. They also get unlimited talent matches and school recommendations for up to 10 jobs.
- Talent Engagement Suite: Designed for large corporations, this tier includes unlimited large-scale promotional campaigns, messaging, talent matches and school recommendations for up to 25 team members. It also provides access to 50-plus filters, a dedicated customer success manager, analytics that map activities to hires and ATS integrations.
Dice
Dice is a specialized job board focused on technology and IT professionals, making it a go-to platform for recruiters seeking top tech talent.
Why should you use Dice over Indeed?
Consider Dice over Indeed if you’re looking for:
- Tech-specific talent: Unlike general job boards, Dice caters specifically to developers, engineers and IT professionals. This makes it easier to find candidates with the right technical skills.
- Fewer irrelevant applications: Because Dice is so specialized, recruiters can skip the noise of irrelevant applications and connect directly with qualified professionals.
Key features
Dice’s features are tailored for recruiting in the tech industry:
- No-code workflows
- Real-time spend analytics
- Supplier management
- Contract lifecycle management
- Invoicing and reports
- Integrations with ERP software and many of the best accounting software solutions
- Fraud prevention
- Custom approval workflows
- Real-time budget tracking
Pricing
Dice offers three pricing plans for direct hire companies, with the option to contact sales if you need specialized features and services:
- Post Jobs: $399 per job posting for up to three jobs.
- Starter: $549 a month (billed annually). It includes three job slots per month, multi-channel promotion, one user, 250 candidate views per month, a branded company profile and onboarding and training support.
- Standard: $749 (billed annually). Everything in Starter, plus five job spots per month, two users, 500 shared candidate views per month, featured jobs and ATS integrations.
Ladders
Ladders focuses on high-paying job opportunities, primarily for roles with salaries of $100,000 and above. It’s designed for executive, management and experienced professional recruiting.
Why should you use Ladders over Indeed?
If you’re hiring for senior or executive roles, Ladders delivers a curated candidate pool of professionals actively seeking high-level positions. The platform’s premium focus means you’re likely to see fewer unqualified applicants than you would on broader job sites like Indeed.
Key features
Ladders provides specialized tools for high-tier hiring:
- Candidate notifications that satisfy the listed requirements
- Resume viewing
- Emailing through Ladders
- Stored searches
- Basic resume tools
- Multiple integrations
Pricing
Ladders allows businesses to register for a free account and post one job listing for free every month. They can also sign up for:
- Promoted Posts: Starting at $599 for one post; you can also buy a three-pack ($569 per post) or a 10-pack ($539 per post). These posts run for eight weeks, and Ladders promises they’ll be at the top of search results.
- Lite Sourcing Plan: For $2,870 per year, you’ll get 600 resume views, advanced searching capabilities, 600 saved searches and a dedicated customer success manager.
- Full Access Sourcing Plan: For $5,988 per year, you’ll get 6,000 resume views, 1,200 saved searches, ATS integrations and live support.
LinkUp
LinkUp is a job search engine that pulls listings straight from employer websites, so postings are always current and candidates aren’t sifting through outdated jobs.
Why should you use LinkUp over Indeed?
LinkUp is meant for midsize and large companies in various industries. The platform sources millions of jobs straight from company websites, so candidates get an accurate view of what’s open and recruiters enjoy higher-quality engagement from applicants. Every post includes a live source URL that takes candidates back to your company site. It’s also free, making it an easy way to reach a wide audience without stretching your recruiting budget.
Key features
LinkUp emphasizes job data accuracy and employer transparency:
- Applicant data tracking
- Cloud-based deployment option
- Resume screening and interview scheduling tools
- Analytics and reporting features
- Integration capabilities with popular HR systems and other third-party tools
- Customizable job posting templates
- Options to showcase branding, company culture and specific hiring needs
- Branded career portals
Pricing
LinkUp is free to use, making it a great option for companies hiring on a budget.
Greenhouse
Greenhouse is a powerful ATS and recruiting software designed to help companies make smarter, fairer hiring decisions. It’s trusted by organizations of all sizes to streamline hiring processes and support diversity and inclusion at every stage.
Why should you use Greenhouse over Indeed?
Greenhouse offers robust tools that go far beyond the standard resume collection model of job boards like Indeed, including:
- Structured interviewing tools that standardize your process and make it fairer for all candidates
- Advanced reporting and offer forecasting so you can make data-driven hiring decisions
- Built-in candidate surveys to improve the hiring experience and gather feedback
- A strong focus on diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) that helps you build a healthier hiring culture and a stronger long-term talent pipeline
Vasquez noted that Greenhouse is much more straightforward than other applicant tracking systems. “It makes it easier to have that flow of navigating the interview process, and you’re able to be very clear on pay transparency,” Vasquez explained. “The platform is absolutely crucial because from a recruiter standpoint, we need to know that this is going to be a [good] investment — and we have to hire these people like yesterday.”
Key features
Companies use Greenhouse for the following features:
- Reporting and DE&I insights
- Structured interviewing tools
- Scalable workflows and permissions
- Talent sourcing and CRM tools
Pricing
Greenhouse has three plans, but you’ll need to contact the company for pricing:
- Essential: Streamline and manage an inclusive candidate experience with a core set of features.
- Advanced: Adds the ability to configure, scale and automate processes as your company grows.
- Expert: Includes everything in Advanced plus unlimited events, more sophisticated tools, enhanced reporting and additional security features.
What are the reasons to explore platforms outside Indeed?
While Indeed remains a dominant player in the recruitment industry, there are compelling reasons for recruiters and talent acquisition specialists to broaden their sourcing strategy:
- Niche focus: Platforms like Handshake offer specialized talent pools tailored to specific industries, experience levels or demographics.
- Better candidate quality: Generalist job boards often bring in a high volume of unqualified applicants. Alternatives typically provide more targeted or even pre-vetted candidates.
- Advanced features: Some platforms go beyond basic job postings with tools like skill assessments, AI matching and employer branding options.
- Geographic reach: For companies hiring globally or regionally, certain platforms can offer better localization and more relevant matches when staffing your business.
- Networking: Other platforms, like LinkedIn, provide networking tools and advanced features. “It’s important to be able to utilize platforms that are able to give you immediate access to candidates because, in this market, it’s all about building relationships [and] finding candidates that are going to be ideal for the position,” said Vasquez.
- Connect with the next generation: Morris emphasized the importance of considering the multigenerational workforce, specifically where the next generation is applying. “If you’re considering the fact that Gen X is going to age out of the workforce and Gen Z is aging in, you should probably focus on Gen Z,” Morris advised. “They’re going to go to all the latest, greatest boards…They have no allegiance to Indeed.”
- Better candidate notifications: Williams Lindo noted that Indeed’s candidate notifications often miss the mark and fail to align with job seekers’ filters or preferences. “Sometimes I’m kind of like, hm, did they really look at me when they sent me this? Because let’s say, for example, I put a filter of $200,000 leadership and tech. They’ll send how to pick up garbage in New York because it hit the $200,000 salary mark.” This means a recruiter’s job postings can get lost in a sea of unrelated jobs. “Indeed doesn’t have the professional wisdom to say, yes, she did ask for a certain salary range — but wait, picking up garbage is not her sweet spot,” Williams Lindo explained.
Exploring platforms beyond Indeed can help diversify your candidate pipeline and optimize your hiring process for quality, speed and long-term success.