Comparison
SeekOut alternatives for recruitment agencies
Seven sourcing tools compared on match evidence, work email, built-in ATS and free trial. Kretsia shows the evidence behind every match and finds work emails in one click. Competitor facts were read on each vendor's own page on 12 October 2026.
Written by Armin Barimani, co-founder of Kretsia
Compared on 12 October 2026. Last updated
What is the best SeekOut alternative for a recruitment agency?
For an agency, Kretsia. Describe the role in plain language and an AI judge checks each person against every requirement, marking it met, partial or missing with the evidence from their profile. One click on Find email returns a work email, and the ATS, talent pool, career site and interview scheduling are in the same tool. Kretsia scored 84.12 on PeopleSearchBench in our June 2026 run. The other options below are hireEZ, Gem, LinkedIn Recruiter, Eightfold AI, Juicebox and Loxo.
SeekOut alternatives at a glance
Facts come from each vendor's own pages, read on 12 October 2026. Kretsia's 84.12 is our own PeopleSearchBench Recruiting run; the Juicebox score is published in the benchmark's repository. Eightfold AI is described below and left out of the table. Prices are in the sections below.
| Tool | Best for | Match evidence and benchmark | Work email | ATS and scheduling | Free trial | EU company / GDPR note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kretsia | Agencies that want evidence behind each match, with ATS and interview scheduling in the same tool | Every requirement met, partial or missing, with a quote from the profile. PeopleSearchBench 84.12 (June 2026) | Find email: one click on any sourced person. If none is found, it offers to reach out on LinkedIn | Built in: pipeline, talent pool, career site and interview scheduling | 14 days, no card needed | Swedish company (Gothenburg). DPA for every customer. App and matching in Swedish and English |
| hireEZ | Enterprise talent acquisition teams | No published score | Yes | Talent CRM; integrates with your ATS | 7 days, solo tier | US company (Mountain View). EU-US Data Privacy Framework, SCCs, DPO |
| Gem | In-house teams. Has a page for recruiting firms | No published score | Yes. Email-finding on the standard seat | Built-in ATS and CRM | None mentioned | US company. DPA offered. Hosting region not stated |
| LinkedIn Recruiter | Teams sourcing LinkedIn members | No published score | InMail is the route; no email export on its page | Integrates with your ATS | None mentioned | Owned by Microsoft. GDPR not covered on its page |
| Juicebox | Teams that want self-serve plans and a free tier | PeopleSearchBench 65.73 (published in the benchmark repository) | Yes. Credits: 500 a month on Starter, 1,500 per seat on Growth | Integrates with your ATS (Business plan) | Free plan ($0), not a trial | US company (San Francisco). EU representative and DPA; no EU hosting stated |
| Loxo | Agencies that want ATS, CRM and sourcing in one system | No published score | Yes. Credit-based: Professional includes 2,500 credits per user a month | Built-in ATS and CRM | 7 days, no card, full Professional platform | US company. States GDPR and SOC 2 compliance; SCCs for transfers |
| SeekOut For reference | Enterprise and mid-market recruiting teams | No published score | Yes. Core includes 500 contact credits a month | Integrates with your ATS | 14 days, Sourcing Core | US company. Lists GDPR, SOC 2 Type II, DPA supported |
1. Kretsia: best for recruitment agencies that want a ranked shortlist with the reason each person fits
Kretsia is a candidate sourcing tool with applicant tracking and interview scheduling in the same product. It searches public professional profiles worldwide, in English or Swedish.
How a search works
- Plain-language brief. Describe the role in your own words or paste the full job ad.
- Check before you spend. Kretsia turns the brief into editable must-have and nice-to-have requirements and estimates how many people match. Nothing counts against your plan until you run the search.
- A reason on every match. An AI judge checks each person against every requirement and marks it met, partial or missing, with a quote from the profile that backs it.
- Find email. On any sourced person, one click finds their work email. If none is found, Kretsia offers to reach out on LinkedIn. Emails found are reused across your organisation.
- One system after the shortlist. Save people to a talent pool or add them to a job, where the application is scored against it. Candidates book interviews in their own time zone, with Google or Outlook calendars.
