ZipRecruiter vs. Monster: How do these job search sites stack up?

Whether you're hunting for a new job or filling vacancies on your team, you're not alone. Following The Great Resignation of 2021, some experts are predicting another wave of departures starting in January 2022.

If you're hunting for your next opportunity—or trying to backfill a newly vacant role, there are a variety of job search sites that can help. We're breaking down the major differences between two of the biggest sites out there—ZipRecruiter and Monster.

Here's everything employers and employees need to know about ZipRecruiter vs. Monster.

For employers: What you need to know about ZipRecruiter vs. Monster

When searching to find talent to add to an organization, many employers look to the internet and the many job search websites that are available to help. There are several options, some of which focus more on professional recruitment while others post all types of jobs at every level. There are even some that cater to part-time, remote, and freelance work exclusively. ZipRecruiter and Monster both have solid reputations for helping connect employers with potential new members of their teams. Here's how they stack up against one another.

ZipRecruiter vs. Monster for employers: What are the main features?

It's simple to post a job on either site, and both have similar pricing plans based on monthly rates, with Monster also offering a pay-for-performance option. ZipRecruiter's stand-out feature is its intelligent matching algorithm that continuously learns and adapts as employers post for positions and select candidates so it can highlight, and even reach out to, the best people on the company's behalf. Monster, meanwhile, has a long history in the business, having been one of the first (if not the first) job search websites to launch way back in 1999. Since then, the company has been tweaking and improving on its service to help in job searches across a variety of fields and job levels.

Free Trial	✔	✔
Free Plan	✘	✘
Price per posting	Tiered plans start as low as $16/day	Tiered plans start at $279/mo. and pay-per-performance option
User interface	Good	Average
Resume database	✔	✔
Recruitment features	✔	✔
Mobile app	✔	✔
Customer support	✔	✔
Screening solutions	✔	✔
Skills tests	✔	✘
Syndicated postings	✔	✔

ZipRecruiter vs Monster for employers: How many candidates do they reach?

Both ZipRecruiter and Monster have fantastic candidate reach, with members in the millions and jobs cross-posted across other sites. With ZipRecruiter, that includes more than 100 partner sites that the company says are some of the most visited job sites, like Google, Salary.com, and Better Jobs. Monster, meanwhile, cross-posts on Military.com and partners with hundreds of local newspapers.

As noted, ZipRecruiter uses intelligent matching algorithms to analyze the skills, education, and experience of a job candidate, or even simply a member on the site, to determine if they would be a good fit for a position. If someone stands out among the pack, ZipRecruiter might even reach out and invite them to apply. Once applications are in, employers can review everything in a neat and tidy dashboard view. Here, they can sort and rate candidates, placing top job seekers as priorities. ZipRecruiter analyzes the process and gets smarter over time to help link employers up with the best possible candidates.

Monster makes it easy to get started with help in getting a job description written once employers provide a title, location, and salary. There's also a database of 2,000 pre-written job descriptions that employers can pull from. Monster also sends the posting to people who might be a good fit via e-mail alerts. There's also an option for employer branding, which further adds to the recruitment strategy, along with video recruitment. Like with ZipRecruiter, there's an easy-to-use dashboard for managing all incoming applications and candidates, with the added value of built-in text and e-mail features for contacting them directly. The outreach to other partner sites with each job posting is only included in the top tiered plans, which start at $399/mo. These plans also include e-mail alerts when a potentially qualified person has posted a resume.

Our pick: ZipRecruiter. Monster has a lot of enticing features, but the performance boosts only come with the upper-tier plans. ZipRecruiter's intelligent matching algorithms really focus on not only helping employers match with the right candidates, but even flagging and reaching out to potential candidates before they apply.

ZipRecruiter vs Monster for employers: How well do they vet candidates?

With ZipRecruiter, once a job is posted and applications have been submitted through the site or an employer's site, depending on their choice, employers sort through them using the dashboard. For pre-favored candidates, a pre-written message can be sent to them to invite them to apply if they haven't done so on their own. There's also the option to add screening questions to ensure that the candidates received are only qualified individuals for the position.

It's a similar process with Monster, with each package allowing employers to view between 50 and 250 resumes per position. The upper-tier plans include precision filtering for helping to narrow down the search along with, as noted, email alerts when a qualified individual posts their resume to the site. With the built-in text and e-mail alerts, employers can reach out to candidates directly via email or even text to express their interest. You can add a questionnaire to a job posting with screening questions, which can be answered in yes/no, or even longer paragraph, answers. Monster also has filters for sorting applicants by things like career or education level, if they are authorized to work in the country, or even by location.

Monster also offers pay-per-performance, which makes it easy to set and stop a posting at any time versus sticking with a monthly plan. This is great for companies with less intense hiring needs. There's also plenty of resources, tips, and guides to help employers through their search and vetting candidates to find the right ones to fill open positions, including articles about resume screening, pre-employment testing, and even how to avoid unconscious bias in hiring.

Our pick: ZipRecruiter. ZipRecruiter really goes the extra mile when it comes to helping employers find the right candidates for positions with outreach efforts, screening questions, pre-written messages to entice members to apply, and other features.

