ATS for Startups: Hire Your First 100 People With a Clear Process
Treegarden is an applicant tracking system for startup teams moving from ad hoc hiring to a repeatable process. Use the ATS to publish roles, organize applicants, schedule interviews and collaborate on decisions. Start with active-job ATS pricing, then evaluate the optional HR module when post-hire workflows need it.
Sound familiar?
These aren't edge cases. They're what startup hiring looks like before you put a real process in place.
Candidate information is split across email, a spreadsheet and team chat. Nobody has a reliable view of ownership, next steps or the latest feedback.
A new role becomes a copy-and-paste task across job boards. Applications arrive in different places, and the team loses time reconciling them before it can review candidates.
Hiring managers want to help, but feedback, interview decisions and next steps are not consistently recorded. Strong candidates wait while the team works out who needs to act.
Everything you need. Nothing you don't.
A practical hiring workflow for founders, first recruiters and hiring managers who need a shared source of truth.
Pricing you can evaluate before a demo
The Startup ATS plan is listed at $299 per month equivalent for up to 10 active jobs, with unlimited user accounts. Review the current plan details before deciding.
Start with a repeatable hiring workflow
Set up roles, candidate stages, interview coordination and team feedback in one place. Scope the data, integrations and rollout work your team needs during a demo.
ATS first, optional HR later
Start with the ATS. Add the separately priced HR module when employee onboarding, records, leave, performance or compensation workflows become a current need.
Assistive AI with human review
Use AI-assisted job-description, candidate-matching and workflow features to support the team. Treat outputs as advisory and keep hiring decisions under human review.
Job distribution and one candidate pipeline
Review the supported job boards and integrations for your market, then route incoming applications into one hiring workflow instead of separate inboxes and spreadsheets.
Start with hiring. Add operational depth when it is useful.
Choose the workflow that matches the team you have today, then evaluate additional recruiting or HR capabilities as your operating model evolves.
- Careers page
- Job posting + distribution
- Candidate pipeline
- Hiring-manager feedback
- Team collaboration
- Multi-board distribution
- Structured scorecards
- Calendar integrations
- Optional HR module
- Performance reviews
- Onboarding automation
- Employee records and leave workflows
Pricing basis: Treegarden's Startup ATS plan is $299 per month equivalent for up to 10 active jobs under an annual commitment. The HR module is priced separately. See current pricing. Last reviewed August 26, 2026.
Not a startup? Use the ATS guide for a small business to evaluate a lean, repeatable hiring workflow.
Choose a system based on the work you need it to do.
Before buying an ATS, agree on the process you need to run, the systems it must connect to and the pricing unit that reflects how your team hires. A smaller, well-adopted workflow is more useful than a feature list nobody owns.
Add post-hire workflows when they belong in the operating model.
Treegarden's ATS can be purchased on its own. If employee onboarding, records, leave, performance or compensation workflows become a present requirement, evaluate the separately priced HR module alongside your existing tools.
Use the buying process to map which data should pass from recruiting to HR, who owns it and which handoffs still need an integration or internal process.
- Clear data ownership - agree where candidate information ends and employee records begin
- Onboarding workflow - define the documents, tasks and approvals your new hires need
- HR scope - evaluate leave, performance and compensation against your current system
- Commercial fit - price the HR module separately from the ATS plan
A startup does not need to buy more system than it will use. Start with a clear hiring workflow, then add post-hire capabilities deliberately.
Your next great hire is out there. Go find them.
Book a demo or request a quote to map Treegarden to your own hiring process, active-job needs and optional HR requirements.
Small ATS and HRIS comparison cluster
For buyers comparing smaller ATS and small-company HR software
These pages target buyers searching for smaller ATS vendors, UK ATS comparisons, and HR software for small companies before they are ready for an enterprise suite.