Greenhouse vs Lever vs Workable vs Breezy HR vs JazzHR - 2025 Honest Review & Comparison

Why Finding the Right HR & Recruiting Tool Matters in 2025

Recruiting software in 2025 isn’t just “where resumes go.” It’s the system that decides whether your hiring process feels like a calm grocery run… or like you’re carrying five bags, your phone’s ringing, and a jar of pasta sauce just shattered on the kitchen floor.

I’ve tested a lot of ATS + recruiting platforms over the years—some in tidy demo environments, some in the messy reality of “we need to hire three people yesterday.” And the thing that keeps surprising me (honestly, this surprised me) is how often teams blame “the market” when the real issue is the workflow. Candidates are dropping because scheduling is chaotic. Hiring managers are slow because the scorecards are optional. Recruiters are stuck because the CRM is basically a spreadsheet with a login.

And 2025 adds extra pressure. You’ve got hybrid teams interviewing across time zones, more compliance expectations, more stakeholders, and—whether we like it or not—more automation. Not just “auto-send an email,” but nurture campaigns, pipeline intelligence, structured interviewing, and reporting you can actually defend in a leadership meeting.

So picking the right tool matters. A lot. The right system makes hiring feel… boring (in the best way). The wrong one turns every hire into a custom project with duct tape and calendar links.

This guide compares six big names—Greenhouse, Lever, Workable, Breezy HR, JazzHR, and iCIMS Talent Cloud—with a very opinionated lens. I’m not trying to be “neutral.” You’re frustrated, you want clarity, and you don’t have time to play software roulette.

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Quick Verdict: The TL;DR

• Best overall (most scalable without feeling enterprise-y): Greenhouse — structured hiring done right; strong process control and analytics.
• Best for small teams that want speed and simplicity: Workable — quick setup, built-in sourcing + job distribution, minimal fuss.
• Best value on a tight budget: JazzHR — core ATS basics at a price that doesn’t make you sweat.
• Best for high-growth teams that want ATS + CRM in one motion: Lever — unified ATS/CRM with nurture campaigns and pipeline analytics (pricing is opaque, though).
• Best for enterprises with complex orgs + compliance: iCIMS Talent Cloud — deep configurability and integrations, but you’ll pay (in money and time).

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Master Comparison Table

Note on ratings: You provided “G2 null★ (null reviews)” competitor data for several tools. In real life, you should cross-check G2 and/or Capterra for current ratings and review volume before buying—ratings shift year to year, and modules matter.

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Greenhouse - Full Review (350-400 words)

Greenhouse is the ATS I associate with “we’re done winging it.” It’s built for structured hiring—scorecards, interview kits, approvals, consistent stages, the whole deal. If your team is growing and you’re tired of each department hiring like it’s a different company… Greenhouse can be the referee.

When I was setting this up for a team that had grown from ~40 to ~180 people, the biggest win wasn’t some flashy feature. It was consistency. Everyone finally used the same scorecards. Interviewers stopped making up questions on the fly (well, mostly). And suddenly we had reporting that didn’t require three spreadsheets and a prayer.

Key features

• Structured hiring: interview kits, scorecards, standardized stages
• Approval workflows for reqs and offers
• Robust reporting and pipeline visibility
• Integrations ecosystem (background checks, HRIS, assessments, scheduling, etc.)
• Candidate experience controls (templates, comms, coordination)

Pricing

• Greenhouse typically uses custom quotes (no simple public “starts at X” you can rely on). Expect mid-market to enterprise positioning.

Pros

• Best-in-class structure for consistent, defensible hiring
• Strong stakeholder alignment—hiring managers can’t “freestyle” as easily
• Reporting that’s actually usable for leadership updates
• Great for scaling—process doesn’t fall apart at 50+ hires/quarter
• Integrations are extensive (this matters more than you think)

Cons

• If your team won’t follow process, Greenhouse can feel like a seatbelt alarm—useful, but annoying
• Setup needs real ownership; it’s not “install and go”
• Smaller teams may feel it’s more tool than they need
• Costs can be higher than SMB-first platforms

Who should use it

• Scaling companies (tech, professional services, healthcare orgs with structure needs)
• Teams prioritizing structured interviews and repeatable hiring quality

Who should avoid it

• Tiny teams hiring a few roles a year (you might resent the overhead)
• Orgs that refuse to standardize anything (actually, let me walk that back… you can force it, but it’ll be a culture fight)

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Lever - Full Review (300-350 words)

Lever is the “pipeline thinker’s” platform. It’s known for blending ATS + CRM—so you’re not just processing applicants, you’re nurturing relationships like a sales funnel. And yes, that sounds a little cringe until you’ve watched a great candidate go cold because nobody followed up for ten days…

Lever’s sweet spot is teams that are scaling and need nurture campaigns, talent pools, and analytics that go beyond “time to fill.” If you’re doing lots of outbound recruiting or building long-term candidate relationships, Lever starts to make other ATSs feel a bit… stiff.

