Recruiting CRM and sourcing · September 2026 Edition
Lever vs LinkedIn Recruiter
Three of twelve models named Lever first on the direct prompt; two named LinkedIn Recruiter. Lever was named by ten of the twelve models and LinkedIn Recruiter by twelve and Lever carries 16 labels and LinkedIn Recruiter 26, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in nine categories this edition.
Named in three categories this edition.
First-choice share20%5%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate0%23%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#1#7A position in a field of 11; printed, not drawn.
Labels1626A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Lever reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.SeekOut was named alongside these two in nine of the twelve direct answers. Lever vs Gem · Lever vs Manatal · Lever vs Zoho Recruit
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; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the Recruiting CRM and sourcing page.
By framing
How many of the twelve models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
LeverFirst choices, of twelve modelsLinkedIn Recruiter
Direct32
Paraphrase60
Comparative023 against LinkedIn Recruiter
Budget-constrained001 against LinkedIn Recruiter
Scale-constrained001 against LinkedIn Recruiter
Negative001 against LinkedIn Recruiter
Bars are first choices, 0 to 12 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to twelve.
Every model, every framing
The seventy-two answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Lever and LinkedIn Recruiter stood in it.
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | | |||||
| GPT-5.4 mini | | | ||||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | ||||
| Perplexity Sonar | | |||||
| Grok 4.1 Fast | | | | | | |
| Mistral Small | | | | |||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | ||||
| Llama 4 Maverick | ||||||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | | | | ||
| Kimi K2 | | | ||||
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | |||||
| MiniMax M2.5 | | | |
Lever LinkedIn Recruiter first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Lever on the left and LinkedIn Recruiter on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Lever and LinkedIn Recruiter stood in it.
Lever first, LinkedIn Recruiter an alternative
3 of 12 modelsLinkedIn Recruiter was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Grok 4.1 FastLever alternatives: LinkedIn Recruiter, Workable
Mistral SmallGem, Lever alternatives: Juicebox, SeekOut, hireEZ
MiniMax M2.5Lever, SeekOut alternatives: Findem, Gem, hireEZ
LinkedIn Recruiter first, Lever not the choice
2 of 12 modelsLever was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.GPT-5.4 miniLinkedIn Recruiter alternatives: SeekOut, Workable, Zoho Recruit
Qwen 3.7 FlashLinkedIn Recruiter alternatives: Gem, Gorilla Search, SeekOut
Neither was the first choice, one was named
2 of 12 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.DeepSeek V4 FlashGem alternatives: LinkedIn Recruiter, SeekOut, hireEZ
Kimi K2hireEZ alternatives: Gem, LinkedIn Recruiter
Neither was named
5 of 12 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Claude Haiku 4.5Gem, hireEZ alternatives: Jobvite, Loxo, SeekOut
Gemini 3.5 FlashGem alternatives: Fetcher, SeekOut, ZoomInfo Talent, hireEZ
Perplexity SonarGem alternatives: Fetcher, SeekOut, Workable, hireEZ
Llama 4 Maverickno first choice
GLM 4.7 FlashXGem alternatives: Juicebox, Manatal, SeekOut, hireEZ
Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
By buyer segment
The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
LinkedIn Recruiter leads by two points.
LinkedIn Recruiter4%#6 of 13Lever2%#– of 13Mid-marketThe figures above
The order flips: Lever leads at mid-market.
Lever20%#1 of 11LinkedIn Recruiter5%#7 of 11Enterprise
The order flips: LinkedIn Recruiter leads at enterprise.
LinkedIn Recruiter12%#3 of 6Lever8%#– of 6What the models said about Lever
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Three of four in this category shown.
“If you want one default recommendation without more context, Lever is the best starting point for a mid-sized B2B in-house recruiting team.” Perplexity Sonar · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“Lever: Ideal for mid-sized in-house teams wanting an all-in-one ATS + CRM with native sourcing and nurturing capabilities” Mistral Small · direct prompt · first choice
“I'd start with Lever as the default recommendation due to its strong balance of CRM capabilities and ATS integration” MiniMax M2.5 · paraphrase prompt · first choice
What the models said about LinkedIn Recruiter
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of seven in this category shown.
“Declining Boolean search tools (e.g., older LinkedIn Recruiter features): Reduced accuracy in regulated industries, leading to missed qualified candidates.” Grok 4.1 Fast · negative prompt · soft negative
“A market leader with advanced search... Best for general use but can be expensive, especially for larger teams.” Mistral Small · comparative prompt · soft negative
“remains the go‑to for LinkedIn‑only sourcing, but it's expensive and limited to one network” GLM 4.7 FlashX · comparative prompt · soft negative
“If you want the largest mainstream professional pool, start with LinkedIn Recruiter” GPT-5.4 mini · comparative prompt · first choice
“For many B2B companies, LinkedIn remains the gold standard due to its network effect.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · direct prompt · first choice
“the best candidate sourcing tool is usually LinkedIn Recruiter” GPT-5.4 mini · direct prompt · first choice
Also compared
Lever vs GemLever vs ManatalLever vs Zoho RecruitLever vs PinLever vs hireEZLever vs SeekOutGem vs LinkedIn RecruiterManatal vs LinkedIn RecruiterZoho Recruit vs LinkedIn RecruiterPin vs LinkedIn RecruiterhireEZ vs LinkedIn RecruiterLinkedIn Recruiter vs SeekOutAll twenty-eight head-to-head pages and the full Recruiting CRM standing
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.