Loxo Alternatives in 2026: 10 Recruiting CRM and Sourcing Platforms for Agencies

By Sparsh Goyal, Founder at The Cognitive. Published 2026-10-03 · Last updated 2026-10-05

• Top picks: The Cognitive to source and interview candidates next to any agency ATS, Recruiterflow as the closest like-for-like swap, Crelate for discovery inside the CRM, Bullhorn for staffing at scale, Vincere for a 30-day rolling contract.
• The Cognitive is the only tool here that finds people outside your database and runs a live, two-way AI video interview with them, self-serve, with both prices on its website; Loxo's agents stop at the shortlist and its plans are annual, paid up front.
• Keep a full agency ATS such as Recruiterflow, Crelate, Bullhorn or Vincere for clients, placements and invoicing, and pick Manatal if budget comes first.
• I run The Cognitive. The other 9 are judged from their own websites, read on 3 October 2026.

The best Loxo alternative in 2026 is The Cognitive paired with an agency ATS, if you want new candidates found and interviewed on a monthly plan. The Cognitive searches ~900M public profiles from a plain-English brief and runs a live, two-way AI video interview with the people you pick. For the system of record, Recruiterflow, Crelate and Bullhorn are the closest Loxo competitors.

The sourcing half matters more than most agency owners think. Gem's 2026 Recruiting Benchmarks, built on 1.2 million hires, found that sourced candidates are nearly 8 times more likely to be hired than inbound applicants. Loxo sells that sourcing on its upper plan, inside an annual contract. The alternatives below split it differently.

The best Loxo alternatives in 2026

1. The Cognitive: best for finding and interviewing candidates next to any agency ATS, on a monthly plan.
2. Recruiterflow: best like-for-like swap for search firms that want monthly billing.
3. Crelate: best for agencies that want a 1 billion profile search agent inside the CRM.
4. Bullhorn: best for larger staffing firms that also run temp and back office.
5. Vincere: best for a solo desk or small team that wants a 30-day rolling contract.
6. Recruit CRM: best for small agencies that want to cancel anytime.
7. JobAdder: best for boutique agencies that want a tailored quote.
8. Manatal: best low-cost ATS with an AI video screening add-on.
9. hireEZ: best for sourcing on top of an ATS you already own.
10. SeekOut: best for large teams that need to search their ATS and the open web together.

Full disclosure: I run The Cognitive. I put it first on a test you can check: it's the only tool here that finds people outside your database and runs a live, two-way AI video interview whose questions adapt to each answer, in an account you can open without a sales call, with both prices on its website. It isn't an ATS, so I rank it as the layer you add to whichever agency ATS you pick. After #1, the order is my own judgment of how well each tool replaces Loxo for a typical agency. I have not used the other 9 on a paid account. What I say about them comes from their own websites, read on 3 October 2026, plus public reviews.

Why do recruiters look for Loxo alternatives?

Loxo is a serious product. It holds 4.6 out of 5 from 134 reviews on Capterra, and it has been around since 2012. People leave it for 4 reasons that come up again and again:

• The contract. Loxo's pricing page says it plainly: "Annual plans, paid up front." There's no monthly option, and Enterprise runs on "Custom annual agreements".
• Price over time. A managing partner at a staffing firm wrote on Capterra in January 2026 that Loxo was "very expensive for what the platform delivers", citing "5% increases every yr and high integration costs".
• Contact data that varies by market. One agency director on Capterra said "Loxo source was often outdated and didn't replace LinkedIn recruiter". An earlier reviewer said accuracy was still catching up in Asia. Others like it: a founder in defense called the Loxo Source database "excellent, very similar to LinkedIn boolean search".
• No interview. Loxo's agents stop at the shortlist: "Autonomous through the shortlist. Never through the decision." Some agencies want the first screen done for them.

What does Loxo do well that you'd give up?

Loxo "unifies sourcing, CRM, ATS, outreach and AI Agents into one system of record", built on "an 850-million-person talent graph we built ourselves". That talent graph is the thing most alternatives don't have. On the Professional plan, Loxo Source searches it "in one motion with your own private database", and the Longlist agent builds pools of up to 10,000 candidates from both.

Loxo also includes an AI Notetaker, a Candidate Submittal Agent, a hiring manager portal and a sales CRM. If you use all of them, Recruiterflow and Crelate are the nearest swaps. If you mostly used Loxo Source to find people, you can buy that part on its own. Our Loxo review walks through each plan and agent in more depth.

How do the top Loxo alternatives compare?

Here is how they stack up, with Loxo as the baseline. I filled in every cell from the vendor's own site on 3 October 2026:

How did we rank these Loxo competitors?