ZipRecruiter vs Monster for employers: How much do they cost?

Both sites include a four-day trial for posting a job to see how it goes, but require that you sign up for a plan to continue beyond that. ZipRecruiter's plans start at $299/mo. and can be customized to meet each employer's unique hiring needs. This includes how many job ads will be posted monthly and how many resumes the employer wants to be able to see. Factors like the industry, locations, and other elements play into the price as well. A customer service rep can walk an employer through finding the right plan that fits.

Monster has both paid monthly tier and pay-for-performance options. The monthly tiers are $279/month for one job per month and 50 resume views, $399/month for three jobs per month and 150 resume views, and $649/month for five active jobs and 250 resume views. Only the top two tiers include the performance boost options with the jobs sent to partner sites, precision filtering, email alerts, and faster applies. While there are limits with each plan on how many resumes you can review, they all allow you to receive an unlimited number of applications. Only the top-tier plan with Monster offers unlimited searches, however. There are limits on ZipRecruiter plans as well, but these are dependent on a variety of factors so it's tough to determine how they stack up as the situation could vary.

Where Monster has a leg up is the fact that it offers a pay-for-performance option as well, which will suit employers who only have minimal or seasonal hiring needs. Set a budget, post the ad, and remove it at any time based on duration, when the position has been filled, or when the budget has been reached.

Our pick: Monster. Monster offers more flexibility with both monthly tiered plans and pay-for-performance options. While the monthly plays could end up being more expensive than ZipRecruiter, particularly with the upper tiers, employers can use the pay-for-performance option for a longer test run than the four-day trial, which could provide a better indication of how things work before locking in for a month or more.

ZipRecruiter vs Monster for employers: Final Verdict

While Monster has been around much longer, ZipRecruiter hones in on the recruitment aspect of the process, going above and beyond to help employers fill positions with the people who are best qualified. This all comes down to the intelligent matching algorithms that not only put the most qualified candidates at the top of the dashboard, but even reach out to them on an employer's behalf. For companies with consistent hiring needs, ZipRecruiter might be the better fit.

Monster has tremendous reach as well and makes it easy to go through resumes and highlight the right candidates. With the higher-tier plans, Monster will also help by sending email alerts when someone particularly qualified uploads their resume for employers that sign on to one of the upper-tier plans. Having employer branding and video recruitment set up is a bonus as well. And the pre-written job descriptions make it simple to have postings for some of the most common types of jobs up and running quickly and efficiently. Employers will see a large, talented pool of candidates, but it could also be overwhelming trying to sort through it all.

Both job sites offer top-notch customer service teams that can help tailor a plan to each employer's unique needs, though Monster is more flexible with both monthly tiered and pay-for-performance options.

Employers can't go wrong with either site, but for more intense, high-level, continuous hiring needs, ZipRecruiter might be a better fit if the right plan for the right budget can be found. For fewer hiring needs per month, sporadic hiring needs, or seasonal, Monster's pay-for-performance option might make more sense. Monster will also appeal for lower- and mid-level positions. While ZipRecruiter has jobs of all kinds, the site might better suit employers looking to fill higher-level positions and those that require very specific skills sets, education, and experience.

It could be worthwhile to sign up for trials with both ZipRecruiter and Monster and use the first four days to compare not only results that come in, but how easy it is to navigate the dashboard, vet candidates, reach out, set up interviews, and get the process flowing. From there, chat with customer service reps to find out which site has the best plan to meet your needs. This could potentially involve a monthly plan with ZipRecruiter and pay-per-performance options when needed with Monster. But it all depends on each employer's hiring needs.

For job seekers: What you need to know about ZipRecruiter vs. Monster

Both ZipRecruiter and Monster have a long and successful history in the business. ZipRecruiter launched in 2010, and Monster has been a recognizable name since the early days of the Internet, debuting way back in 1999. Here's how the two sites compare for job seekers hunting for their next great roles.

ZipRecruiter vs. Monster for job seekers: What are the main features?

Both job search and recruitment websites are free to join for job seekers and offer tiered payment options for employers looking to post their available positions and promote their companies.

But how do they stack up when it's time to start that job hunt and find viable employment?

Here's a quick look at the key features of both:

Price	Free	Free (with some professional paid services)
Salary information	Excellent	Average
User interface	Excellent	Average
Ease of application	Average	Excellent
Recruitment features	✔	✔
Mobile app	✔	✔
Resume uploading	✔	✔
Job alerts	✔	✔
Remote jobs	✔	✔

As you can see, both sites are similar in their offerings, but each excels in different ways. Both are free to use, for example, but Monster offers additional paid services to help job seekers along the way if they choose to use them. This includes having a resume reviewed (free) and having it, along with a cover letter and even LinkedIn profile, edited by a professional for a fee.

