Recruitment · head to head
Bullhorn vs Factorial
Bullhorn
Recruitment
Applicant tracking and CRM for staffing and recruitment agencies, including contract placement, timesheets and pay-bill
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Factorial has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Bullhorn pricing is per user on annual contracts with minimum seat counts, so agencies with seasonal consultants pay for licences that sit idle for months.; Factorial no published tier names or feature-based pricing breakdown
- They diverge on capability: Bullhorn covers Recruitment CRM, Factorial covers HR Management.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Bullhorn and Factorial actually diverge.
Identical on both: platforms (Web, iOS, Android), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Recruitment).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Bullhorn
- Recruitment CRM
- Applicant tracking
- Pay and bill
- Bullhorn Automation
- Analytics
- Onboarding
- Executive search
- Salesforce edition
Only in Factorial
- HR Management
- Time Off
- Time Tracking
- Documents
- Payroll
- Performance
- Recruiting
- Shift Management
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Bullhorn
- A contract staffing agency that needs worked hours to become both a worker payment and a client invoice against one placement recordnot Factorial
- A recruitment firm where consultants sell to clients and manage candidates in the same working daynot Factorial
- An agency consolidating several acquired offices onto one system of recordnot Factorial
- An executive search practice needing assignment-based workflow rather than requisition-based trackingnot Factorial
Factorial
- Managing employee records, onboarding and offboardingnot Bullhorn
- Tracking time off, attendance and shiftsnot Bullhorn
- Running recruitment and performance reviews alongside HR datanot Bullhorn
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Bullhorn
- Pricing is per user on annual contracts with minimum seat counts, so agencies with seasonal consultants pay for licences that sit idle for months.
- The product estate has been assembled through a decade of acquisitions, which leaves overlapping modules, inconsistent interfaces and more than one supported way to do the same task.
- Implementation and data migration are multi-month projects requiring paid services, and agencies moving from another system routinely underestimate the effort of cleaning candidate and client records first.
- The interface is dated relative to newer recruitment tools, and consultants coming from consumer-grade software need real training rather than picking it up unaided.
- It is built for agency economics and is a poor fit for corporate in-house hiring, where the client and margin concepts are meaningless and the licence cost buys capability that will never be used.
Factorial
- No published tier names or feature-based pricing breakdown
- Pricing customization requires sales consultation
Pricing, plan by plan
Bullhorn
On request- Bullhorn ATS and CRM$undefined/year
- Priced per user per month on an annual contract
- Minimum user counts apply
- Implementation and data migration quoted separately
Factorial
Free- FreeFree
- Basic HR
- Time Off
- Documents
- Business$5/month
- All Free features
- Payroll
- Performance
Which should you pick?
Choose Bullhorn if
- You need recruitment crm.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want applicant tracking.
Choose Factorial if
- You need hr management.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android.
- You also want time off.
Questions people ask
- Is Bullhorn or Factorial better?
- Neither clearly leads. Bullhorn starts at On request and Factorial at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Bullhorn or Factorial?
- Factorial has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Bullhorn and Free for Factorial.
- Does Bullhorn or Factorial run on more platforms?
- Bullhorn runs on Web, iOS, Android. Factorial runs on Web, Ios, Android.
- Can I use Factorial for free?
- Yes. Factorial has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Bullhorn starts at On request.
- What is Bullhorn best used for?
- Bullhorn is most often used for a contract staffing agency that needs worked hours to become both a worker payment and a client invoice against one placement record, a recruitment firm where consultants sell to clients and manage candidates in the same working day, an agency consolidating several acquired offices onto one system of record, an executive search practice needing assignment-based workflow rather than requisition-based tracking. Of those, a contract staffing agency that needs worked hours to become both a worker payment and a client invoice against one placement record and a recruitment firm where consultants sell to clients and manage candidates in the same working day are not what Factorial is typically brought in for.
- What can Bullhorn do that Factorial cannot?
- Bullhorn covers Recruitment CRM, Applicant tracking, Pay and bill, Bullhorn Automation. Factorial covers HR Management, Time Off, Time Tracking, Documents.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Bullhorn: Is Bullhorn suitable for in-house corporate recruiting?
No. It is built around client relationships, margins and placements. Corporate teams should buy a requisition-based ATS instead.
Factorial: What is Factorial's starting price?
Factorial starts at $8 per month per user. The company offers modular pricing where customers select features across categories including time management, talent management, finance management, and IT management.
SourceBullhorn: Who owns Bullhorn?
Insight Partners has held a majority stake since 2012, and the company has grown substantially through acquisition since then.
Factorial: Can I customize my Factorial plan?
Yes. Factorial offers customizable plans for all businesses and budgets. A specialist will design a plan based on specific business needs. All plans include the Factorial Core platform with employee directory, onboarding/offboarding, payslip distribution, legal e-signature, and custom notifications.
SourceBullhorn: Does it handle temporary worker payroll?
It captures time, calculates pay and bill rates and produces payroll and invoicing outputs. Actual payroll processing is done by a payroll provider it exports to.
Bullhorn: What does implementation involve?
Data migration, workflow configuration and training, typically several months for an established agency, with services charged on top of the licence.
Related pages
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