An ATS for a 20-person startup

What six applicant tracking systems cost for a company of about 20 people, what each price is based on, and where interview kits and scorecards start. Every figure is from the vendor's own pricing page, checked on October 1, 2026. Yardstick is our product and is one of the six.

Jump to the sixSee the side-by-side table

What changes at 20 people.

A company of 20 usually hires a few roles a year, has no recruiter, and has a hiring manager running every interview. Three things decide what an ATS costs you at that size.

  1. 1What the price is based on.Some vendors price by company size, so the bill moves when a hire takes you into the next size band. Some price by plan, so the bill stays the same until you change plan. Yardstick prices by open role, so the bill moves with how much hiring you are doing right now.
  2. 2Where you sit in a size band.Twenty is the top of Workable's first employee band (1 to 20). At Ashby, twenty sits in the 11 to 25 band, and Foundations goes from $400 to $500 a month at 26 employees. Check the band you expect to be in a year from now, not today.
  3. 3Which plan includes the interview.A team without a recruiter needs the interview written for it: what to ask, and a scorecard every interviewer rates on. At some vendors that is on the entry plan; at others it is one plan up.

How this list works.

  1. 1Every fact is from the vendor's own pricing page, checked on October 1, 2026.Where a page does not state something, the entry says so instead of guessing.
  2. 2The list is alphabetical, not ranked.Position says nothing about quality.
  3. 3"Interview kits and scorecards from" is the plan where the vendor lists interview kits, interview guides, interview plans, or scorecards.
  4. 4Yardstick is our product.It is one row, held to the same columns as the others, and it is the only row we can speak for from the inside.

The six

  • Ashby — Published prices that rise with company size, $400 a month at 11 to 25 employees; interview plans, API, and an MCP server on the entry plan

    Best for: a company that wants interview plans, scheduling links, and an MCP server on its entry plan, at a published price for its size.

    • Ashby's Foundations plan is priced by company size: $300 a month for 1 to 10 employees, $400 for 11 to 25, $500 for 26 to 50, $700 for 51 to 75, and $900 for 76 to 100. Ashby's Plus plan (101 to 1,000 employees) is priced on request, based on company size, usage, and commitment; Enterprise (1,000 and up) is also priced on request.
    • Ashby bills monthly or yearly, with 10% off for an annual commitment. Ashby's pricing page publishes no free tier, trial, or minimum term.
    • Customizable interview plans with standardized feedback forms are on Ashby Foundations, along with take-home assignments and direct booking and availability links.
    • Ashby's API and MCP server are on every plan. Foundations includes 1,500 AI credits a month.

    Watch-out: At 20 people you pay $400 a month; the price rises to $500 at 26 employees and $700 at 51. Ashby against Workable, line by line, is on our Ashby vs Workable page.

  • Breezy HR — Free for one active position; flat monthly plans from $157 on annual billing; interview guides and scorecards from Growth

    Best for: a team hiring one role at a time, or one that wants a flat plan price not tied to employee count.

    • Breezy HR's Bootstrap plan is free for one active position or candidate pool at a time, with unlimited users. Breezy HR's Startup plan is $157 a month, Growth $273, and Business $439 on annual billing, or $189, $329, and $529 billed monthly. Custom Pro is quoted.
    • Breezy HR prices each plan at one flat monthly figure; its pricing page does not tie the price to employee count. Breezy HR publishes a full-feature 14-day trial with no credit card.
    • Interview guides and scorecards start on Breezy HR's Growth plan.
    • API access is on Breezy HR's Custom Pro plan.

    Watch-out: Bootstrap gives full access to candidates added in the last 30 days. Breezy HR against Workable is on our Workable vs Breezy page.

  • Greenhouse — Three tiers priced on request; structured interview kits and scorecards on every tier

    Best for: a company that wants interview kits and scorecards on the entry tier and is set up to take a quote.

    • Greenhouse does not publish a price. Greenhouse's pricing page says the price depends on the plan (Core, Plus, or Pro), hiring volume and organizational complexity, and the features required.
    • Greenhouse's pricing page states no company-size band, minimum term, or trial.
    • Structured interview kits and scorecards are on Greenhouse Core, and Plus and Pro include everything in Core.