The benchmark result
On PeopleSearchBench Recruiting, Kretsia scored 84.12 overall in our run on 25 June 2026: 30 queries, mean of three scoring runs, 13.3 of 15 results qualified on average. Published scores in the benchmark repository are Lessie 68.23, Juicebox 65.73 and Exa 64.67. See the benchmark page.
Trial and data
14-day free trial, no card needed.
Kretsia AB is a company in Gothenburg, Sweden, and every customer can sign a data processing agreement. The app and the matching work in Swedish and English. Our privacy policy lists the safeguards for any transfer outside the EU.
SeekOut in brief
SeekOut, based in Bellevue, Washington, calls itself an agentic AI recruiting platform. Its homepage claims "1B+ profiles across external sources and your ATS" and "Trusted by 750+ leading enterprises", and speaks to "Recruiters, Sourcers, and TA Leaders" at enterprises. It does not name agencies. The homepage shows SOC 2 Type II and GDPR badges and says a DPA is supported.
SeekOut pricing, checked 12 October 2026
From seekout.com/pricing, which names no currency: Sourcing Core is $149 a month paid annually upfront ($1,788 a year) or $179 a month billed monthly, with three seats listed. Higher plans are "Custom" and billed annually. There is a 14-day free trial of Sourcing Core and no free plan.
Third-party estimate, not SeekOut's figure: Vendr lists a median SeekOut contract of $20,000 a year across 65 purchases, range $5,820 to $54,920 (February 2026). Vendr's tier names differ from SeekOut's current plans.
Why teams look for alternatives
- The pricing model. Only Core bills monthly. Every plan above it is a custom annual contract.
- Who it is written for. The homepage speaks to enterprises and does not name agencies.
- Search region. A SeekOut support article says search defaults to a North America region filter. Check it for other markets.
- Direction. GeekWire reported on 16 April 2026 that Sean Thompson became CEO effective 4 May 2026, and plans to scale SeekOut Spot, an agentic AI recruiting service, "while pursuing acquisitions of recruiting agencies". Agencies may want to ask SeekOut what that means for them.
The other six SeekOut alternatives
Prices are from each vendor's own page on 12 October 2026.
2. hireEZ
What it is. hireEZ calls itself "end-to-end agentic recruiting for enterprise teams". Best for enterprise talent acquisition. Sourcing: it claims over 1 billion profiles.
Trial and price. 7 days on the solo tier. Solo recruiters "start at $494/mo"; enterprise pricing is "configured" per customer (hireez.com/pricing, checked 12 October 2026). See our hireEZ alternatives page.
3. Gem
What it is. An "AI-first recruiting platform" with a built-in ATS and CRM. Best for in-house teams, though it has a page for recruiting firms. Sourcing: it claims 800M+ profiles.
Trial and price. No trial is mentioned. Standard pricing is not public and is "based on your company's FTE count" (gem.com/pricing, checked 12 October 2026). Third-party estimate: Vendr shows a median of $13,000 a year (February 2026).
4. LinkedIn Recruiter
What it is. LinkedIn's own recruiting product. Recruiter Lite is for individuals and small teams. Best for teams whose candidates are on LinkedIn. Sourcing: "more than 1 billion members", LinkedIn members only.
Trial and price. No trial is mentioned. Recruiter pricing "depends on company size, number of Recruiter seats, and more" (LinkedIn's Recruiter page, checked 12 October 2026). Third-party estimate: Dover lists Lite at $170 a month for one seat (5 August 2026), billing basis unclear.
5. Eightfold AI
What it is. An "agentic talent intelligence platform" for large enterprises. Best for enterprise talent teams. Its page describes no agency offer. Security: SOC 2 Type II, ISO/IEC 42001 and FedRAMP Moderate, with no explicit GDPR claim.
Trial and price. No trial. The page says "Request demo" and shows no price (eightfold.ai, checked 12 October 2026).
6. Juicebox
What it is. A people search tool. Best for teams that want to try self-serve first. Sourcing: it claims 800 million profiles. Its published PeopleSearchBench score is 65.73. Kretsia scored 84.12 (benchmark details).