I started from what an agency buys Loxo for: a system of record, a way to find people outside it, contact details and outreach. Then I added the step Loxo leaves out, the first interview. A tool made the list if agencies weigh it against Loxo or if it does Loxo's sourcing job on its own.

The Cognitive is #1 on the test in the disclosure above, checked against all 9 others. Recruiterflow, Crelate, Recruit CRM, hireEZ and SeekOut find people outside your database, but none runs a live AI video interview at a published price. Bullhorn screens by chat or voice and sells it by quote. Manatal comes closest: it searches a 700M+ candidate database and sells an AI video screening add-on, but the add-on's price isn't on its pricing page, and it describes structured interviews "with defined questions" rather than follow-ups that change with each answer.

The ATSs below it are ranked against each other on how much of Loxo they replace and how you pay.

How do you choose a Loxo alternative?

Does Loxo source outside your database?

Yes, but only on the Professional plan and up. Core gives you the ATS, the CRM and natural-language search of your own records. Loxo Source, the 850M+ talent graph and the agents sit on Professional. If you're on Core, you're paying for an ATS and sourcing somewhere else anyway. The Cognitive can be that somewhere else: it searches ~900M public profiles and charges 1 credit per candidate a search returns.

Do you need monthly billing instead of annual up front?

Then cross Loxo off. Recruiterflow shows a monthly toggle on its Platform Plan, Crelate's Business plan is "annual or monthly", Vincere's Startup and Core run on a "30-day rolling contract", and Recruit CRM and Manatal both bill monthly. The Cognitive is a monthly plan you can cancel anytime.

Is Loxo good for a solo recruiter?

It can be, but the maths is harder for 1 person. Loxo's free migration only applies to "teams of 3+ seats", and every plan is a year paid up front. A solo recruiter usually does better with Vincere's single-user Startup plan or Recruit CRM, plus a sourcing tool billed by use. Loxo's 7-day trial of the full Professional platform needs no card, so test the talent graph first.

How accurate is Loxo's contact data, and how will you test yours?

Reviews are mixed, and Loxo itself says contact information comes with each shortlist "when available". Test it on your own market: reveal 20 contacts you can check, count the bounces and ask how misses are billed. The Cognitive enriches contact details from 30+ sources, charges 5 credits for an email and 10 for a phone number, and charges a reveal only when a value comes back.

Do you want an AI interview in the workflow?

Recruiters are handling 93% more applications than in 2021 and 13.4 open roles at a time, per the same Gem report. First screens eat much of that time. Loxo, Recruiterflow, Crelate, Vincere, JobAdder and Recruit CRM don't interview anyone. The Cognitive runs a live, two-way AI video interview of 10 or 20 minutes; Bullhorn and Manatal sell AI screening as an add-on.

The 10 best Loxo alternatives, reviewed

1. The Cognitive: best for finding and interviewing candidates next to any agency ATS, on a monthly plan

The Cognitive is AI recruiting software that sources candidates across ~900M public profiles and interviews them live with AI. For a Loxo customer, it replaces the part of Professional that finds new people, and it adds the interview Loxo leaves to you.

You describe the role in plain English. We typed "Senior backend engineer with 5+ years of Go who has built payments systems, Remote EU", and it turned that into filters we could edit, with "Remote EU" read as Germany plus 7 other countries. Every person found is judged against your must-haves, and anyone who misses one drops below the people who meet them. Each result card opens with a "Why this match" line, 1 or 2 reasons taken from the profile, such as their current role or a skill they list.

Then you reveal verified emails and phone numbers for the people you want. On the Sourcing Pro plan you can send email and SMS sequences from platform mailboxes, and a reply or opt-out on either channel stops both.

Shortlisted people get an invitation that tells them the interview is run by AI. They book their own slot without an account and talk live on video, in any of 9 languages. The rubric is fixed for the role and the questions adapt to each answer. You get a 1 to 5 score per criterion, overall written feedback, a weighted score out of 100, a suggested verdict, the transcript and the recording. Nothing is rejected automatically, and you can send a client a read-only link with the scores, feedback and recording.

The 5-minute recording above is a live AI interview for a go-to-market role. The AI asks the candidate about an outbound email campaign, then follows up on reply rates and on how leads were qualified. More on the AI interviewer page.

What you give up: it isn't an ATS. It has no client records, job posting, placements or invoicing, and it doesn't search your ATS history. It connects to 60+ ATSs, including agency systems such as Bullhorn, Crelate, Recruiterflow, JobAdder and Manatal, and writes a note with the score, summary and report link back only for candidates you imported from that ATS. Loxo, Vincere and Recruit CRM are not on that list today, so agencies on them upload candidates as a CSV and share the read-only report link instead.

Pick it if you want new people found, reached and interviewed without a year paid up front. AI Sourcing starts at $49/month and AI Interview at $99/month. See our AI sourcing page for how the search works.

