How to Choose an ATS When You're the Founder and the Recruiter

Ask five questions before you sign up. Does adding my co-founder or an outside interviewer cost extra? Which free-plan limit will I hit first? Do applicants who email me land in the tool on their own? Which sign-in options do you support? Can I cancel any month and export my candidate data? Get each answer in writing or on the public pricing page.

Flat pricing is usually safer for a small founding team. Hiring pulls in more people than you plan for, and on per-seat pricing each login is a line on the bill. Per-seat can work if you'll be the only person who ever signs in. Before comparing quotes, price the team you'll have by your third hire. Then ask what a flat plan caps in place of seats.

Role count matters less than losing track. One open role with a few dozen applicants fits in a spreadsheet. Two roles at once, or a co-founder who needs to see the pipeline, is usually where it breaks. Start on a free plan at that point, and pay once its limit blocks a real hire.

Usually not at the start. SAML or SCIM single sign-on earns its cost when a large customer's security questionnaire asks how you control access, or when an IT admin manages every login. Until then, Google or Microsoft accounts are enough. Curriculo, for example, offers Google or Microsoft sign-in only, with no SAML or SCIM. If you do need it, ask whether it costs extra.

A first hire needs four things from an ATS. First, one place where every application lands, including the ones sent to your email. Then a way to sort the pile so you read the strongest first; a view your co-founder can open without asking you; and a record of what you told each candidate. The rest can wait until you run more than one role at a time.

Give everyone the same pipeline and one rule: feedback goes on the candidate's record, never in a chat thread. Your co-founder should see every applicant and every note. Outside interviewers only need the candidates they meet. Pick a tool where adding them costs nothing, or their notes will arrive by email and you'll be the one copying them in.

Thirty minutes tells you whether setup works. A week tells you whether you'll keep using it. Run the 30-minute test plan on day one with a real role, then handle every applicant in the tool for the rest of the week. If you're back to sorting resumes in your inbox by Friday, it failed.

Watch for five signs. You can't see a price without a sales call. Setup is quoted in weeks. Every hiring manager is billed per seat. Approval steps are on by default. Interviewers need training before they can leave feedback. A tool built for founder-led hiring lets you post a real role and read applicants on the day you sign up.