Comparison
HireAll Boost vs Gem: price, speed and results (November 2026)
Prices and facts checked 2 November 2026
- PriceGem
- To first interviewsBoost
- Your timeBoost
- Who you reachGem
- Fake-CV riskTie
- ContractBoost
No card. 1 credit = one candidate who gets an invite.
In short: Gem is the platform your recruiters work in, from $130 a month for a small startup. Boost does the work for you: $300 a month buys 600 invites for one role at the Fast pace. With a full-time recruiter, Gem gives more for the money; without one, Boost does the job.
At a glance
Boost and Gem, row by row
| HireAll Boostwins 3 of 6 | Gemall-in-one recruiting platform | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.40–0.50 per invite, 100 free. ≈ $14–17 per interview estimate | ✓ Gem winsless a month for a small startup hiring all yearStartups from $130 a month billed yearly; agencies from $99 per user a month; a quote by headcount above 100 people1,3 |
| To first interviews | ✓ Boost winsruns without a recruiter at the keyboard~3–7 days, by pace estimate | As fast as your recruiters search, send and follow up; candidates book themselves4 |
| Your time | ✓ Boost wins10 minutes instead of a recruiter's week10 minutes to brief, then approve or skip | A recruiter runs searches, approves every message, answers replies2 |
| Who you reach | Passive: people who aren't applying | ✓ Gem wins800M+ profiles, your database and job postsPassive and active: 800M+ profiles, your ATS and CRM, job posts to 100+ boards1,2 |
| Fake-CV risk | Tieboth outbound; Gem adds a fraud agent, Boost a questionnaireLow only people who said yes and filled in your questionnaire | TieLow you pick who to contact; a fraud-detection agent for applications is an add-on1 |
| Contract | ✓ Boost winsno subscription, nothing to cancelNone: prepaid credits that don't expire | A subscription, monthly or yearly; above 100 people, a quote1 |
Prices as of November 2026, from each vendor's public pages, or a published estimate where the vendor quotes privately. Product names belong to their owners; HireAll is not affiliated with them.
Price
What one role costs for a month
Gem has three price lists: a published startup grid for companies of up to 100 people, per-user plans for recruiting firms, and for everyone else a custom quote based on the company's FTE count.1,3 Below, one role for one month at the smallest size Gem prices, 1–10 people. Gem's price is a subscription for the whole platform, whatever you hire; Boost's is the pace you pick, and it stops when you pause.
HireAll Boost
Pick a pace: people invited a day
- Invites this month
- 600
- At $0.50 a credit
- $300
- With the 2,000-credit pack
- $240
- Interested people estimate
- ≈ 61
- First interviews estimate
- ~5 days
About $17 an interview estimate, $14 with the biggest pack. The first 100 credits are free.
Gem
all-in-one recruiting platform
- Startup plan, 1–10 people, billed monthly
- $300 a month1
- Billed yearly
- $130 a month, $1,560 a year, shown against $270
- Under 30 people
- First 6 months free, then 50% off the paid plan
- 11–100 people
- $400–900 monthly, or $180–405 a month billed yearly; from 31 people through sales5
- Above 100 people
- A quote by headcount; the median buyer pays $25,699 a year6
- Messages and email lookups
- No charge per message; email-finding unlimited1
Interviews: as many as your recruiter's searches, sequences and replies turn up. Gem books them through a self-scheduling link.4
The two prices don't buy the same thing. Gem's buys a platform for every open role, with no charge per message. If someone on your team recruits all year, $1,560 a year is far less than $3,600 for twelve months of Boost on one role, and per person contacted Gem is cheaper too: $130 over 600 people is about $0.22 each, against $0.40–0.50 an invite. Boost's $300 buys the work on one role: about 61 interested people estimate and 17 interviews estimate.
Boost costs less when you hire a role or two a year (two role-months are $600, nothing in between), or when your company has more than 100 people and no talent team: Gem's median buyer pays about $2,142 a month,6 while Boost's price per invite doesn't change with headcount. And neither invoice shows the recruiter Gem needs to run it.
estimate Boost's figures come from its product model, until the pilot reports: 2.9% of the people invited book an interview, and 10.1% say they're interested. A month here is 30 days.
