Recruiting Software Built for Small Business
An ATS with AI screening built in. Every applicant interviewed, scored, and ranked. For HR teams of one to three, at companies of 30 to 300 people.
per organization, no per-seat fees
of applicants screened
application to shortlist*
Drowning in CVs
One job post brings 200 applications. Screening them properly takes a week, so good candidates sit unread while they accept offers elsewhere.
Outsourced Hiring Doesn’t Scale Down
External recruiters typically charge 15 to 25% of first-year salary, around $10,000 to $15,000 per placement. That model works for hard-to-fill executive searches, but at 5 to 10 everyday hires a year it becomes a six-figure line item.
Hiring Isn’t Your Only Job
You also run payroll, benefits, onboarding, and reviews. Recruiting gets whatever hours are left, and there are never enough.
Enterprise Tools Don’t Fit
Most ATS platforms are priced per seat, sold on annual contracts, and assume someone will administer them. A three-person HR team doesn’t have that someone.
What should a small
business ATS actually do?
They do the volume. You make every decision.
A small business applicant tracking system needs to do three things: keep every applicant organized in one place, cut the time you spend screening, and work without an implementation project or a dedicated admin. Most tools on the market handle the first. Very few handle the second, which is where small HR teams actually lose their week.
That’s the difference with recruiting software that includes AI screening. Instead of you reading 200 resumes and phone-screening 30 people, the software interviews every applicant the moment they apply, scores them against your criteria, and gives you a ranked shortlist with recordings you can check. The tracking part still happens; the hours-eating part doesn’t.
When Hello Recruiter is the right fit: you’re hiring several times a year, applications outnumber the hours you have, and you’re paying placement fees for everyday roles you could fill yourself with more time.
When it isn’t: if you hire once a year, a spreadsheet honestly does the job. And for executive searches or genuinely scarce specialist roles where the best candidates aren’t applying anywhere, a good recruiting partner still earns their fee. We’d rather tell you that here than after you’ve signed up.
✦ AI · Screening & Interviews
ARIA
Interviews every applicant within minutes of applying. No scheduling, no phone-screen backlog.
✦ AI · Verification
SCOUT
Checks references, credentials, and identity before you extend an offer.
✦ AI · Technical Roles
MAX
Runs live coding and technical assessments when you’re hiring engineers without a technical interviewer on staff.
1
Post Your Role
Paste a job description or generate one. Publish to your careers page and job boards in minutes.
2
AI Interviews Every Applicant
Candidates interview on their own schedule, day or night. Every applicant gets screened, not just the first 20 you have time for.
3
Review a Ranked Shortlist
Scored, ranked candidates with interview recordings and the reasoning behind every score.
4
Make the Hire
Meet only the top few. Verification runs in the background before the offer goes out.
Screening 200 Applicants
15+ hrs
Reviewing a Shortlist
Under 1 hr
Your Week Back
Screening 200 applicants manually takes 15+ hours. Reviewing a ranked shortlist takes under one.
A Fraction of Placement-Fee Cost
AI interview workflows cost $99/month against $10,000 to $15,000 per outsourced placement. One everyday role filled in-house covers years of the software.
Speed Wins Candidates
Good applicants are off the market in about 10 days. Responding in hours instead of weeks is how small companies beat slower, bigger ones to the hire.
No Applicant Left Hanging
Everyone gets interviewed and everyone gets an answer. That matters when your next great applicant heard about you from your last one.
Works Out of the Box
No implementation project, no admin training. Post your first role the day you sign up.
Simple Pricing
Free ATS to start. AI resume screening from $29/mo, full AI interview workflows from $99/mo. Per organization, never per seat.
Built-In ATS
Track every candidate from application to offer in one place. No separate applicant tracking system to buy or integrate.
Bad Actor Detection
Flags fake resumes, misrepresented credentials, and fraudulent applicants before they reach your shortlist.
30+ Languages
Screen candidates in their native language with summaries in English.
You Stay in Charge
AI handles volume. Every hiring decision is yours, with the evidence to back it.
applicants screened
to ranked shortlist
interview completion rate
starting price per month
What is the best recruiting software for a small business?
It depends on how you hire. If you mostly need organized tracking, a lightweight ATS like BreezyHR or Homerun works well. If your bottleneck is screening time, you need software with AI screening built in, which is what Hello Recruiter does: it interviews and scores every applicant so a small team only reviews a shortlist. Match the tool to where your hours actually go.
Do small businesses need an ATS?
Badly implemented automation (generic auto-responders, one-way forms) makes experiences worse. AI agents improve it by doing what humans can't at volume: responding within minutes, holding real two-way conversations, answering candidate questions from a knowledge base, running interviews on the candidate's schedule, and making sure nobody is left without an outcome.
How much does recruiting software cost for a small business?
Typical small business ATS pricing runs $100 to $400+ per month, often per seat and on annual contracts. Outsourcing a hire to an external recruiter costs 15 to 25% of first-year salary, usually $10,000 to $15,000 per placement. Hello Recruiter's ATS is free, AI resume screening starts at $29/month, and full AI interview workflows start at $99/month, priced per organization rather than per seat.
Can a one-person HR team use AI recruiting?
That's who it's designed for. The software handles screening every applicant, running interviews, answering candidate questions, and scheduling. One person reviews ranked shortlists and makes the decisions.
