The ATS Heavyweights
Greenhouse and Lever dominate the mid-market ATS space. Both are powerful, modern platforms used by thousands of high-growth companies. The choice comes down to your hiring philosophy and company size.
Greenhouse is the "structured hiring" champion—built for companies that want interview consistency, DEI tracking, and enterprise-grade analytics. Think Airbnb, Instacart, Coinbase.
Lever combines ATS + CRM (candidate relationship management) in one platform. It's easier to use and better for nurturing passive candidates. Think startups and scale-ups who want simplicity.
When Greenhouse Wins
Structured Hiring Methodology
Greenhouse pioneered "structured hiring"—standardizing interviews to reduce bias and improve decisions:
- Interview kits: Pre-defined questions, scorecards, and focus areas for each role
- Scorecards: Interviewers rate candidates on specific attributes (not gut feel)
- Debrief guides: Structured post-interview discussions
- Templates: Copy proven interview plans from Greenhouse or your past hires
Result: More consistent, defensible hiring decisions. Lever has interview structure too, but Greenhouse is more opinionated and thorough.
DEI & Compliance
Greenhouse leads on diversity, equity, and inclusion:
- Anonymous candidate review (remove names/schools)
- DEI reporting (track diversity at each funnel stage)
- EEOC compliance tracking
- Inclusion nudges (flag biased language in job posts)
If DEI is a strategic priority, Greenhouse has the best tooling.
Advanced Analytics
Greenhouse's reporting is unmatched:
- Time-to-hire, time-to-fill by stage
- Source effectiveness (which job boards deliver hires?)
- Interviewer performance (who's calibrated? who's biased?)
- Custom report builder
- Pipeline health metrics
You can answer questions like "Which recruiter has the fastest time-to-offer?" or "Are we losing candidates at the take-home assignment stage?" Lever has good reporting, but less depth.
High-Volume Hiring
Greenhouse handles complex, multi-requisition hiring better. You can manage 50+ open roles, multiple hiring teams, and hundreds of candidates without chaos.
Enterprise Integrations
Greenhouse has 450+ integrations including deep connections to HRIS systems (Workday, BambooHR, ADP), background checks, assessments, and more. Their API is robust for custom workflows.
When Lever Wins
ATS + CRM in One Platform
Lever's unique strength is LeverNurture—a built-in CRM for candidate relationships:
- Build talent pools (passive candidates for future roles)
- Automated email nurture campaigns
- Track candidate engagement (opens, clicks)
- Tag candidates by skills, interests, seniority
- Search and filter your talent database
Example: You meet a great engineer who's not ready to leave their job. Add them to Lever, tag them "Senior Backend / Python," and send quarterly check-ins. When you open a role, they're already warm.
Greenhouse requires a separate CRM (like Gem or Beamery) for this workflow.
Easier to Use
Lever's interface is cleaner and more intuitive. New users (recruiters, hiring managers) get productive faster. Greenhouse can feel overwhelming with its options and settings.
If you don't have a dedicated recruiting ops person, Lever is less work to maintain.
Faster Setup
Lever's onboarding is simpler. You can be up and running in days. Greenhouse's structured hiring approach requires more upfront configuration (interview kits, scorecards, approval flows).
Better for Smaller Teams
Lever's pricing and feature set scale down better for startups and small recruiting teams (1-3 recruiters). Greenhouse is overkill if you're hiring 2-5 people per quarter.
Proactive Sourcing
Lever has better tools for sourcing passive candidates:
- Chrome extension for LinkedIn sourcing
- Email finder and templates
- Automated outreach sequences
- Response tracking
Greenhouse focuses on inbound candidates (people who apply). Lever helps you find people who aren't actively looking.
Pricing Deep Dive
Greenhouse Costs
Greenhouse doesn't publish pricing, but estimates:
- Essential: ~$6,500/year (base for small teams)
- Advanced: ~$15,000-25,000/year (most customers)
- Expert: $30,000+/year (enterprise features)
Pricing typically based on annual contract value, not per-user. Implementation and training cost extra (~$3,000-10,000).
Lever Costs
Lever also doesn't publish pricing. Estimates:
- LeverHire (ATS only): ~$500-800/month ($6,000-9,600/year)
- LeverHire + LeverNurture (ATS + CRM): ~$800-1,200/month ($9,600-14,400/year)
- Enterprise: Custom (adds advanced permissions, analytics, support)
Pricing also includes implementation (included or ~$2,000-5,000).
Cost Comparison
At the low end (small teams), Lever is cheaper. At the high end (100+ employees, high-volume hiring), Greenhouse and Lever cost roughly the same (~$15-25k/year).
Both are expensive compared to lightweight ATS options (like JazzHR or Manatal at $1,200-3,000/year). You're paying for power and sophistication.
Real Customer Feedback
Greenhouse
Pros: Best structured hiring, amazing analytics, scales well, great for DEI
Cons: Steep learning curve, complex setup, expensive, overkill for small teams
G2 Rating: 4.4/5 | Capterra: 4.5/5
Lever
Pros: Easy to use, ATS + CRM combo is powerful, great for sourcing, fast setup
Cons: Less advanced analytics, weaker DEI features, some bugs reported
G2 Rating: 4.3/5 | Capterra: 4.4/5
Who Should Choose What?
Choose Greenhouse if you're:
- 100+ employees with dedicated recruiting team
- Hiring 10+ people per quarter
- DEI is a board-level priority
- You want to professionalize your hiring process
- Analytics and compliance matter
Choose Lever if you're:
- 20-200 employees, 1-5 recruiters
- Hiring 5-20 people per year
- You do proactive sourcing (not just inbound)
- You want simplicity and speed over structure
- Building talent pools for future roles
What About Workable, Breezy, JazzHR?
If Greenhouse and Lever feel like overkill, consider:
- Workable: Great mid-tier ATS, easier and cheaper (~$3,600/year)
- JazzHR: Budget-friendly for small teams (~$2,400/year)
- Manatal: Modern, AI-powered, startup-friendly (~$1,800/year)
Greenhouse and Lever are for companies where recruiting is a strategic function. If you're hiring occasionally, simpler (cheaper) options exist.
The Bottom Line
Choose Greenhouse if:
You're serious about structured hiring, DEI, and analytics. You're 100+ employees with high-volume hiring. You have the budget and resources to implement a sophisticated ATS. You want the gold standard.
Choose Lever if:
You want ATS + CRM in one tool. You're a growing startup (20-200 employees) that sources actively. Ease of use matters. You want to nurture candidate relationships over time. You need something powerful but not overwhelming.
Our honest take: Both are excellent. Greenhouse is more rigorous, Lever is more practical. If you're big and hiring fast, Greenhouse. If you're scrappy and building pipelines, Lever.