Top Echelon is recruiting software built for staffing agencies and independent recruiters. It combines an applicant tracking system (now called TE Recruit), a CRM for managing client relationships, and a split-placement recruiting network (TE Network) where agencies share job orders and candidates to fill positions faster. The split-placement network is the feature that no competitor replicates, and it is the main reason this tool deserves attention in a crowded ATS market.
Two Products, One Ecosystem
TE Recruit is the ATS and CRM side. You track candidates through customizable pipeline stages per job order, parse resumes with one click, post to multiple job boards simultaneously, manage client communications with full history, and schedule interviews through integrated calendar syncing with Outlook and Gmail. Hotlists let you group candidates and companies for quick access. The built-in search is powerful enough to find candidates by skills, location, experience level, or any custom field you create.
The Professional plan adds AI-powered candidate matching (Smart-TE AI), automated outreach sequences for candidate nurturing, custom application forms, a custom careers page with your own domain, an organization chart view, and full API access. You also get 10,000 emails/month, 100GB storage, and weekly backups instead of monthly.
TE Network is the split-placement network. Over 500 agencies and 1,000+ recruiters across the US and Canada participate. You post a job order to the network when you have the client but not the candidate (or vice versa). Another recruiter fills the other half, and you split the placement fee. The network has been running since 1988, making it one of the oldest in the industry. Membership requires a four-step screening process where the agency owner must be a full-time recruiter, which keeps quality high.
The combination is what makes Top Echelon different from everything else. You get your ATS, your CRM, and a built-in network of potential collaborators in one platform. Competitors like Bullhorn, Greenhouse, and JobAdder offer solid ATS and CRM features but nothing equivalent to the revenue-generating split-placement network.
Pricing
TE Recruit Standard at $75/user/month (annual billing) or $89/user/month (monthly). Includes resume parsing, pipeline management, custom fields, email and calendar integration, job board integrations, a careers page, browser extension for sourcing, GDPR/CCPA compliance, and no-cost support and training. Allocation: 5,000 emails/month, 10GB storage, one backup/month.
TE Recruit Professional at $89/user/month (annual) or $110/user/month (monthly). Adds everything in Standard plus Smart-TE AI, automation sequences, custom application forms, custom careers page domain, org chart, and API access. Allocation: 10,000 emails/month, 100GB storage, weekly backups.
TE Network membership runs $135/month (annual) or $150/month (monthly). There is a $350 one-time startup fee (waived on annual plans) plus a 6% brokerage fee on placements made through the network. The brokerage fee only applies when you actually complete a split placement, so the risk is minimal. You are essentially paying for access to deal flow.
15-day free trial with no credit card required and full version access on both products. Live demos also available on request.
Start Top Echelon Free Trial Get started →What Recruiters Say
Capterra: 4.6/5 from 516 reviews. G2: 4.5/5. GetApp: 4.6/5 from 447 reviews. The aggregate satisfaction rate across platforms is 92% from roughly 1,575 total reviews. The feedback is remarkably consistent: easy to use with minimal training required, excellent customer support that includes live training sessions, strong candidate tracking and pipeline management, and good value for the price (87% of reviewers on Capterra mention pricing positively).
The criticisms center on email integration that can be inconsistent with certain providers, limited automation and AI features compared to newer competitors like Bullhorn, occasional double data entry issues, and some limitations with third-party CRM integrations. The platform lacks predictive analytics and advanced automated candidate matching that enterprise tools now offer. Email Inbox Syncing is listed as "Coming Soon" on the Professional plan, which suggests they know this is a gap.
How It Compares
Against Bullhorn ($75+/user, enterprise-focused), Top Echelon is simpler, easier to learn, and has the split-placement network. Bullhorn offers more advanced AI sourcing, bulk outreach, and a more sophisticated platform suited for mid-to-large staffing agencies with 20+ recruiters. Against Greenhouse ($6,000+/year), the comparison barely applies. Greenhouse is built for in-house corporate HR teams, not recruiting agencies. Against JobAdder ($99+/user, global), Top Echelon is more affordable and US/Canada focused, but JobAdder has stronger multi-region support and a broader international presence.
The marketplace now includes 30+ integrations: ZipRecruiter, ZoomInfo, Checkr, Swordfish AI, hireEZ, Spark Hire, and Verified First among them, covering sourcing, background checks, video interviews, and payroll. Not the widest ecosystem, but it covers the essential recruiting workflow needs.
