Hiring tools for small businesses, compared
Instead charges £39 per hire, with posting free and the first hire free (2026). UK job boards charge per advert or per click before anyone is hired. The table shows each tool's published price as of 31 October 2026, with its source.
By Elliott Gibb, founder of Instead and director of Monty Ventures Limited. Last updated 31 October 2026.
| Tool | Posting a job | When you pay | Published price | Reach | Who reads applications | Source, checked 31 October 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Instead | Free, as many as you like | When the owner marks someone hired | £39 per hire, first hire free. Waived if they don’t start within 30 days. | The owner’s own network, plus a public job page and local area pages. No national audience. | The AI reads each application against the owner’s must-haves; a person decides. Every candidate hears back within 48 hours. | instead.work/press |
| Indeed (UK) | Free listing; sponsored jobs optional | Before a hire: “You set a budget that suits you and only pay for engagement” | No £ figure published on the page checked | National job board with the largest UK audience of the four | The employer, with Indeed's own screening tools | uk.indeed.com/hire/how-indeed-works |
| Reed.co.uk | Paid per advert, or a monthly plan | Up front, per advert or per month | Single job advert from £89 + VAT. Monthly plan from £125 a month with job and CV search. | National job board | The employer | reed.co.uk/recruiter |
| Totaljobs | Paid per advert | Up front, per advert | Pro single job ad £220 for 30 days (£69 shown as the new-customer price). Pro Plus £275, Pro Ultimate £352 for 60 days. VAT not stated. | National job board; 60-day adverts available | The employer | totaljobs.com/recruiters/products/single-job-ads |
| Caterer.com | Paid per advert | Up front, per advert | “Post your first job for £69.” Other prices by phone. | Hospitality-only audience across the UK | The employer | caterer.com/recruiters |
How should I read this table?
Each price is quoted from the tool's own public page on 31 October 2026, with the page linked. Prices change, new-customer offers come and go, and some pages do not say whether VAT is included.
Where a page publishes no £ figure, the table says so rather than guessing. Where a competitor is better for a kind of hiring, the row says that too: Indeed’s audience is far larger than Instead’s, Caterer.com reaches hospitality workers nationally, Totaljobs sells 60-day adverts, and Reed’s monthly plan includes CV search. Instead does not try to match any of that.
What is the difference between Instead and a job board?
A job board sells reach and charges before a hire, per advert or per click. Instead sells a hire and charges £39 only when one happens.
The method behind that is network-first hiring: the job goes to the people who already know the business first, with a public job page as the fallback. The result is fewer applications and a price the owner knows before starting.
When is a job board the better choice?
When the role needs a national search, when the business has no regulars, followers or staff to ask, or when it needs dozens of applications fast and is happy to pay for the reach.
Many businesses use both. Posting with Instead costs nothing, so an owner can share the job with their own people first and turn to a job board only if that is not enough.