Compare/Head to head

Ashby vs The Talent App

Same facts, side by side: starting price, free tier, MCP, API and what each one is actually built for.

Starting price

Ashby

$400/mo

All-in-one ATS plus analytics for growth teams. Foundations starts at $400/month for up to 100 employees, with 10% off annual.

Where Ashby fits

  • Growth-stage talent teams
  • Companies that want analytics without a second tool
  • Desks that want MCP on hiring data
  • Teams comparing Ashby against Greenhouse

The Talent App

Quote Free tier

MIT-licensed open-source ATS you can clone and self-host free on Supabase, or have its maker SparxIT build and host for you at a quoted project price. There is no seat pricing, and the AI features run on your own Gemini key.

Where The Talent App fits

  • Companies with in-house developers who want to own their ATS code and data
  • Teams facing IT security reviews that need SSO, MFA and an audit log without enterprise pricing
  • Firms that want a vendor to build an ATS around their own stages and approvals
  • Hiring teams that would rather pay Google for Gemini directly than buy bundled AI

At a glance

DetailAshbyThe Talent App
Starting price$400/moQuote
Free tier–No✓Yes
MCP server✓Yes–No
Public API✓Yes–No
Listed underATS, CRMATS
Capterra4.4 from 15 reviewsNot enough reviews

Where they pull apart

Ashby

Stands out: Scheduling, CRM, reporting and analytics in one ATS, with a hosted MCP.

Watch out: The $400/month floor is real, and the higher tiers go back to a sales conversation.

Not the right fit for

  • Agencies that need a staffing CRM
  • Buyers who cannot start at $400/month

The Talent App

Stands out: Security features that hosted vendors usually save for enterprise plans, including SAML SSO, staff MFA and an append-only audit log, sit in the free MIT code. Its pipeline health grade, Do strip of next actions and weekly Radar run on fixed rules rather than AI, so they work with no API key at all.

Watch out: The public GitHub repo is a sanitized snapshot of SparxIT's private codebase, with a single commit and a handful of stars, so community activity and release history are thin. Self-hosting means running Supabase, its edge functions and AWS SES email yourself, and there is no hosted trial to try first.

Not the right fit for

  • Recruiters who want to sign up and start the same day without a developer
  • Staffing agencies that need client, placement and job board multiposting tools
  • Buyers who need a published price before a sales call

Pros and cons

Ashby

  • Analytics inside the ATS rather than a separate product
  • Hosted MCP plus API
  • Published entry price
  • $400/month floor
  • Higher tiers are quote-only
  • Priced on headcount, not recruiter seats

The Talent App

  • Free to self-host under MIT, with no seat fees
  • SSO, MFA and audit log included in the open-source code
  • Bring your own Gemini key instead of paying for bundled AI
  • Public repo is a one-commit snapshot with little community activity
  • Self-hosting needs a developer to run Supabase and email
  • Managed deployments are quote-only

What each one costs

Ashby

$400/mo

Foundations is $400 a month for companies with up to 100 employees, billed monthly, with 10% off for an annual commitment. Plus (101 to 1,000 employees) and Enterprise are custom-priced. Confirm current terms on the vendor site.

Checked 19 Sep 2026

The Talent App

Quote

The software is free under the MIT license: clone the GitHub repo, connect your own Supabase project and deploy it with no subscription. SparxIT, which makes it, also sells custom deployments covering workflows, branding, SSO, hosting, training and support; there are no seat tiers or self-serve plans, and price is scoped to hiring volume and complexity after a demo. Optional AI features need your own Google Gemini API key, billed by Google. There is no free trial of a hosted version. Confirm current terms on the vendor site.

Checked 7 Oct 2026

Common questions

Can you try Ashby or The Talent App for free?
The Talent App carries a free tier on our listing.
Does Ashby or The Talent App have an MCP server?
Ashby ships a first party MCP server, so an AI assistant can work the product directly.

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Editorial listings, never paid rankings. Prices checked 19 Sep 2026. Confirm current terms on the vendor site. Spot an error?