Introduction
When it comes to deciding on a new recruitment technology solution, there are plenty of options on the market. Depending on your specialism and business needs, you could be happy with a number of choices.
We’ve created this guide to go over one rec tech comparison: Vincere vs. Bullhorn. We’ll go over each platform’s pros and cons, features, and the reasons why you might choose one over the other.
Bullhorn has a powerful legacy. They’re a leading name in recruitment technology, with an extensive platform and decades of industry experience. If you want a trusted leader with a proven track record, they could be good for you.
From Vincere’s side, we’ll make the case for our expansive system of rec tech modules and responsive product development. And we’ve got a features list for a side-by-side Vincere and Bullhorn comparison. To include other perspectives, we’ll include some reviews from recruitment leaders who decided Vincere was the best Bullhorn alternative.
You know your business best. Now get to know Vincere and Bullhorn to decide which could work for you.
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Bullhorn’s Pros & Cons
What is Bullhorn?
Bullhorn is a staffing and recruitment software platform that offers a wide range of features. Their rec tech functionality includes a recruiting ATS, recruitment CRM, recruitment automation, time & expense management, and more.
Bullhorn’s HQ is in Boston, and they have a team of over 1,600 employees. With over two decades in operation and a broad global customer base, Bullhorn can comfortably be called a leader in recruitment technology.
Bullhorn: The Benefits
Experience and market leadership
Anyone who knows rec tech knows Bullhorn. With 20+ years' experience, 10,000+ customers, and significant capital investment, it’s hard to find a better choice for market leader.
Bullhorn have established a strong legacy in the field. They’ve supported small, mid-size, and enterprise agencies across the world. That plus over $45 million invested into product R&D points to a solid tech vendor.
All these factors, plus extras like their events, show that they’re well-resourced multinational company with deep industry expertise.
Customization options
No rec tech solution is one-size-fits-all, and tech flexibility can be a key selling point. Bullhorn’s platform can be tweaked to meet to your business needs.
For example, the standard Bullhorn pipeline covers six steps in the hiring process, from prescreen to placement. If it suits your agency’s workflow, you can add or edit stages.
And if you need to add more to your rec tech stack, Bullhorn comes with choices:
- Herefish integration for self-serve automation
- Cube19 integration for bespoke analytics dashboards
- Other integrated tools like Sourcebreaker and Sirenum
- 100+ Marketplace partners
These third-party solutions are a way to add in more functionality to Bullhorn’s core product, while still staying close to the benefits of its main platform.
Some start-up discounts
Bullhorn offers significant discounts to some recruitment agencies getting set up on their system. While the deals can vary, one they sometimes offer is free data migration.
And considering data migration costs can easily run into the tens of thousands of dollars, any savings like this can look good.
One IBM study found that there were even more hidden costs behind a data migration:
- Productivity lost to downtime
- Risk of overpaying for storage
- Going over budget
- Project running over schedule
While it’s only a one-time solution, you might consider this offer a bonus that’s worth it.
Bullhorn: The Drawbacks
Missing workflows
Bullhorn’s core product is missing out on some workflows that could make recruitment easier.
We’re not going to critique a small tech issue that might’ve been fixed. But major workflow gaps can be a problem.
One example: In Bullhorn, you need to create a new placement to renew a contractor. This missing renewals process means you can’t track renewed contractors versus new placements.
Or if you’re working on a retained search, you’ll have to place a fake candidate called "Retainer" in order to raise the first invoice. Now your analytics on placements are in doubt, and that makes for inaccurate metrics like time-to-hire or activity per placement.
And there are some other missing workflows on Bullhorn’s platform, a few of which can be replaced by signing on with vendors:
- Lack of inbuilt reporting (available with Cube19)
- No CV formatting tool (available with Kyloe Partners)
- No interview scheduling (available with Kyloe Partners)
- Manual creation of marketing lists
- No map view to help search for candidates
Outsourced data migration
As mentioned earlier, Bullhorn sometimes offers free data migration. While it can be a great cost-saver, it’s not available to every new customer.
When Bullhorn charges for data migration, they outsource the work to Kyloe Partners. Not only is this option quite expensive, it also means that your business data is in the hands of a third-party vendor.
