The Best Sourcing Tools for Recruiters

In today’s highly competitive labor market, recruiters are always looking for new solutions to help their organizations identify qualified candidates and stand out from other employers. With countless channels available to recruit talent, the process can be overwhelming and time-consuming. Talent sourcing tools can help simplify the process.

Talent sourcing tools are software solutions that help recruiters and talent acquisition teams proactively find and engage qualified individuals to build a strong candidate pipeline. Specific sourcing tools offer a wide range of features and benefits, including but not limited to candidate databases, task automation, communication capabilities, and data-driven insights.

Learning about top sourcing tools for recruiters and questions to take into consideration as you evaluate various options can help you make an informed decision and improve your organization’s sourcing efforts with the right tool.

Table of contents:

• The best sourcing tools for recruiters
• Additional recruiting tools to consider
• How to select the right talent sourcing tool

The best sourcing tools for recruiters

According to recent research from Gartner, recruiting is a top priority for HR leaders in 2024, yet 36% of HR leaders say their sourcing strategies are insufficient for finding the skills they need. By leveraging proven candidate sourcing tools, recruiting teams can optimize their sourcing strategies, while saving time and resources typically spent on manually searching for and reaching out to talent.

We’ve identified a selection of commonly used and top-rated sourcing tools for recruiters, but this is not meant to be an exhaustive list. Other tools are also available for your team to consider based on your goals and budget.

While prices below are listed in U.S. dollars, some of these solutions are also available in other countries and currencies.

Best sourcing tools:

1. Beamery
2. Gem
3. SmartRecruiters

1. Beamery

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Beamery offers an AI-powered talent lifecycle management platform that empowers organizations to attract, retain, develop, and transition talent. As part of this platform, the company’s sourcing solution is designed to help recruiters more proactively find the best-fit talent while supporting an engaging candidate experience. According to Beamery, the solution streamlines sourcing by automating workflows, reducing 50-90% of all clicks during the sourcing process.

Features include:

• A browser extension to identify qualified candidates, initiate outreach, and upload directly to the system, all without leaving LinkedIn
• AI capabilities to efficiently prioritize talent with the required skills  
• Automated, personalized outreach and follow-ups available across email and text messaging to keep candidates engaged
• Integrated insights to optimize processes and performance by understanding team effectiveness and top performing sources
  
  

Pricing varies depending on an organization’s specific talent management needs and can be discussed during a call with the Beamery team.

2. Gem

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Gem offers talent engagement and candidate management software that cultivates strong relationships and improves hiring. The software helps talent acquisition teams with sourcing, outreach, and all aspects of talent pipeline management, along with providing insights to operate more strategically. Its sourcing product enables recruiters to keep candidates engaged for current or future hiring needs.

Features include:

• Employer branding tools, curated content, and multi-stage email sequences to engage both passive candidates and an organization’s existing talent community
• Sourcing task automation, including sending email follow-ups and reminders, to free up time for recruiters to work more strategically
• Integrations with the tools and platforms recruiters use the most—such as applicant tracking systems (ATS), sourcing sites, and communication tools—to streamline sourcing
• In-depth insights to identify which candidate sources deliver the most impact and more efficiently allocate sourcing budget
  
  

Pricing is customized based on an organization’s size, goals, and workflows and can be discussed in detail during a call with the Gem team.  

3. SmartRecruiters

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SmartRecruiters provides an enterprise hiring platform designed to delight candidates, engage hiring managers, and boost recruiter productivity. The platform supports all steps of the hiring process, from candidate attraction to onboarding. Its candidate sourcing tools include job boards, recruitment campaigns across multiple channels, and campus recruiting, among other options to reach qualified candidates.

Features include:

• Integrated talent communities to streamline large recruitment campaigns, build custom career sites, and more efficiently communicate with specific groups of candidates
• Targeted, personalized recruitment campaigns to engage both active and passive candidates and assess readiness to discuss open roles
• A field recruiting app to track and manage prospective applicants from job fairs, recruiting meetups, and campus events
• AI capabilities to automatically screen and shortlist candidates from all recruitment sources
  

SmartRecruiters pricing depends on an organization’s customized product bundle selection and hiring needs. Specific details can be discussed during a call with the sales team.

Additional recruiting tools to consider

Entelo

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Entelo is a software as a service (SaaS) platform used by recruiters and hiring managers to proactively find, connect with, and hire skilled talent. The company is committed to helping organizations source diverse, underrepresented candidates and enabling authentic communications throughout the hiring process. Entelo’s sourcing solution is powered by an advanced candidate search engine to quickly identify qualified talent.

Features include:

• A deep candidate database and search engine with options to enter simple queries or apply advanced search filters to easily refine your results
• Detailed data points about each prospective candidate that aren’t typically found on a resume, such as company fit and likelihood of switching jobs in the near future
• Machine learning capabilities that analyze an individual’s career trajectory and years of experience to predict their next likely role
• Interactive, up-to-date insights to target the right talent pools and identify the most skilled candidates for each open position
  

Pricing and plan options aren’t publicly listed and can be shared by scheduling a demo via the Entelo website.

Fetcher

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Fetcher is a scalable sourcing automation solution that makes the candidate sourcing and outreach process more efficient for recruiters and talent acquisition leaders. By simplifying sourcing, Fetcher enables talent acquisition teams to spend more time building relationships with candidates, creating a great hiring experience, and focusing on the employer brand.

Features include:

• A combination of machine learning and human intelligence to ensure each prospective candidate delivered meets a company’s specific needs
• Seamless integrations with applicant tracking systems, email providers, calendar apps, and Slack
• Email communications that combine automation and personalization to keep candidates engaged
• Recruitment analytics that provide a full view of talent pipeline data, including candidate engagement, diversity metrics, and talent acquisition team performance
  

Fetcher pricing is tailored to align with each organization’s specific hiring initiatives. Prospective customers can learn more during a demo call.