Key features

• Unified ATS + CRM approach (one system, not two duct-taped together)
• Nurture campaigns for talent pipelines
• Pipeline analytics geared for scaling teams
• Collaboration tools for recruiters + hiring managers

Pricing

• Custom quote (no public starting price)

Pros

• ATS + CRM in one motion—less context switching
• Strong for outbound recruiting and keeping warm pipelines warm
• Analytics designed for growth-stage recruiting ops
• Helps teams behave proactively instead of reactively

Cons

• Pricing opacity is frustrating (you can’t quickly sanity-check fit)
• Can be more than you need if you mostly do inbound applications
• Some teams will underuse the CRM features (and then… why pay for it?)

Best use cases

• High-growth companies building consistent pipelines for recurring roles
• Recruiting orgs that do a lot of sourcing and want to nurture candidates over time
• Teams that want to measure funnel health, not just “fills”

If you’re choosing between Lever and a more process-heavy tool, it’s like choosing between a great kitchen knife and a great recipe book. Lever helps you move fast and slice clean. But you still need good cooking habits.

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Workable - Full Review (300-350 words)

Workable is the tool I recommend when a lean team says: “We need to get organized this month. Not this quarter.” It’s quick to deploy, has built-in sourcing and job distribution, and supports structured hiring without making you feel like you’ve enrolled in a certification program.

It’s not trying to be an enterprise HR universe. It’s trying to help you hire.

Key features

• ATS with job posting and workflow management
• Built-in sourcing tools (helpful when you don’t have a dedicated sourcer)
• Job distribution across boards
• Structured hiring features (scorecards, stages, collaboration)
• Interview scheduling and candidate communication tools

Pricing

• Starts around $149/month (varies by plan and hiring volume)

Pros

• Fast setup—good defaults, low friction
• Great fit for small internal recruiting teams
• Built-in sourcing + distribution reduces tool sprawl
• Solid structured hiring support without heavy configuration

Cons

• Can feel limiting for complex enterprise workflows
• If you need deep customization, you may hit edges
• High-volume scaling may push you toward more specialized platforms

Best use cases

• Startups and SMBs hiring steadily but without a full recruiting ops team
• Teams that want a practical ATS with sourcing baked in
• Companies that need to look professional to candidates—fast

Workable feels like buying a reliable car instead of restoring a vintage one. It starts every morning. It’s not the fanciest thing in the driveway… but you’ll get where you’re going.

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Breezy HR - Full Review (300-350 words)

Breezy HR is the “clean Kanban board” of recruiting tools. If you’ve ever managed hiring in Trello (or wanted to), Breezy’s vibe will click immediately. It’s visual, it’s approachable, and it’s designed for small teams that want automation without feeling like they’re configuring a spaceship.

And there’s a free plan, which—look, free plans are often useless. Breezy’s can actually work for very small teams, at least as a starting point.

Key features

• Kanban-style pipeline (drag-and-drop candidates through stages)
• Automation for messages and routine steps
• Team collaboration and candidate communication
• Job posting and basic reporting

Pricing

• Free plan available
• Paid plans start around $157/month

Pros

• Very easy to understand—minimal training required
• Visual pipeline is great for hiring managers (they actually log in… sometimes)
• Automation helps small teams move faster
• Good balance of features vs complexity

Cons

• Not ideal for highly complex workflows or enterprise compliance needs
• Reporting and customization may not satisfy data-heavy teams
• You may outgrow it if hiring volume and process maturity jump

Best use cases

• Small businesses and agencies that want a simple, visual workflow
• Teams transitioning from email/spreadsheets into an ATS
• Hiring managers who need a UI that doesn’t scare them

Breezy is like labeling your pantry. It won’t make you a chef—but suddenly you can find the rice, and dinner stops being stressful.

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JazzHR - Full Review (300-350 words)

JazzHR is the budget-friendly pick that still covers the basics. If you’re a small business and you just need the core ATS workflows—post jobs, collect applicants, move them through stages, get approvals, send offers—JazzHR is often enough.

