Lever Review, Pricing & Features

Lever review 2026: features, pricing, and how this ATS and recruiting CRM fits into Employ Inc. alongside JazzHR and Jobvite, plus top alternatives.

Category
Recruitment
Pricing
Subscription (custom/enterprise pricing), from Custom pricing, contact sales
Verified
Not yet
Last updated
July 18, 2026
Founded
2012
Headquarters
San Francisco, California, USA
Web AppAPIAITemplates

Overview

Lever is a talent acquisition suite combining an applicant tracking system and candidate relationship management CRM, founded in San Francisco in 2012 by Nate Smith, Sarah Nahm, Brian Noguchi and Randal Truong through Y Combinator.

In August 2022, Lever was acquired by Employ Inc., a recruiting software holding company backed by K1 Investment Management, joining Employ's portfolio alongside Jobvite and JazzHR. Together the combined company reported serving more than 18,000 customers at the time of the merger.

Key Features

Lever's core product combines a visual ATS pipeline with a talent CRM for sourcing and nurturing passive candidates, along with AI-powered resume screening, unlimited interview transcription, and fraud and identity-verification detection.

Additional capabilities include customizable hiring funnel and diversity reporting, career site and job distribution tools, and add-on modules for Candidate Insights, VONQ-powered AI screening, and onboarding workflows.

Pricing

Lever does not publish pricing publicly and uses a fully custom quoting model that scales with company size, hiring volume and selected add-on modules, requested through a demo or quote form on Lever's site.

The company frames its pricing philosophy as paying only for the features a customer actually needs rather than a fixed bundle, differentiating it from flatter per-seat pricing used by some competitors.

Key Features

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Combines ATS and CRM sourcing tools in a single platform
  • Unlimited interview transcription included in the core platform
  • Strong reputation for pipeline visibility and sourcing workflows
  • Custom, modular pricing avoids paying for unused features
  • Backed by Employ's broader recruiting technology portfolio and resources

Cons

  • No public pricing, requiring a sales conversation for cost estimates
  • Now one of several overlapping ATS brands under Employ, alongside Jobvite and JazzHR
  • Can be more complex to configure than SMB-focused tools like JazzHR
  • Competes closely with Greenhouse and Ashby, both frequently cited as comparable or preferred by some buyers
  • Long-term product direction is shaped by Employ's multi-brand portfolio strategy

Pricing

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Lever used for

Lever is used as an applicant tracking system and talent CRM, helping companies manage hiring pipelines and source and nurture passive candidates.

Who owns Lever now

Lever is owned by Employ Inc., which acquired it in August 2022 and also owns Jobvite and JazzHR.

How much does Lever cost

Lever does not publish pricing publicly; it uses a custom quoting model based on company size, hiring volume and selected add-on modules.

Who founded Lever

Lever was founded in 2012 by Nate Smith, Sarah Nahm, Brian Noguchi and Randal Truong through Y Combinator.

What is the difference between Lever, Jobvite and JazzHR

All three are ATS products owned by Employ Inc., generally positioned for different company sizes, with JazzHR for SMB, Jobvite for mid-market, and Lever for mid-market to enterprise.

Does Lever include a candidate CRM

Yes, Lever's core differentiation is combining a standard ATS pipeline with a talent CRM for sourcing and nurturing passive candidates.

Comparisons

Related Tools