In recruitment, data is the lifeblood of the business. And there are dangers to getting data compliance wrong during a migration.
When a recruitment agency falls foul of rules like GDPR, the consequences are grim. To minimize risk to the business, we’d advise careful consideration before putting data into the hands of a separate vendor.
Reliance on third-party products
Most recruitment technology platforms offer integrations. As tech purists it might make us grumble, but many agencies want to add in their favorite programs to their tech stack.
However, there are some problems with reliance on third-party apps.
A good rule of thumb for any rec tech platform is that it should include at least an ATS, CRM, and analytics. Bullhorn’s got the first two, but for analytics you need their Cube19 integration.
And using many integrations sets up contract clashes.
You could sign up for a year with Bullhorn, then ask for Cube19 to get recruitment analytics covered. But since the two are separate vendors, you might get locked in to Cube19 contract for five years. That would close off the option of leaving either system at a time of your choosing.
Vincere’s Pros & Cons
What is Vincere?
Vincere is the company behind the Recruitment Operating System, a modern rec tech suite that works like an OS. With modules from a Core ATS/CRM to advanced automated analytics to video interviewing to no-code Candidate & Client portals, the platform covers recruitment operations end-to-end.
Vincere is part of the Access Group. We work closely with Access partners like FastTrack360 (pay & bill) and Volcanic (recruitment websites) to offer extra recruitment solutions.
At Vinny, we have 2000+ global recruitment businesses on our system – and counting.
Vincere: The Benefits
One all-inclusive platform
Our platform, the Recruitment Operating System, works like a miniature universe. Its planets (modules) are separate, but they’re all organized around one core and are part of one system.
The RecOS was designed from the beginning to be all-inclusive and natively integrated. Every module and every function are built to work together in harmony. With two-way data sync, teams and leaders can operate in a unified way regardless of which part of the system they use.
If third-party apps are what work for you, that’s fine – we’ve got plenty in our Marketplace too. But we’ve put extra care into placing all the features and functions that recruiters need into one rec tech platform.
Built for all specialisms
Our product development is focused on features to help just about any agency.
Temp recruiters like the Shift Scheduler feature, Contract recruiters could go for Candidate Automatch, and both Perm and Exec Search consultants could benefit from the LiveList™️.
Our vision was set from the beginning. More agencies, more recruiters, more specialisms, and more businesses set to win around the world.
Relentless recruiter-driven innovation
In 2022 alone, we had an average of 18 features released every month. 17% of all those new features were direct asks from our customers.
Not only is our product development moving fast, but our customers are steering it. This is one of our proudest achievements: centering recruiters’ needs in everything we do.
Once we set up our Product Portal live, it’s the recruiters who live with our platform day-to-day who jumped in to offer even bigger ideas. We’re dedicated to moving at a fast clip and continuing to refine our platform.
Vincere: The Drawbacks
Past complications with Support
No company is too good to admit to its own past mistakes. So we’ll start with one of ours on Team Vinny: dropping the ball on Customer Support.
A new support portal that we implemented led to customers feeling distant from our CS teams. But when our customers said they missed us, we leapt into action.
We revived the Help Center to enable recruiters’ self-learning.
The live Support chat that recruiters missed so much? It’s back live in Vincere’s platform.
We even put our Support leaders’ information on our contact page.
These aren’t complex changes. But they’re the ones our customers asked for, and we’re committed to meeting their needs.
If you want the good, the bad, and the ugly of recruiters’ experience with us, that’s a reasonable ask. Feel free to check out our reviews:
Time and effort to adapt
With the number of modules and features included in the RecOS, it’s not as simple as “set it and go.” Anyone new to the system is going to need sincere time and effort dedicated to learning it.
We understand that this isn’t easy. Especially for enterprise businesses where any slowdown can have a ripple effect on operations, it might be a tough sell to spend more time on learning.
But the payoff is much bigger than the initial investment. Investing in automations and recruitment-specific modules now means more efficiencies and growth later.
May not use all #RecOS features
It goes without saying that not all our platform’s features will be useful for all agencies.
AI-powered automatching that matches workers to shifts are great for Temp or Contract recruiters. But it’s not first choice for Perm.
