Workable tracks in detail what happens to a candidate from the moment they apply, but none of its metrics records the specialist who never saw the job ad. If your last few roles took more than a week to reach a shortlist because there were no names, HeyTalent is the better option of the two: it finds that passive talent on LinkedIn, gets their email and phone and automates the first contact, and it also includes a free ATS that publishes the job. Workable does more when inbound already fills the pipeline and the bottleneck is coordinating interviews and governing applicants' data. The decision is made per role, by measuring which stage is piling up the days.
What Workable is and what HeyTalent is
Workable is an ATS (applicant tracking system): it publishes jobs, collects applications, moves each person through stages and coordinates interviews with hiring managers. An ATS can be defined as the official database of the hiring process, recording who applied, which stage they are in and why they moved forward or were rejected. More detail in the guide on what an ATS is. Workable is no longer sold as an ATS alone: its plans combine recruiting with an HR module (employee records, onboarding, time off, time tracking and payroll) and its pricing page advertises up to 20% off for taking both blocks together.
HeyTalent is an AI sourcing platform: it extracts up-to-date LinkedIn profiles, including outside the recruiter's network and without a LinkedIn Recruiter licence, filters them with AI variables the recruiter writes, finds email and phone and automates invitations, follow-ups and InMails on LinkedIn. It was born inside a tech recruitment agency in Barcelona.
HeyTalent vs Workable in 2026: comparison by criterion
In 2026, HeyTalent and Workable cover different stages of the funnel: HeyTalent works before the application, with search and first contact, and Workable works after it, with the process of people who already applied.
| Criterion | HeyTalent | Workable |
|---|---|---|
| Stage covered | Passive talent search and first contact | Managing the process of applicants |
| Where the candidate comes from | LinkedIn profiles, including outside your network | Applications, internal pipeline and its base of 400M+ profiles |
| Email and phone | Lookup per profile | Whatever the candidate provides |
| Outreach | Automated LinkedIn invitations, follow-ups and InMails | Messages within the open process |
| AI | Custom variables to filter and prioritise profiles | Job Brief Agent included; sourcing, screening and chat on credits |
| Process management | Its own ATS, free | Its core function |
| GDPR | Public data under legitimate interest, never resold | Automations for notice, consent, deletion and retention |
| Price | From €93/month per organisation (annual) | From $299/month at 1-20 employees on the annual plan, by headcount tier |
What HeyTalent does before anyone applies in Workable
HeyTalent turns a role brief into a list of professionals you are already talking to, the stretch Workable only covers by charging AI credits per passive candidate. A two-line brief becomes a search with advanced LinkedIn filters: job title, keywords, location, experience and company size.
HeyTalent extracts each profile in real time and filters it with AI variables, such as English level or type of company; an inference orders the review, it does not certify a skill.
Once the list is reviewed, HeyTalent finds emails and phone numbers and launches a sequence of invitations, follow-ups and InMails. Replies land in a shared inbox you can filter by role and by recruiter, from which the candidate moves to the HeyTalent ATS in one click.
According to HeyTalent, its users work 60% faster during their first month of use, an average efficiency gain the company attributes to tighter, better-filtered lists. It is a self-reported figure and does not measure time to hire.
HeyTalent offers its ATS at no cost and charges for the sourcing layer. That ATS publishes jobs on your own careers page and on Google Jobs and shares pipelines with the client. The limit: it does not replace Workable in an in-house team with heavy inbound and lots of interviews to coordinate.
How to tell whether the role is stuck in sourcing or in the process
A role is stuck in sourcing when it spends more time without names than without replies; it is stuck in the process when applications exist and nobody moves them. According to ManpowerGroup, in 2025 75% of companies in Spain reported difficulty finding the profiles they need, 78% in technology and 84% in transport, logistics and automotive.
Ordering Workable's stages better does not add a single new name. Mark the dominant bottleneck of the role:
- Missing names or contact data: HeyTalent territory.
- Missing replies: review the message and the follow-up.
- Missing internal order: that is where Workable adds more.
Which metric to track at each stage with HeyTalent and Workable
HeyTalent is measured before the application, by time to a useful shortlist and contactable profiles; Workable is measured after, by process time from application.
| Stage | Best covered by | Metric |
|---|---|---|
| Discovering passive talent | HeyTalent | Time to a useful shortlist |
| Enriching contact data | HeyTalent | Share of contactable profiles |
| First contact and follow-ups | HeyTalent | Connection acceptance and positive replies |
| Pipeline, interviews and coordination | Workable | Process time from application |
| Data of people who applied | Workable | Notices, deletions and retention periods met |
In a technical role, what counts is a contactable, relevant list, not a long one.
How much HeyTalent and Workable cost: which unit to compare
HeyTalent and Workable are not compared by monthly fee but by the cost of each useful shortlist: fee plus recruiter hours, divided by validated shortlists. HeyTalent's plans start at €93/month billed annually; Workable publishes its rates and starts at $299 a month for companies of 1 to 20 employees paying annually.
Workable lists three plans on its pricing page. As of 30 October 2026, on the 1-20 employee tier with annual payment, Standard costs $299/month ($3,588/year), Premier $599/month ($7,188/year) and Enterprise $719/month ($8,628/year); only Standard can be paid monthly, at $360/month.
Workable's fee follows the company's headcount, not the number of recruiters: the same annual Standard plan rises to $669/month ($8,028/year) on the 51-100 employee tier.
| Item | HeyTalent | Workable |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing unit | Plan per organisation | Plan by headcount tier, across nine steps |
| Entry price | From €93/month on the annual plan (October 2026) | Standard from $299/month at 1-20 employees, paid annually |
| Published currency | Euros | US dollars |
| Monthly billing | Yes | Standard only, at $360/month; Premier and Enterprise are annual |
| Volume | 2,000 to 14,000 candidates a month depending on plan | Unlimited active jobs, subject to fair usage limits |
| Users | Unlimited on every plan | No published cap; extra permission sets only on Enterprise |
| Add-ons | Included in the plan | Texting, video interviews and assessments cost extra on Standard |
On Standard, Workable charges separately for what Premier and Enterprise include: texting (+$89/month), video interviews (+$109/month), assessments (+$59/month) and performance and engagement (+$39/month). Those add-ons scale too: $240, $360 and $200 a month on the 51-100 employee tier.
The real saving is not in dropping the ATS but in no longer paying for LinkedIn Recruiter seats just to see beyond your network. Because HeyTalent's fee is per organisation and LinkedIn Recruiter's is per seat, the company puts the saving at up to 5x versus LinkedIn Recruiter, a margin that widens as recruiters are added and narrows for someone working alone.