    Watch-out: Greenhouse quotes every price, so you will not see a figure until you ask for one. Greenhouse next to other systems is on our Greenhouse alternatives page.

  • JazzHR — From $1,000 a year billed annually, or $110 a month billed monthly; structured interviews start on Plus

    Best for: a team posting a few jobs a month that wants a flat price per plan.

    • JazzHR's Hero plan is $1,000 a year, Plus is $3,480 a year, and Pro is $5,508 a year, billed annually. Billed monthly, they are $110, $350, and $549 a month.
    • JazzHR's Hero plan starts at 3 job postings a month, and Plus allows up to 200 active jobs. JazzHR's page says standard pricing does not apply to organizations with over 250 employees, among others, so a 20-person company is well under its size limit.
    • Structured Interviews and Assessments are on JazzHR's Plus plan.
    • JazzHR's pricing page does not mention a trial or an API. JazzHR documents its API publicly, at apidoc.jazzhrapis.com.

    Watch-out: Structured interviews are one plan above Hero. JazzHR against Breezy HR is on our Breezy vs JazzHR page.

  • Workable — Priced by employee band, from $299 a month at 1 to 20 employees; interview kits, scorecards, and API on every plan

    Best for: a company of 20 or fewer that wants interview kits and API access on the entry plan.

    • At 1 to 20 employees, billed annually, Workable Standard is $299 a month or $3,588 a year, Workable Premier is $599 a month or $7,188 a year, and Workable Enterprise is $719 a month or $8,628 a year. Workable Standard paid monthly is $360 a month.
    • Workable prices by employee band (1 to 20, 21 to 50, 51 to 100, and up). At 21 to 50 employees, Standard is $419 a month, Premier $829, and Enterprise $989, billed annually. Only Standard can be paid monthly, and Premier and Enterprise are paid annually. Workable states no minimum term and publishes a 15-day trial with no credit card.
    • Interview kits and scorecards are on every Workable plan, including Standard.
    • API access and Workable's MCP server are on every Workable plan, and every paid Workable plan includes 3,000 AI credits.

    Watch-out: Twenty is the top of Workable's first band. At 21 employees, Workable Standard goes from $299 to $419 a month on annual billing.

  • Yardstick — Free for 3 Jobs, then $49 a month plus $29 per open role; the AI-designed interview guide and scorecard on every account, including free

    Best for: a company where the hiring manager runs the interviews and wants the bill to follow the roles it is hiring.

    • The AI designs the interview guide and scorecard for each role, so a hiring manager without a recruiter walks in knowing what to ask, and every interviewer rates against the same written anchors. Your team can edit both before the first interview.
    • Yardstick is free for 3 Jobs, then $49 a month plus $29 per open role (as of September 2026): $78 a month with one open role, $136 with three. Yardstick Scale is $149 a month plus $19 per open role. Billed monthly, with no annual plan, and a role you close stops billing the next month.
    • Interviewers and hiring managers need no paid seats, and each interviewer opens their interview kit from a magic link. Scheduling works with Cal.com or Calendly.
    • Your AI agent can run the admin: you chat with Claude Code, Codex, ChatGPT, or Claude, and it works in Yardstick through the yardstick CLI or MCP. Publishing a job, or advancing or rejecting a candidate, waits for your approval. The public API, CLI, and MCP are on every Yardstick account, including free.

    Watch-out: Yardstick is a structured-interview ATS, not an HRIS, so payroll and HR records live elsewhere.

Side by side, as published on October 1, 2026.

The table scrolls sideways on a phone.

SystemPrice at about 20 employeesPrice based onMinimum termInterview kits and scorecards from
AshbyFoundations $400/month at 11 to 25 employees ($300 at 1 to 10; $500 at 26 to 50)Company sizeNot published; 10% off annualFoundations (entry plan)
Breezy HRFree for one active position; Startup $157, Growth $273, Business $439/month annual ($189, $329, $529 monthly)Flat price per planNot publishedGrowth
GreenhouseNot publishedPlan, hiring volume, organizational complexityNot publishedCore (every tier)
JazzHRHero $1,000/yr; Plus $3,480/yr; Pro $5,508/yr ($110, $350, $549 monthly)Plan; posting or active-job capNot publishedPlus
WorkableStandard $299/month annual or $360 monthly (1 to 20 employees); $419/month annual at 21 to 50Employee bandNot published; Standard monthly or annual, 20% off annualStandard (every plan)
YardstickFirst 3 Jobs free; $49/month + $29 per open role ($78 at one role, $136 at three)Open roles; no seat chargesNone, billed monthlyFree (every account)

A worked example: 20 people, two hires this year.

