How much does an ATS cost in Canada? Pricing, hidden fees and examples in CAD
Lire cet article en français →Applicant tracking software (ATS) is usually billed per user, per month. But the listed price is only part of the bill: you also need to count setup, the job advertising budget, options and taxes. For example, a small business with one recruiter pays $948 a year for Nextal’s Essential plan, billed annually, before taxes.
Here is how ATS vendors bill, what makes up the real cost, and the questions to ask before you sign.
The 4 ways ATS vendors bill
1. Per user, per month. The most common model: you pay for each person who uses the software. It suits most companies, because the bill follows the size of your hiring team. The catch: check who counts as a user, for example managers who only look at applications.
2. Per open job or per posting. The price depends on the number of active jobs. It’s simple when you hire rarely, but the bill climbs fast in peak season, exactly when you hire the most.
3. A tiered flat fee. A fixed price based on the company’s headcount or a maximum number of jobs. It’s predictable, but look at what happens when you outgrow the tier.
4. Custom quote. For large organizations, the price is negotiated around your needs. Compare the total over the contract term, not just the monthly price.
What makes up the real cost
The licence
This is the base price, per user per month. It depends on how you’re billed: annual billing is usually cheaper in exchange for a 12-month commitment, while monthly billing costs more but lets you leave whenever you want. At Nextal, the difference is $20 per user per month: $79 instead of $99 on the Essential plan, $99 instead of $119 on the Pro plan.
Setup
Configuring the account, building the career site, training users and moving the data from your current tool takes work. Some vendors include it; others bill it separately, sometimes by the hour. At Nextal, it’s a one-time fee of $500 (Essential) or $1,000 (Pro) that covers account setup, your career site and its integration with your website, user training (4 to 6 one-hour sessions), the Indeed connection, migrating your data, and a review after one month, then after six months.
Job posting
An ATS publishes your jobs on job boards, but posting and sponsoring are two different things. The connection to Indeed, Jobillico and Google for Jobs is included in every Nextal plan. Sponsored Indeed jobs and Jobillico postings, however, are billed directly by those sites, based on the budget you choose. Plan that budget separately: it depends on how much you hire, not on your ATS.
Options
Some features are often sold as extras: artificial intelligence, Microsoft 365 or Google integration, the API, a CRM module for business development. At Nextal, AI matching and the Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace integration are part of the Pro plan. The CRM is the only option: $25 per user per month, with the Pro and Enterprise plans. There are no usage fees: text messages, storage and the AI features of your plan are included.
Managers who take part in hiring
In a multi-location company or a growing business, store managers and department managers take part in hiring without it being their job. Paying full price for each of them quickly drives up the bill. At Nextal, they have two options:
- The Manager user, at $30 a month (Pro and Enterprise plans, billed annually or monthly): restricted access to the core hiring features, without email synchronization.
- No licence, free of charge: a manager who only needs to give feedback on a candidate receives a secure, time-limited link from a recruiter that shows the candidate’s resume and lets them leave comments. They don’t need to log in to Nextal.
Currency
Many recruiting tools are sold in US dollars. Your bill then moves with the exchange rate, and a renewal can cost noticeably more than planned. A price in Canadian dollars stays the same from one month to the next.
Taxes
Software prices are almost always shown before taxes. In Québec, add GST and QST; elsewhere in Canada, GST or HST depending on the province. That’s the case at Nextal: prices are in Canadian dollars, plus applicable taxes.
Hidden fees to check before you sign
Before choosing an ATS, ask the vendor:
- Are managers who only look at applications billed as users?
- Are data migration and training included, or billed separately?
- Is support available in French and English, and is it included in every plan?
- Is there a cap on jobs, candidates or storage?
- Are text messages and AI features billed by usage?
- Can you get all your data back if you leave, and at what cost?
- What increase is planned at renewal?
- What is the minimum commitment?
Worked examples
Here is what one year of Nextal costs, billed annually, in Canadian dollars, before taxes.
| Situation | Plan | Users | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small business with one recruiter | Essential | 1 | 1 × $79 × 12 = $948 |
| Medium business with its managers | Pro | 3 recruiters + 20 Managers | (3 × $99 + 20 × $30) × 12 = $10,764 |
| Multi-location company | Pro | 5 | 5 × $99 × 12 = $5,940 |
| Multi-location company with its store managers | Pro | 2 recruiters + 10 Managers | (2 × $99 + 10 × $30) × 12 = $5,976 |
| Recruitment agency | Pro + CRM | 5 | 5 × $124 × 12 = $7,440 |
For almost the same price as five Pro users, a multi-location company gives twelve people access to Nextal. And managers who only give feedback on resumes cost nothing.
With monthly billing and no commitment, count $99 (Essential) or $119 (Pro) per user per month. All the details are on our pricing page, and agencies can see how the ATS and the CRM work together on Nextal for agencies.
And what does it cost… to have no ATS?
Without an ATS, hiring mostly costs time: sorting resumes that arrive by email, finding the latest version of a spreadsheet, following up with candidates by hand, posting the same job on several sites. Meanwhile, the best candidates accept an offer elsewhere. That cost doesn’t show up on any invoice, but it’s real. We explain it in Why stop using email and spreadsheets and switch to an ATS.
How to compare two quotes
To compare two ATS fairly, ask each vendor for:
- The total price over 12 months for your number of users, options included.
- What setup includes: configuration, migration, training.
- The billing currency: Canadian or US dollars.
- Where your data is hosted. If you hire in Québec, Law 25 requires a privacy impact assessment before personal information is communicated outside Québec. At Nextal, our servers are in Beauharnois, your database is in Montréal and AI processing is done in Québec City.
- The support languages, and its hours.
To go further, read our guide to ATS software in Canada and the pricing FAQ.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free ATS? Yes, some tools offer a free version, usually limited in jobs, users or features. They can do for a few hires a year; as soon as several people hire, those limits cost more in time than a subscription.
Does Nextal’s price include posting on Indeed and Jobillico? The connection is included in every plan: your jobs go from Nextal to Indeed, Jobillico and Google for Jobs. Sponsored Indeed jobs and Jobillico postings are billed by those sites.
Do I need a full licence for every manager? No. With the Pro and Enterprise plans, a manager can have restricted access for $30 a month. And a manager who only needs to comment on a candidate’s resume needs no licence at all: they receive a secure, time-limited link.
Do I have to commit for a year? No. At Nextal, monthly billing has no commitment. Annual billing costs less, in exchange for a 12-month commitment.
Are prices in Canadian dollars? Yes. Nextal’s prices are in Canadian dollars, plus applicable taxes.
