10 LinkedIn Alternatives for Recruiting and Hiring Employees (Updated)

For more than two decades, LinkedIn has been the top place where companies, employers, recruiters, brands and job seekers meet. It is estimated that LinkedIn has more than 570 million users who are using the platform to search for work, post ads or simply showcase their achievements.

Even though LinkedIn is predominantly a place for professional networking, this is not to say that it’s for everyone. Some users prefer more specialized platforms that are tailored to their industry. This is especially true for high-turnover industries such as restaurants and hospitality. For more LinkedIn’s pros and cons, make sure to stick to the end of this article.

LinkedIn Alternatives

Platform	Price To Post	Job Descriptions	Specialized for Hospitality	Extra Features
LinkedIn	Objective-based pricing	✅	❌	Learning center
OysterLink	FREE	✅	✅	Paycheck calculator
Jobcase	Up to $525 per job	❌	❌	AI-matching algorithm
ZipRecruiter	Non-transparent plan	✅	❌	AI-powered tools
Xing	$590 per job ad	✅	❌	Exclusive stats
Indeed	Pay-per-click boost	✅	❌	Company reviews
LHH Recruitment	Need to request quote	❌	❌	Outplacement services
Glassdoor	Pay-per-click boost	✅	❌	Company reviews
Zerply	$249 for small studios	❌	❌	Four free themes
HireEZ	Non-transparent price	❌	❌	Advanced tools
Dice.com	$495 for one job listing	✅	❌	Dice Connections

What Is LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is a networking platform where users can create profiles, get in touch with employers (or job seekers), follow industry trends and participate in discussions. What makes LinkedIn exceptional is its vast majority of users which makes it easy to create professional connections.

However, due to the extreme competition, users report that nowadays it’s incredibly difficult to land a job on LinkedIn. Also, if you’re an employer, you might not benefit from their free job postings as they provide very limited visibility in comparison to their paid method.

Best Alternatives to LinkedIn

OysterLink

OysterLink is one of the fastest-growing job marketplaces right now. They’ve earned a stellar reputation for creating a place where hospitality professionals can interact with top-tier companies in the sector.

For Employers

The best thing about OysterLink is that you can post multiple jobs for free. There’s no set limit on the number of job ads you can post. In addition, you can also use their customizable job description templates that are specifically tailored for more than 40 roles in hospitality. This approach allows you to save both valuable time and money effectively.

Among other valuable resources, you’ll also find interview guides that can help you improve the interview success rate. Here, you can access the most commonly asked questions during interviews that address technical, behavioral and problem-solving skills. 

For Job Seekers

If you’re a restaurant and hospitality professional, you’ll love OysterLink. Apart from their extensive toolkit that includes aspects like career advice, celebrity interviews and resources for mastering interviews, they also offer a detailed breakdown of the most popular service roles. 

If you’d like to dive deeper into salary trends and improve your negotiation skills, you can check out position-specific rates for each position. They also came up with a salary calculator that, essentially, tells you how much money exactly will you take home after federal, state and local tax deductions. 

Pros:

• Free to post unlimited number of jobs
• Customizable job descriptions
• Interview guides for +40 roles
• Rich tools & resources for career improvement
• Specifically tailored for the hospitality industry

Cons:

• Fairly small user base in comparison to other major platforms

Jobcase

Jobcase is an AI-powered job board and social network that brings together more than 100 million employers and employees. Despite its popularity, there are still some concerns that need to be addressed.

For Employers

With its large user base, Jobcase is a well-established platform where employers can find high-quality candidates with substantial work experience. However, since it’s not tailored for the hospitality industry, you might spend more time filtering through the resume to find the right employee.

On the other hand, there are a couple of downsides to Jobcase. As an employer, you won’t be able to completely delete previous job ads. This might be confusing for job seekers as you might come across as disorganized. Another thing is that they advertise limited free job posting, but also encourage their users to sponsor their listing without stating the cost.

For Job Seekers

Users have been increasingly complaining about Jobcase’s algorithm being inaccurate. As a result, they’ve been receiving job listings that they’re not qualified for. This turns out to be very frustrating for job seekers who are looking for relevant work opportunities. In addition, many members are encouraging Jobcase to improve their employer verification system. It seems that many users get contacted by fake companies with little to no repercussions.

