How much does Indeed cost for employers
How much does Indeed cost depends on which of 2 things you buy. Posting is free for 3 jobs a calendar month in the US. Sponsored Jobs carry no published rate: Indeed sets a minimum per job. Smart Sourcing Professional is listed on Indeed's own page at 520 dollars a month.
What Indeed costs, in short
- Posting is free for 3 jobs a calendar month in the US, each shown up to 30 days.
- Does Indeed cost money? Only once you sponsor. Indeed generates a minimum per job instead of a rate.
- Smart Sourcing Professional is listed by Indeed at $520 a month or $4,992 a year.
- You are invoiced on the 1st of the month, or once your balance reaches $500.
- The 2026 Digital Service Fee applies in 4 countries. The United States is not one of them.
The 2 things you can pay Indeed for
| What you are buying | Advertising a job | Searching resumes |
|---|---|---|
| Indeed's product name | Sponsored Jobs, sold as Free, Standard, Premium and Premium Plus | Indeed Smart Sourcing, its resume search and outreach product |
| What you actually get | Paid placement for one job while its budget runs | The right to contact a set number of candidates with resumes on Indeed |
| How it is priced | Per job, at a minimum Indeed generates from market conditions | A subscription list price, billed monthly or annually |
| Does Indeed publish a rate | No. Neither Indeed pricing page carries a daily or monthly figure | Yes. The Professional plan price is printed on Indeed's own page |
| What starts a charge | A click to view the job, or a started application | Using a contact from your monthly allowance |
Is Indeed free for employers
Free job post on Indeed Indeed gives US employers up to 3 free jobs per calendar month, each shown in search results for up to 30 days. Every account linked under the same parent company draws on that same allowance of 3.
So does posting a job on Indeed cost money? Not inside that allowance. Indeed's footnote excludes job sites, all staffing agencies and certain other jobs at its discretion, and closing, reopening or duplicating each spends one.
Why Indeed will not quote you a price for a sponsored job
Anyone working out the cost to advertise a job on Indeed is looking for a number Indeed deliberately does not print. Its pricing page says the minimum will depend on several factors, including the job seekers available in your market, similar job posts bidding for priority placement and the type of Sponsored Jobs plan you select. There is no rate card behind that sentence.
What you get instead is a recommendation. Indeed says it suggests a budget from the criteria you gave it, such as job title, location and job description, and that the recommendation is not mandatory. You are free to set a different amount as long as it meets the minimum required for that job, and that minimum is shown to you before you commit.
Pay per click or pay per application
| What changes | Daily budget | Monthly budget |
|---|---|---|
| What triggers a charge | A job seeker clicks to view your job | A job seeker starts an application |
| Indeed's term for it | Pay per click, which Indeed shortens to PPC | Pay per started application, or pay per applicant, which Indeed shortens to PPSA |
| What you are really buying | Traffic to the job post itself | Applications that people have begun |
| Stopping the spend | Pausing or closing removes the job from search and stops spending | Same. Pausing keeps the job visible in your dashboard |
What moves the cost of advertising on Indeed
- How many job seekers are available in your market right now
- How many similar job posts are bidding for priority placement
- Which Sponsored Jobs plan you pick for this job
- Whether your budget is daily or monthly, which changes what you are billed for
- How long you leave the job running before you pause or close it
- Whether you repost, since each repost is sponsored again from scratch
Indeed's sponsored job plans, and what each adds
| Plan | What Indeed says it adds | Price published |
|---|---|---|
| Free | The standard free allowance, with no paid placement behind it | Not applicable. It is the unpaid tier |
| Standard | The entry paid sponsorship tier. Indeed marks it Popular on the pricing page | No |
| Premium | Advanced matching and a first page boost, plus optional matched candidates, an urgently hiring label and branded jobs | No |
| Premium Plus (Beta) | Everything in Premium plus Recruiting Assistant, which auto-invites matched candidates to a daily max you set | No |
When the brief is the input, not the budget
A plain English brief parsed into filters, split between what the person has done and where they work now.
An ad is priced against a market. A search is run against a description. On The Cognitive you write one line about the hire, and it becomes structured filters in 2 groups: about the person, and about their current employer. Each requirement is set as Must have, Prioritise or Preferred.
What an Indeed Smart Sourcing subscription costs
| What Indeed publishes | Professional plan |
|---|---|
| List price | $520 a month, or $4,992 a year |
| Contacts included | 100 contacts a month, with a 6 month rollover |
| Additional contacts | $5.20 per contact, with no cap on how many |
| What a contact buys | The right to contact one candidate who has a resume on Indeed |
| When contacts expire | 6 months after they are granted |
| Free trial | 14 days of Professional for eligible employers, terms apply |
On the numbers you have read elsewhere
Every average cost per click, per application and per job minimum in these articles traces to another article, not to Indeed. Indeed publishes a Smart Sourcing price and no Sponsored Jobs price. Budget from its own pages.
When an ad budget is not the thing to buy
A job ad reaches the people searching while it is live. Indeed says a free post falls back in job seeker search results as newer jobs are posted, and is no longer visible after 30 days, which is the honest argument for sponsoring a common role in a deep market. Enough people are looking, and the budget buys you their attention before the post sinks.
