Softwr

Recruitment · head to head

Manatal vs Pilot

Manatal logo

Manatal

Recruitment

Low-cost applicant tracking and recruitment CRM with candidate enrichment, sold to both in-house teams and agencies

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Pilot logo

Pilot

Recruitment

Bookkeeping, CFO, and tax for startups

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Manatal pricing is per recruiter seat, so putting every hiring manager into the system to review candidates multiplies the licence count and erases the price advantage.; Pilot the Essentials bookkeeping plan at $99 per month covers up to $100,000 in monthly expenses, and is cash-basis only using bank and credit card data
  • They diverge on capability: Manatal covers Candidate enrichment, Pilot covers Bookkeeping.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Manatal and Pilot actually diverge.

Attributes where Manatal and Pilot differ
AttributeManatalPilot
Pricing modelPer user per monthsubscription
FoundedUnknown2017

Identical on both: starting price (On request), free tier (No), platforms (Web), 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 Manatal

  • Candidate enrichment
  • AI candidate scoring
  • Recruitment CRM
  • Multi-board posting
  • CV parsing
  • Careers page builder
  • Custom pipelines
  • Reporting

Only in Pilot

  • Bookkeeping
  • CFO services
  • Tax preparation
  • R&D tax credits
  • Financial reporting
  • QuickBooks
  • Stripe
  • Brex

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Manatal

  • A small recruitment agency that needs client, candidate and placement tracking without an enterprise contractnot Pilot
  • An in-house team in Asia Pacific that wants candidate enrichment without paying enterprise ATS pricesnot Pilot
  • A company processing high applicant volume that needs automated ranking to triage a shortlistnot Pilot
  • A recruiter running both contingent search and internal hiring from one databasenot Pilot

Pilot

  • Small business bookkeeping and accountingnot Manatal
  • Tax preparation and filingnot Manatal
  • CFO consulting for startupsnot Manatal
  • Payroll and HR administrationnot Manatal

Where each one falls short

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

Manatal

  • Pricing is per recruiter seat, so putting every hiring manager into the system to review candidates multiplies the licence count and erases the price advantage.
  • Candidate enrichment depends on public profile data, so accuracy drops sharply in markets where professional networking sites have low penetration and the scores become misleading rather than useful.
  • Integrations with major HRIS and payroll systems are limited compared with Western competitors, so new hire handover is frequently a CSV export rather than a sync.
  • Support operates on Indochina business hours, which leaves European afternoons and all of North American working hours outside the responsive window.
  • Reporting covers recruiter activity and source data but lacks the cohort and quality-of-hire analysis a mature talent function expects, and custom analysis means exporting to a spreadsheet.

Pilot

  • The Essentials bookkeeping plan at $99 per month covers up to $100,000 in monthly expenses, and is cash-basis only using bank and credit card data
  • A dedicated US-based bookkeeper, accrual-basis books and phone support require the Core plan, which is contact sales and billed annually
  • Core caps bill management at 10 vendor bills per month
  • Keeping an existing QuickBooks account with historical data requires the Custom plan
  • Accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll administration and CFO advisory are Custom plan only
  • Monthly reports arrive on the 10th business day on Core and the 6th business day only on Custom
  • Tax filing is sold separately, starting at $1,000 per year for single member LLCs and $2,000 per year for partnerships and S-Corps, billed annually
  • The tax service must be purchased together with Pilot Bookkeeping
  • Partnership and S-Corp tax filing includes up to 25 1099-NEC filings

Pricing, plan by plan

Manatal

On request
  • Professional$undefined/month
    • Per recruiter seat
    • Unlimited jobs and candidates
    • Candidate enrichment and AI scoring
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Per recruiter seat at a higher rate
    • Custom fields and advanced permissions
    • Recruitment CRM for agency use
  • Custom$undefined/year
    • Negotiated terms for larger teams
    • Single sign-on and security review
    • Dedicated account management

Pilot

On request
  • Bookkeeping Essentials$99/month
    • Up to $100,000 in monthly expenses
    • AI-powered transaction categorization
    • Monthly closing
  • Bookkeeping CoreFree
    • Dedicated US-based bookkeeper
    • Cash or accrual-basis bookkeeping
    • Bill management for up to 10 vendor bills monthly
  • Tax Single Member LLC$1000/year
    • Federal and state income tax filing
    • Schedule C reporting
  • Tax Partnerships & S-Corps$2000/year
    • Federal and state filings
    • Up to 25 1099-NEC filings

Which should you pick?

Choose Manatal if

  • You need candidate enrichment.
  • You also want ai candidate scoring.
Manatal review

Choose Pilot if

  • You need bookkeeping.
  • You also want cfo services.
Pilot review

Questions people ask

Is Manatal or Pilot better?
Neither clearly leads. Manatal starts at On request and Pilot at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Manatal or Pilot?
Manatal starts at On request and Pilot at On request.
Does Manatal or Pilot run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is Manatal best used for?
Manatal is most often used for a small recruitment agency that needs client, candidate and placement tracking without an enterprise contract, an in-house team in asia pacific that wants candidate enrichment without paying enterprise ats prices, a company processing high applicant volume that needs automated ranking to triage a shortlist, a recruiter running both contingent search and internal hiring from one database. Of those, a small recruitment agency that needs client, candidate and placement tracking without an enterprise contract and an in-house team in asia pacific that wants candidate enrichment without paying enterprise ats prices are not what Pilot is typically brought in for.
What can Manatal do that Pilot cannot?
Manatal covers Candidate enrichment, AI candidate scoring, Recruitment CRM, Multi-board posting. Pilot covers Bookkeeping, CFO services, Tax preparation, R&D tax credits.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Manatal: Is it for agencies or in-house teams?

Both. The agency mode adds client and placement management; the corporate mode is a conventional ATS. Buying the wrong mode means paying for modules you never open.

Pilot: What is the starting price for Pilot bookkeeping?

Bookkeeping Essentials starts at $99/month and includes up to $100,000 in monthly expenses with AI-powered categorization. Bookkeeping Core pricing starts at $0/month (billed annually) with a dedicated US-based bookkeeper.

Source
Manatal: How is it priced compared with other ATS products?

Per recruiter seat per month. That is not comparable with vendors that charge per active job slot or per employee, so model your real user count before comparing headline numbers.

Pilot: What tax services does Pilot offer?

Pilot offers tax filing starting at $1,000/year for Single Member LLCs, $2,000/year for Partnerships & S-Corps, and $2,450/year for C-Corps, each including federal and state filings.

Source
Manatal: Where is candidate data hosted?

On cloud infrastructure with GDPR commitments, but region-specific residency guarantees are weaker than EU-native vendors offer, which matters for regulated European buyers.

Pilot: How much do Pilot CFO services cost?

CFO Basic starts at $1,750/month (billed annually) with monthly consultation; CFO Essentials at $3,150/month (billed annually) with bi-weekly calls; CFO Custom at $5,250/month (billed annually) with weekly calls and strategic planning.

Source
Manatal: Does the AI scoring actually work?

It ranks reliably against structured requirements such as skills and experience length. It is far less reliable where enrichment data is sparse.

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