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IBM Kenexa vs iCIMS Recruit comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM Kenexa
Ranking in Applicant Tracking and Recruiting Software
10th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.3
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
Benefits Administration (16th), Talent Management (17th)
iCIMS Recruit
Ranking in Applicant Tracking and Recruiting Software
16th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Applicant Tracking and Recruiting Software category, the mindshare of IBM Kenexa is 2.2%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of iCIMS Recruit is 1.4%, down from 2.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Applicant Tracking and Recruiting Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM Kenexa2.2%
iCIMS Recruit1.4%
Other96.4%
Applicant Tracking and Recruiting Software
 

Featured Reviews

Karan Grover - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Suitable for larger-scale companies aiming to streamline and automate their processes digitally
The deployment of the solution took between six to eight months. When we introduced BrassRing at my company, we encountered several challenges. First, moving data from our old system to BrassRing was tough because it needed reformatting. Second, connecting BrassRing with our HR data was tricky due to manual processes for roles and departments. Third, setting up the workflow in BrassRing was complex. Fourth, configuring user access and approval levels was a detailed task. We also had to manage the change process, including running both old and new systems in parallel, communicating changes, and training users. Lastly, monitoring and reporting were needed to ensure data accuracy and proper system usage once everything was in place. We had a team of six to eight people managing the project from our side during the BrassRing deployment. I'm not sure about the size of the BrassRing team, and we also had our own technical team, which had three to four members. The solution required maintenance, particularly from my side as the administrator. Maintenance responsibilities were divided into two parts: some tasks we, as end-users, could control, while others were the responsibility of the BrassRing team. Payment-related tasks were a regular part of our responsibilities. I wasn't the only person maintaining the solution. There were three power users from Infosys, each responsible for a specific geography. My counterpart managed it in the US, and I, along with my colleague in India, managed it for other geographies.
John Dittmer - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Policy and Process Functional Lead /Cybersecurity/Information Assurance (CS/IA) at a consultancy with 51-200 employees
Consistent application workflow has reduced my submission time and made repetitive forms manageable
The best features iCIMS Recruit offers make it straightforward, and since I have seen many of the same questions between different companies, it makes filling out the job application quite quick. The process is especially easy and user-friendly in the way it uploads resumes, along with some of the standardized questions about demographics, gender, race, veteran status, and disability. iCIMS Recruit has positively impacted my experience as a job applicant by making it faster and less stressful. Sometimes you go through other types of job applications and are left wondering what they are looking for, and when I see it is iCIMS Recruit, it makes things pretty simple because I can anticipate the questions. It saves me at least a good half hour compared to other application systems.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Of all the current talent analytics offerings on the market today, IBM Kenexa Talent Insights is the most comprehensive end-to-end, data-agnostic analytics tool."
"From everything I’ve seen and heard, I would think Kenxea is probably one of the top three, if not the best, in the business that they do and the things that we use them for."
"It allowed for truly global listing for all open positions."
"We felt like Kenexa was robust enough and dynamic enough that it met our needs, so it didn't make sense for us to disrupt 700 locations and reteach them something."
"I think the advantage of Kenexa is the degree to which we can configure to meet our specific needs."
"Great value and flexibility in an ATS, mainly through the automation and the configuration through Workbench you can do to manipulate the candidate experience to really be something that candidates like and allows them to apply to your site easily and put them in a pipeline for recruiters to access and move through a process and get somebody hired."
"We like IBM; IBM has been great partners for us, they're really invested in our success, and they see us as a valuable client."
"I would definitely and highly recommend the applicant tracking system."
"Over time, I've seen them build on their platform, make improvements, enhance the user experience, and continue to gather feedback for improvement from end users."
"The solution offers good customization and good dashboards."
"iCIMS Recruit has positively impacted my experience as a job applicant by making it faster and less stressful."
 

Cons

"There were functions we couldn't customize and needed to."
"If you happen to be an early adopter of enhancements, it can be a frustrating process, as it is hard to decipher together with their support whether an issue is a bug or working as intended (a change in the way something works)."
"The team didn't find the reporting tool that easy to use, in terms of pulling their own data, slicing and dicing it, combining groups."
"Technical support was not always great. They tend to push you towards workbench admins or paid support."
"Once-a-year engagement kind of seems to be a little bit lagging in terms of how we can actually shape and improve organizations, so I was looking forward to understanding a bit more where IBM Kenexa's thinking is going in terms of pulsing with the employee voice and how that kind of integrates and works with tell-it-as-it-is, and the other two applications we have; it's just too early to know."
"The price can always be better. Right now, we can only do part of that, but not as much as I want to."
"The reason I’m not rating it with five stars is because of its sheer size."
"The reporting feature currently is our biggest struggle point; getting the data we need and in the fashion that we need it is a current struggle point for us."
"If reporting could be more robust, that would be phenomenal."
"iCIMS Recruit could be improved by adding a block to explain certain things."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Kenexa was fairly priced. However, in 2019, before I left my previous organization, they significantly increased their pricing. It can be affordable, but their pricing is going up. It is not just licensing; it is how many applicants you have in your system on the database side."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise28
No data available
 

Also Known As

IBM Smarter Workforce, Outstart
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Sweet Spot International (SSI), Leo Burnett Worldwide (LBW), Sika AG, Legacy Health, Apollo Group Inc., Regeneron, Transurban Group, National Health Service, New Zealand Police, Overland Footwear, Yealands, Johnson Controls, Allscripts, Kerry Foods, Masterpet, AMD, Balfour Beatty
NorthStar Anesthesia, Southeastern Grocers, AmTrust Financial, RPM Pizza, Hackensack Meridian Health, Esurance, Peet’s Coffee, Regis Corporation, Cedar Fair
Find out what your peers are saying about Zoho, SmartRecruiters, Bullhorn and others in Applicant Tracking and Recruiting Software. Updated: May 2026.
900,838 professionals have used our research since 2012.