Crelate is a recruiting platform that combines an ATS, recruiting CRM, job portal, client portal, and analytics in one workspace. Its "Living Platform" uses AI agents to automate screening, highlight talent signals, and simplify hiring workflows.
However, its flexibility and customisation require time and resources. Moreover, smaller recruiting teams or solo recruiters may find the setup challenging.
Our research team dedicated over 46 hours analysing Crelate's features, user reviews, pricing, and integrations. This detailed Crelate review highlights what makes it a strong option and where you might need extra tools to fill gaps.
Why Trust Our Crelate Review?
To ensure this Crelate review is thorough and based on evidence, our team took a no-nonsense approach. Our methodology includes:
- Official Product Analysis: Directly assessed Crelate's recruiting, hiring, and analytics features from the official website, documentation, and pricing page.
- Verified User Reviews: Analyzed patterns from verified reviews on G2, Capterra, and others to identify genuine strengths and recurring pain points.
- Role-Based Use Cases: Evaluated the value for staffing agencies, executive search firms, recruiting managers, and individual recruiters in areas like recruiting, onboarding, and talent analytics.
- Feature vs. User Experience Validation: Checked promised features against actual user experiences, setup ease, and support quality.
- No Affiliate Bias: This review contains no affiliate links or paid placements. Our findings reflect independent research and authentic user feedback.
Crelate Overview
Crelate markets itself as a “Living Platform” that activates recruiting data across CRM, ATS, and analytics. It’s built for teams that need both candidate lifecycle management and client/business development tools in one system.
Crelate emphasizes fast setup, flexible workflows, candidate sourcing, and AI-assisted recruiting (Co-Pilot and AI agents). Several users praise usability and customer support, while others note opportunities in advanced reporting and mobile functionality.
Key Crelate Features
Below are the primary features verified on Crelate’s product pages:
- Applicant Tracking System (ATS): Manage full applicant lifecycles, custom workflows, and candidate status updates in a searchable database. Easily track submissions, interviews, and placements.
- Recruiting CRM / Business Development: Track client relationships, manage pursuits, and align sales workflows with recruiting activity to convert clients faster.
- Candidate Sourcing & Job Portal: SEO-optimized jobs portal that embeds on your site and distributes to job boards. Supports candidate capture and application flows.
- Contact Data Enrichment: Append and validate contact information on demand so records remain actionable and current.
- Client Portal: Share candidate pipelines, automated alerts, and feedback with clients in a managed, branded portal. It reduces back-and-forth emails.
- Email & Messaging + Mobile App: Native email tracking, calendar sync, SMS capability, and a mobile app enable recruiting on the go. Useful for deskless or road-heavy recruiters.
- Reporting & Recruiting Analytics: Custom dashboards and visualizations to track funnel metrics, placements, and business performance. Advanced reporting is available at higher tiers.
- Resume Parsing & Resume Toolbox: Standard parsing with premium parsing limits for higher-volume customers; multi-resume upload and parsing features streamline data entry.
- Sequencing & Automations: Sequence tasks and candidate workflows to scale repeatable processes and reduce manual steps. Automation features expand in higher plans.
- Integrations & API: Zapier, VMS, job boards (Indeed, Monster), RingCentral, and an API for custom workflows. Integration depth increases with each plan.
Crelate Pricing
Crelate pricing is per-user, per-month, with three primary tiers. All plans include access to the core Crelate Recruit module (ATS and CRM).
Pros and Cons of Crelate
Based on verified user reviews, the following strengths are consistently mentioned:
- Unified ATS + CRM: Combined candidate and client records eliminate duplicate silos. Recruiters can manage pipelines and business development on one searchable platform.
- Responsive Support & Onboarding: Support teams often get praise for quick onboarding help, issue resolution, and hands-on training. This makes initial setup easier for small and mid-sized teams.
- Flexible Customization: Custom fields, templates, and adaptable workflows allow teams to align Crelate with their hiring processes. This reduces manual steps and boosts consistency.
- Built-in Sourcing & Portals: A branded job portal and job distribution simplify candidate capture. Built-in sourcing tools help import profiles and centralize candidate conversations.
- Intuitive Interface: A clean layout and drag-and-drop workflows speed up onboarding. Recruiters can learn quickly and focus on sourcing, not system navigation.
While Crelate is widely used, users have repeatedly reported the following common limitations:
- Limited Advanced Reporting: Power users find that custom reports often need vendor support or technical skills. The default analytics may not meet the needs for detailed business metrics.
- Search and Filtering Issues: Some users face irrelevant search results. This results in longer times to find candidates and more manual filtering in large databases.