Pros:

• The large user base of 100 million
• Well-established hiring platform

Cons:

• Not tailored for the hospitality industry
• Can’t delete previous job listings
• Lack of pricing transparency
• Number of fake companies and listings
• Inaccurate AI-matching algorithm

ZipRecruiter

ZipRecruiter is probably one of the top three most famous job boards in the world. They offer millions of remote, hybrid and on-site job opportunities to all states across the U.S.

For Employers

Most employers say ZipRecruiter has an intuitive interface that makes it very easy to post jobs and track applicants. It also offers advanced matching technology by going through thousands of resumes and only inviting eligible candidates to apply for your job ad. While this is a great time-saving feature, it doesn’t come without its cons.

AI algorithms are infamous for ignoring contexts and focusing on specific things like keywords. This can result in a mismatch and a potential overlooking or more ideal candidates. Another disadvantage is that ZipRecruit lacks pricing transparency.

For Job Seekers

As one of the largest job boards worldwide, ZipRecruiter comes with a large number of fake listings. This results in wasted time for both employers and employees, as you might end up applying for a company that does not exist. Also, most users have been complaining about a lack of feedback from both the platform and the employers, as the candidates are rarely informed on the progress of their submissions.

Pros:

• User-friendly interface
• Large user base
• One of the top three job boards in the world

Cons:

• Potentially inaccurate AI job-matching system
• Lack of feedback from both the platform and the employer
• Large number of fake job listings
• Lacks pricing transparency

Xing

The easiest way to describe Xing is to say that it’s a professional working platform that operates exactly like LinkedIn but is primarily focused on German-speaking areas. It’s as big if not bigger than LinkedIn in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. They have plans to focus more on the U.S. market and China in the near future.

For Employers

With more than 20 million members, Xing is one of the leading European job boards. While this is a great opportunity for Europeans (specifically those who speak German) to post jobs and network, it doesn’t provide the same level of access for American employers. 

In comparison to platforms like OysterLink that offer free job listings, Xing is considered a rather costly alternative. For example, if you’d like to purchase their essential package, you’ll be charged a hefty €539 (or $590) for a single job ad. If you’re looking for more comprehensive membership features, then you’ll have to pay a staggering €1,399 per post.

For Job Seekers

If you’re a restaurant and hospitality professional looking to get hired in the U.S., you should consider using a better alternative to Xing. Since they currently don’t operate in the U.S., you won’t be able to find any relevant work opportunities. Also, you won’t be able to access most of the content on their website, because it’s all tailored to German-speaking job seekers.

Pros:

• One of the leading European job boards

Cons:

• Focused on DACH countries (Germany, Austria and Swiss Confederation)
• All resources and tools tailored for German-speaking professionals
• High-priced membership (€530-€1,399 per post)

Indeed

For the past 20 years, Indeed has been helping millions of Americans find the right career matches. Six years ago they also acquired Glassdoor and extended their reach even further.

For Employers

Indeed has an extensive list of features that can help you find and hire the right candidates. For example, you can use their assessment tool to filter through the resumes to get matches with the ideal employee based on their skills and experience. There’s also a smart sourcing feature that enables things like interview scheduling and connecting with job seekers.

On the other hand, users have been complaining about Indeed constantly increasing their membership fees. On top of that, their pricing model is not fully transparent. You can pick between three options, post one limited-visibility job for free, sponsor the post or design an entire hiring campaign.

For Job Seekers

It seems that the majority of users are extremely dissatisfied with how Indeed operates. They constantly complain about extremely high competition as well as a complete lack of transparency when it comes to the application progress. Many job seekers aren’t able to land work without extensive work experience, even after years of actively applying for jobs. 

Pros:

• Large user base
• Well-established job platform
• Valuable tools and resources for employers

Cons:

• Constantly increasing their membership fees
• Non-transparent pricing model
• Extremely high competition
• No updates on the application status 

LHH Recruitment Solutions (Hired)

In 2024, LHH Recruitment Solution acquired Hired to offer more comprehensive professional recruitment services for both employers and job seekers alike. 