Hired

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Hired partners with more than 10,000 companies around the world to match active, qualified candidates with in-demand sales and technology positions that align with their skills and experience. Curated matches and transparent data help employers save an average of 45 sourcing hours for each role. Hired also uses bias reduction features and customized assessments to help remove unconscious bias when hiring.

Features include:

• A curated pool of qualified candidates, pre-vetted for experience, skills, and salary requirements, built on millions of successful matches
• Upfront insight into candidates’ salary expectations and work preferences to save time and reduce bias
• Real-world skills assessments to better understand a candidate’s qualifications and experience
• Partnerships with leading organizations and communities in the DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion)  space to help organizations build more diverse and inclusive teams  
  

Two pricing plans are available for Hired, including a self-serve, pay-per-hire plan and an unlimited plan with premium customer support. Prospective customers can sign up for the pay-per-hire plan directly or schedule a demo to learn more about unlimited hiring.

hireEZ

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hireEZ is an AI-powered outbound recruiting platform that enables hiring teams to find and connect with qualified candidates and build stronger talent pipelines. The platform is available across industries and for every company size, from high-growth businesses with a one-person hiring team to enterprise organizations with large outbound recruiting teams. According to hireEZ, the platform can reduce sourcing time by 50% and increase hires per recruiter by 42%.

Features include:

• AI-powered search capabilities across more than 800 million candidate profiles to identify qualified, diverse talent that align with business objectives
• Integrations with top applicant tracking systems to rediscover talent and merge duplicate profiles while ensuring all candidate data is current and relevant
• The latest market insights and analytics to build data-driven and scalable sourcing and engagement strategies
• A centralized workspace to efficiently manage recruiting teams and measure performance
  

Pricing for hireEZ varies depending on each organization’s specific outbound hiring needs. Get specific details via email or by scheduling a call.

Loxo

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Loxo combines all recruitment, sourcing, candidate engagement, and hiring workflows into a single AI-powered talent intelligence platform to help recruiting teams cut costs and improve performance. As part of the platform, Loxo’s sourcing automation solution includes a proprietary talent directory of more than 1.2 billion professional profiles across hundreds of data sources with verified phone numbers and emails.

Features include:

• A centralized talent pipeline to view all candidates across each stage of the sourcing and hiring process on a single page
• Integrated candidate communication tools, including one-click phone calls directly from the platform and built-in text messaging campaigns  
• A Chrome extension to seamlessly add candidates from LinkedIn, Indeed, Wellfound (formerly AngeList), Github, and other sources directly to Loxo
• Two-way email and calendar sync to save time and minimize manual data entry

A free trial of Loxo is available. Discuss specific pricing details during a demo call.

SeekOut

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SeekOut centralizes talent acquisition, management, and analytics in a single platform, specializing in diverse, hard-to-find talent, with dedicated technical, healthcare, and government talent pools. Its sourcing solution offers access to millions of candidate profiles, with options to filter and search by specific experience, unique skills, licenses, and more.

Features include:

• More than 300 filters and custom search options to find untapped, in-demand talent that aligns with role and business requirements  
• AI matching technology that finds qualified candidates by pulling details directly from company job descriptions
• Integrations with applicant tracking systems and internal employee networks to help recruiters access a wider talent pool of diverse talent
• Customizable drip campaigns to send automated, personalized messages to passive candidates over time
  

Pricing isn’t listed publicly but can be discussed during a one-on-one demo with a SeekOut representative.

Sourcing.io

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Sourcing.io is a database that helps recruiters identify the best software engineers based on their specific hiring needs. The database includes details on millions of engineers along with integrated tools to help technical recruiting teams browse and filter the data to find the perfect hire.

Features include:

• Advanced smart filters to efficiently search for the most qualified candidates based on technical skills, experience, location, previous employers, and more
• Social recruiting capabilities to analyze employees’ social networks and get referrals from existing team members
• Team collaboration tools to highlight top candidates and share notes with talent acquisition team members throughout the hiring process
  

Sourcing.io offers a 7-day free trial for new users. Two pricing plans are available and priced per user, including a monthly plan for $199 and an annual plan for $1,599.

How to select the right talent sourcing tool

Once you have a grasp on available sourcing tools and key features, a next step is figuring out which tool or tools might be the most beneficial based on your organization’s sourcing goals. Whether you’re evaluating options by reviewing websites and reviews for different talent sourcing tools or setting up calls to learn more, having a list of questions ready can help you make the right selection.

Questions to consider as your team assesses different sourcing tools include:

• What does the current talent sourcing process look like at your company?
• What works well with the current process?
• How can the process improve and what are some key challenges?
• How can the right talent sourcing tool help?
• How much budget is available to invest in talent sourcing tools?
• Which talent sourcing tools are the best fit based on current needs and budget?
• Are customization options available depending on your business requirements?

The best recruiting tool? A sourcing specialist

Whether you’re looking to select and deploy a sourcing tool or need additional support on your recruiting team, partnering with an experienced sourcing expert can help.

Skilled independent sourcing specialists are available on Upwork to help your team manage sourcing tools and identify and engage qualified talent for your open roles. A sourcing specialist’s in-depth knowledge about top sourcing tools and channels can maximize the ROI of your recruitment efforts. Start your search for the best independent sourcing specialists today.

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Upwork is not affiliated with and does not sponsor or endorse any of the tools or services discussed in this article. These tools and services are provided only as potential options, and each reader and company should take the time needed to adequately analyze and determine the tools or services that would best fit their specific needs and situation. Prices are current at the time of writing and may change over time based on each service’s offerings.