Lever
by Lever (Employ, Inc.) · Talent Acquisition
AI-powered applicant tracking system (ATS) and CRM for sourcing, screening and hiring.
Updated August 2026 · By the ERP Research Editorial Team · Independent and vendor-neutral.
- Works with
WorkdayADPBambooHRHiBobJustworks- Deployment
- Cloud
- Company size
- SMB, Mid-market, Enterprise
- Pricing
- Annual subscription, quote-based by seats and headcount
- Founded
- 2012
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, California, United States
Overview
Lever is a combined applicant tracking system (ATS) and candidate relationship management (CRM) platform, marketed as LeverTRM, that manages the hiring lifecycle from sourcing through offer and handoff to onboarding. It is positioned by its parent company, Employ, Inc., as the "scalable hiring" tier of its three-brand ATS portfolio (JazzHR for foundational hiring, Lever for scalable hiring, Jobvite for sophisticated/enterprise hiring).
The platform centralizes requisition management, candidate pipelines, interview scheduling and collaboration, and adds AI-assisted features for screening, candidate fit scoring, pipeline-health monitoring, and automated rejection communications. A separate recruiting analytics module provides dashboards for time-to-fill, cost-per-hire, source mix, offer-accept rate and DEI/compliance reporting, including benchmarking against Employ's combined customer base.
Lever was founded in 2012 in San Francisco and was acquired by Employ, Inc. in August 2022, joining JazzHR and Jobvite under one parent company. It continues to operate as a distinct, actively sold product rather than being merged or sunset, with integrations to HRIS/payroll systems, background-check providers, job boards, and other recruiting tools managed through the Lever/Employ partner marketplace.
Modules & capabilities
Lever covers 21 of 44 capabilities we track in this category (+2 partial)
48%- Multi job-board posting & syndicationCareer site and requisition posting; multi-board syndication scope not detailedPartial
- Branded career site builderSupported
- Employee referral program managementReferral trackingSupported
- Passive candidate sourcing toolsChrome sourcing extension for pulling candidates from LinkedIn and other sitesCore strength
- Premium / programmatic job advertisingNot evidenced
- Internal mobility & rehire matchingNot evidenced
“Not evidenced” means our research found no public documentation of this capability — the vendor may still offer it. Confirm on a demo.
Common use cases
- Replacing spreadsheets or a legacy ATS as a company scales its hiring volume
- Running high-volume, multi-location hiring (e.g. retail store associates) with structured workflows
- Building and nurturing a long-term candidate pipeline via CRM rather than one-off requisitions
- Standardizing structured interviews and scorecards across a growing hiring-manager base
- Reporting hiring metrics and DEI/EEO compliance data to leadership and auditors
- Connecting recruiting data to an existing HRIS (e.g. Workday) to unify pre-hire and post-hire records
- Automating candidate communications (rejections, nurture emails) to keep pipelines moving without added recruiter headcount
Strengths & considerations
Strengths
- Unifies ATS and CRM functionality in one platform rather than treating sourcing/nurture as a bolt-on
- AI screening features (fit scores, pipeline-health alerts, automated rejection drafting) are native rather than third-party add-ons
- Part of the Employ, Inc. three-brand portfolio (JazzHR, Lever, Jobvite), giving customers a defined upgrade path as hiring complexity grows
- Recruiting-analytics benchmarking draws on Employ's combined customer base rather than a single-tenant dataset
- 300+ marketplace integrations spanning HRIS, background checks, assessments, sourcing, video interviewing and e-signature
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Rate itERP integrations
Documented in a Lever customer case study (Basis Technologies) as a partner-built integration completed in 10 weeks; explicitly not a native Lever Marketplace connector.
Connector details independently verified against vendor marketplaces and documentation; last checked 2026-08-20.
Pricing
Full Lever pricing breakdown — cost at 25/100/500 seats, competitor rates & FAQs
Lever quotes individually, with mid-market contracts reported around $15,000 a year. Effective rates work out at roughly $2,400 to $3,600 per full recruiter seat at mid-market scale and $1,800 to $2,800 at enterprise scale, so the per-seat cost falls as you scale — the opposite of most SaaS. Its CRM-plus-ATS positioning means the comparison against Greenhouse is not like for like: Lever bundles candidate relationship management that Greenhouse treats as a separate concern. Get an independent shortlist with pricing guidance below.
What does Lever cost?
Lever prices by quote, like most of this category. Here is what actually drives your number — and what to ask before you get one.
3 of the 13 vendors we track in this category publish no list price at all.
Technical & security
- Hosting
- SaaS (multi-tenant), hosted on AWS across US-West2 and EU-Central1 regions
- Data residency
- US, EU
- Compliance
- SOC 2 Type 2, ISO/IEC 27001, GDPR, CCPA
- Languages
- English
About the vendor
- Founded
- 2012
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, California, United States
- Ownership
- Private (subsidiary of Employ, Inc.; acquired from independent ownership in August 2022)
- Notable customers
- Coupa, Hot Topic, Aircall, 15Five, KPMG New Zealand, Entrata, Kinsta
Alternatives to Lever in Talent Acquisition
Lever — frequently asked questions
Is Lever still an independently operated product?
No. Lever was acquired by Employ, Inc. in August 2022 and now operates as one of three ATS brands under Employ, alongside JazzHR and Jobvite. It remains an actively developed, separately sold product rather than being merged or discontinued.
Does Lever integrate with Workday?
Lever does not list Workday as a native Marketplace connector, but a published Lever customer case study (Basis Technologies) describes building a custom Lever-to-Workday integration in about 10 weeks to connect hiring and HR data.
Does Lever publish its pricing?
No. Lever uses quote-based pricing that scales with company size and hiring volume, with cost available on request through a demo or sales call. Paid add-ons such as Candidate Insights, AI Screening by VONQ, and onboarding automation are priced separately.
What compliance certifications does Lever hold?
Lever (under Employ) holds SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO/IEC 27001 certifications audited by Schellman, and states GDPR and CCPA compliance, including EU Data Privacy Framework adherence and Standard Contractual Clauses for EU data transfers.
What size company is Lever built for?
Employ positions Lever as its "scalable hiring" tier, sitting between JazzHR (smaller/foundational hiring teams) and Jobvite (larger, more complex enterprise hiring), though its published case studies span lean startup recruiting teams to organizations hiring thousands of hourly staff.
Compare Lever head-to-head
The Talent Acquisition Buyer's Guide
Before you commit to Lever, see how it sits against the 13 talent acquisition systems we track — on capability, ERP integration depth and what each one actually charges for.
Talent Acquisition Buyer's Guide
13 systems compared · 2026
ERP Research
- Lever compared side-by-side with 12 alternatives
- ERP integration checklist — what to verify before you shortlist
- The pricing questions that change the quote
- A Lever evaluation brief, included with the guide
Talent Acquisition Buyer's Guide
Get a quote for Lever
Lever publishes a list price, but the number you pay depends on volume, modules and integration scope. Tell us your setup and we'll come back with a realistic figure and the alternatives worth quoting against it.