- Pricing Surprises & Add-ons: While the base price seems reasonable, reviewers caution that essential features like premium parsing and increased AI limits can come at an extra cost, raising overall expenses.
- Learning Curve for Advanced Features: Advanced automations, APIs, and integrations might need some training. Power users report needing time to set up complex workflows and custom fields effectively.
- Integration / API Complexity: Admins say that creating custom integrations or transferring data to external systems often requires developer assistance, which can extend implementation times for tailored workflows.
How Can Integrating Skima AI Handle Crelate Limitations?
Skima AI integrates into Crelate to bring explainable AI screening, match scores, and AI candidate insights inside the ATS without changing your recruiters’ workflows.
Instead of relying solely on Crelate’s native AI and manual screening, Skima AI scores every candidate against open roles, shows why they match, and continuously learns from recruiter feedback.
Key benefits of Crelate integration with Skima AI:
- AI Matching Scores Directly in Crelate: Every candidate receives an explainable match score showing why they fit a role. Recruiters prioritize top candidates with confidence, reducing manual resume screening from hours to minutes.
- Candidate Rediscovery: Surface past applicants and internal candidates who are now qualified for new roles, directly within Crelate. No more searching through dusty databases for overlooked talent.
- Seamless Recruiter Experience: No parallel system to learn, no data exports, no switching platforms. Skima AI integrates as an enhancement to Crelate's recruiting module, keeping recruiters in their workflow.
- Enterprise-Grade Security: SOC 2 compliant and GDPR aligned. All data stays within Crelate with end-to-end encryption, meeting enterprise security requirements.
Who Should Consider Crelate?
Crelate is the right fit for:
- Staffing and mid-market firms that need a customizable ATS + CRM for workflows and client collaboration.
- Executive Search Firms that use Crelate's client portal and CRM for complex sales cycles.
- In-House Teams with multiple hiring managers and recruiters who need customization and analytics for sophisticated hiring.
- Organizations with IT resources and budget invest in Crelate for flexibility and scalability.
Who Should Avoid Crelate?
Crelate is not ideal for:
- Small one-person shops that often need the cheapest solution with no extras. For them, Crelate can seem too powerful and expensive.
- Teams that need highly specialized reports without vendor help may find reporting challenging.
- Companies that want full offline and mobile feature parity have noted gaps in the mobile app.
Summary
As this Crelate review found, it is a solid option when you need an ATS that also doubles as a recruiting CRM and business development platform. It excels in relationship-driven recruiting, offers sensible workflows, and includes AI features like Co-Pilot and agents.
For teams that appreciate easy setup and great support, Crelate provides clear operational advantages. However, if your team needs advanced self-service analytics or the lowest monthly cost, Crelate’s features might lead you to a higher plan or require integrations.
If you use Crelate but want to boost screening accuracy, candidate rediscovery, or explainable AI matching, integrating Skima AI makes sense.
Skima AI adds an intelligent, explainable matching layer that works inside your ATS workflow. This keeps Crelate’s strong CRM/ATS base while improving shortlisting speed, data quality, and hiring confidence. This is especially useful for high-volume recruiting teams or firms that prioritise match quality over sheer numbers.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is Crelate?
Crelate is a combined applicant tracking system and recruiting CRM designed for staffing firms, in-house talent teams, and executive search. It centralizes candidate records, client relationships, sourcing, workflows, and reporting in one platform.
2. Is Crelate legit?
Yes, Crelate is a legitimate, established recruiting platform used by staffing agencies and corporate talent teams worldwide. Verified user reviews cite reliable support, regular product updates, and practical ATS+CRM functionality.
3. How does Crelate handle applicant tracking and CRM?
Crelate merges ATS and CRM capabilities so recruiters track candidates, manage client relationships, log activities, and automate workflows. It offers resume parsing, pipeline stages, client portals, and basic analytics to support hiring cycles.
4. Can Crelate integrate with Skima AI?
Yes, Crelate can integrate with Skima AI via API or connector. This integration allows for AI-driven candidate scoring, database rediscovery, and resume enrichment, all within Crelate’s workflow. Integration typically preserves existing pipelines and data.
5. How does Skima AI enhance Crelate’s recruiting capabilities?
Skima AI boosts Crelate by providing explainable match scores, deeper candidate rediscovery, automated shortlisting, and enriched profiles. Recruiters get faster, transparent recommendations and improved outreach targeting from enriched candidate data.
6. Is Crelate suitable for small staffing agencies or solo recruiters?
Crelate fits small agencies seeking CRM+ATS unity, intuitive setup, and support. However, add-ons and per-user costs can increase expenses; solo recruiters should weigh feature needs against budget before carefully committing.
