# Zoho Recruit vs Ashby: which do AI models recommend for applicant tracking syste, September 2026

HR AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition, Applicant tracking systems. Zero of twelve models named Zoho Recruit first on the direct prompt; one named Ashby. Page: https://hr-ai-index.com/talent/applicant-tracking-systems/zoho-recruit-vs-ashby/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoho Recruit | 9% | #3 of 13 | 0% | 25 | 12 of 12 |
| Ashby | 7% | #5 of 13 | 0% | 26 | 10 of 12 |

## The direct prompt, model by model

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

## What the models said about Zoho Recruit

- "Zoho Recruit offers a Forever Free plan ... making it the strongest free option for bootstrapped startups." (Claude Haiku 4.5, budget prompt, first choice)
- "The Best Overall Free Option: Zoho Recruit ... widely considered the king of free recruitment software" (Qwen 3.7 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.