Trial and price. A free plan at $0. Starter is $99 and Growth $179 per seat a month billed yearly, or $119 and $199 billed monthly; Business is custom and annual (juicebox.ai/pricing, checked 12 October 2026). See our Juicebox alternatives page.
7. Loxo
What it is. An ATS, CRM and sourcing product that suits agencies. Best for agencies that want all three under one login. Sourcing: Loxo Source, with "850M+ professionals" by its own claim.
Trial and price. 7 days of the full Professional platform, no card. Core "starts at $149 per user / month, billed annually". Professional shows "Book a demo" on its card, yet another section says "included in $199" per user, so confirm with Loxo (loxo.co/pricing, checked 12 October 2026).
How to choose a SeekOut alternative as an agency
- Name what you are replacing. Search, work email and the ATS are separate jobs. Kretsia covers all three in one tool.
- Decide how you will get a work email. Kretsia's Find email works on any sourced person in one click and offers to reach out on LinkedIn if no email is found. SeekOut, hireEZ and Gem also include contact data, and LinkedIn Recruiter shows no export.
- Price it for your team, not for one seat. Prices are per seat (Juicebox, Loxo), a set price for a small plan (SeekOut Core) or custom quotes (SeekOut above Core, Gem, Eightfold). Ask each vendor for the total for your number of recruiters.
- Ask for the evidence behind each match. A score does not tell a client why someone was proposed. Test whether the tool shows which requirements are met or missing, with a line from the profile.
- Check where it searches. Run a live search in each market you cover. SeekOut defaults to a North America region filter, and Kretsia searches worldwide, with matching built for English and Swedish.
- Check data protection. Ask for the DPA and where data is transferred. Certifications differ: SeekOut and Eightfold list SOC 2 Type II.
Trials are 14 days at SeekOut and Kretsia, and 7 at hireEZ and Loxo. Run the same three real briefs in each tool and compare what you would send to a client.
How this comparison was made
We read each vendor's own pricing, homepage and GDPR pages on 12 October 2026. Vendor claims, such as profile counts, are worded as claims, and third-party figures from Vendr and Dover are labeled as estimates. We print no review ratings because we could only read G2 and Capterra as search snippets. Nobody paid to be included.
For eleven AI sourcing tools on one page, see the best AI sourcing tools for recruitment agencies.
If something is out of date, tell us.
FAQ
Questions about SeekOut alternatives.
Kretsia is our pick for agencies. It gives a ranked shortlist where each requirement is marked met, partial or missing, with a quote from the profile. Find email returns a work email in one click, and the ATS, talent pool, career site and interview scheduling are in the same tool. It scored 84.12 on PeopleSearchBench in our June 2026 run. Loxo and Gem also combine an ATS with sourcing.
SeekOut's pricing page, checked on 12 October 2026, lists Sourcing Core at $149 a month paid annually upfront, or $179 billed monthly, with three seats. The page names no currency. Higher plans are custom quotes billed annually. Vendr, a third party, shows a median contract of about $20,000 a year from 65 purchases (February 2026).
SeekOut offers a 14-day free trial of Sourcing Core and has no free plan (pricing page, checked 12 October 2026). Among the alternatives here, Kretsia offers 14 days with no card, hireEZ 7 days on its solo tier and Loxo 7 days with no card. Juicebox has a free plan rather than a trial.
Yes. On any sourced person, one click on Find email looks up their work email. If none is found, Kretsia offers to reach out on LinkedIn. Emails found are reused across your organisation. Every result also links to the person's public professional profile, and you can keep people in the built-in talent pool or on a job.
Yes. Kretsia AB is registered in Gothenburg, Sweden, the app and matching work in Swedish and English, and every customer can sign a data processing agreement. Our privacy policy lists the processors we use and the safeguards for any transfer outside the EU.
No. Fetcher still appears on older lists, but Juicebox acquired Fetcher's assets, and Fetcher's own FAQ gave 16 October 2026 as the date its platform retires (the announcement). We left it out of this comparison.
Try Kretsia on
a real search.
Describe a role, check the search before it runs, and see why each person fits. 14-day free trial, no card needed.