The free ATS for startups
- Unlimited jobs and candidates
- AI assistant to review candidates
- Built for speed and simplicity
Binary is the free applicant tracking system you've been waiting for.
Trusted by 400+ top startups
The new era of ATS is here.
Most ATS are designed for enterprise with bloated feature sets, expensive pricing and onboarding that takes weeks. Startups deserve better. Binary is a free ATS for startups that you can start using right now.
Why free? Because we know the pain when you are stuck with an ATS you don't love. When you are taking demos from sales teams who want you to pay upfront. We wanted to break this loop and let recruiters experience what a modern AI-first ATS feels like without having to pay upfront. As your company grows, you can always upgrade to our paid plans, but we are committed to keeping the most generous free plan out there.
Our free plan is a free-forever plan. You can create unlimited jobs and invite unlimited applications from candidates at no cost.
Weighing up your options? See how Binary compares to other applicant tracking systems, including Greenhouse, Ashby and Workable.
What you get with a free ATS
A free applicant tracking system should do more than store CVs. Binary gives startups a complete hiring workflow on a free-forever plan: post roles, collect applications, review candidates with AI and move them through your pipeline, all without a credit card or a sales call.
- Unlimited jobs and unlimited candidates
- AI assistant to review and shortlist applicants
- Branded careers page and hiring forms
- Superfast review mode with keyboard shortcuts
- Interview scheduling and feedback
- Team workspaces with roles and permissions
- Direct email replies to candidates
- Chrome extension to source candidates
What are the limits of the free plan?
The free plan is genuinely free forever, not a time-limited trial. You can run unlimited jobs and receive unlimited applications at no cost. Premium capabilities like the AI assistant and analytics are included too, with generous monthly usage limits. If you need higher limits or advanced Business features, you can move to a paid plan as your team grows.
Free ATS vs spreadsheets and open-source tools
Many startups begin hiring in spreadsheets or a self-hosted open-source ATS. Both feel free until you count the hidden costs: manual tracking, servers to maintain, and no AI to speed up screening. Binary is a hosted, modern ATS you can set up in minutes, so you get a real hiring pipeline and AI review without the maintenance.
Prefer to compare Binary with a specific tool? Browse our ATS comparisons to see how the free plan stacks up against paid platforms feature by feature, or read our roundup of the best free ATS options for 2026.
Most loved features
Create the most engaging hiring forms
Ask video questions, show your live response rate on the form and more.
Shortlist faster with AI
Describe your ideal candidate and the AI will find them for you.
Superfast reading mode
Read applications like a pro with a full-screen mode and keyboard shortcuts.
Schedule interviews
Easily create interviews and collect all interview feedback in one place.
Ask Binary on Slack
Get instant answers to any question about your hiring data without having to leave Slack.
Chrome extension
Came across a good candidate on the web? Add them to your pipeline with a single click.
Mobile friendly
Review and reply to candidates on the go.
Analytics, careers page and a lot more
Track your hiring funnel, create a branded careers page, manage employee referrals. The list goes on.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Our free plan allows creating unlimited hiring forms and receiving unlimited applications. We believe that users should be able to experience an ATS before paying for it.
When we started Binary, we wanted to build a very different kind of ATS. One that is lightweight, fast and well-designed. One that is built for the AI era. One that is so simple that it doesn't need a tutorial. One that you can start using immediately without speaking to sales. We can go on and on but you get the idea.
If you are stuck with an ATS you don't love, we will help you migrate all your existing data for free. Reach out at support@binary.so.
Yes. Binary lets you create workspaces, add users and decide their roles and permissions.
All your data is encrypted at rest and in transit. We don't share or sell your data in any scenario whatsoever and use best in class security protocols. Even when using AI models, we choose partners that don't use your data for model training. We are in the process of getting necessary security certifications.
Absolutely. A lot of users come to us when they have posted a form already and received a ton of applications. Binary lets you import your existing form and submissions both.
We built a free-forever plan because we believe companies should be able to try out a tool before deciding to pay for it. A lot of companies are stuck with an ATS that they don't like, so our free plan lets them experience a new-age ATS without having to worry about pricing.
The free-forever plan provides unlimited jobs and unlimited candidates along with features like careers page, interview feedback, chrome extension, candidate funnel, email conversations and more. Most of our premium features like AI assistant, and analytics are also available in the free plan with some usage limits.
No. You can sign up and start hiring on the free plan without a credit card. You only add payment details if you later choose to upgrade to a paid plan.
The best free ATS is one that gives you a complete, modern hiring workflow without hidden limits. Binary offers unlimited jobs and candidates, AI candidate review, a branded careers page and team collaboration on its free-forever plan, so startups get a full applicant tracking system rather than a stripped-back trial.