# Lever vs Manatal: which do AI models recommend for applicant tracking syste, September 2026

HR AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition, Applicant tracking systems. One of twelve models named Lever first on the direct prompt; zero named Manatal. Page: https://hr-ai-index.com/talent/applicant-tracking-systems/lever-vs-manatal/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lever | 7% | #4 of 13 | 12% | 43 | 12 of 12 |
| Manatal | 2% | #8 of 13 | 0% | 10 | 9 of 12 |

## The direct prompt, model by model

- MiniMax M2.5: lever first (first choices: Greenhouse, Lever) (alternatives: Pinpoint, Workable, Zoho Recruit)
- GPT-5.4 mini: neither first, one named (first choices: Greenhouse) (alternatives: Lever, SmartRecruiters, Workable)
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: Ashby) (alternatives: BambooHR, Greenhouse, Lever, Rippling)
- Grok 4.1 Fast: neither first, one named (first choices: Greenhouse) (alternatives: Lever, Workable)
- Mistral Small: neither first, one named (first choices: Greenhouse, Pinpoint) (alternatives: Lever, Workable)
- Llama 4 Maverick: neither first, one named (first choices: Pinpoint) (alternatives: Greenhouse, JazzHR, Lever, Workable)
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: Greenhouse) (alternatives: Lever, Pinpoint, Workable)
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: neither first, one named (first choices: Greenhouse) (alternatives: Ashby, BambooHR, Lever, Workable)
- Claude Haiku 4.5: neither named
- Perplexity Sonar: neither named (first choices: Greenhouse) (alternatives: Ashby, Pinpoint, Workable)
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: neither named (first choices: Greenhouse, Workable) (alternatives: Ashby)
- Kimi K2: neither named (first choices: Greenhouse) (alternatives: Ashby, Pinpoint, Workable)

## What the models said about Lever

- "avoid these on a limited budget" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, budget prompt, hard negative)
- "Cons: Analytics are historically less robust than Ashby; since acquisition by Employ Inc., some users report slower product development cycles." (Gemini 3.5 Flash, scale prompt, soft negative)

## What the models said about Manatal

- "If you need a fully-featured, modern platform with AI matching but cannot afford premium systems... this is the top pick." (Gemini 3.5 Flash, budget prompt, first choice)

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all twelve models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category. Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category. Published under CC BY 4.0; the output is the models' output, and nothing here is a recommendation by the index.