Speed and effort
What you do with each, step by step
Where the hours go, from an open role to the first interview. Gem automates much of a recruiter's work; Boost does the steps for a hiring manager who has no recruiter.
| With Boost | With Gem | |
|---|---|---|
| Say who you want | Describe the role in a chat or paste the job description. Boost turns it into must-haves and filters, and you fix anything that's off. | Describe the role in plain words; the AI Sourcing Agent builds the search and finds matches.7 |
| Find the people | Reads every matching profile in full and checks each one against your must-haves. | Matches from 800M+ profiles and your own ATS and CRM, each with a match score.2 |
| First message | HireAll recruiters send a plain LinkedIn invite, then your intro once they accept. You see and edit the wording before it starts. | Gem drafts a personalized sequence by email, SMS or InMail, and a recruiter approves it before anything goes out. Email leaves from your own inbox;8 InMails are sent by hand from LinkedIn.9 |
| Follow up | At most two short follow-ups, sent for you. | Multi-stage sequences follow up automatically.7 |
| Screen | Everyone who says yes gets your two-minute questionnaire. You read the answers first. | Replies land in the sender's inbox;8 a recruiter asks your questions by message or on a call. |
| Book the interview | They pick a free slot in your Google Calendar. | Send a self-scheduling link; the candidate books into your team's real availability in Google Calendar or Outlook.4 |
| After the interview | Not Boost's job: no ATS, scorecards or interview notes. | Scorecards, offers and pipeline analytics, in Gem's ATS or synced to yours.1 |
Gem automates the search, the drafts, the follow-ups and the booking, but keeps the send for a person, on purpose: a recruiter approves every message, and InMails go out by hand.2,9 So with Gem, the time to a first interview depends on how much of a recruiter's week the role gets. With Boost it's set by the pace: first interviews in about 3 to 7 days estimate, while you do something else.
Quality
Whom you meet, and how they're checked
Passive and active candidates
Gem reaches both. Its AI searches 800M+ profiles and the candidates already in your ATS and CRM; its All-in-One plans post jobs to 100+ boards, and an AI agent ranks the applicants.1,2 That's wider than Boost, which invites only people who aren't applying and doesn't post jobs. A wider funnel is also more to read: job posts now draw about 291 applications per hire, against roughly 100 in early 2021.10
Checked on substance, not keywords
Gem gives every match a score with its reasoning, and a recruiter decides whom to contact; Gem says recruiters act on one in two of the candidates it surfaces.2 Boost reads every profile in full against the must-haves you set, invites only the ones that meet them and shows you why. In Manual mode you approve each person before the invite and again before the interview, and your "no, because…" teaches it whom to skip.
Fake CVs
Gartner expects one candidate profile in four worldwide to be fake by 2028;11 34% of recruiters already spend up to half their week filtering spam applications;12 and a single North Korean remote IT worker scheme reached more than 70 US employers.13 Outreach keeps the risk low with either tool, because you choose whom to contact. For the applications that job posts bring in, Gem sells an AI Fraud Detection Agent as an add-on.1 Boost opens no inbox to strangers: you meet only people who said yes and answered your questionnaire.
Which one
When Boost wins, and when Gem still makes sense
Choose Boost when
- You're a hiring manager or a founder, and nobody on the team has hours a week to run searches and sequences.
- You hire a role or two a year. A month of one role at the Fast pace is $300, and nothing while you're not hiring.
- Your company has more than 100 people but no recruiting team. Gem quotes by headcount;1 Boost's price per invite is the same at any size.
- You'd rather not connect your mailbox or your LinkedIn. HireAll recruiters write, on behalf of your company.
- You want the questionnaire and the booking done before you meet anyone.
Gem still makes sense when
- You have a talent team and want one system for sourcing, CRM, ATS, scheduling and analytics, on one bill.1
- You're a startup under 30 people hiring all year: 6 months free, then from $130 a month billed yearly.1 For a full ATS and CRM that is hard to beat.
- You hire from applicants as well as by outreach: job posts to 100+ boards, AI application review and a fraud-detection agent.1
- You want outreach by email, SMS and InMail under your team's own names, or sent from a hiring manager's inbox.2,8 Boost sends LinkedIn invites only, from HireAll recruiters.
- You run a recruiting firm of up to 10 people: per-user plans from $99 a month billed yearly, with outreach on behalf of clients.3
Using both
Boost alongside Gem
Keep Gem as your system of record. Candidates, interviews, scorecards and offers stay where your team works. Boost has no ATS, so add the people you move forward to Gem.
Let Boost take the roles nobody has time for. A hiring manager briefs it in ten minutes, and the people who say yes arrive with answers and a slot in the calendar. Gem's rediscovery keeps covering the candidates you already know.2
Give hiring managers both views. In Gem a hiring manager can follow the pipeline without a seat;7 with Boost they can also fill it, without a recruiter's time or anyone's mailbox.
FAQ
Gem vs Boost: questions people ask
How much does Gem cost in 2026?
It depends on who's buying. Startups of 1–10 people pay $130 a month billed yearly or $300 billed monthly; at 76–100 people it's $405 a month billed yearly or $900 monthly.1,5 Above 100 people Gem quotes by headcount, and the median buyer pays $25,699 a year, across 234 purchases.6 Recruiting firms pay per user.
What does Gem cost a recruiting agency?
Essentials is $99 per user a month billed yearly or $139 monthly, for up to 3 users; Professional is $149 or $199, for up to 10. The AI suite for sourcing, application review and sequences is on the custom Enterprise plan.3
Does Gem have a free plan or a free trial?
