Choosing a recruiter
What are the best recruitment websites in the UK?
The best recruitment website for a UK employer depends on the role, budget, and how much time you can spend sifting. General job boards like Indeed, Totaljobs, and CV-Library deliver volume. Aggregators like Adzuna and Google for Jobs spread your advert further. LinkedIn is strong for professional and passive candidates. If you need a managed search without a percentage fee, a flat-fee service that advertises, sources, and screens for a fixed price—from £1,500 +VAT—can be cheaper than paying for multiple job-board packages yourself when a role is urgent or niche.
There is no single best recruitment website in the UK. The right choice turns on the role you need to fill, your budget, and the time you have to filter applicants. This page sets out the main types of recruitment website, what they cost, and where a flat-fee managed service fits alongside them.
The main types of recruitment website
Most UK employers use a mix of these four channels.
| Type | What it does | Example cost (market range) | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| General job board | Hosts your advert; candidates apply directly. | £100–£500 +VAT per advert | Volume hires, active job seekers |
| Aggregator | Scrapes or syndicates adverts across many boards. | Often free, or pay-per-click | Spreading one advert widely |
| Professional network | Searchable candidate profiles; job postings. | Free posting; recruiter licences from c.£800 +VAT | Passive candidates, professional roles |
| Flat-fee managed service | Writes the advert, posts it across boards, sources, screens, and presents a shortlist. | £1,500–£4,000 +VAT per role | Employers who want a shortlist without a percentage fee |
General job boards
These are the high-street names. You post a job, pay a fixed price, and candidates apply. They work well when you have a clear, attractive role and the capacity to review every application yourself.
- Indeed – The UK’s largest job site by traffic. Free and sponsored listings available.
- Totaljobs – Strong across office, sales, and engineering roles.
- CV-Library – Large candidate database; lets you search CVs as well as post adverts.
- Reed.co.uk – High volume; charges per advert or via a recruitment service.
A single advert on a major board typically costs £100–£500 +VAT. If you post on three boards for a month, you can spend £1,000 +VAT before you have screened a single CV.
Aggregators
Aggregators pull job adverts from company career sites and other boards into one search. They can give your advert extra reach at low or no cost.
- Google for Jobs – Free; appears at the top of Google search results. It indexes adverts from your own site and from boards you post on.
- Adzuna – Free and paid options; good for data on market salary ranges.
- Indeed also acts as an aggregator, pulling in adverts from third-party sites.
The catch: you still need to get your advert onto a site that the aggregator indexes. If your own careers page is not well-structured, Google for Jobs may not pick it up.
Professional networks
LinkedIn is the dominant professional network in the UK. It lets you post a free job, but to actively search for and message candidates you need a Recruiter Lite licence. Those start around £800 +VAT per month. For a single hard-to-fill role, that can be good value. For a junior hire, it is often overkill.
Flat-fee managed services
A flat-fee service sits between a job board and a traditional recruitment agency. You pay a fixed price, and the provider writes the advert, posts it across multiple boards, sources candidates, screens them, and delivers a shortlist.
Our managed-search fees are:
| Salary band | Fee (ex-VAT) |
|---|---|
| Up to £30,000 | £1,500 +VAT |
| £30,000 – £44,999 | £2,000 +VAT |
| £45,000 – £59,999 | £3,000 +VAT |
| £60,000 – £79,999 | £4,000 +VAT |
If you are comparing this to a traditional contingency agency, the market rate there is typically 15–25% of first-year salary. On a £40,000 role, that is £6,000–£10,000 +VAT. A flat-fee service can be substantially cheaper, and you know the cost before you start.
We also offer job-advertising-only packages—Standard £399, Premium £499, Premium Plus £599 +VAT—if you prefer to do the screening yourself but want your advert written and distributed across the right boards. More detail on how advertising works.
When a job board alone is not enough
A job board is a distribution channel. It does not write the advert, screen the applicants, or chase candidates who have not replied. If a role is urgent, niche, or you are not set up to handle 100+ applications, a board alone can cost more in time than the advert price suggests.
