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 and 11 other countries. 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 and 11 other countries, 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 a card-paid 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
Almost every question about Indeed employer pricing is really one of these two, and the cost of Indeed is set in completely different ways in each. Find your column first.
| 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 |
| The free way in | 3 free job posts a calendar month in 12 countries, including the US and UK | A 14 day Professional trial for eligible employers |
| Billed on the same invoice | No. Indeed sends a separate invoice for each hiring product | No. It is a subscription per team member, billed on its own |
Read on Indeed's pricing, Smart Sourcing and how pricing works pages, 4 Oct 2026. Indeed reprices, so check both before you commit.
Is Indeed free for employers
Free job post on Indeed Indeed gives employers in 12 countries, including the US, Canada and the UK, up to 3 free jobs per calendar month, each shown in search results for up to 30 days. Every account under the same parent company shares that allowance.
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 each duplicate spends one of the 3.
How sponsored job pricing works, step by step
Indeed says there is no flat, upfront fee to post a job. A sponsored job is paid on results, in this order.
- Pick a plan for the job Choose Free, Standard, Premium or Premium Plus. Indeed says the Premium price is set above the Standard price for the same job.
- Read the recommended budget Indeed suggests a budget from your job title, location and description. It is not mandatory, but the minimum for that job is.
- Validate a payment method Indeed checks your billing details before it promotes the job, which it says can take a few hours to a few days. On a first sponsored job, Indeed may also invoice at a $25 balance to validate the card.
- Pay only on engagement Charges come from clicks to view the job or from started applications, depending on your budget type, account and market.
- Pause, close or change the budget Pausing or closing stops the spend. You can change the amount under Manage Budget in the employer dashboard's job list.
- Get invoiced Indeed invoices on the 1st for the previous month, or sooner once a card-paid balance reaches $500.
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.
The recommendation moves with the market. Indeed says its Standard price comes from a system that weighs job competitiveness, location, your hiring timeline and the supply of job seekers for that title. The same title can carry a different minimum in another city.
Pay per click or pay per application
Pay per application and pay per click are not interchangeable. Indeed says the model depends on your budget type, account and market, so check which one your job shows before you set a budget.
| What changes | Pay per click (PPC) | Pay per started application (PPSA) |
|---|---|---|
| What triggers a charge | A job seeker clicks to view your job | A job seeker clicks to apply or starts an application |
| When Indeed uses it | With a daily budget, Indeed says you may pay per click | In other setups, depending on your account and market |
| 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 |
Source: Indeed's own how pricing works page, read 4 Oct 2026. You pay on engagement, not on the act of posting.
What is a reasonable budget for an Indeed job advertising campaign
Indeed publishes no rate, so a reasonable budget has to come from your own numbers. This is our method, built on assumptions you fill in. It is not an Indeed figure.
1. Target. A = applications you want, taken from what your last similar hire needed. 2. Floor. Start at the budget Indeed recommends for this job, never below the minimum it shows. 3. Test. Sponsor for 1 working week. 4. Real cost. From the performance report, C = spend / started applications for that week. 5. Campaign budget = A x C. Daily budget = campaign budget / days the job will run. 6. Stop rule. If the test brings almost no applications, fix the post before adding budget. Assumptions: your past applications per hire still hold, and the market and Indeed's minimum do not shift mid campaign.
What moves the cost of advertising on Indeed
These are the factors that influence cost of advertising on Indeed. The first 5 Indeed names itself; the rest are mechanics its billing pages document. Indeed adds "among other factors", so treat the list as the known part.
- 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
- The job's location and how competitive the role is
- Your hiring timeline, which Indeed's recommendation system weighs
- Your budget type, which decides whether you pay per click or per started application
- How long you leave the job running before you pause or close it
- Whether you reopen an old job, since one posted over 30 days ago needs sponsoring
Indeed's sponsored job plans, and what each adds
This is the ladder on Indeed's pricing page, from the free tier up to Indeed Premium Sponsored Jobs. It is also the free vs sponsored answer: Indeed describes each plan and prices none of them.
| Plan | Where the job shows | What Indeed says it adds | Price published |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | In search results, falling back as newer jobs post, for up to 30 days | The standard free allowance, with no paid placement behind it | Not applicable. It is the unpaid tier |
| Standard | Prioritized over free posts in relevant search, for as long as it is sponsored | Email advertising, the job seeker feed and automated messages. Indeed marks it Popular | No |
| Premium | Everything in Standard, plus a first page boost toward the top 3 results | Advanced matching, matched candidate invites, an urgently hiring label and your logo on the post | No |
| Premium Plus (Beta) | Same placement as Premium | Recruiting Assistant, which auto-invites matched candidates to a daily max you set | No |
Plan names and features read on Indeed's pricing and Premium help pages, 4 Oct 2026. Availability and features vary by job and market.
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. Every person is judged against your must-haves, and anyone who misses one drops below the people who meet them.