And “enough” is underrated. Not every company needs a talent CRM and a hiring analytics command center. Sometimes you just need a tool that prevents your inbox from becoming the ATS (because that’s where hiring goes to die).

Key features

• Core ATS pipeline management
• Job posting tools
• Approvals and collaboration features
• Basic reporting
• Candidate communication templates

Pricing

• Starts around $49/month

Pros

• Very affordable entry point
• Covers the core hiring workflow without fluff
• Good for small businesses with occasional or steady hiring
• Approvals help reduce “wait, who said yes?” confusion

Cons

• Not built for enterprise complexity or high customization
• Advanced automation/CRM-style nurturing may be limited
• You may need add-ons or integrations sooner as you scale

Best use cases

• SMBs that want to professionalize hiring on a tight budget
• Teams hiring a handful of roles at a time
• Owners/ops leaders who want control without a big learning curve

JazzHR is like a dependable microwave. It’s not a gourmet kitchen. But you’ll eat tonight—and you won’t burn the house down.

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iCIMS Talent Cloud - Full Review (300-350 words)

iCIMS Talent Cloud is enterprise recruiting software in the way an ERP is enterprise software. It’s broad, configurable, and designed for complex organizations with lots of roles, lots of stakeholders, and lots of compliance requirements.

If your org needs deep workflows—regional rules, advanced permissions, global compliance support, integration with everything under the sun—iCIMS can be a strong fit. But if you don’t need that complexity, you’ll feel like you bought a commercial airliner to commute to work.

Key features

• Enterprise-grade ATS and recruiting suite modules
• Deep configurability and workflows
• Extensive integrations ecosystem
• Support for global compliance and complex org structures
• Reporting suited for enterprise governance

Pricing

• Custom quote (no public starting price)

Pros

• Built for enterprise scale and complexity
• Strong configurability for unique workflows
• Integrations and ecosystem support mature environments
• Better alignment with compliance-heavy industries

Cons

• Implementation can be heavy (time, change management, admin ownership)
• Can feel overwhelming for smaller teams
• Costs and contracts are typically enterprise-level

Best use cases

• Large enterprises (multi-entity, multi-region)
• Regulated industries or compliance-forward organizations
• Teams with dedicated HRIT/recruiting ops resources

iCIMS is the warehouse club version of recruiting software. You can buy everything in bulk. But you need a place to store it—and someone to manage it.

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Head-to-Head Comparison (300-400 words)

Let’s compare these the way teams actually experience them—day to day, mid-week, when someone slacks “candidate is waiting” and you’ve got six meetings.

Ease of use

• Easiest for most teams: Workable and Breezy HR. They’re intuitive, quick to learn, and don’t demand a process PhD.
• Most “structured” (read: stricter): Greenhouse. It’s usable, but it expects you to operate with discipline.
• Most complex: iCIMS. Powerful, but you’ll need admin maturity.
• Lever sits in a middle zone—clean enough, but you’ll get the most value if you actually use the CRM capabilities.

Features and depth

• Best for structured hiring quality: Greenhouse (scorecards, interview kits, governance).
• Best for pipeline nurturing: Lever (ATS + CRM + nurture campaigns).
• Best “all-in-one for lean recruiting”: Workable (sourcing + distribution + ATS).
• Best visual workflow: Breezy HR (Kanban pipeline).
• Best basic ATS at low cost: JazzHR.
• Best enterprise configurability/compliance: iCIMS Talent Cloud.

Pricing value

• Best value: JazzHR is hard to beat at ~$49/month.
• Best “starter but serious” spend: Workable (starts ~$149/month) and Breezy (paid starts ~$157/month) depending on what UI and workflow you prefer.
• Custom-quote tools (Greenhouse, Lever, iCIMS) can be worth it—if you’ll use the depth. If not, you’re paying for a gym membership you won’t use.

Integrations + ecosystem

• Greenhouse and iCIMS usually win on breadth and maturity.
• Lever is strong too, especially for growth-stage stacks.
• SMB tools integrate, but you may have fewer enterprise-grade options.

Support and learning curve

• Workable/Breezy/JazzHR generally feel lighter.
• Greenhouse/Lever require more enablement.
• iCIMS is a project—plan accordingly.

Also—tiny tangent—no ATS will fix a hiring manager who refuses to give feedback. But the right ATS will make that refusal visible. That’s progress, even if it’s annoying.