Source and interview your next role without an annual contract Describe the role in one sentence, reveal the contacts you need and interview the people you pick, live, with AI. Start free

2. Recruiterflow: best like-for-like swap for search firms that want monthly billing

Recruiterflow is the closest match to Loxo's shape. It's an ATS and CRM "trusted by 2,100+ search firms", with multichannel sequences, an AIRA Notetaker, job change alerts and AIRA Source, which lets you "source across 850M+ profiles without leaving Recruiterflow". That's the same pitch as Loxo's talent graph.

The pricing page publishes a per-user price for the Platform Plan with a monthly or annual toggle, and the AIRA Plan is custom. The catch: it doesn't say which plan includes AIRA Source, and you start with a demo. There's no AI interview.

Pick it if you run a search firm, like Loxo's all-in-one idea and want to stop paying a year in advance. If Recruiterflow is already your system, our Recruiterflow alternatives guide shows what else to weigh.

3. Crelate: best for agencies that want a 1 billion profile search agent inside the CRM

Crelate "unifies sourcing, Recruiting CRM, and applicant tracking with agentic AI". Its Discovery Agent lets you "look beyond your data" and find "companies and candidates from over 1 billion profiles", with phone and email lookups for outreach. It has served more than 25,000 recruiting professionals since 2012.

Its pricing is per user and published for Essentials (paid annually) and Business ("annual or monthly"), with a free trial "without talking to sales". The limit: native contact enrichment is an "additional fee", and there's no AI interview.

Pick it if you want Loxo's sourcing-plus-CRM model with a monthly option and a self-serve trial.

4. Bullhorn: best for larger staffing firms that also run temp and back office

Bullhorn is the incumbent for staffing. Its editions run from a small-agency Starter up to Bullhorn One, a "front office to back office" suite with timesheets and invoicing. Amplify, its AI layer, pitches "activate the value of your database", and its screener can "conduct, summarize, and score candidate interviews around the clock". Bullhorn's help centre says that conversation happens by voice or text.

The pricing page shows per-user prices for Starter and Core only; Pro, Max and Amplify are "Talk to us". It doesn't advertise a public profile database. Our Bullhorn pricing guide breaks down what each edition includes.

Pick it if you run temp and perm at scale and need pay and bill in the same system. For temp-heavy desks, compare it with the staffing software for temp and contract firms list.

5. Vincere: best for a solo desk or small team that wants a 30-day rolling contract

Vincere, now sold as Access Vincere Evo, answers the billing complaint directly. Its pricing page lists a single-user Startup plan on a "flat fee, 30-day rolling contract", and Core for 2 to 7 users is "fully digital, self-serve" with no lock-in. Pro, for 7+ users, is "priced to your agency" and adds pay and bill.

Core adds AI matching of your own candidates and a Meeting Assistant that transcribes calls. It doesn't advertise a public profile search or an AI interview.

Pick it if you're a solo recruiter or a small team and the annual invoice was the main reason to leave Loxo.

6. Recruit CRM: best for small agencies that want to cancel anytime

Recruit CRM is an ATS and CRM "built for recruitment agencies and executive search firms in over 100 countries". Its entry Pro plan includes a Chrome sourcing extension and AI sourcing that lets you "source from across the internet with natural language".

The pricing page offers monthly or annual billing, and its FAQ says you can cancel anytime. No price figure showed when I read it. Phone and email enrichment comes with Enterprise. No AI interview. Our Recruit CRM review covers the plans in detail.

Pick it if you want a lighter agency ATS with sourcing built in and no long commitment.

7. JobAdder: best for boutique agencies that want a tailored quote

JobAdder sells 4 plans: Lite "for new and boutique agencies", Essential "for growing agencies", Pro "for established agencies" and Business "for in-house teams". Even Lite includes temp and contract management, and Essential adds AI summaries.

There's no price on its pricing page. It says it will "create a tailored proposal for you". It doesn't list a sourcing database or an AI interview.

Pick it if you want an agency ATS with temp tools and you're happy to buy through a proposal.

8. Manatal: best low-cost ATS with an AI video screening add-on

Manatal sells to recruitment agencies, staffing agencies and employers on per-user plans, monthly or yearly, with a 14-day free trial and "no lock-in contract". Its pricing page lists sourcing "from a database of over 700 million candidates" and phone and email lookups.

Its AI Interviewer runs "automated video screening" in 6 languages, built on "structured interviews with defined questions". It's an add-on, and its price isn't on the pricing page.

Pick it if budget is the main constraint and you want an ATS with an AI screen you can add later. Already on it? See our Manatal alternatives.

