# Zoho Recruit vs Lever: 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 Lever. Page: https://hr-ai-index.com/talent/applicant-tracking-systems/zoho-recruit-vs-lever/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoho Recruit | 9% | #3 of 13 | 0% | 25 | 12 of 12 |
| Lever | 7% | #4 of 13 | 12% | 43 | 12 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 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)

## 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)

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.