Another example: the LiveList™ can be a differentiator for Perm or Exec Search recruiters. What better way to show off top talent than to link to a live profile showing their CV, video interviews and more?
But high-volume Temp agencies might skip it. For them, it’s “need for speed,” not promoting individual candidates.
The Recruitment Operating System is like a buffet. You might not take it all in, but what’s there will be more than enough. Pick and choose as it suits you.
Vincere vs. Bullhorn Features Comparison
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Feature |
Bullhorn |
Vincere |
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CRM |
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ATS |
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AI & Automation |
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Analytics & Reporting |
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Mobile App |
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Pay & Bill |
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Integrations |
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Job Portal |
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Candidate Portal |
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Client Portal |
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Customer Support |
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Why recruiters switched from Bullhorn to Vincere
What’s the real-life experience of recruiters who have used both platforms?
Here’s what just a few had to say about Vincere vs. Bullhorn.
“We were using Bullhorn and although the system was good for a growing business like us, it wasn’t bespoke enough to what we were trying to do.
The change coming over to Vincere for us was huge. We pride ourselves at Prime that we’ve got a unique concept. And we needed a CRM system that will come in line with that concept. Bullhorn just wouldn’t work effectively with us to do that.”
Neil Clough, Managing Director
This Is Prime
“We were using Bullhorn for several years before switching to Vincere. Bullhorn was decent, but as we added more tools to the mix to support our recruitment efforts, Bullhorn started to feel like a legacy system.
That wasn’t the issue with Vincere - it had everything we needed to support recruitment from start to finish. Finding Vincere was a breath of fresh air."
Jayson Theron, Managing Director
Outside Capital
“We actually started with Bullhorn. To be honest, I would say it’s quite inflexible in the way that it does things.
I think Vincere ticks a lot of boxes. The reporting aspect is brilliant. But as we’ve gotten to know the technology more, it just makes your life in recruitment easier.”
Mike Hollowbread, Co-Founder
Change Recruitment
“I just felt that Bullhorn wasn’t fully facilitating what we wanted it to do. We could have used their marketplace and added in a number of their partners. It’s just not what we wanted to do.
Vincere had everything that I was looking for around data, support, just the intelligence of a platform to be able to tag candidates and clients more accurately to help us in the short, medium and long term.”
Adam Spoors, Managing Director
New World Recruitment
“Some of the main reasons why we moved across to Vincere were the built-in analytics package - it allowed us a lot more data points across the business.
There’s a far greater rate of innovation on the product. I love that that innovation is driven from the feedback from the user base.”
Marc Richardson, Managing Director
Morgan Consulting
How to choose between Vincere and Bullhorn?
You might still be considering the right recruitment technology choice for your business.
We’ve presented the case for each side so you can make the final call. Here’s our summary of what we’d suggest.
Bullhorn is a great choice for:
- Agencies that prioritize working with legacy tech
- Integrations with strong tech partners
- Working with a trusted legacy system
And Vincere’s better for:
- Fast and responsive product development
- Natively integrated end-to-end rec features
- More in-house tech options
Final thoughts
In summary, where do Vincere and Bullhorn stand?
Bullhorn’s got plenty of good things going for it:
- Market leadership and years of experience
- Customizable features to tweak the platform for you
- Some discounts on sign-up
If you love experience and legacy, Bullhorn might be your go-to.
But there are downsides to consider:
- Missing workflows that could streamline operations
- Risk of outsourced data migration and lack of data control
- Overreliance on third-party solutions that creates contract issues
On Team Vinny, we’re proud of our own work and not afraid to advocate for our product. But to be fair, it has some cons:
- Past trouble with Support experience
- Time and effort invested to understand all functions
- Not all features will be used by all agencies
No rec tech is perfect. But we do think that our pros stand out:
- An all-inclusive platform all under one roof
- Tech that works for any specialism
- Constant recruiter-driven innovation
Our modules are natively integrated, and we add more features frequently. Not to mention, we take recruiters’ feedback into our product development process.
Here’s what we think. Bullhorn is a market-leading legacy system, which makes it great for many but not all recruitment businesses.
For a legacy that’s still being built, plus the fresh energy of new development, Vincere is a standout.
