Cost comparison
What is the cheapest way to advertise a job on Indeed, Reed and CV-Library?
There is no published rate card. On 6 September 2026 we checked Reed, CV-Library, Indeed and Totaljobs in a real browser and none of the four published a price we could read — two returned a 404 at their own pricing URL, one refuses automated requests, and Indeed prices sponsored posts by auction rather than a fixed rate. So the practical answer is a multi-board flat-fee package, where the price IS published: ours is £399 +VAT for a 28-day listing across the major boards, written for you, with no commission when you hire. The cheapest advert is rarely the cheapest hire, because no advertising package reads the applications for you.
The short answer
The big UK job boards do not publish what they charge. On 6 September 2026 we checked each of them in a real browser, with JavaScript running, at the pricing URL each one advertises — and got a price from none of them.
So the cheapest knowable way to advertise a job across the major boards is a multi-board flat-fee package, because that is the part of this market where a price is actually printed on the page. Ours is £399 +VAT per vacancy: a 28-day listing across the major boards, the advert written for you, applications into a dashboard, and no commission whatever the person you hire is paid.
And the part most buying guides leave out: the cheapest advert is rarely the cheapest hire. Somebody still has to read what the advert produces.
What we found when we tried to price the boards
| Board | What the pricing page returned |
|---|---|
| Reed | HTTP 404 — no pricing page at that path |
| CV-Library | HTTP 403 — refuses automated requests |
| Indeed | HTTP 404, and sponsored posts are priced by auction rather than a rate |
| Totaljobs | HTTP 404 — no pricing page at that path |
Zero out of four. That is not a criticism — board pricing genuinely varies by volume, contract length and sector, and they would rather have the conversation. But it does mean that anyone who tells you "Reed costs £X to post a job" has either negotiated that price themselves or is repeating someone else's guess. We are not going to add another guess to the pile.
What a multi-board package costs, published
| TalentFinder package | Price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | £399 +VAT | 28-day listing across the major boards, advert written for you, applications into your dashboard |
| Premium | £499 +VAT | As above, plus featured placement, social promotion and a refresh at day 14 |
| Premium Plus | £599 +VAT | As above, plus a dedicated account manager, bespoke copywriting and a shortlist |
One purchase covers every board on the list, so you are not opening an account and negotiating a rate with each of them separately. Credits for more than one role bring the per-advert price down, and they do not expire.
Some flat-fee providers advertise a lower entry price than ours. Those are smaller packages, so the comparison worth making is what is inside one rather than the headline figure: how many boards it reaches, how long it runs, whether anybody writes the advert for you, and what happens to the applications when they arrive. Ask any provider those four questions, including us.
Direct with one board, or a package across several
Roughly:
- One board, one role, and you already have an account. Going direct can be cheapest, especially if you have negotiated a rate. You will not know until you ask them.
- Several boards. A package is almost always cheaper than buying the same slots individually, which is the entire business model of flat-fee advertising.
- You do not know which board works for your role. A package hedges that for you. The right board for a care assistant in Hull is not the right board for a management accountant in Reading.
What free posting is good for
There are genuinely free routes and they are not useless:
- A board's free tier, where one exists. Real, but free posts rank below paid ones and usually fade within days.
- Your own careers page. Free, and it converts better than anything else for candidates who already know you. If you do not have one, we build branded careers sites on your own domain.
- Find a Job, the government's service. Free, and strongest for high-volume roles.
Free works for roles with a deep pool of active candidates. It rarely works for anything specialist, because the people you want are not looking.
The number that decides this, and it is not the advert price
Whatever you pay, an advert produces applications. Someone has to work them.
Across the 46 vacancies we filled and publish in full:
| Stage | Candidates |
|---|---|
| Sourced and screened | 1,542 |
| Presented to the client | 235 |
| Client interviews | 143 |
| Hires | 51 |
A median of 26 candidates worked per hire, of whom about 15% were worth presenting. Most of those conversations happen after 6pm, because the candidate is at work.
So the real comparison is not one advert price against another. It is:
- a few hundred pounds and roughly 26 conversations of your own time, versus
- £1,500–£4,000 for a managed search where somebody else has those conversations and you see a shortlist.
If you have the hours, buy the advert and keep the difference — that is a genuinely good decision and we would rather say so than sell you something you do not need. If nobody in the business has those evenings, the advert is the cheaper purchase and the more expensive outcome, because the applications sit unread for ten days and the good candidates accept something else.
Where to start
Write the advert before you spend anything. Our free job advert generator turns rough notes about the role into a finished advert in about twenty seconds and shows you the live local pay band for the job title — no account, no card, and the words are yours whether you post with us or not.
When you are ready, post a job online from £399 +VAT and you see the advert we have written before you pay. If the advert is not the right tool for the role, Premium Hire takes the whole search off you for £1,500–£4,000 +VAT by salary band, covering a five-point review of the role, advertising, headhunting and a screened shortlist.
Related: should you advertise yourself or use a recruiter, why an advert gets no applications, and how to write a job advert that works.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to post a job on Reed, CV-Library or Indeed?
None of them publishes a price you can read without contacting sales. We checked all three in a browser on 6 September 2026 — Reed and Totaljobs returned a 404 at their own pricing URLs, CV-Library refuses automated requests, and Indeed prices sponsored job posts by auction rather than a fixed rate. You have to speak to them, and the quote generally depends on volume and contract length.
What is the cheapest way for a small business to advertise a job on several UK boards?
A multi-board flat-fee package, because one purchase covers every board and the price is published rather than quoted. Ours starts at £399 +VAT for a 28-day listing across Indeed, Adzuna, Google for Jobs, LinkedIn, Totaljobs and Jobsite plus over 100 aggregator sites, with the advert written for you and no commission when you hire. Cheaper entry packages exist; what matters is comparing what is inside one — boards reached, days live, and whether anybody writes it — not the headline figure.
Is it cheaper to go direct to a job board than use a flat-fee provider?
For a single advert on a single board it can be, if you negotiate well. For a role you want on several boards it usually is not, because a flat-fee package buys the slots in bulk and sells them as one item. The bigger cost either way is not the advert — it is the time to work the applications it produces.
Can you post a job for free in the UK?
Yes. Some boards run a free posting tier, though free posts rank below paid ones and typically fade from view within a few days. Your own careers page and the government's Find a Job service are also free. Free posting works for high-volume, easy-to-fill roles and rarely for anything specialist.
What is the real cost of advertising a job?
The advert is the small number. Across the 46 roles we filled and publish, it took a median of 26 candidates worked to make one hire, and only about 15% of those were worth putting in front of the employer. Whoever does that screening is the actual cost of an advertising-only package, and it is usually paid in someone's evenings rather than invoiced.
Want the fixed price for your role?
Advertise it yourself from £399 +VAT, or hand the whole search to a dedicated recruiter with Premium Hire — a flat fee by salary band, starting with a five-point review of your role.
See Premium Hire Advertise a job
Or call 0161 327 2895.