What an Indeed Smart Sourcing subscription costs
Smart Sourcing is Indeed's resume search, a subscription separate from Sponsored Jobs, and the half of its pricing with a printed number. Every figure is Indeed's own.
| 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 | 12 months after they are added on annual plans paid upfront. 6 months per monthly batch on annual plans billed monthly |
| Who needs one | Each team member who contacts candidates needs their own subscription |
| Overlap with Premium jobs | Matched candidate invites from a Premium Sponsored Job are not deducted from Smart Sourcing contacts |
| Free trial | 14 days of Professional for eligible employers, terms apply |
Read on Indeed's Smart Sourcing, pricing and help pages, 4 Oct 2026. Indeed says other subscription options may be available through its sales team, with no published price.
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.
I run The Cognitive, and it is built to sit beside Indeed. Keep Indeed for the applicants it brings. Use The Cognitive to search ~900M public profiles from a plain-English brief and reveal verified emails and phone numbers. Credits are 1 per person a search shows, 4 per email and 12 per phone. AI Sourcing and AI Interview each start at $99/month.
What a contact costs when it finds nothing
A shortlist where contact details are revealed one at a time, with a No email found row beside the revealed ones.
A block of contacts bought up front is paid for before you know what each one returns. The Cognitive bills per reveal: email and phone are separate reveals at 4 and 12 credits, 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
Indeed says a Digital Service Fee appears on invoices from 1 January 2026, as a separate line item, applied by billing address, in these countries. The United States is not on Indeed's list.
| 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 |
It applies to all products and services, and VAT or similar taxes apply on top. Read on Indeed's help centre, 4 Oct 2026, which adds: rates subject to change.
Before you commit a budget
Indeed job posting pricing models differ by product, so settle each of these before you spend rather than on the invoice afterwards.
- 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
- Check whether your job bills per click or per started application
- Expect an invoice on the 1st, or sooner once a card-paid balance hits $500
- On a first sponsored job, a $25 payment validation invoice may come too
- Find your real spend on the Billing and Invoices page, in the transaction history
- Run the budget method above for one test week before you commit a month
- 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 · Indeed Smart Sourcing, reviewed · Indeed resume search strings · ZipRecruiter vs Indeed
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 and 11 other countries, 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. In the US, Canada, the UK and 9 other countries, Indeed gives employers up to 3 free jobs per calendar month, each shown for up to 30 days, and every account under the same parent company shares that allowance. The free offer does not apply to job sites, all staffing agencies or certain other jobs at Indeed's discretion. A closed job still counts, and each duplicate 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's published subscription is Smart Sourcing Professional, 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. Each team member who contacts candidates needs their own subscription. Indeed says other options may be available through its sales team, without a published price. Read 4 Oct 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 and 11 other countries rather than a trial period. Indeed also says there is no flat, upfront fee to post a job.
What is the difference between pay per click and pay per application on Indeed?
It is the event you pay for. With pay per click you may be charged when someone clicks to view your job; with pay per started application, when someone clicks to apply or starts an application. Indeed says a daily budget may bill per click, and other setups per started application, depending on your account and market. 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 marks the $500 trigger as credit card only. 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 your logo as options. Indeed says the Premium price is set above the Standard price for the same job. Premium Plus adds Recruiting Assistant. The cost still comes from the budget on that job.
Does Indeed publish API pricing?
Not publicly. No Indeed page we read on 4 Oct 2026 lists API pricing for feed or integration access, so any quoted figure is an estimate. Two published rules matter: the 3 free jobs limit does not apply to jobs posted through ATS partners, and Indeed's pricing FAQ says jobs from a data feed, API or ATS may have to be sponsored. Ask Indeed for anything else.
What is a reasonable budget for an Indeed job advertising campaign?
A reasonable budget is the applications you need times what one started application actually costs you on Indeed. Indeed publishes no rate, so start at its recommended budget, never below its minimum, and run 1 test week. Divide spend by started applications, then multiply by your target. If the test brings almost nothing, fix the post first.
How do I set a daily budget on Indeed?
You set it when you sponsor the job and change it later under Manage Budget in your employer dashboard's job list. Indeed shows a recommended budget and a minimum you cannot go below. Our rule: take the campaign figure from the budget method on this page and divide it by the days the job will run.
What are the costs associated with Indeed Resume?
Indeed sells its resume search as Smart Sourcing, a subscription separate from Sponsored Jobs. The Professional plan is listed at $520 a month or $4,992 a year, with 100 contacts a month and extra contacts at $5.20 each. Invites from a Premium Sponsored Job do not use those contacts.
How much does it cost to advertise a job on Indeed in the UK?
The model is the same as in the US: up to 3 free jobs a calendar month, then a sponsored budget with no published rate. Indeed's UK pricing page puts the early invoice trigger at a balance of £500. Since 1 January 2026, UK invoices also carry a Digital Service Fee of 1.75 per cent, with VAT applied to the total including the fee.
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