Say you are 20 people and plan to hire an account executive in the spring and an engineer in the autumn, one search at a time, each open for about two months. Here is what the published numbers give you for that year.

  • Ashby Foundations: $400 a month at 11 to 25 employees, so $4,800 for the year, or 10% less on an annual commitment. Two hires take you to 22, still in that band; at 26 the price is $500 a month.
  • Workable Standard: $299 a month, or $3,588 for the year on annual billing, at 1 to 20 employees. Your first hire takes you to 21, where Standard is $419 a month on annual billing.
  • Breezy HR: Bootstrap is free for one active position at a time, which fits one search at a time. Interview guides and scorecards are on Growth, at $273 a month on annual billing.
  • JazzHR: Hero at $1,000 a year covers the postings; structured interviews are on Plus at $3,480 a year.
  • Greenhouse: quoted.
  • Yardstick: the first three Jobs are free, so both searches fit inside the free tier and the year costs $0, with the interview guide and scorecard for each role. Past three Jobs, each month you have one role open costs $78 on Core, and a month with no open roles costs the $49 base.

Common questions about an ATS for a 20-person startup.

Does a 20-person startup need an ATS?

Most do once more than one person is interviewing or more than one role is open. Past that point a spreadsheet stops telling you who asked what and how each candidate scored. We cover that decision in Do I need an ATS?, and the wider startup field in Best ATS for startups.

Is Ashby worth it for a 20-person startup?

That depends on what you will use. Here is what Ashby publishes: Foundations is priced by company size, $400 a month at 11 to 25 employees, $300 below that, and $500, $700, and $900 a month for 26 to 50, 51 to 75, and 76 to 100. It is billed monthly or yearly with 10% off annual. It includes customizable interview plans with standardized feedback forms, scheduling links, take-home assignments, the API, an MCP server, and 1,500 AI credits a month. A 20-person company pays $400 a month, and $500 once it passes 25 employees. Ashby next to Workable is on our Ashby vs Workable page, and next to other systems on Ashby alternatives.

What does an ATS cost for 20 employees?

From the published prices checked October 1, 2026: Breezy HR is free for one active position and $157 to $439 a month on annual billing for paid plans; JazzHR is $1,000 to $5,508 a year, or $110 to $549 a month billed monthly; Workable is $299 to $719 a month at 1 to 20 employees on annual billing; Ashby is $400 a month at 11 to 25 employees; Yardstick is free for 3 Jobs, then $49 a month plus $29 per open role. Greenhouse quotes. Eight systems on one page are in our ATS pricing comparison, and the systems you can run one open role on for under $100 a month are in ATS under $100 a month.

Which ATS includes interview kits and scorecards on the entry plan?

Ashby (interview plans with feedback forms on Foundations), Greenhouse (structured interview kits and scorecards on Core), Workable (interview kits and scorecards on Standard), and Yardstick (the interview guide and scorecard on the free account). Breezy HR starts them on Growth and JazzHR on Plus.

What happens to the price when we grow past 20?

It depends on the basis. Workable moves you into its 21 to 50 band, where Standard is $419 a month on annual billing. Ashby goes from $400 to $500 a month at 26 employees, then $700 at 51 and $900 at 76. Breezy HR and JazzHR are priced by plan, and JazzHR's standard pricing does not apply above 250 employees. Yardstick does not bill on headcount at all: the bill follows your open roles.

How do we run interviews well without a recruiter?

Write down what the role has to produce, turn that into questions with a scorecard, and run the same interview with every candidate. The full method is in How to interview for a role you cannot do.

How current is this page?

Every fact was read from the vendor's own pricing page on October 1, 2026. We recheck quarterly. If a vendor's page and this page disagree, the vendor's page wins.

Pay for the roles you are hiring.

Your first three Jobs are free, so two hires this year can run on the free account, each with the AI-designed interview guide and scorecard and no interviewer seats to count. After that, $49 a month plus $29 per open role, billed monthly.

Start freeSee pricing