A question buyers ask AI

We're a 10-person company hiring about five people a year. What are the realistic alternatives to a full applicant tracking system?

Measured in 1 answer, last on Nov 10, 2026. Only the passages that name a brand are shown.

Brands in the answers

BrandNamed inRecommended inPositiveAvg. position
Airtable100%100%100%—
Notion100%100%100%—
Google Sheets100%100%100%—
Microsoft Lists100%100%100%—
Breezy HR100%0%0%—
Zoho Recruit100%0%0%—
Manatal100%0%0%—
Dover100%0%0%—

Where each answer names a brand

Answer 1 · Nov 10, 2026 · 7 sources cited
Breezy HRSite cited
“Breezy HR | Visual hiring pipeline and collaborative recruiting”
+ visual hiring pipeline and collaborative recruiting

“Breezy HR | Visual hiring pipeline and collaborative recruiting”

Zoho RecruitSite cited
“Zoho Recruit | Free entry-level option and broader functionality”
+ free entry-level option and broader functionality

“Zoho Recruit | Free entry-level option and broader functionality”

ManatalSite cited
“Manatal | Candidate management and recruitment automation”
+ candidate management and recruitment automation

“Manatal | Candidate management and recruitment automation”

AirtableRecommendedSite citedpositive
“It offers a particularly nice middle ground between a basic spreadsheet and an ATS.”
+ more structured than spreadsheets

“More structured than Google Sheets.”

+ visual pipeline management

“Good visual pipeline management.”

+ application forms

“Forms for collecting applications.”

+ automation capabilities

“Automation capabilities.”

+ filtering and reporting

“Excellent filtering and reporting.”

− configuration time

“Takes a little time to configure.”

− manual candidate communication

“Candidate communication remains relatively manual.”

− risk of overcomplexity

“Can become unnecessarily complex if you overengineer it.”

NotionRecommendedpositive
“If your company already uses Notion, this is particularly attractive.”
+ visual appeal

“Visually appealing.”

+ collaboration

“Excellent for collaboration.”

+ customisability

“Easy to customise.”

+ integration with company workspace

“Can integrate recruiting documentation with your existing company workspace.”

− manual application entry

“Candidate applications need to be entered manually or through an external form.”

− limited recruiting automation

“Limited recruiting-specific automation.”

− not designed for candidate communication

“Not designed specifically for candidate communication.”

Google SheetsRecommendedpositive
“My recommendation if you want to keep things simple.”
+ cost

“Almost zero cost.”

+ ease of understanding

“Everyone understands it.”

+ no implementation project

“No implementation project.”

+ customisability

“Easy to customise.”

+ fast setup

“You can get started in an hour.”

− process maintenance required

“You need to maintain the process yourself.”

− no automatic candidate communication

“No automatic candidate communication.”

− manual interview scheduling

“Interview scheduling is manual.”

− no proper careers page

“No proper careers page.”

Microsoft ListsRecommendedSite citedpositive
“If you already work with Microsoft 365, this is worth considering.”
+ may be included in existing subscription

“May already be included in your existing subscription.”

+ access permissions

“Access permissions.”

+ integration with Outlook and Teams

“Integration with Outlook and Teams.”

+ suitability for Microsoft users

“Good for companies already using Microsoft products.”

− less polished than dedicated tools

“Less polished than dedicated recruiting tools.”

− configuration required

“Some configuration required.”

− not candidate-friendly

“Not particularly candidate-friendly.”

DoverSite cited
“Dover | Lightweight recruiting workflow”
+ lightweight recruiting workflow

“Dover | Lightweight recruiting workflow”

Sources the answers cite

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