But there's no option to search for jobs filtered by salary or salary range on Monster. While Monster has a neat "what are you worth?" salary tool that lets job seekers input a job title and location to determine the average salary, and some job postings indicate the salary or hourly wage, ZipRecruiter has a specific option for searching for jobs based on salary criteria. ZipRecruiter also has a slightly nicer, more intuitive and professional-looking interface. Both have a mix of jobs, some of which direct users to a company website to apply and some that have a quick apply option for applying right in the job search site. In those instances, ZipRecruiter has an extra step that requires entering an email for the hiring manager before beginning the application process. For those seeking remote jobs, they may appreciate Monster's filter for work-from-home and remote positions. While remote positions are available on ZipRecruiter, there's no specific filter for the category, which means searching by keywords.

ZipRecruiter vs. Monster for job seekers: Which site has more jobs?

With 9 million active jobs on the site at any given time, ZipRecruiter appears to have a much larger database of open positions than Monster. But with 29 jobs uploaded every minute or every day on Monster, it might be a close race. When running a random search for the job title "insurance adjuster" and filtering with the location of New York, ZipRecruiter delivered 25,000+ job results while Monster showed "hundreds." This could vary considerably based on the specific job and location, but both will provide a healthy number of results. For example, when searching for "office manager" jobs in Chicago, both noted "thousands" of results found. Monster, however, might be best for hourly and entry- or mid-level positions while ZipRecruiter is suitable for higher-level jobs that require more experience or education.

According to ZipRecruiter, 10,000 new businesses join every month to search for candidates to fill open positions. Both websites keep the results fresh with jobs constantly being added and removed as needed. Most job search results on Monster are dated as having been posted within the last week, some that day, and the oldest around a month. ZipRecruiter doesn't note the date a job was posted on the site so timeframes are unclear. But with the high number of available jobs and matching algorithms, and the high prices employers pay to post on either site, there are assurances that posted jobs are always current and content is consistently kept up-to-date.

Our pick: ZipRecruiter. The site has a confirmed 9 million active jobs available

ZipRecruiter vs. Monster for job seekers: Which site is better for job hunting?

Which site is better for an overall job hunt will depend on what type of job is being sought out. Those looking for a work-from-home or remote position, for example, might find those specific filters on Monster useful. Though remote jobs are searchable on ZipRecruiter as well by using keywords like "freelance" and "remote" in title searches.

ZipRecruiter has a large pool from which to choose and useful features, including intelligent matching technology that helps employers find job seekers who fit the bill based on skills, experience, work history, and education. Likewise, job seekers can check the "am I qualified?" button before applying to ensure they meet the criteria for a position. ZipRecruiter will sometimes even send a job seeker's resume directly to an employer highlighting them as an attractive candidate, which increases the chances of the right person being found for the right job. The detailed salary information is also helpful so job seekers get an idea of what a position might pay before applying.

Monster has useful features, too, including helpful resources for building a great resume. There aren't as many job search filters. But Monster's pay-for-performance budget option for employers that only need to post jobs infrequently makes it more likely to find jobs from smaller companies and in lower-level positions.

Both are simple to use, allow you to upload or even create a resume, and include job alerts as an option so you can stay on top of relevant new postings and apply quickly. When it comes to recruitment, however, ZipRecruiter focuses more on that end with outreach, intelligent matching, and a variety of customizable plans for employers looking to fill high-level positions.

Our pick: ZipRecruiter ZipRecruiter, for its versatility, large number of jobs, recruitment efforts, and plenty of job search filters, takes this one.

ZipRecruiter vs. Monster for job seekers: What's the difference in price?

Both job search websites are free to use for job seekers, either with or without an account, though you get more value by signing in with both. Monster does offer one paid feature: after getting a free resume review, members can pay to have it professionally edited. For additional fees, Monster professionals will even edit a cover letter and LinkedIn profile. Pricing ranges from $129 up to $349 for these services, which can help job seekers gain the attention of employers and learn how to highlight what's most important on their resumes and in crucial pieces of communication.

Our pick: Monster While both sites are free with easy sign-in, Monster's help with a resume can make a difference for job seekers.

ZipRecruiter vs. Monster for job seekers: The final verdict

Overall, when it comes to finding a job and having a wide variety of options from which to choose and tons of filters to drill down to exact matches, ZipRecruiter takes the cake. The intelligent matching algorithms help employers find the right job candidates by proactively presenting them, front and center. Meanwhile, job seekers have tons of useful features at their disposal, like the "am I qualified?" checklist for registered members, a dedicated profile to help stand out among other candidates, and the ability to send a personal email address directly to hiring parties so they can reach out directly. For those who want to ensure the jobs they apply for meet salary expectations in advance, ZipRecruiter provides that information, too.

Monster does have its pluses, most notably the free resume review and paid option to have it professionally edited. However, for job seekers who have already done this or are confident that their resume is in tip-top shape, this might not be a feature they even bother to use. There are other helpful features, like practice interview questions and even sample thank you notes. But users won't be able to filter job searches as succinctly as with ZipRecruiter. This makes the site good for entry- and mid-level jobs and positions, or for those looking to cast a wide job search net. But for someone looking for a very specific or higher-level position, the site might not yield better results.

With that said, both job search and recruitments websites have intuitive interfaces, job alert features, handy mobile apps, and plenty of additional resources to help along the job search. Considering that both websites are free to use, it's not a bad idea to set up profiles on both in order to review and apply to all available jobs to find one that could eventually become a new career position.

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