Best Fractional Recruiting Services for Startups (December 2025)
Dover
December 22, 2025
•
5 mins
Fractional recruiting means hiring an experienced recruiter on a part-time or project basis. These recruiters work a set number of hours per week or month, handling sourcing, screening, and closing without a full-time commitment.
For startups, this solves a common problem: you need recruiting expertise to scale your team, but you're not ready to commit to a full-time recruiting headcount.
The key difference from traditional contingency agencies is focus and alignment. Contingency recruiters typically juggle multiple client searches and only get paid when they place someone. This creates an incentive to move fast and place candidates wherever possible.
Fractional recruiters work more like an extension of your team. They take on fewer clients at once, learn your company deeply, and get paid hourly instead of per-placement fees. You get dedicated attention without the overhead of a full-time salary and benefits package.
We assessed these services based on factors that matter most when choosing a recruiting partner for your startup:
Pricing transparency: Are costs clearly disclosed upfront, or do you need to schedule a sales call to learn what you'll pay?
Recruiter quality and vetting: How selective is the service when bringing recruiters into their network? What experience level can you expect?
Startup expertise: Do the recruiters understand early-stage hiring, or are they generalists used to working with enterprises?
Flexibility of engagement: Can you scale hours up and down as needs change, or are you locked into long contracts and minimums?
Speed to start: How quickly can you get matched with a recruiter and begin sourcing candidates?
Integration with hiring tools: Does the service work smoothly with your existing ATS, or will you need to manage multiple systems?
We built Dover to solve the startup hiring problem: recruiting software and recruiting help in one place.
Our free ATS handles the functional work. AI-powered resume screening helps rank candidates automatically. One-click posting reaches 100+ job boards. Automated scheduling eliminates the back-and-forth. You get the core infrastructure without mandatory monthly fees.
The recruiting marketplace adds the human expertise. We've curated a network of recruiters who've worked at startups and understand early-stage hiring. When you need help, we match you with a recruiter based on your role, industry, and stage. You work with one dedicated person who integrates with your team, not multiple recruiters competing for placement fees.
How the Model Works
You pay recruiters hourly with no retainer or long-term contract. Engagements typically cost $4k to $7k per hire compared to the $20k+ that traditional agencies charge a 20 to 25% fee structure. You can scale hours up or down as hiring needs shift.
We typically match teams with a recruiter within 48 hours. They use our ATS, so there's no tool switching or duplicate data entry. You see real-time activity and pipeline metrics in one dashboard.
Recruiter.com
Recruiter.com runs an on-demand recruiter marketplace with thousands of recruiting professionals. They serve companies ranging from startups to Fortune 100s, offering flexible recruiting capacity when needed.
What They Offer
Access to thousands of contract recruiters through their marketplace
Month-to-month commitments with recruiters typically delivered within 48 hours
Support for both sourcing-only and full-cycle recruiting needs
Integration with some ATS systems
Recruiter.com works well for scaling existing recruiting teams during demand spikes. If you need to rapidly expand capacity for high-volume hiring sprints, their speed and recruiter availability deliver.
The tradeoff is consistency. The marketplace model means you may work with multiple different recruiters instead of one dedicated partner. Their Fortune 100 focus also means the recruiter pool may lack deep startup expertise around equity conversations, culture fit, and early-stage nuances.
Fractional Recruiting Co.
Fractional Recruiting Co. provides hourly recruiting support for high-growth startups. Their recruiters specialize in Fintech, SaaS, and eCommerce, and can embed directly with your team on flexible engagements.
What They Offer
Hourly and project-based recruiting engagements that let you scale support up or down based on hiring needs
Recruiters with experience in Fintech, SaaS, and eCommerce who understand startup hiring dynamics
Integration with your existing ATS instead of requiring you to switch systems
Focus on high-growth startups that need flexible, hourly recruiting support
This works well if you've already invested in recruiting infrastructure and need experienced recruiters to execute. Their hourly model gives you control over costs, and their recruiters can jump into your existing workflows quickly.
The tradeoff is that you need to bring your own ATS and recruiting tools. You'll need separate software subscriptions for applicant tracking, job board posting, and candidate communication, which adds budget and requires integration work.
A good fit if you have recruiting infrastructure already set up and want flexible recruiting help, but less practical for startups building their hiring process from the ground up.
Shiny
Shiny is a fractional executive marketplace that includes recruiting roles among its C-level offerings. The service connects startups with fractional VP of Talent and Head of Recruiting executives who provide strategic leadership instead of hands-on recruiting work.
What They Offer
Vetted C-level executives available fractionally, from 2 to 40 hours per week
A percentage markup on executive hourly rates for fractional work
Free matching and introduction to executives
Shiny works well if you need recruiting leadership and strategy instead of execution. If you're building out a recruiting function and need someone to design processes, assess tools, and guide your approach, a fractional recruiting executive can help.
The limitation is tactical support. These are executives who advise, not recruiters who source and close candidates. Shiny also charges an additional conversion fee if you move a fractional executive into a full-time role.
Best for well-funded startups that already have recruiting capacity and need senior oversight, not companies that need someone filling roles today.
Randstad Recruiter on Demand
Why Dover Is the Best Fractional Recruiting Service for Startups
Frequently Asked Questions
Final thoughts on fractional recruiting options
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