| Plan | What it includes | Planning use |
|---|---|---|
| Dover Free | Unlimited users, jobs and candidates; posting to 50+ job boards; a basic careers page | Suits a team hiring for several roles at once, because there are no seat, job or candidate caps to manage. |
| Dover Premium | $199 per month; adds AI resume review (applicant scoring), offer management with e-signing, bulk actions, advanced scheduling and a fully customizable careers page | Pay for it only when those functions would replace manual work you already do. |
| Giig Free Forever | Unlimited candidates, contacts, companies, jobs and CVs | Suits start-up recruiters and agencies that track client companies and contacts alongside candidates. |
Plan details come from Dover’s ATS page and Giig’s free ATS page.
A free applicant tracking system is worth using when you need to organise candidates across several openings without a monthly fee, provided the free tier’s missing features and conditions fit your hiring process.
For the wider process around the software, see our guide on how to hire employees.
What a free plan changes day to day
The biggest practical effect of a free plan is that volume stops being the constraint. Dover’s Free plan allows unlimited users, jobs and candidates, and Giig’s Free Forever tier likewise offers unlimited candidates, jobs and CVs. The limits you meet are about functions, not headcount.
- Wider job distribution. Dover’s Free plan includes posting to 50+ job boards, so one opening can reach many channels without separate manual postings.
- A public home for openings. Dover’s Free plan comes with a basic careers page. That is enough to point applicants at a clean list of roles, but not to build a branded experience.
- Shared access. Because user numbers are uncapped on Dover Free, hiring managers and interviewers can all work in the same system rather than passing resumes around.
- Client and contact records. Giig’s free tier also tracks contacts and companies, which matters if you recruit on behalf of others.
Choosing between Dover, Giig and Zoho Recruit
Pick by who is hiring and for whom, not by the longest feature list. All three options below can be tried without a payment commitment, so a short test with a real opening is the fairest comparison.
Dover: for employers posting several roles
Dover’s Free plan is the strongest fit for a company hiring for its own roles. It pairs unlimited users, jobs and candidates with job board posting and a basic careers page, and it adds a sourcing and CRM component. Dover also advises that a company hiring more than one position at a time should set up an ATS.
Giig: for recruiters and agencies
Giig positions its Free Forever tier at start-up recruiters and recruitment agencies. Unlimited candidates, contacts, companies and jobs make it a natural choice if your work involves clients as well as applicants. An in-house employer with a single openings list may find the contact and company records more than it needs.
Zoho Recruit: for teams that want a conventional ATS
Zoho Recruit describes its career site as all you need to create, set up and publish jobs. Check the plan details on Zoho’s own page before committing, because its free sign-up terms are described separately from the feature limits of each tier.
Limits to plan around
Free plans rarely fail on capacity. They fail on specific missing functions and on conditions that only show up once you start using them. These are the ones the vendor documentation spells out.
- English-only resume parsing. Dover states that it currently supports parsing of English resumes only. If you receive applications in other languages, expect to enter details by hand.
- Google-centred calendar and email. Dover’s calendar and email connection requires Google Suite. Microsoft users can still use the ATS but cannot connect their calendar, so interview scheduling stays partly manual.
- A basic careers page. The Free plan’s page is basic, while the fully customizable version belongs to Premium. Employers who rely on the careers page for employer branding will feel this first.
- No applicant scoring. AI resume review (applicant scoring) is a Premium addition, so on Free you screen every application yourself.
- No built-in offer e-signing. Offer management with e-signing, bulk actions and advanced scheduling are listed as Premium functions.
None of these is a reason to avoid a free plan. They are a checklist: if two or more describe your daily work, a free tier will feel cramped quickly. Details are on Dover’s ATS page.
When to upgrade
Upgrade when a specific Premium function would remove work you are doing by hand, not when the team simply grows. Since Dover Free has no user, job or candidate caps, headcount alone is a weak trigger. Dover’s Premium plan costs $199 per month and includes everything in Free, plus AI applicant scoring, offer management with e-signing, bulk actions, advanced scheduling and a fully customizable careers page.
- Upgrade for screening load. If reading every application is your bottleneck, applicant scoring is the feature that targets it.
- Upgrade for offers and scheduling. If you send many offers or coordinate many interviews, e-signing, bulk actions and advanced scheduling are the relevant gains.
- Upgrade for employer branding. A fully customizable careers page matters when candidates compare you with other employers.
- Stay free when volume is the only change. More roles and more users do not by themselves justify a paid tier on a plan that does not cap them.
- Switch tools when the model changes. If you move from hiring for yourself to running client searches, a recruiter-oriented tool such as Giig’s may fit better than a paid tier of an employer-oriented one.
If you are weighing paid options more broadly, the guide to Applicant Tracking Systems For Small Business: How To Hire Faster, Cut Costs, And Improve Quality In 2026 – Gozaik compares what small teams get for their money. If you have never hired before, How To Hire Your First Employee: A Practical Step-By-Step Guide For Small Business Owners (2026) – Gozaik covers the steps that come before choosing software.
How an ATS works under the hood
Zoho defines an applicant tracking system as a software application employers and recruiters use to manage their recruitment process. It typically includes resume parsing, applicant screening, interview scheduling and analytics. Understanding that sequence explains why the limits above matter.
Applications arrive through a career site or job board posting. Parsing turns each resume into structured candidate fields, which is why English-only parsing affects how much typing you do. Screening and scheduling then move each candidate through stages, and analytics summarise how the pipeline is performing. A free plan usually covers the start of this chain well, with gaps appearing in automation and finishing steps such as offers.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between an ATS and a CRM?
Zoho describes them as two different software solutions. An ATS manages job postings and applications, while a candidate relationship management tool manages ongoing relationships with candidates.
How do I get existing candidates into a new ATS?
Dover lets you upload candidates via CSV or select resumes for parsing. Remember that its parser reads English resumes only.
Do I need a credit card to try one?
Giig states that its free tier has no trial period and no credit card requirement. Zoho Recruit’s sign-up also requires no credit card and lists no hidden charges.
Should I wait until I hire often before setting one up?
Not necessarily. Dover’s guidance is that a company hiring more than one position at a time should set up an ATS, and free plans make that low-risk.
