If you’re comparing Bullhorn and Giig Hire or looking at Bullhorn alternatives, chances are you’re looking for recruitment software that helps you spend less time on admin and more time billing.
The good news is that both platforms are capable recruitment CRMs.
The important thing to understand is that they’re built for different types of recruitment businesses.
Bullhorn has been around for years and has rightly earned its reputation as one of the biggest names in recruitment technology. It’s a powerful platform with a huge feature set that’s trusted by agencies all over the world.
Giig Hire is different.
When we started building Giig Hire, we weren’t trying to build another Bullhorn.
We were trying to solve a completely different problem.
We kept speaking to recruiters running agencies with between one and ten people, and they were all saying the same thing.
“I just want something that’s easy to use.”
Not another CRM that takes weeks to learn.
Not another expensive piece of software packed with features they’ll never use.
Just something that helps them recruit.
That’s exactly what we’ve focused on building.
In this guide, we’ll compare Bullhorn and Giig Hire honestly, looking at where each platform shines and which type of recruitment agency they’re best suited to.
| Feature | Bullhorn | Giig Hire |
|---|---|---|
| Best For | Medium to Enterprise Agencies | 1-10 Recruiter Agencies |
| Free Plan | ❌ | ✅ |
| Transparent Pricing | ❌ | ✅ |
| Recruitment CRM | ✅ | ✅ |
| Applicant Tracking System | ✅ | ✅ |
| AI Features | ✅ | ✅ |
| Careers Page | ✅ | ✅ |
| CV Parsing | ✅ | ✅ |
| API | ✅ | ✅ |
| AI Integration | ✅ | ✅ |
| Job Board Multiposting Integration | ✅ | ✅ |
| Ringover Integration | Via integrations | ✅ |
If you’ve worked in recruitment for any length of time, you’ve almost certainly come across Bullhorn.
It’s one of the most established recruitment CRMs on the market and has become the software of choice for many larger recruitment businesses.
Bullhorn offers powerful workflow automation, extensive reporting, customisation options and a huge ecosystem of integrations.
For large recruitment businesses with dedicated operations teams, it can become the centre of the entire business.
The flip side is that all of that power comes with complexity.
For many smaller recruitment agencies, Bullhorn can feel a bit like buying a Ferrari to drive to the local supermarket.
It’s incredibly capable…
…but you’ll probably only use a fraction of what it’s can do.
We built Giig Hire specifically for smaller recruitment agencies.
That’s because we genuinely believe smaller agencies deserve software that’s built around how they actually work, not software that’s been stripped back from an enterprise platform.
Whether you’re a solo recruiter, a start-up agency or you’ve grown to ten recruiters, we’ve focused on making the platform as simple as possible without compromising on the features that actually matter.
With Giig Hire you can manage:
Everything sits in one place, helping recruiters spend more time recruiting and less time navigating software.
One of the biggest differences between Bullhorn and Giig Hire is how they’re priced.
Bullhorn pricing is typically provided following a conversation with their sales team and will vary depending on your agency’s size and requirements.
A rough idea of cost is £100 per user for their more basic packages.
That’s perfectly normal for enterprise software.
We decided to do things differently.
We believe pricing should be simple and transparent.
Our paid plans start from just £14.99 per user per month, and we even offer a free plan for recruiters getting started.
No hidden costs.
No “Contact Sales”.
Just straightforward pricing.
This is probably where the two platforms differ the most.
Bullhorn is incredibly powerful.
But naturally, that comes with more configuration, more options and a steeper learning curve.
We built Giig Hire around a different philosophy.
Most recruiters don’t want to spend weeks learning their CRM.
They want to log in and get on with recruiting.
That’s exactly how we’ve designed it.
Simple.
Clean.
Modern.
Without sacrificing the functionality recruiters actually need every day.
Both Bullhorn and Giig Hire cover the fundamentals you’d expect from a modern recruitment CRM.
That includes candidate management, client management, vacancies, placements and applicant tracking.
Where we believe Giig Hire stands out is in providing everything smaller recruitment agencies need without overwhelming users with enterprise complexity.
Key features include:
For most recruitment agencies with between one and ten recruiters, that’s everything needed to run the business efficiently.
Everyone seems to be adding AI into their software at the moment.
The question is…
How useful is it?
Rather than simply using AI to write a job advert, we’ve integrated Giig Hire with Claude.
That means Claude can securely understand the information inside your CRM and help you work with it.
For example, you could ask:
“Find every Mechanical Design Engineer within 20 miles of Birmingham who’s been contacted in the last six months.”
Or…
“Which clients haven’t received a CV from us in the last three months?”
Or…
“Analyse our placements over the last year and tell me which sector generated the highest revenue.”
Or even…
“Research manufacturing businesses in Manchester with between 20 and 100 employees that could be good prospects.”
Claude can also help you:
Instead of searching through endless filters and reports…
You’re simply having a conversation with your CRM.
We genuinely believe this is one of the biggest changes recruitment software will see over the next few years.
Your CRM shouldn’t exist in isolation.
That’s why we’ve focused on integrating with tools recruiters actually use every day.
Use AI to search candidates, analyse recruitment data, perform market research, identify opportunities and automate everyday admin.
Giig Hire integrates natively with Claude using MCP, allowing recruiters to search candidates, analyse recruitment data, perform market research and interact with their CRM using natural language.
Advertise your vacancies across multiple job boards from one place without having to log into each one individually.
Make and receive calls while keeping all of your recruiter communication organised within your workflow.
We also provide an API, allowing agencies to build additional integrations as their business grows.
One thing we’re incredibly proud of is our customer support.
When you contact us, you’re speaking to people who know the software inside out.
Quite often, you’ll be speaking directly to one of the people who helped build it.
You’re not being passed between departments or waiting weeks for an answer.
For smaller recruitment agencies, having direct access to the people behind the product can make a huge difference.
Bullhorn is probably the better choice if you:
We built Giig Hire for agencies that:
We know we’re not the right CRM for every recruitment agency.
And that’s okay.
If you’re running a 100-person recruitment business with complex workflows, multiple departments and dedicated CRM administrators, Bullhorn is probably a better fit.
But if you’re a smaller recruitment agency looking for software that’s simple, affordable and backed by people who genuinely care about your success, we’d love the opportunity to earn your business.
That’s exactly why we built Giig Hire.
Bullhorn has earned its reputation as one of the biggest names in recruitment software.
If you’re running a large agency with complex processes, it’s easy to see why so many businesses choose it.
But not every recruitment agency needs enterprise software.
We built Giig Hire for recruiters setting up on their own.
The five-person agency is looking to grow to ten or twenty.
The established business that’s fed up with paying enterprise prices for features they’ll never use.
We believe recruitment software should be simple.
Affordable.
And actually enjoyable to use.
It should help you make more placements, not create more admin.
If that sounds like the sort of recruitment software you’re looking for, we’d love to show you around.
Start with our free plan or book a quick, no-pressure demo.
We’ll happily answer your questions, show you the platform and let you decide whether we’re the right fit.
