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Recruitment · head to head

SmartRecruiters vs Totara

SmartRecruiters logo

SmartRecruiters

Recruitment

Talent acquisition suite for hiring success

From
$14995/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Totara logo

Totara

LMS

Open source learning, performance and collaboration platform derived from Moodle and sold through partners

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: SmartRecruiters no native video interviewing tool; requires third-party solution; Totara you cannot buy from the vendor. Every purchase runs through a partner who sets its own hosting, services and support pricing, so identical platforms are quoted at materially different totals and buyers must run a partner comparison as well as a product comparison.
  • They diverge on capability: SmartRecruiters covers Applicant Tracking, Totara covers Organisational hierarchies.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which SmartRecruiters and Totara actually diverge.

Attributes where SmartRecruiters and Totara differ
AttributeSmartRecruitersTotara
Starting price$14995/yearOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWebWeb, iOS, Android, Linux
CategoryRecruitmentLMS
Founded2010Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 SmartRecruiters

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

Only in Totara

  • Organisational hierarchies
  • Compliance and certification
  • Totara Perform
  • Totara Engage
  • Self-hosting
  • Programs and learning plans

What people use each for

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

SmartRecruiters

  • Reducing time-to-hire from 23 days to 9 daysnot Totara
  • Scaling high-volume hiring with 50% increase in velocitynot Totara
  • Engaging candidates with conversational AI chatbotsnot Totara
  • Automating interview scheduling reducing administrative work by 97%not Totara
  • Screening candidates with AI talent matching enginenot Totara

Totara

  • Health services and government bodies that must evidence mandatory training by job role across a large hierarchynot SmartRecruiters
  • Organisations with data residency rules that require the platform to run on their own infrastructurenot SmartRecruiters
  • Moodle users who need appraisal, competency and compliance features the academic product does not carrynot SmartRecruiters
  • Buyers who want exit rights over the platform code rather than dependence on a single hosted vendornot SmartRecruiters

Where each one falls short

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

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

Totara

  • You cannot buy from the vendor. Every purchase runs through a partner who sets its own hosting, services and support pricing, so identical platforms are quoted at materially different totals and buyers must run a partner comparison as well as a product comparison.
  • Open source does not mean cheap. Subscription plus partner hosting plus implementation and version upgrade services commonly lands near commercial system cost, and the saving is in control and exit rights rather than in the invoice.
  • The administrative interface carries its Moodle lineage and is dense, so administrator training is a real project cost rather than an afterthought.
  • Major version upgrades are projects, especially where a partner has customised the deployment, and organisations that customise heavily find upgrades slower and dearer over time.
  • The learner facing experience is functional rather than engaging, and organisations wanting a consumer grade learning experience usually front it with something else.

Pricing, plan by plan

SmartRecruiters

$14995/year
  • Essential$14995/year
    • ATS functionality
    • CRM features
    • Onboarding
  • Professional$null/year
    • All Essential features
    • AI-powered Hiring Agent
    • AI Talent Matching Engine
  • High Volume$null/year
    • All Professional features
    • AI-powered Candidate Screening
    • Conversational AI Chat
  • Complete$null/year
    • Full suite with Advanced Analytics
    • Advanced Sandbox
    • Custom in-app guidance

Totara

On request
  • Totara subscription via partner$undefined/year
    • Sold only through distribution partners
    • Partner sets hosting, implementation and support pricing
    • Source available under the GPL, but subscription required for supported releases

Which should you pick?

Choose SmartRecruiters if

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

Choose Totara if

  • You need organisational hierarchies.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, Linux.
  • You also want compliance and certification.
Totara review

Questions people ask

Is SmartRecruiters or Totara better?
Neither clearly leads. SmartRecruiters starts at $14995/year and Totara at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, SmartRecruiters or Totara?
SmartRecruiters starts at $14995/year and Totara at On request.
Does SmartRecruiters or Totara run on more platforms?
SmartRecruiters runs on Web. Totara runs on Web, iOS, Android, Linux.
What is SmartRecruiters best used for?
SmartRecruiters is most often used for reducing time-to-hire from 23 days to 9 days, scaling high-volume hiring with 50% increase in velocity, engaging candidates with conversational ai chatbots, automating interview scheduling reducing administrative work by 97%. Of those, reducing time-to-hire from 23 days to 9 days and scaling high-volume hiring with 50% increase in velocity are not what Totara is typically brought in for.
What can SmartRecruiters do that Totara cannot?
SmartRecruiters covers Applicant Tracking, CRM, Recruiting Marketing, AI Matching. Totara covers Organisational hierarchies, Compliance and certification, Totara Perform, Totara Engage.

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
Totara: Is Totara free because it is open source?

No. The source is available under the GPL, but supported releases require a subscription, and it is sold through partners who add hosting, implementation and support costs.

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
Totara: How is it different from Moodle?

Moodle is built around courses and academic delivery. Totara adds organisational hierarchies, role based automatic assignment, recurring certification and appraisal, which is what workplace compliance reporting needs.

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
Totara: Can we host it ourselves?

Yes. Self hosting is a genuine option and is one of the main reasons regulated and public sector buyers choose it over a hosted only competitor.

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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