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HR & Recruiting · head to head

Employment Hero vs SmartRecruiters

Employment Hero logo

Employment Hero

HR & Recruiting

Australian HR, payroll and recruitment platform for employment management

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
SmartRecruiters logo

SmartRecruiters

Recruitment & ATS

Talent acquisition suite for hiring success

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Employment Hero hR Essentials at AUD 10/employee/month requires a minimum of 10 users, so it cannot be bought for a team smaller than that even if actual headcount is lower; SmartRecruiters no native video interviewing tool; requires third-party solution

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Employment Hero and SmartRecruiters actually diverge.

Attributes where Employment Hero and SmartRecruiters differ
AttributeEmployment HeroSmartRecruiters
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
CategoryHR & RecruitingRecruitment & ATS
FoundedUnknown2010

Identical on both: starting price (On request), free tier (No), platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Employment Hero

Nothing recorded that SmartRecruiters does not also cover.

Only in SmartRecruiters

  • Applicant Tracking
  • CRM
  • Recruiting Marketing
  • AI Matching
  • Onboarding
  • Analytics
  • Marketplace
  • LinkedIn

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Employment Hero

  • HR Essentials at AUD 10/employee/month requires a minimum of 10 users, so it cannot be bought for a team smaller than that even if actual headcount is lower
  • Core features like payroll, chat and rostering are unbundled add-ons billed separately per employee, for example Managed Payroll costs an extra AUD 20/employee/month with a AUD 400 monthly minimum

SmartRecruiters

  • No native video interviewing tool; requires third-party solution
  • Reporting tools lack advanced customization; creating custom reports is difficult
  • Mobile app functionality is limited compared to desktop version
  • Integration with external HR systems can be unreliable with synchronization problems
  • Limited customization options to capture position-specific information
  • Subscription fees locked during contract term even if company headcount decreases

Pricing, plan by plan

Employment Hero

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Employment Hero review.

SmartRecruiters

On request
  • SmartRecruiters$undefined/month
    • ATS
    • CRM
    • Recruiting Marketing

Which should you pick?

Choose Employment Hero if

Nothing in the data separates Employment Hero from SmartRecruiters on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Employment Hero review

Choose SmartRecruiters if

  • You need applicant tracking.
  • You also want crm.
SmartRecruiters review

Questions people ask

Is Employment Hero or SmartRecruiters better?
Neither clearly leads. Employment Hero starts at On request and SmartRecruiters at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Employment Hero or SmartRecruiters?
Employment Hero starts at On request and SmartRecruiters at On request.
Does Employment Hero or SmartRecruiters run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What can Employment Hero do that SmartRecruiters cannot?
SmartRecruiters covers Applicant Tracking, CRM, Recruiting Marketing, AI Matching.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

SmartRecruiters: Does SmartRecruiters have a free tier?

No. As of 2026, SmartRecruiters discontinued the free SmartStart tier. The platform requires a demo and evaluation call; entry-level Essential tier pricing starts around $15,000 per year.

Source
SmartRecruiters: How does SmartRecruiters billing work?

SmartRecruiters charges by total company headcount, not by recruiter seats. Subscription fees cannot decrease during a contract term even if headcount shrinks mid-contract.

Source
SmartRecruiters: What integrations does SmartRecruiters support?

SmartRecruiters integrates with Slack, Microsoft Teams, and offers a Slack marketplace integration for sending interview notifications and scheduling updates directly to channels.

Source
SmartRecruiters: What are SmartRecruiters' core features?

SmartRecruiters offers end-to-end recruiting including Winston AI talent matching, job distribution, career site builder, applicant tracking, interview scheduling, analytics, and onboarding tools.

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Related pages

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