Lever Reviews, Pricing, and Alternatives (November 2025)
Dover
November 17, 2025
•
3 mins
Lever is a cloud-based applicant tracking system that combines ATS functionality with candidate relationship management (CRM) capabilities. Founded in 2012, the company targets mid- to large-sized organizations looking to manage their entire talent acquisition process in one centralized system.
The core differentiator Lever promotes is LeverTRM (Talent Relationship Management), which merges traditional applicant tracking with CRM tools for nurturing passive candidates and building talent pools over time. This lets you track active applicants through your hiring funnel while maintaining relationships with prospects who aren't ready to apply yet.
How Lever Works
Lever allows recruiting teams to post jobs, collect applications, and move candidates through customizable hiring stages. The CRM side lets you source passive candidates, add them to nurture campaigns, and tag them for future opportunities. The system includes interview scheduling, feedback collection, and offer management to handle the full candidate lifecycle.
Hiring managers and interviewers can access candidate profiles, leave feedback, and participate in the decision-making process. Lever also offers analytics dashboards to track recruiting metrics like time-to-fill and source effectiveness.
Pricing Structure
Lever operates on a subscription model with pricing between $6 and $8 per employee per month. However, Lever doesn't publish set pricing tiers publicly. Features are bundled into add-ons, so the final cost depends on which capabilities you need and requires going through a sales process to get an accurate quote.
Lever combines its ATS and CRM into a single candidate database, handling both active applicants and passive prospect relationships. The system includes customizable pipeline stages that adapt to different roles, with automated candidate movement based on triggers you define.
Automation and Workflow Tools
Automated email campaigns nurture passive candidates through personalized sequences without manual follow-up. Interview scheduling syncs with team calendars and sends confirmations automatically, while résumé parsing extracts candidate data into structured profiles. Standardized feedback forms collect interviewer input across your hiring team.
Integrations and Analytics
Lever connects with third-party applications, including Slack for candidate updates, BambooHR for new hire transfers, DocuSign for e-signatures, and Tableau for analytics. The reporting dashboard tracks funnel drop-off points, source performance, and hiring velocity. Custom reports let you monitor team-specific KPIs, with workflow customization for approval chains, interview plans, and permission controls.
Lever's feature set works well for many teams, but certain constraints surface as organizations scale or require deeper customization.
Search and Reporting Constraints
Lever's Boolean search is limited to basic keyword matching without advanced operators that power users need when surfacing specific candidate profiles from large talent pools.
The reporting functionality draws frequent criticism for inflexibility. Extracting specific data points or building custom reports requires workarounds, making it difficult to measure recruiting effectiveness beyond preset dashboards.
Cost and Integration Gaps
Lever relies on third-party integrations like DocuSign or Adobe Sign for e-signatures, which can add cost and setup time.
The pricing model creates challenges at both ends. Startups face high entry costs since advanced features unlock only at premium tiers, while API access fees can surprise larger organizations. Multi-year contracts limit flexibility if hiring needs shift.
Performance at Scale
Some teams report slower system performance when candidate volumes spike. Onboarding capabilities remain minimal, requiring manual setup when expanding to new teams or regions.
Best Lever Alternative in November 2025
Dover offers a free, unlimited ATS that's ready to use in minutes with no credit card required. While Lever's annual costs range from around $3,500 to well over $140,000, Dover includes AI-powered resume scoring, one-click job board distribution to 50+ sites, and a Chrome sourcing extension at no cost.
The key difference is Dover's combination of free recruiting software with access to fractional recruiters who work as part of your team. This solves Lever's limitation of being purely software-focused. Dover's fractional recruiting model averages $2K–$8K per hire with complete transparency, eliminating the need to purchase separate ATS software or manage multiple vendor relationships.
For startups, Dover removes the barriers that make Lever prohibitive: high costs, lengthy sales processes, and feature limitations behind paywalls. AI-generated career pages, employee referral tracking, and real-time analytics provide enterprise-level functionality through a startup-friendly approach. Companies like Stripe, Scale AI, OpenSea, and Vanta have used Dover to scale their teams.
In addition, Dover supports teams with tools that help reduce busywork and improve coordination across hiring managers, founders, and recruiters. You gain practical support on outreach tactics, candidate review habits, and interview flow without hiring more internal staff. This setup helps early-stage companies maintain flexibility while still moving with speed during active searches. Teams growing across multiple departments can rely on Dover to keep information organized, respond quickly during surges in applications, and maintain clear visibility across each stage of the funnel.
Other Lever Alternatives
Several long-standing alternatives serve different market segments. Greenhouse offers sophisticated workflow automation and DEI tools for mid-market and enterprise companies, though pricing reaches similar levels as Lever. BreezyHR serves small to mid-sized businesses with subscription plans starting around $143 monthly for basic features. Workable provides all-in-one HR capabilities beyond recruiting for companies seeking broader people management tools.
The right choice depends on your company stage and needs. Enterprise organizations with dedicated recruiting teams might find Lever’s cost workable. Startups looking to hire without breaking the bank will find Dover's free ATS combined with flexible access to vetted recruiters offers the most value.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Lever actually cost compared to free alternatives?
Lever charges $6–$8 per employee per month with annual costs ranging from $3,500 to over $140,000 depending on your team size and features needed. Free alternatives like Dover provide unlimited ATS access, AI résumé scoring, and job board distribution at no cost, with optional fractional recruiting services averaging $2K–$8K per hire.
What's the main difference between an ATS with CRM features and a recruiting tool?
An ATS with CRM (like Lever) focuses on software for tracking applicants and nurturing passive candidates, requiring you to handle recruiting yourself or hire separately. A recruiting tool combines the software with access to vetted recruiters who work as part of your team, giving you both tools and expert help in one solution.
When should I consider switching from Lever to another solution?
If you're facing high costs that strain your budget, struggling with limited reporting capabilities, or need recruiting expertise beyond just software, it's worth assessing alternatives. Startups especially benefit from switching when they need faster setup, more flexibility, or want to avoid multi-year contracts.
Can I get enterprise-level recruiting features without enterprise pricing?
Yes, modern recruiting platforms now offer AI-powered resume scoring, automated job board distribution, analytics dashboards, and sourcing tools at no cost. The key is choosing solutions built for startups instead of enterprise-focused systems that lock advanced features behind premium tiers.
Final thoughts on ATS options for your team
Choosing the right ATS comes down to finding tools that support real hiring needs without adding layers that slow daily work. Lever offers notable capabilities, yet its pricing model and learning curve can leave teams looking for options with simpler access and stronger value. Many groups turn to Dover as a Lever alternative because it provides a free ATS, practical automation, and access to recruiting specialists who can step in when hiring surges. This mix helps small teams move quickly without locking into long contracts or dedicating large budgets to basic functions. By starting with software that removes friction and backing it with flexible support, your company can adapt to changing goals while keeping control of process and spend.
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