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Recruitment · head to head

Bullhorn vs Workable

Bullhorn logo

Bullhorn

Recruitment

Applicant tracking and CRM for staffing and recruitment agencies, including contract placement, timesheets and pay-bill

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Workable logo

Workable

Recruitment

Recruitment and employee engagement platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Workable 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.; Workable the Standard plan is $299 a month and still charges separately for texting at $89, video interviews at $109 and assessments at $59 a month
  • They diverge on capability: Bullhorn covers Recruitment CRM, Workable covers Job posting.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bullhorn and Workable actually diverge.

Attributes where Bullhorn and Workable differ
AttributeBullhornWorkable
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteusage-based
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb
FoundedUnknown2012

Identical on both: 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
  • Pay and bill
  • Bullhorn Automation
  • Executive search
  • Salesforce edition

Only in Workable

  • Job posting
  • Candidate management
  • Employee engagement
  • Mobile app
  • Integrations
  • Slack
  • Microsoft Teams
  • Workday

Both cover

  • Applicant tracking
  • Analytics
  • Onboarding

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 Workable
  • A recruitment firm where consultants sell to clients and manage candidates in the same working daynot Workable
  • An agency consolidating several acquired offices onto one system of recordnot Workable
  • An executive search practice needing assignment-based workflow rather than requisition-based trackingnot Workable

Workable

  • Posting jobs and tracking candidates through an applicant tracking systemnot Bullhorn
  • Running structured interviews, assessments and offers in one placenot 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.

Workable

  • The Standard plan is $299 a month and still charges separately for texting at $89, video interviews at $109 and assessments at $59 a month
  • Reaching a plan where those three are included means Premier at $599 a month
  • Unlimited active jobs is qualified by a fair usage limit rather than being an actual cap
  • AI features run on credits, and credits expire one year from purchase
  • Published plan prices cover 1 to 20 employees, so larger headcounts are quoted separately

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

Workable

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Basic recruitment
    • Limited hires
    • Basic tracking
  • Plus$undefined/month
    • Advanced recruitment
    • Engagement tools
    • Analytics

Which should you pick?

Choose Bullhorn if

  • You need recruitment crm.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want pay and bill.
Bullhorn review

Choose Workable if

  • You need job posting.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want candidate management.
Workable review

Questions people ask

Is Bullhorn or Workable better?
Neither clearly leads. Bullhorn starts at On request and Workable at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bullhorn or Workable?
Workable has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Bullhorn and Free for Workable.
Does Bullhorn or Workable run on more platforms?
Bullhorn runs on Web, iOS, Android. Workable runs on Web.
Can I use Workable for free?
Yes. Workable 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 Workable is typically brought in for.
What can Bullhorn do that Workable cannot?
Bullhorn covers Recruitment CRM, Pay and bill, Bullhorn Automation, Executive search. Workable covers Job posting, Candidate management, Employee engagement, Mobile app. Both handle Applicant tracking, Analytics, Onboarding.

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.

Workable: What does a Workable subscription cost and how is it billed?

Workable offers three pricing tiers: Standard at $299/month ($3,588/year with 20% discount), Premier at $599/month ($7,188/year), and Enterprise at $719/month ($8,628/year). Annual plans save 20% compared to monthly billing.

Source
Bullhorn: Who owns Bullhorn?

Insight Partners has held a majority stake since 2012, and the company has grown substantially through acquisition since then.

Workable: Does Workable offer a free trial?

Yes, Workable offers a 15-day free trial that requires no credit card.

Source
Bullhorn: 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.

Workable: What happens to AI credits if I don't use them before they expire?

AI credits are non-refundable and expire 1 year from purchase. If you purchase additional credits beyond the 3,000 included with your plan, unused credits will be forfeited after 12 months.

Source
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.

Workable: Do I get support included with my Workable subscription?

Workable includes priority support for advanced features, and the pricing page mentions GDPR automation tools for compliance, though specific support response times are not detailed on the pricing page.

Source
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