Comparison · ATS · Updated 2026-07-16
Search Studio Intelligence vs Greenhouse
Greenhouse is an ATS. Search Studio Intelligence finds the candidates and gives you an ATS-lite pipeline to run them. If you have zero applications right now, Greenhouse isn't the missing piece.
Companies with 30+ employees running structured interview loops, scorecards, referral programs, and inbound job boards. It shines with a dedicated Talent Ops function.
Startups from pre-seed through Series A who haven't hired their first recruiter yet. The bottleneck is finding great people, not tracking them.
Side-by-side
| Criterion | Search Studio Intelligence | Greenhouse |
|---|---|---|
| Primary job | Find candidates + track them | Track candidates you already have |
| Sourcing built in | Yes — that's the product | No — you bring the pipeline |
| Cost | Free, 5% on successful hire | Annual contract, four to five figures |
| Setup time | Minutes | Days to weeks |
| When to upgrade | Move to a full ATS around 30 employees | Already the right choice at 30+ employees |
Pick Greenhouse when
- You have inbound applications you need to triage.
- You have structured scorecards and multiple interviewers per role.
- Your legal and compliance team needs full audit trails at scale.
Pick Search Studio Intelligence when
- You have no candidates yet, and you need someone to find them.
- You want to run first-ten hires without buying enterprise software.
- You want to graduate to Greenhouse later, not skip the growing pains.
Pricing
Free. 5% success fee on the first-year base salary at hire.
Annual contract, typically starting in the mid four figures for the Essential tier and scaling with modules and headcount.
FAQ
Try Search Studio Intelligence for your next founding hire
Free to start. 5% success fee only on a successful hire.
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