Our data across 46 filled roles shows the funnel you are buying when you pay for a managed service:
| Stage | Candidates |
|---|---|
| Sourced & screened | 1,542 |
| Internal interview | 560 |
| Presented to client | 235 |
| Client interview | 143 |
| Hired | 51 |
The median time to fill was 42 days, with the middle half of roles taking 29–68 days. The fastest was 14 days; the slowest 169. You can see the full breakdown on our recruitment data page.
How to choose
Start with the role, not the website.
- High-volume, junior role, you have an HR team – A well-written advert on Indeed and Totaljobs, plus Google for Jobs indexing, may be enough.
- Specialist or management role, no internal recruiter – A flat-fee managed search that sources and screens for you is often cheaper than buying a LinkedIn licence and multiple job-board packages.
- Senior or executive role, confidential search – A headhunter or executive search firm. Market fees are typically 25–30% of salary.
If you are unsure where to start, our guide to looking for staff walks through the first steps.
A note on cost
All prices on this page are ex-VAT. UK recruitment services are subject to VAT at the standard rate. For more on how VAT applies, see is there VAT on recruitment fees?
If we do not fill your role, we refund 100% of the managed-search fee. That is a full refund, not a credit or a replacement candidate. Most contingency agencies do not offer this; they charge on success and typically include a rebate period if the hire leaves early, but they do not refund a fee if they simply fail to fill the role.
You can call us on 0161 327 2895 to talk through which approach fits your vacancy, or post a job to get started.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most visited recruitment website in the UK?
Indeed is consistently the most-visited job site in the UK by total traffic. LinkedIn is the largest professional network. Which one works best for you depends on whether you need active applicants (Indeed) or want to approach passive candidates (LinkedIn).
Can I use free recruitment websites and still hire well?
Yes, with caveats. Google for Jobs is free and can drive traffic if your advert is properly structured. Free postings on Indeed can also work. The hidden cost is time: free adverts often bring a higher volume of irrelevant applications, and someone has to filter them.
How do flat-fee recruitment websites compare to traditional agencies?
A traditional agency charges a percentage of salary—typically 15–25%—and you pay only when they fill the role. A flat-fee service charges a fixed price regardless of salary, and you pay upfront. The flat-fee model works out cheaper for most roles above £30,000, but you carry the cash-flow risk. Our guarantee is a 100% refund if we do not fill the role, which removes the main downside of paying upfront.
Are niche job boards worth the money?
For specialist roles, yes. A niche board (e.g., for engineers, nurses, or developers) often has a smaller but more relevant audience. The cost per advert is usually higher—£200–£800 +VAT—but the applicant quality can be markedly better. We use a mix of general and niche boards depending on the role.
How long should I run a job advert on a recruitment website?
Most UK employers run adverts for two to four weeks. A shorter run can miss good candidates who check boards weekly; a longer run often yields diminishing returns. We cover this in detail in how long should a job advert run?
FAQs
What is the most visited recruitment website in the UK? Indeed is consistently the most-visited job site in the UK by total traffic. LinkedIn is the largest professional network. Which one works best for you depends on whether you need active applicants (Indeed) or want to approach passive candidates (LinkedIn).
Can I use free recruitment websites and still hire well? Yes, with caveats. Google for Jobs is free and can drive traffic if your advert is properly structured. Free postings on Indeed can also work. The hidden cost is time: free adverts often bring a higher volume of irrelevant applications, and someone has to filter them.
How do flat-fee recruitment websites compare to traditional agencies? A traditional agency charges a percentage of salary—typically 15–25%—and you pay only when they fill the role. A flat-fee service charges a fixed price regardless of salary, and you pay upfront. The flat-fee model works out cheaper for most roles above £30,000, but you carry the cash-flow risk. Our guarantee is a 100% refund if we do not fill the role, which removes the main downside of paying upfront.
Are niche job boards worth the money? For specialist roles, yes. A niche board (e.g., for engineers, nurses, or developers) often has a smaller but more relevant audience. The cost per advert is usually higher—£200–£800 +VAT—but the applicant quality can be markedly better. We use a mix of general and niche boards depending on the role.
How long should I run a job advert on a recruitment website? Most UK employers run adverts for two to four weeks. A shorter run can miss good candidates who check boards weekly; a longer run often yields diminishing returns. We cover this in detail in our guide to job advert run times.
Sources
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