Curriculo ATS vs Dover: Free Recruiter Hours or Free AI Scoring
A side-by-side comparison of two recruiting platforms, one a free ATS with a paid recruiter marketplace, one AI-screening-first with flat pricing. Updated June 2026.
| Feature | Curriculo ATS | Dover |
|---|---|---|
| Best For | Startups (5–200) that want strong in-house AI screening | Startups (1–250) that want free tracking plus outsourced sourcing |
| Starting Price | $50/mo early-bird ($100/mo regular) | Free ATS; recruiters billed $75–125/hr |
| Free Plan | 5 active jobs, top 50 ranked candidates/job, lifetime free | Unlimited jobs and seats, permanent |
| Per-Seat Fees | ✓ None, unlimited team seats | ✓ None on the ATS |
| AI Screening | Impact Scoring 0–100, signal-based | AI applicant sorting, rated basic by recruiters |
| Setup Time | ~15 minutes | Under 5 minutes plus onboarding call |
| Human Recruiter Service | ✗ No | ✓ Yes, fractional recruiter marketplace |
| Resume Languages | Multiple languages | English only |
What is Dover?
Dover is a YC-backed recruiting platform that pairs a free applicant tracking system with a paid human-recruiter marketplace. The free ATS carries unlimited jobs, unlimited seats, AI applicant sorting, and connections to 75 to 100-plus job boards, with white-glove onboarding for eligible startups. It runs on Gmail and Google Workspace and integrates with Slack and calendars, so teams already inside Google get going fast.
The money comes from the marketplace. When you need sourcing or screening done by a person, Dover connects you with fractional recruiters who set their own hourly rates, roughly $75 to $125 an hour, with no placement fees. Total cost per hire swings widely depending on the role. Customers include OpenSea, WorkOS, and Scale. The free software is the front door; the recruiter hours are the business.
What is CurriculoATS?
Curriculo ATS is a recruiter-side, AI-native applicant tracking system built for startups and scale-ups between 5 and 200 employees. The free Starter plan gives you 5 active jobs and the top 50 candidates per job ranked by Impact Score, lifetime, with no credit card. The Pro plan is $100 a month, or $50 a month on the current early-bird, and unlocks unlimited jobs and unlimited team seats with no per-seat fees.
The core idea is signal-based scoring. Instead of keyword matching, Curriculo ATS reads each applicant against the role and returns an Impact Score from 0 to 100, so the strongest candidates surface first without manual filtering. Setup runs about 15 minutes, and there is a 10,000-plus candidate network to pull from. It was built by founder Dev Rishi Khare, an ex-Amazon ML engineer, founded in 2024 out of Brooklyn, NY.
Feature-by-Feature Breakdown
Free Plan and Pricing Model
Dover's free ATS is genuinely free forever with unlimited jobs and seats, which is hard to beat if raw capacity is your worry. The difference is what you pay for later: Dover monetizes recruiter hours, so heavy hiring can run into real money per hire.
Curriculo ATS bounds the free tier at 5 active jobs, then charges flat software pricing for more. It stays a fixed monthly fee no matter how many seats or jobs you add.
AI Screening Depth
This is the sharpest contrast. Dover offers AI applicant sorting and outreach, but recruiters on the ground describe its resume screening as basic, and it parses English resumes only.
Curriculo ATS is built around its Impact Scoring engine, which ranks every applicant 0 to 100 on role-fit signals rather than keywords, and it parses resumes in multiple languages.
Sourcing and Recruiter Support
Dover's strength shows here. Its AI sourcing across LinkedIn, GitHub, and public data plus automated outreach is solid even on the free plan, and the fractional recruiter marketplace means you can hand a hard role to a real person on demand.
Curriculo ATS gives you a 10,000-plus candidate network but does not sell human recruiting hours; it is software, not a staffing service.
Setup and Stack Fit
Both tools start fast. Dover is live in under five minutes with an onboarding call, but it leans hard on Google Workspace, so non-Google teams feel the friction.
Curriculo ATS sets up in about 15 minutes without that dependency, so non-Google teams keep more flexibility on their stack.
Who Should Choose Dover?
- You have many open roles and want a free ATS with no job cap
- You want to rent fractional recruiters by the hour instead of hiring an in-house sourcer
- Your team already lives in Google Workspace
- Your candidates and resumes are English-speaking
- You value a polished, low-friction UI and want to be live in minutes
Who Should Choose CurriculoATS?
- You want the software itself to rank candidates well, not a person doing it for you
- You hire across multiple languages
- You want predictable flat pricing, not per-hire recruiter bills
- You run 5 to 200 employees and need depth over raw job count on the free tier
- You are not tied to Google Workspace and want stack flexibility
Is Dover's ATS really free?
Yes. Dover's applicant tracking system is permanently free with unlimited jobs and seats, not a trial. Dover earns revenue from its separate paid recruiter marketplace, where recruiters bill roughly $75 to $125 an hour.
How much does Dover cost per hire?
There is no flat software fee. Cost depends on how much recruiter time you buy, since recruiters set their own hourly rates and total cost per hire varies widely by role. If you only use the free ATS and do your own sourcing, the software itself costs nothing.
Does Dover screen resumes in languages other than English?
No. Dover's resume parsing is English-only. Curriculo ATS handles multiple languages, which matters if you hire internationally.
How good is Dover's AI screening?
Dover offers AI applicant sorting, but recruiters describe the resume screening as basic. Curriculo ATS leads with signal-based Impact Scoring that ranks applicants 0 to 100 on role fit, which is the deeper screening of the two.
Do I need Google Workspace to use Dover?
Effectively, yes. Dover is built around Gmail and Google Workspace, and non-Google teams find that limiting. Curriculo ATS does not require Google Workspace.