9. hireEZ: best for sourcing on top of an ATS you already own

hireEZ sits on top of an ATS rather than replacing one. It searches "1B+ candidate profiles across 45+ channels", and it adds "Voice AI that screen and engage at scale". Its pricing page publishes a solo plan with a 7-day free trial. Team pricing is "configured to the stack hireEZ replaces" after a "four-week verification".

Pick it if you'd keep a cheaper ATS and want deep sourcing next to it. See our hireEZ alternatives.

10. SeekOut: best for large teams that need to search their ATS and the open web together

SeekOut searches "1B+ profiles". Its Core plan has a published price, monthly or annual, and "14 days free" with no card. ATS rediscovery sits on the custom "Sourcing + Integration" and "Full Recruiting Funnel" tiers, and "AI inbound screening" that scores applicants against "your role rubric" is an add-on on Team and Enterprise plans, per its pricing page.

Pick it if you're a large firm with years of candidates in your ATS and a procurement process. See our SeekOut alternatives for more.

Loxo vs Bullhorn, Crelate and Recruiterflow: which is better?

These 3 matchups come up most, so here's the short version:

• Loxo vs Bullhorn: Loxo is stronger at finding new people, with its own 850M+ talent graph. Bullhorn is stronger at running a staffing business, with pay and bill in its larger editions, and it sells AI screening by quote.
• Loxo vs Crelate: both pair an agency ATS and CRM with an outside profile search. Crelate's Business plan can be billed monthly and starts with a self-serve trial; Loxo is annual, paid up front, with a 7-day trial.
• Loxo vs Recruiterflow: the closest pair. Both target search firms, both search 850M+ profiles, and both have an AI notetaker. Recruiterflow offers monthly billing on its Platform Plan; Loxo has more agents and its own data.

None of the 4 interviews candidates live on video. For more agency options, see recruitment software for agencies, and if you mainly need a database to nurture past candidates, our recruiting CRM comparison.

Who is The Cognitive built for?

We built The Cognitive for the recruiter who needs new people on a role this week and wants to send the client candidates who have already been interviewed. It suits small agencies and solo recruiters who source in waves and want to see the price before they buy, especially when every placement fee has to cover the tools behind it (our guide to recruitment agency fees and commission shows the usual ranges).

• Keep an agency ATS for the business. Clients, placements and invoicing belong in Recruiterflow, Crelate, Vincere, Recruit CRM or Bullhorn.
• Or keep Loxo Core. You keep the system of record and skip the upgrade to Professional just for sourcing.

How is Loxo priced, and how do the alternatives charge?

Loxo publishes per-user prices for Core and Professional, billed annually and "paid up front", and Enterprise is a custom annual agreement. Professional includes 2,500 agent credits per seat per month, pooled across the team, with Boost options that multiply them. The alternatives charge in 4 ways:

• Credits on a monthly plan: The Cognitive.
• Per user, monthly allowed: Recruiterflow, Crelate Business, Vincere Startup and Core, Recruit CRM, Manatal and SeekOut Core.
• Per user, annual only: Loxo and Crelate Essentials.
• By quote or proposal: Bullhorn's upper editions, JobAdder, hireEZ teams and SeekOut's custom tiers.

The Cognitive charges 1 credit per candidate a search returns, 5 to reveal an email and 10 to reveal a phone number. AI Sourcing starts at $49/month and AI Interview at $99/month, on a monthly plan you can cancel anytime. There's also a free trial with 100 sourcing credits. Full details are on our pricing page.

How do you test a Loxo alternative before your renewal?

Don't cancel first. Pick 1 live search in a market where Loxo's data is thin and run the same brief through Loxo and the alternative for 2 weeks. Count the people you'd contact, reveal 20 emails and count the bounces. If you try The Cognitive, interview your top 5 and see how many reach the client. Then decide before the next annual invoice lands.

Put The Cognitive next to Loxo on 1 search Search ~900M public profiles, reveal the contacts you need and interview the people you pick, live, with AI. Start free

Sources

• Loxo, read 3 October 2026: homepage, pricing and AI agents.
• Capterra, Loxo reviews, read 3 October 2026.
• Gem, Key takeaways from the 2026 Recruiting Benchmarks Report, read 3 October 2026.
• Recruiterflow, read 3 October 2026: homepage and pricing.
• Crelate, read 3 October 2026: homepage and pricing.
• Bullhorn, read 3 October 2026: pricing, Amplify and How Amplify Screen works.
• Vincere, pricing, read 3 October 2026.
• Recruit CRM, pricing, read 3 October 2026.
• JobAdder, pricing, read 3 October 2026.
• Manatal, read 3 October 2026: pricing and AI Interviewer.
• hireEZ, pricing, read 3 October 2026.
• SeekOut, pricing, read 3 October 2026.

All posts · thecognitive.io