Try Top Echelon for 15 Days Free Get started →If you run a small to mid-size staffing agency (1-20 recruiters) in the US or Canada, Top Echelon gives you a capable ATS at a competitive price with a unique collaborative network that can directly generate revenue through split placements. The recently rebranded platform (formerly called Big Biller) has a fresh UI and growing feature set. The split-placement model is genuinely useful for agencies with strong client relationships but gaps in candidate coverage for certain specialties or geographies.
Visit Top Echelon Get started →How Top Echelon works
Top Echelon sells two connected products for recruiting agencies. TE Recruit is an applicant tracking system with a built-in recruiting CRM, and TE Network is a separate, paid split-placement network where member agencies share job orders and candidates. TE Recruit covers the agency workflow end to end: resume parsing, candidate and client records, hotlists, pipelines, job orders, interview scheduling, one-click posting to job boards, a hosted careers page and reporting. The vendor positions it at boutique staffing firms, direct-hire placement shops, solo recruiters and executive search.
Day to day, you set up job orders, pipelines and custom fields, then configure workflows that fire on pipeline activity, plus multi-step email and messaging sequences on the Professional tier. The main configuration surfaces are email and calendar integration, an inbound email sync (Professional), a browser sourcing extension, custom application forms and a branded careers page (custom domain on Professional only). Job posting pushes to Indeed, ZipRecruiter, Dice, Careerjet and PostJobFree.
The marketplace covers screening (Checkr, VerifiedFirst, HireGuard), data (ZoomInfo, Swordfish AI), outreach and comms (RingCentral, CallMantra, SourceWhale, Dubb, CoRecruit), video interviews (SparkHire), AI sourcing (Talin.ai, GoPerfect), back office (Bilflo for payroll, timekeeping and invoicing, FoxHire as employer of record) and Recruiters Websites. API access is Professional-only. On the network side, TE Network gives access to roughly 500+ vetted agencies and 1,000+ recruiters across the US and Canada: one recruiter owns the job, another supplies the candidate, and the fee is split. Members pass a four-step screening, pay a startup fee plus monthly dues, and pay a 6% brokerage fee on network placements.
Where Top Echelon wins
- Published per-seat pricing. TE Recruit Standard is $75/user/mo on annual billing ($89 monthly) and Professional is $89/user/mo annual ($110 monthly). That transparency is rare in agency ATS, where most vendors quote only on a demo call.
- A split-placement network no generic ATS has. 500+ screened agencies, 1,000+ recruiters, and a membership bar that requires the owner to be a full-time recruiter.
- Named, checkable integration partners rather than a vague "integrations" claim: Checkr, ZoomInfo, RingCentral, SparkHire, Bilflo, FoxHire, Indeed, ZipRecruiter and Dice.
- Free onboarding and training are included, and the trial signup is advertised with no credit card.
- Compliance and admin basics are in the plan list, not upsells: GDPR/CCPA tooling, advanced user permissions, and monthly (Standard) or weekly (Professional) backups.
Where it falls short
- No free tier of any kind. TE Recruit starts at $75/user/mo, and TE Network adds $150/mo plus a $350 one-time startup fee (the startup fee is waived on annual, which runs $135/mo).
- The assumed-standard features sit behind Professional: automations, sequences, inbound email sync, API access, a custom careers-page domain, Smart-TE AI and AI people search (still beta). Standard is capped at 5K emails per month and 10GB of storage.
- No mobile app is mentioned anywhere on the product or pricing pages, which is a real gap for recruiters working from a phone.
- The AI is thinner than the marketing implies. AI job descriptions and AI people search (beta) are live, but AI matching is listed as "coming soon".
- The network costs on both ends. TE Network takes a 6% brokerage fee on every placement made through it, on top of the monthly membership, and access requires passing a four-step screen. It is not an instant-access marketplace.
Who should use Top Echelon
The clearest fit is a boutique staffing or direct-hire agency of roughly 1 to 20 recruiters that wants a published per-seat price instead of a sales call, and that sees split placements as a growth channel rather than a curiosity. If you plan to work the network seriously, the 6% brokerage fee and the monthly dues are the cost of reaching 1,000+ recruiters you would otherwise have to find yourself, and the four-step screen cuts both ways: it is friction on the way in and a quality filter once you are through.
Skip it if you need a mobile app, since none is advertised. Skip it if you are a solo recruiter who cannot absorb $75 per seat plus the network fees on top. And skip it if you need mature AI matching working today rather than a roadmap item, because matching is still listed as coming soon. One more thing to price in before you commit: if automations, sequences, API access or a custom careers-page domain are on your requirements list, budget for Professional at $89/user/mo annual, not the $75 entry rate.