Companies under 30 people get Gem All-in-One free for 6 months, then 50% off the paid plan.1 Recruiting firms get a 7-day trial.3 Neither pricing page lists a free plan. Boost starts with 100 free credits and no card.
Is there a Gem alternative for recruiting without a recruiting team?
Gem is built for the people who recruit: it drafts, suggests and books, and a recruiter sends.2 If nobody on your team does that job, Boost is the alternative: it searches, invites, follows up, sends your questionnaire and books the interview, and charges per invite. If you do have recruiters, Gem gives them more than Boost does.
Does Gem send outreach for you?
No, by design: Gem drafts the messages and a recruiter approves them before anything goes out.2 Emails leave from your own inbox,8 and InMails are sent by hand from LinkedIn.9 With Boost, HireAll recruiters send the invites and follow-ups for you, under LinkedIn's daily limits.
Which is cheaper, Gem or Boost?
For a small startup that hires all year, Gem: $1,560 a year covers every role and every message. For a company that hires a role or two a year, or has more than 100 people and no talent team, Boost: $300 for a month of one role, nothing in between, and the work is included.
More comparisons
Stop sifting. Start hunting.
Describe the role, pick a pace and meet the first people who said yes.
Get 100 free credits →No card. 1 credit = one candidate who gets an invite.
Sources
- Gem, Pricing: Gem + Your ATS and Gem All-in-One: "custom pricing", "Based on your company's FTE count". Startups, 1–10 FTE: "$130 per/mo" billed yearly (against $270), $300 monthly; "Under 30 employees? You get Gem All-in-One free for six months, then 50% off when you move to a paid plan." AI capabilities "unlock with an AI-Powered seat"; "Unlimited email-finding"; "Job posting to 100+ boards"; an AI Fraud Detection Agent as an add-on. Checked 2 November 2026
- Gem, AI Sourcing: "Search 800M+ profiles", plus "past candidates in your ATS and CRM"; "Email, SMS, Inmail"; "Recruiters take action on 1 in 2 candidates that Gem surfaces". "Does Gem automatically send outreach on my behalf? No… a recruiter reviews and approves before anything goes out." Checked 2 November 2026
- Gem, Pricing for recruiting firms: Recruiting firms only. Essentials $99 per user a month billed yearly or $139 monthly, up to 3 users; Professional $149 or $199, up to 10; the "AI suite" on custom Enterprise. "Start 7-day trial". Checked 2 November 2026
- Gem, Scheduling: a self-scheduling link on "your team's real-time availability"; "Google Calendar and Outlook"; interviews write back to the ATS. Checked 2 November 2026
- HeroHunt, Gem Pricing 2026: Plans, AI Seats and Alternatives, 29 October 2026: Gem's startup grid, read from Gem's pricing page: $300–900 monthly or $130–405 billed yearly, 1–10 to 76–100 FTE; from 31 FTE, "Contact sales". HeroHunt sells a competing product. Checked 2 November 2026
- Vendr, Gem pricing, last updated February 2026: "Median buyer pays $25,699 per year", "Based on data from 234 purchases". Its description of Gem's plans doesn't match Gem's pricing page; we use only these figures. Checked 2 November 2026
- Gem, Startup recruiting: the AI Sourcing Agent: "Describe the role, and Gem builds the search, finds top matches, and drafts outreach"; sequences "following up automatically"; "Hiring manager access at no extra cost". Checked 2 November 2026
- Gem Help Center, Sending email on behalf of (SOBO): Gem needs "Send" permission "to send emails as you from your inbox"; replies go to the sender's inbox. Checked 2 November 2026
- Gem Help Center, InMail activity tracking: "sending InMail is a manual action that needs to be performed from LinkedIn". Checked 2 November 2026
- Ashby, Recruiter Productivity Trends, reported by HR Dive, May 2026: "291 applications per hire, compared to roughly 100 in early 2021". Checked 1 November 2026
- Gartner, press release, 31 July 2025: "by 2028, one in four candidate profiles worldwide will be fake". A forecast. In its surveys 6% of candidates admitted to interview fraud, "either posing as someone else or having someone else pose as them"; 39% used AI while applying, 54% of those to write resume text; 62% are more likely to apply where interviews are in person. Checked 2 November 2026
- Greenhouse, press release, 19 November 2025: 34% of recruiters spend up to half their week filtering spam and junk applications. In the US, 91% of recruiters have spotted candidate deception; 65% of hiring managers caught applicants using AI deceptively: reading AI-generated scripts 32%, prompt injections in resumes 22%, deepfakes 18%; 36% of job seekers altered their appearance, voice or background in video interviews. Survey of 4,136 people in the US, UK, Ireland and Germany. Checked 2 November 2026
- US Department of Justice, press release, 13 October 2026: one of the North Korean remote IT worker schemes charged "impacted more than 70 U.S. company employers". Checked 1 November 2026