Recruitment · head to head
Indeed vs SeekOut
Indeed
Recruitment
Job search app aggregating listings, owned by Recruit Holdings, the same parent as Glassdoor
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
SeekOut
Recruitment
AI candidate search across a claimed billion-plus profile database, with a published self-serve price
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Indeed has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Indeed search ranking is influenced by which employers pay for sponsored placement, so prominent listings are not purely a match to relevance or seeker preference.; SeekOut the self-serve Recruit Core tier caps monthly contacts at 500 and exports at 1,000, which an active recruiter can exhaust well before the month ends
- They diverge on capability: Indeed covers Aggregated job search, SeekOut covers Candidate database search.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Indeed and SeekOut actually diverge.
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 Indeed
- Aggregated job search
- One-click apply
- Job alerts
- Salary and company info
- Skills assessments
- Application tracking
Only in SeekOut
- Candidate database search
- Outreach sequencing
- Talent rediscovery
- Market intelligence
- SeekOut Spot
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Indeed
- Searching and filtering job listings across many employers and other job boards in one placenot SeekOut
- Applying to multiple jobs quickly using a saved Indeed resume via one-click applynot SeekOut
- Setting alerts for new postings matching a specific role, location or salary rangenot SeekOut
- Checking aggregated salary estimates for a role before an interview or negotiationnot SeekOut
SeekOut
- An individual recruiter or small agency wanting to start sourcing immediately on a card without a sales callnot Indeed
- A talent acquisition team that has outgrown a self-serve seat cap and needs ATS-integrated sourcing across the teamnot Indeed
- An employer benchmarking compensation and talent pool size for a hard-to-fill role before opening a searchnot Indeed
- A company wanting to try an AI-assisted sourcing service billed per role, as an alternative to paying a recruiting agency percentage feenot Indeed
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Indeed
- Search ranking is influenced by which employers pay for sponsored placement, so prominent listings are not purely a match to relevance or seeker preference.
- It shares the same parent company, Recruit Holdings, as Glassdoor, so treating the two as fully independent sources of employer information overstates their independence from each other.
- Listing quality varies widely since postings are aggregated from many sources, and duplicate, expired or low-quality listings are a common complaint.
- One-click apply can encourage high volume, low-tailoring applications, which employers increasingly filter out with their own screening tools regardless of Indeed's reach.
- Resume and application data uploaded to Indeed is used across its own products and shared with employers a user applies to, which is the trade for the free service.
SeekOut
- The self-serve Recruit Core tier caps monthly contacts at 500 and exports at 1,000, which an active recruiter can exhaust well before the month ends
- Moving from Recruit Core to team-level plans reverts to custom quoting, so the published entry price does not scale predictably as a team grows
- Candidate data is aggregated from public and licensed sources, so contact accuracy and freshness vary by role type and can lag for less public roles
- ATS integration and market intelligence, the features larger teams actually need, sit behind the quoted tiers rather than the published price
- SeekOut Spot's per-role pricing model still requires a sales conversation to size, despite being marketed as a lower-cost alternative to agencies
- A large claimed database size does not guarantee coverage in every geography or niche technical skill, and buyers cannot verify coverage for their specific roles before purchase
Pricing, plan by plan
Indeed
Free- Job seeker accountFree
- Free search, application and alerts
SeekOut
On request- Recruit Core$149/month
- Unlimited searches
- 500 monthly contacts
- 1,000 exports/month
- Recruit Sourcing / Full Funnel$undefined/year
- ATS integration
- Talent rediscovery
- Market intelligence
Which should you pick?
Choose Indeed if
- You need aggregated job search.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on iOS, Android, Web.
- You also want one-click apply.
Choose SeekOut if
- You need candidate database search.
- You work on Web, Chrome Extension.
- You also want outreach sequencing.
Questions people ask
- Is Indeed or SeekOut better?
- Neither clearly leads. Indeed starts at Free and SeekOut at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Indeed or SeekOut?
- Indeed has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Indeed and On request for SeekOut.
- Does Indeed or SeekOut run on more platforms?
- Indeed runs on iOS, Android, Web. SeekOut runs on Web, Chrome Extension.
- Can I use Indeed for free?
- Yes. Indeed has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. SeekOut starts at On request.
- What is Indeed best used for?
- Indeed is most often used for searching and filtering job listings across many employers and other job boards in one place, applying to multiple jobs quickly using a saved indeed resume via one-click apply, setting alerts for new postings matching a specific role, location or salary range, checking aggregated salary estimates for a role before an interview or negotiation. Of those, searching and filtering job listings across many employers and other job boards in one place and applying to multiple jobs quickly using a saved indeed resume via one-click apply are not what SeekOut is typically brought in for.
- What can Indeed do that SeekOut cannot?
- Indeed covers Aggregated job search, One-click apply, Job alerts, Salary and company info. SeekOut covers Candidate database search, Outreach sequencing, Talent rediscovery, Market intelligence.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Indeed: Is Indeed free for job seekers?
Yes, searching, applying and setting alerts are all free; only employers pay, for sponsored placement.
SeekOut: Is there a genuinely self-serve price?
Yes, Recruit Core is $149/month billed annually or $179/month billed monthly, purchasable without a sales call, with a 14-day free trial.
Indeed: Are Indeed and Glassdoor connected?
Yes, both are owned by Recruit Holdings, the Japanese company that also owns Recruit staffing businesses in Japan.
SeekOut: What happens when I hit the monthly contact limit?
Recruit Core caps at 500 monthly contacts and 1,000 exports; exceeding that requires upgrading to a quoted team tier.
Indeed: Does paying for a sponsored listing guarantee more qualified applicants?
No, sponsorship affects visibility and volume of applications, not their quality.
SeekOut: Is SeekOut Spot the same product as Recruit?
No, Spot is a separate AI-assisted, human-reviewed sourcing service billed per role or per contractor rather than a seat-based search tool.
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