What are the best Bullhorn alternatives for small UK agencies?
Bullhorn Starter is £80 a user a month. Small UK agencies looking elsewhere often consider TempAlly (from £45 a seat, with portals and timesheets), ATSpro (£49 a user), Chameleon-i (£80 a user, rolling monthly) and Tempbench, our product, at £12.99 a seat plus VAT. Firefish and JobAdder are quote-only.
Last checked 26 October 2026.
Why small agencies look beyond Bullhorn
Usually it is about fit rather than quality. A one to five person desk may want a published monthly price, a trial with its own data, or a tool focused on temp shifts rather than a platform built to scale to large agencies. Bullhorn's own page lists Starter at £80 and Core at £120 per user per month (pricing). Prices checked 26 October 2026 on each vendor's own pricing page.
Alternatives at a glance
| Product | Price as published | Trial | Strongest for |
|---|---|---|---|
| TempAlly | Startup £45 per seat (up to 3 users), Premium £80 per seat, ex VAT | Yes, no card | Candidate and client portals, timesheets and pay/bill |
| ATSpro | £49 per user per month, all features | 14 days | Timesheets to invoices, no minimum commitment |
| Chameleon-i | Core £80 per user per month | 14 days | Rolling 30-day licence, perm, temp and contract |
| Recruit CRM | Pro $95 per user per month (US dollars) | 30 days | Contract staffing with timesheets and billing |
| Firefish | Not published; add-ons from £150 per module | Not mentioned | Perm and contract; temp workflow in Enterprise |
| JobAdder | Not published | Not mentioned | Lite plan for up to 5 users |
| Tempbench (our product) | £12.99 per seat per month + VAT | 30 days, no card | Weekly availability, ring round, shift booking |
Picking the right one
- You need timesheets and pay and bill now: TempAlly, ATSpro or Recruit CRM list them. Tempbench does not.
- You want candidates to self-serve: TempAlly lists a candidate portal. Zoho Recruit lists staffing portals in Enterprise.
- You want a monthly licence from a UK vendor: Chameleon-i, ATSpro, TempAlly and Tempbench publish monthly terms.
- You mainly need to see who is free and book shifts: Tempbench is built around that.
What Bullhorn still does better
Bullhorn's pricing page lists a breadth the smaller tools do not match: Workforce Edition with shift scheduling, time capture, timesheet approval and rate cards; SMS messaging; onboarding with a candidate self-service portal; analytics and automation products. Moving away means giving some of that up or adding separate tools.
Before you switch
- Export your candidates, clients and notes from Bullhorn and check the file opens.
- Check your notice period and renewal date in your Bullhorn agreement.
- Trial the new system with a real week of your own data.
- List what you will run elsewhere, such as payroll or texting.
Tempbench does not include SMS or texting, timesheets, payroll or pay and bill, invoicing, a candidate app or portal, job board posting or integrations.
Questions people ask
What is the cheapest Bullhorn alternative?
Of the UK-priced alternatives we checked on 26 October 2026, Tempbench (our product) publishes £12.99 a seat a month plus VAT, TempAlly £45 a seat on Startup and ATSpro £49 a user. They do different amounts of work, so compare features against your needs, not just the price.
Which Bullhorn alternative has timesheets?
On their own pages, TempAlly lists timesheets and a Timesheets and Pay/Bill module, ATSpro lists timesheet tracking with invoice generation, and Recruit CRM lists timesheets and contractor billing charged in credits. Tempbench does not include timesheets, so it is not the right choice if you need them now.
Can I move my data from Bullhorn to another CRM?
Usually yes, by exporting from Bullhorn and importing into the new system. Ask Bullhorn how to export everything you hold, check the files, then test the import with a few records first. Tempbench imports candidates from a CSV file and matches your columns during upload.
Is Bullhorn too big for a small agency?
Not necessarily. Bullhorn sells Starter and Core plans aimed at small agencies, at £80 and £120 a user a month on its UK page. Whether it is too big depends on how many of its features you will use, and how that price sits against your margins.
Sources
- Bullhorn UK pricing (Starter £80, Core £120 per user per month)
- TempAlly pricing (Startup £45, Premium £80 per seat per month, ex VAT)
- ATSpro pricing (£49 per user per month)
- Chameleon-i small agency CRM page (Core £80 per user per month)
- Recruit CRM pricing (Pro $95, Business $135, Enterprise $215 per user per month)
- Firefish pricing (add-on modules from £150 per module)
- JobAdder pricing (request pricing; Lite plan up to 5 users)
- Zoho Recruit pricing (free plan, 15-day trial)
- Tempbench pricing (£12.99 per seat per month + VAT)
Try it with your own week.
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