IBM Kenexa vs SmartRecruiters comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between IBM Kenexa and SmartRecruiters based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Applicant Tracking and Recruiting Software solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed IBM Kenexa vs. SmartRecruiters Report (Updated: March 2024).
765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The most valuable features are that we can upload documents and download them on demand.""The ease of scaling is one of BrassRing's biggest strengths, making it a trusted choice for large companies.""It is extremely user friendly. It is very flexible in managing recruitment, especially when you have thousands of applicants as we did. We easily had over 20,000 applicants within a year for some of our positions, so it made it very easy to manage a large application pool. It was very easy to customize by recruiter preference. When you open up someone's profile to see their experience, education, or other things, you can customize that for yourself. It was flexible in that, and each recruiter could set up their preferences. It didn't have to be set up so that everyone had to have the same landing platform, which was very helpful. As someone who trained other HR people on how to use the system, it was very easy to pick up and learn.""IBM Kenexa is fairly stable. We don't have any downtime."

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"SmartRecruiters is a candidate management system or ATS system that we use for recruitment purposes.""I found the core product quite useful. It is easy to use and quite user-friendly. They have also got other options, such as CRM and HRS. They have other versions such as smart distribute, which is an HRS type of system to analyze and get permissions needed from the applicants. In terms of pricing, SmartRecruiters is much better than its competitors.""The candidate experience was better because the whole process was there.""It has a lot of good features. We post all of our jobs through the system, and they have a marketplace where you can share the job post with the job boards they're working with. It is integrated with all the records about from where the applications are coming. We have all of our candidates gathered there. We can set up our own hiring processes depending on the type of job and then move them through the process there. It is also possible to involve hiring managers and give them access so that they can also track the candidates and have a look at TBE and interact in the system, which is very useful. We also use SmartRecruiters for job approvals before posting the job as well as for offer approvals before sending an offer. We have everything in the system itself, and everything is being tracked, which is very good for us. It is a reliable system, and you can use it for the full cycle of recruitment. You can really adapt it to your processes. When it comes to the configuration, it is easy to configure. Something that is good with SmartRecruiters is that they are always working on improvements. Every quarter, they have different enhancements or product releases, which is something that we appreciate.""What I really like about it is that it feels minimal, but is also dynamic. There aren't a lot of ways to get lost, which is good.""With just a click of a button, we can manage the process. Even generating offer letters and obtaining electronic signatures through DocSign are integrated into this application.""The most valuable feature is the way that they've set it up for collaboration.""The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that amongst all the other ATS platforms that I have used, SmartRecruiters is the most user-friendly tool."

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Cons
"It needs to update its reporting and analytics tools.""The reporting tool is helpful, but it is not the easiest to train on or is not as understandable for other HR pros. Their Workbench site, which is the administrator site that you use to update your website, is not user-friendly. When updates are required, it is not that easy to manage because Workbench is not user friendly. It required more work from the admins. They have Workbench training, which actually was very unhelpful. It took eight hours to complete, and it was not very helpful. Their customer service when it comes specifically to their Workbench site is not helpful.""I would like to have a better and more user-friendly interface.""I would not recommend IBM Kenexa to others."

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"SmartRecruiters' on-click application process could be better.""One of the areas that we would like them to improve is the self-scheduling feature. They have a self-scheduling feature that can be made a little bit more automated when it comes to scheduling. We are trying to use it, but it doesn't feel very user-friendly. This is something that could be improved. They have launched WhatsApp connections in the system, where instead of sending emails, you can WhatsApp candidates directly from the system, but currently, it mainly works in a few countries. Spain, where I'm based, is not one of them. If we use the system, the phone number for the candidates would be from the UK, and we don't think that would be the best. This feature is good for some countries, but not for all at the moment. It was first launched in the USA and then in a couple of countries in Europe. It is not yet launched fully in Europe. Reporting is always something that can be improved. Even though it is working well for us, its reporting can be better. Currently, it is a little bit complicated when it comes to reporting. It has a few pre-made reports that are easy to access, but if you want more details, you need to build your own reports. In order to do that, it is a bit tricky to learn and understand how it works. Even though you have help agents and support for help, it takes some time to learn, but it is not impossible. We have very recently made some integrations with Tableau. We are building dashboards in Tableau where we can get daily updated reports, and they are definitely helpful. That's something we would recommend. SmartRecruiters has recently implemented an inbox. You can have an inbox where you can see all your conversations, but currently, it is not filtering between the recruiters, so you see everyone's emails in there. They have already announced that they are working on the filtering feature for a specific inbox to make it more personalized per recruiter. This way the recruiters can have an overview of their own work.""There were problems with integrations around other systems and each one had to be custom-built, which took a little while to get set up and running.""There were limitations with the system that we would have liked, not in the time, but the company in Germany really dictated that. So we couldn't do everything in the system we would have liked to it.""Around 2015 and into '17, I worked at a federal contractor. I had to switch to a different applicant system as I didn't know if SmartRecruiters was OFCCP compliant, which is something that, as a US-based federal contractor, you have to ensure. They should work to appeal to the contractor industry and get the product OFCCP compliant.""The solution needs to work on a single sign-on.""Some features are not as straightforward or user friendly to implement.""The filters are not accurate. The results are inaccurate when filtering multiple criteria, such as country and hiring manager."