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How to Choose: Decision Framework (200-300 words)

If you’re trying to pick quickly without regretting it later, ask these questions:

1. Are we mostly inbound or outbound?

   • Inbound-heavy (lots of applicants): Workable, Greenhouse, JazzHR, Breezy
   • Outbound/pipeline-heavy: Lever (this is its whole personality)

2. Do we need strict structured hiring—or just better organization?

   • Strict + repeatable + measurable: Greenhouse
   • “Stop the chaos, keep it simple”: Workable or Breezy
   • “Just the basics, please”: JazzHR

3. How complex are approvals, compliance, and org structure?

   • Multi-region, regulated, complex permissions: iCIMS
   • Moderate complexity: Greenhouse (often enough)
   • Low complexity: Workable/Breezy/JazzHR

4. Who will own the system? (This is the sneaky one.)

   • If you don’t have a recruiting ops/admin type, avoid tools that need constant tuning.

Red flags to watch in trials

• Reporting requires exports to feel usable
• Hiring managers can’t figure out where to leave feedback
• Scheduling feels bolted-on and clunky
• Candidate comms don’t support your tone/brand
• You’re told “that’s possible with customization” too often (translation: you’ll pay)

What to test

• Create a job, run an approval, move 5 candidates, schedule 2 interviews, reject 1, generate a report. If that feels painful now… it’ll be worse later.

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The Verdict: Final Recommendations (400-500 words)

Here’s my ranked, opinionated take—based on how these tools tend to behave when you’re actually hiring under pressure.

1) Greenhouse — Best overall for scaling teams

If you’re serious about hiring quality and consistency, Greenhouse is the best “default choice” for growth. It forces structure in a way that improves decision-making—scorecards, interview kits, and stage discipline make hiring more defensible and less vibes-based.
Do this next: Run a pilot with one department, build interview kits, and lock scorecards early. If you wait, people will invent their own process and you’ll be herding cats.

2) Workable — Best for lean teams that need to move fast

If you want to be up and running quickly—with sourcing and job distribution baked in—Workable is a strong pick. It’s practical. It’s not trying to be your whole HR universe. It’s just trying to help you hire without losing your mind.
Do this next: Use its structure tools (scorecards/stages). Don’t just treat it like a resume inbox with a nicer UI.

3) Lever — Best for pipeline + nurture (ATS + CRM)

If your recruiting strategy depends on relationships—silver medalists, past finalists, passive candidates—Lever is compelling. The ATS + CRM approach is the point. If you use it, you’ll build a healthier funnel and reduce “starting from zero” every time a role opens.
Do this next: Ask for a demo of nurture campaigns and analytics. If those features don’t get used, consider a simpler ATS and save the budget.

4) Breezy HR — Best simple visual workflow for small teams

Breezy HR is great when you want an approachable system that hiring managers won’t hate. The Kanban view makes the process tangible. It’s not enterprise-deep, but that’s kind of the charm.
Do this next: Standardize stages and templates so the board doesn’t become a junk drawer.

5) JazzHR — Best budget pick for core ATS needs

If cost is the main constraint and you still need a real ATS, JazzHR is the value play. It’ll take you far enough for many small businesses—especially if hiring volume is moderate.
Do this next: Map your workflow first. JazzHR is best when you keep the process simple and consistent.

6) iCIMS Talent Cloud — Best for enterprise complexity (but only if you need it)

If you’re truly enterprise—global compliance, deep integrations, complex workflows—iCIMS is a serious contender. But if you’re not that org, it can feel like wearing a suit of armor to go jogging.
Do this next: Treat implementation like a real project. Assign ownership, timeline, and change management. Otherwise it’ll sprawl.

And yes—check G2 and Capterra reviews during final selection. Not because ratings are perfect (they aren’t), but because patterns in complaints are usually real.

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Conclusion

The right recruiting tool in 2025 won’t magically fix hiring. But it will remove friction—so your team spends time evaluating candidates instead of chasing approvals, hunting for feedback, or rebuilding the same spreadsheet every week.

If you want the safest scaling pick, go Greenhouse. If you want fast and lean, go Workable. If your pipeline strategy matters, look hard at Lever. For small teams, Breezy HR and JazzHR are refreshingly practical. And if you’re enterprise-complex, iCIMS is built for that world.

If you tell me your company size, hiring volume, and whether you’re mostly inbound vs outbound, I’ll narrow this to the top two—and give you a trial checklist tailored to your workflow.