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Greenhouse vs. Lever vs. Ashby vs. Rippling. An honest breakdown of what each does well, what it does not, what it costs, and which one is right for your stage. No affiliate links. No bias.
The industry standard for structured hiring. Greenhouse is built around structured interviewing, scorecards, and compliance. If you care about process and data, this is the gold standard.
Pros
Best scorecard system on the market. Deep integrations with 500+ tools. Strong compliance and EEO reporting. Excellent for hiring manager enablement.
Cons
Expensive for small teams. Interface can feel heavy. Setup is complex without help. Overkill for teams under 30.
Lever combines ATS and CRM in one platform. Strong for companies that do a lot of proactive sourcing and want to nurture talent pipelines over time. Clean interface that teams actually enjoy using.
Pros
Combined ATS + CRM. Beautiful, intuitive UI. Great sourcing workflow. Strong candidate nurture sequences. Easy to learn.
Cons
Scorecards less robust than Greenhouse. Reporting can be limited. Has been through acquisition (Employ) which created some uncertainty.
The newcomer that is winning startups fast. Ashby combines ATS, CRM, scheduling, and analytics in one product. Built by engineers for data-driven hiring teams. The best reporting in the space.
Pros
All-in-one (ATS + CRM + scheduling + analytics). Best reporting and dashboards. Modern UI. Fair pricing. Built-in sourcing tools. Fast to set up.
Cons
Younger product, fewer integrations than Greenhouse. Some enterprise features still maturing. Less brand recognition (may matter for candidate trust).
Rippling is not just an ATS. It is an all-in-one HR platform (payroll, benefits, IT, ATS). If you want one system for everything and do not need the deepest recruiting-specific features, Rippling simplifies operations significantly.
Pros
Unified HR platform. ATS connects directly to onboarding, payroll, IT provisioning. Modern UI. Reduces tool sprawl. Good for ops-heavy founders.
Cons
ATS is not as deep as Greenhouse or Ashby. Recruiting features are secondary to the HR platform. Scorecards and interview structure less robust. Pricing can escalate with modules.
| Feature | Greenhouse | Lever | Ashby | Rippling |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Structured Scorecards | ✓ Best | ✓ Good | ✓ Good | Basic |
| Built-in CRM | Add-on | ✓ Native | ✓ Native | Limited |
| Analytics / Reporting | ✓ Strong | ✓ Good | ✓ Best | Basic |
| Scheduling | Add-on | Built-in | ✓ Built-in | Built-in |
| Integrations | 500+ | 200+ | 100+ | HR ecosystem |
| HR / Payroll | No | No | No | ✓ Full suite |
| Compliance / EEO | ✓ Best | ✓ Good | ✓ Good | ✓ Good |
| Ease of Setup | Complex | Easy | Easiest | Moderate |
| Starting Price | ~$6K/yr | ~$4K/yr | ~$3.6K/yr | ~$8/emp/mo |
Go with Ashby. Best value, fastest setup, and the analytics will help you make data-driven decisions from day one. You do not need Greenhouse's complexity yet.
Ashby or Lever. If you source aggressively, Lever's CRM is excellent. If you care more about data and structured process, Ashby wins. Both are strong choices.
Greenhouse becomes the right choice. The depth of scorecards, integrations, and compliance features justifies the price at this scale. If you are already on Ashby and happy, no need to switch.
Rippling. If you do not have separate HRIS, payroll, and IT systems and want to consolidate, Rippling reduces tool sprawl. Just know the ATS is good, not great.
STAQD configures your ATS as part of every buildout. Pipelines, stages, permissions, automations, all done for you.
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