Free for internal recruiting, forever
A free ATS with a path to everything else.
Post jobs, move candidates through a pipeline, schedule interviews, and make offers at $0. When you need contractor management, a self-managed VMS, or International EOR, it's already in the same database.
Engage's free applicant tracking system is a modern, AI-assisted ATS covering the full internal-hiring flow, job requisitions, candidate pipelines, interview scheduling, approval workflows, and offer-stage handoffs. It is free forever with no seat limits. The same database powers contractor management, 1099 compliance, VMS, and International EOR, so candidates you source today can flow straight into a contractor engagement or Employer-of-Record arrangement without re-entering data.
AI resume profile extraction
Drop any resume (PDF, DOCX, image). The AI parses it into a structured candidate profile, work history, skills, education, dates, with comprehensive field coverage across every format.
AI candidate-job matching
Every candidate is scored against the requisition's requirements. The score surfaces the top matches with reasoning for why, experience fit, skill overlap, compensation alignment, location, seniority.
AI resume screening
Recruiters get a ranked shortlist with a written summary of strengths and gaps per candidate, against the actual job requirements, not keyword matching.
AI job description writer & optimizer
Draft a job description from a short role brief, or run an existing JD through the optimizer for clarity, inclusivity, and compliance flags (red-flag language, misclassification risk, inconsistent seniority).
AI job requirements generator
Generate a structured requirements spec (must-haves, nice-to-haves, compensation band) from a job description. Feeds back into matching and screening.
AI compensation suggestions
Hourly rate and annual salary ranges suggested from market signals, role, geography, and experience level. Use as a starting point, edit before posting.
AI interview question generation
Structured interview questions aligned to the role's competencies, behavioral, technical, situational. Consistent rubric across interviewers.
AI talent pool insights
Analyze your candidate pool's composition and surface improvement suggestions, skill gaps, seniority mix, geographic coverage, conversion bottlenecks by stage.
Pipeline + approval workflows
Drag-and-drop stages from new to hired. Hiring-manager-only, HR-only, or chained approvals. Configured once per req, enforced automatically.
Interview scheduling
Coordinate interviews, collect feedback, and move candidates forward, without bouncing between tools.
Grows with you
Hire someone as a contractor? They're already in the database. Need EOR in Germany? Handoff to HQ Simple takes minutes, not weeks.
No vendor lock-in
You can use the ATS indefinitely without ever upgrading to contractor management or EOR. The value proposition stands on its own.
A pipeline your recruiters actually use
- Drag candidates between stages with real-time updates
- See interview feedback and AI-assisted ranking in-line
- Approve offers without switching tools
Accepted candidates flow straight into onboarding
- Self-serve document collection with progress gates
- Configurable templates per client or role
- Engagement cannot start until required docs are complete
What's in the Engage Free ATS versus the competition
| Feature | Engage | Deel | Rippling | Gusto |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full ATS included | ||||
| Job requisitions with approval routing | ||||
| Candidate pipeline | ||||
| Interview scheduling | ||||
| AI resume ranking | ||||
| Flows into contractor management | Partial | Partial | ||
| Price (standalone ATS) | $0 (Free tier, up to 20 workers) | not offered | not offered | not offered |
- Engage
- Deel
- Rippling
- Gusto
- Engage
- Deel
- Rippling
- Gusto
- Engage
- Deel
- Rippling
- Gusto
- Engage
- Deel
- Rippling
- Gusto
- Engage
- Deel
- Rippling
- Gusto
- Engage
- Deel
- Partial
- Rippling
- Partial
- Gusto
- Engage
- $0 (Free tier, up to 20 workers)
- Deel
- not offered
- Rippling
- not offered
- Gusto
- not offered
How the Free ATS works in 5 steps
- Post a job. Create a requisition, or let the AI job description writer draft it from a role brief. Run the output through the JD optimizer for clarity, inclusivity, and compliance flags. The requirements generator converts the JD into a structured spec (must-haves, nice-to-haves, compensation band), and AI compensation suggestions propose a market-calibrated hourly rate or annual salary.
- Source candidates. Add candidates manually, via a public job link, or by forwarding resumes to a dedicated inbox. AI resume profile extraction parses any format into structured candidate data, work history, skills, education, dates.
- Match and screen. AI candidate-job matching scores every candidate against the req's actual requirements (experience fit, skill overlap, comp alignment, location, seniority). AI resume screening produces a ranked shortlist with a written summary of each candidate's strengths and gaps.
- Interview and collect feedback. AI interview question generation produces structured, competency-aligned questions, behavioral, technical, situational, so every interviewer uses the same rubric. Collect feedback on the record and surface decision-ready summaries.
- Make an offer. Route the offer through your approval chain. When the candidate accepts, their record is ready for contractor onboarding or W-2 employment, on the same database.
Alongside the hiring flow, AI talent pool insights continuously analyze your candidate pool's composition, skill gaps, seniority mix, geographic coverage, stage-by-stage conversion bottlenecks, and surface where to focus sourcing next.
Who the Free ATS is for
- Independent recruiters running placements for multiple clients without enterprise ATS licensing.
- Companies with no ATS trying to retire the spreadsheet-plus-Slack hiring process without committing $5–12K to a Greenhouse or Lever license.
- Companies replacing an expensive ATS where the value delivered does not justify renewal.
- Teams anticipating contingent-workforce growth, 1099 contractors, VMS programs, or International EOR, who want the hiring layer to flow naturally into the next stage.
Why this is in the same database as contractor management and EOR
A candidate becomes an employee or contractor through a single-click conversion. No CSV export. No re-entering details into a second platform. No risk of losing interview notes, offer history, or candidate communications when the person transitions into a paying role. This is the core funnel thesis of Engage: you recruit here, you manage here, you pay here.
Frequently asked questions
- Yes. The Free tier includes the full ATS plus contractor management for up to 20 workers at $0. Growth ($500/month) covers 21-100 workers and Enterprise ($1,500/month) covers 100+. The ATS is included at every tier, you don't lose it as you grow.
Hiring internationally? Talk to HQ Simple.
HQ Simple is the services arm that delivers Employer of Record directly in US, Canada, UK, and Australia, and through a partner network worldwide. No per-seat SaaS fee, no setup fee, no onboarding or offboarding charges.
Ready to engage your workforce?
Start with the free ATS. Grow into contractor management, VMS, and International EOR without changing systems.