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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."
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  • "Back in 2018, when I engaged with their sales, they wanted to charge around $10,000 for an annual subscription. Depending on your organization, that either could or couldn't be expensive. I personally think it's a fair price. However, I engaged them and negotiated a lower price with them. I think I got closer to $6,000. It came with a commitment of three years."
  • "There were implementation costs in the first year to get everything set up and running, and then they have various modules on top, which are optional and available at an extra charge."
  • "SmartRecruiters is much better than its competitors. Considering the type of features and services it provides, it is probably one of the best solutions in the market. Others may offer a similar price, but their services won't be that good or the user-friendliness won't be that great. The licensing works based on how many users are there in a company. If you are using other functionalities, like CRM and HRS, the price increases."
  • "I haven't been so involved with pricing, so I don't have all details, but I know that we are paying per head when it comes to different countries. There is an additional fee for new features that they release. If it is something that we would like to use, we need to pay some extra for it."
  • "They are pretty competitive. As the product matures, it has much more functionality and different pricing models. It can relatively cost a lot more if you want to use additional features, but, in general, it is competitive in the industry. We work on a yearly license agreement based on the company size. There are the support costs, which are a part of the additional cost based on the percentage of the licensing fee. So, it has a license plus support cost. Then, of course, there are other add-on options that we can purchase and procure whenever we want to based on certain negotiated arrangements."
  • "I wasn't involved in its acquisition, but I would assume that SmartRecruiters is pretty pricey."
  • "SmartRecruiters is an expensive solution."
  • More SmartRecruiters Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:The ease of scaling is one of BrassRing's biggest strengths, making it a trusted choice for large companies.
    Top Answer:As a large company, we first bought the complete BrassRing package, which had various features. Later on, we paid extra for specific features like customer test management. When we integrated with… more »
    Top Answer:BrassRing needs improvement in a few areas. First, it should update how it tracks where candidates come from and avoid duplicate entries. Right now, it is not very flexible. Also, its way of making… more »
    Top Answer:The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that amongst all the other ATS platforms that I have used, SmartRecruiters is the most user-friendly tool.
    Top Answer:With SmartRecruiters, compatibility with other HRIS systems is an area with certain shortcomings that require improvement. SmartRecruiters is a tool that we use as an ATS platform in our company, but… more »
    Ranking
    Views
    96
    Comparisons
    62
    Reviews
    2
    Average Words per Review
    710
    Rating
    4.5
    Views
    666
    Comparisons
    278
    Reviews
    4
    Average Words per Review
    655
    Rating
    7.8
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    IBM Smarter Workforce, Outstart
    Learn More
    Overview
    Kenexa provides business solutions for human resources. We help global organizations multiply business success by identifying the best individuals for every job and fostering optimal work environments for every organization.
    SmartRecruiters social recruiting platform combines awesome free recruiting software with the best on-demand services to make hiring social, collaborative, and enjoyable. Social and mobile recruiting enablement platform that supports 1-click application submissions.
    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
    Atlassian, Aol, IBM, Napa, Skechers
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Retailer19%
    Financial Services Firm19%
    Hospitality Company11%
    Healthcare Company7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm14%
    Computer Software Company9%
    Real Estate/Law Firm8%
    Comms Service Provider7%
    REVIEWERS
    Non Profit25%
    Manufacturing Company17%
    Healthcare Company8%
    Comms Service Provider8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company11%
    Financial Services Firm9%
    Real Estate/Law Firm7%
    Government7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business9%
    Midsize Enterprise3%
    Large Enterprise88%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business29%
    Midsize Enterprise12%
    Large Enterprise59%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business25%
    Midsize Enterprise25%
    Large Enterprise50%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business24%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise61%
    Buyer's Guide
    IBM Kenexa vs. SmartRecruiters
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Kenexa vs. SmartRecruiters and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    IBM Kenexa is ranked 15th in Applicant Tracking and Recruiting Software with 30 reviews while SmartRecruiters is ranked 1st in Applicant Tracking and Recruiting Software with 15 reviews. IBM Kenexa is rated 7.6, while SmartRecruiters is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of IBM Kenexa writes "Suitable for larger-scale companies aiming to streamline and automate their processes digitally". On the other hand, the top reviewer of SmartRecruiters writes "Efficiently automates tasks but lacks certain features in terms of usability". IBM Kenexa is most compared with HR Software Solutions, SAP SuccessFactors and Workday, whereas SmartRecruiters is most compared with Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, Oracle HCM Cloud, Greenhouse and Zoho Recruit. See our IBM Kenexa vs. SmartRecruiters report.

    See our list of best Applicant Tracking and Recruiting Software vendors.

    We monitor all Applicant Tracking and Recruiting Software reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.