Cobalt vs Recruit CRM 2025: Complete Comparison and Best Alternative

Recruit CRM: Overview and Positioning

What is Recruit CRM?

Recruit CRM is an ATS/CRM founded in 2017 by Shoanak Mallapurkar in India. The company is primarily bootstrapped with a small family investment. Recruit CRM initially positioned itself as a more affordable and user-friendly alternative to Bullhorn, which enabled it to scale globally.

RecruitCRM now generates over $20 million in revenue. Since 2023, the company has hired 300 additional employees in India and has been working to professionalize its operations, with mixed results.

Recruit CRM's Positioning

Common Problems with Recruit CRM

Despite impressive growth, Recruit CRM has limitations:

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Why Look for a Recruit CRM Alternative?

Outdated Interface: 8 Years Without Evolution

Recruit CRM's initial competitive edge was its superior UI/UX. But the platform has barely evolved:

"RecruitCRM's initial competitive edge eight years ago was its superior UI/UX. However, the platform has seen little to no evolution since then. The company has shifted its focus towards customer success rather than product innovation, following a similar path to Bullhorn. As a result, the overall look and feel no longer meet modern standards."

Consequences:

• Dated design that doesn't reflect your agency's professionalism
• Poor user experience for your teams
• Product stagnation similar to Bullhorn

Limited Search: Exact Keywords Only

"RecruitCRM offers solid sourcing tools with strong filters and keyword-based search. You can search within notes, but only using exact terms and not alongside other data, since there's no contextual understanding."

Concrete limitations:

• Exact keywords required - no smart search
• No contextual understanding
• Manual workflow and precise matching required
• No natural language questions

Limited Outreach: Email Only

RecruitCRM only offers email for outreach:

"Setting up campaigns in RecruitCRM isn't very intuitive, you can barely notice the enroll button and tracking replies or performance can be tricky. Additionally, RecruitCRM's outreach is limited to email, lacking native LinkedIn or WhatsApp integration."

Concrete problems:

• ❌ No native LinkedIn for sequences
• ❌ No WhatsApp integrated
• 🟡 Campaign interface unintuitive
• 🟡 Performance tracking difficult

Unprofessional Candidate Presentation

"Recruit CRM's Business plan includes basic candidate presentation features, such as resume redaction and formatting with predefined templates. As a result, the output is not very professional, and only a small number of executive search firms and staffing agencies choose to use it."

Consequences:

• Unprofessional templates
• Rarely used by serious agencies
• Brand image not respected

Offshore Support vs Product Innovation

"The company has shifted its focus towards customer success rather than product innovation."

Recruit CRM offers 24/7 support, but:

• Product innovation slowed
• Offshore support (timezone issues, language barrier)
• Same trajectory as Bullhorn (stagnation)

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Cobalt vs Recruit CRM: Detailed Comparison

Overview

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Sourcing and Search

Recruit CRM's search problem:

"You can search within notes, but only using exact terms and not alongside other data, since there's no contextual understanding. The overall workflow still leans heavily on manual input and precise keyword matching."

Cobalt example:

Ask "Show me candidates with fintech experience in Germany" and Cobalt instantly identifies matching candidates by analyzing all available data.

Sourcing Verdict: Cobalt offers natural language AI search. Recruit CRM is stuck on exact keywords.

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Outreach and Sequences

Recruit CRM's outreach problem:

"Setting up campaigns in RecruitCRM isn't very intuitive, you can barely notice the enroll button. RecruitCRM's outreach is limited to email, lacking native LinkedIn or WhatsApp integration."

Outreach Verdict: Cobalt offers complete multichannel outreach (email, LinkedIn, WhatsApp). Recruit CRM only does email.

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Interface and UX

Recruit CRM's UX problem:

"The platform has seen little to no evolution since then. The company has shifted its focus towards customer success rather than product innovation. The overall look and feel no longer meet modern standards."

UX Verdict: Cobalt invests in product innovation. Recruit CRM stagnates.

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Candidate Presentation

Recruit CRM's presentation problem:

"The output is not very professional, and only a small number of executive search firms and staffing agencies choose to use it."

Presentation Verdict: Cobalt generates professional branded presentations. Recruit CRM offers basic templates.

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Staffing Features

Staffing Verdict: Cobalt is built for staffing firms. Recruit CRM doesn't have these features.

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Support and Accompaniment

Recruit CRM's compromise:

"The company has shifted its focus towards customer success rather than product innovation, following a similar path to Bullhorn."

Support Verdict: Recruit CRM offers 24/7 offshore. Cobalt offers local support with continuous product innovation.

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Summary Table: Cobalt vs Recruit CRM

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Conclusion: Recruit CRM or Cobalt?

Choose Recruit CRM if:

• You're a very small agency with tight budget
• You need 24/7 support (even offshore)
• You don't need LinkedIn/WhatsApp for outreach
• The dated interface doesn't bother you
• You don't need staffing features
• Basic presentations are enough for you

Choose Cobalt if:

• You're a European staffing firm or agency
• You want a modern interface that evolves
• You need multichannel outreach (LinkedIn, WhatsApp)
• You're looking for real AI search in natural language
• You want professional branded presentations
• You need staffing features
• You prefer local support
• You value continuous product innovation

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Ready to discover a modern alternative to Recruit CRM?

Request a free Cobalt demo and experience a platform that evolves with you.