For a scarce skill the arithmetic inverts. Most of the spend goes on reaching people who were never going to apply to a listing, which is sourcing rather than advertising, and it runs from a description of the hire instead of a market price. The billing shape differs too: on The Cognitive a verified email or phone reveal is charged only when the reveal succeeds.
What a contact costs when it finds nothing
A shortlist with identities masked until a contact is revealed, and a No email found row beside the revealed ones.
Buying a block of contacts up front means the allowance drains whether or not a record is there. The Cognitive bills the other way round: names stay masked until you reveal, email and phone are separate reveals, and a reveal that returns nothing shows as No email found, with no charge tick beside it.
The 2026 Digital Service Fee, and where it applies
| Country | Fee added to the invoice |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 1.75 per cent |
| France | 2.5 per cent |
| Italy | 3 per cent |
| Spain | 2.75 per cent |
Before you commit a budget
- Decide first whether you are buying an ad or a subscription
- Read Indeed's pricing page on the day, since the minimum is set per job
- Pick daily or monthly knowing which event each one bills for
- Expect an invoice on the 1st, or sooner once the balance hits $500
- On a first sponsored job, expect a $25 payment validation invoice too
- Find your real number under Billing and invoices, Summary, Transaction history
- Check whether your billing address sits in a Digital Service Fee country
If you came for the free route
How to post a job on Indeed for free · Free job posting sites · Indeed alternatives
Where to check
Indeed reprices and its plans change, so read its own pricing and Smart Sourcing pages before you commit anything. If you are sourcing rather than advertising, Start free at https://app.thecognitive.io/signup.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Indeed cost for employers?
It splits in two, so how much is Indeed for employers has no single figure. Posting is free for 3 jobs a calendar month in the US, each shown up to 30 days. Sponsored Jobs carry no published rate: Indeed generates a minimum per job and shows it before you commit. Smart Sourcing Professional is listed on Indeed's page at $520 a month or $4,992 a year.
Is Indeed free for employers?
Within limits. Indeed gives US employers up to 3 free jobs per calendar month, each shown for up to 30 days, and every account under the same parent company draws on that same allowance. Indeed's footnote adds that the free offer does not apply to job sites, all staffing agencies or certain other jobs at its discretion. Closing, reopening or duplicating a job each spends one.
How much does it cost to post a job on Indeed?
Nothing, inside the free allowance, so does it cost money to post a job on Indeed depends on whether you sponsor it. Beyond the allowance Indeed publishes no fixed rate. Its pricing page says the minimum depends on job seekers in your market, similar posts bidding for placement and the plan you choose, and it suggests a non-binding budget from your title, location and description.
How much is an Indeed subscription?
Indeed subscription plans costs start with the Professional plan, listed at $520 a month or $4,992 a year with 100 contacts a month, a 6 month rollover and extra contacts at $5.20 each. What people call the Indeed pro subscription is defined by how many candidates you may contact, not by seats. Indeed names a Standard tier but publishes no price. Read 20 Sep 2026.
Does Indeed have a free trial for employers?
For one product. The Indeed Smart Sourcing free trial runs 14 days on the Professional plan for eligible employers, and Indeed says trial terms and conditions apply. Job posting works differently: it has a free allowance of 3 jobs a calendar month in the US rather than a trial period. There are no Indeed account creation fees either.
What is the difference between pay per click and pay per application on Indeed?
Your budget type decides it. Indeed says that with a daily budget you are charged when job seekers click to view your job, and with a monthly budget you are charged when they start an application. Either way you pay on engagement rather than on the act of posting. Pausing or closing the job removes it from search results and stops the spending.
When does Indeed bill you?
On the first day of the month, or when your account balance reaches $500, whichever comes first. Indeed adds that the first time you sponsor a job it might also send an invoice once the balance reaches $25, to validate your payment method. That $25 is a payment check, not a per job minimum. Invoices appear in the first few days of each month and cannot be changed once issued.
Did Indeed change its pricing in 2026?
One change is documented. Indeed says that from 1 January 2026 a Digital Service Fee appears on invoices for services provided in France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, at 2.5, 3, 2.75 and 1.75 per cent, shown as a separate line and applied by billing address. The United States is not on that list. Check Indeed's help centre for anything more recent.
What does Indeed Premium cost?
Indeed publishes no price for it, so any Indeed premium cost you see quoted is an estimate. Its Premium help page describes advanced matching and a first page boost as automatic, with matched candidates, an urgently hiring label and branded jobs as options. Premium Plus adds Recruiting Assistant. The cost still comes from the budget on that job, and the minimum is set per post.
Does Indeed publish API pricing?
Not publicly. No Indeed page found on 20 Sep 2026 lists Indeed API pricing for feed or integration access, so any figure quoted elsewhere is somebody's estimate. One published rule does affect integrated employers' costs: Indeed says jobs posted through an applicant tracking system are not affected by the free job limit. For anything else on integrations, ask Indeed directly.
Explore: How to post a job on Indeed · Indeed alternatives · Free job posting sites · Best job posting sites for employers