For Employers

If you’re looking to hire restaurant and hospitality professionals, then you might want to skip LHH Recruitment Solution. That’s because this platform specializes in connecting professionals in areas of software development, business systems and the automotive industry. However, you can still use their robust tools and resources hub as well as outplacement services. To find out the price, you’ll have to get in touch with their team.

Also, as an employer, you won’t be able to post a job listing. LHH Recruitment Solution is more focused on helping candidates improve their professional skills and appearance which is why they offer three membership options that are tailored for those looking to exchange their chance of getting hired.

For Job Seekers

If you’re looking to improve your professional skills or transition into a new role, then LHH Recruitment Solution might be just the thing for you. They offer three outplacement services that start from $2,400 per month. The program includes having your own dedicated coach who will guide you through resources to help you find a suitable work opportunity. 

Pros:

• Robust tools and resources hub

Cons:

• Very limited restaurant and hospitality roles
• Focused on helping job seekers enhance their employability
• Costly outplacement services for job seekers that start from $2,400 monthly

Glassdoor

Initially, Glassdoor was launched as a palace for companies’ rankings and reviews. As their popularity grew, they’ve also included additional resources such as job listings and salary breakdowns. 

For Employers

As an employer, you can create a profile on Glassdoor for free. That way, you can gain access to employee insights that include things like responding to your company reviews and building your brand.  They also offer a “Glassdoor enhanced profile” plan that includes additional features such as social media integration. However, its price remains unclear.

Unfortunately, Glassdoor doesn’t publicly share the price of any of their membership packages. They do mention that sponsoring a job listing on Glassdoor will automatically extend to Indeed and help you reach a wider audience. But to find out more about the pricing plan, you’ll have to contact their sales team.

For Job Seekers

According to Trustpilot, Glassdoor has a shockingly low rating — as of the time of writing this article 94% of users have rated it one out of five. This is mainly because, as a job seeker, you won’t be able to access the site or review the companies, unless you sign up on the spot. Additionally, it seems that users no longer believe the anonymous reviews on the platform as some of them can be posted by people who aren’t actual employees of that company.

Pros:

• Free profile creation for employers and job seekers
• Access to valuable company and candidate insights
• Sponsoring a job on Glassdoor automatically extends to Indeed

Cons:

• The alarmingly low rating on Trustpilot (1.3/5)
• Limited access for applicants (unless they sign up)
• Concerns about the trustworthiness of company reviews
• Non-transparent pricing plans

Zerply

As a platform that connects game enthusiasts with animation and visual effect studios, Zerply has accumulated more than 18,000 members and 1,000 hiring companies.

For Employers

Companies and recruiters looking to hire hospitality professionals will probably want to skip using this platform. The reason for that is that Zerply is a popular choice for highly experienced animators and storyboard artists. For those looking to post job ads, Zerply offers two payment plans — $249 for small studios and $399 for large-sized studios. 

For Job Seekers

As a job seeker, you can create a profile and apply for jobs completely free of charge. In fact, Zerply comes with no commission fees which means they won’t even charge you when you land a job. However, bear in mind that you won’t find any work opportunities outside the animation field. 

Pros:

• No hidden commission fees

Cons:

• Custom-designed for highly experienced animators
• High-cost membership options ($249-$399)

HireEZ (Hiretual)

HireEZ (previously known as Hiretual) is an AI-driven recruitment platform that helps businesses automate workflows and gain deeper insights through reporting and analytics.

For Employers

Similarly to LinkedIn Recruiter, HireEZ has a proactive approach to recruiting candidates. They offer advanced automation tools that can help you source candidates. They help employers filter through 800 million profiles across 45 platforms to find the right match. They also offer integrations with other major hiring platforms such as Dice or LinkedIn.

To find out more about their pricing tiers, you’ll have to get in touch with their sales team to book a demo. To make matters worse, some users have been complaining about the steep increase in price that hasn’t been previously communicated to the existing users.

For Job Seekers

Even though they have a section dedicated to hospitality careers, their focus is on the recruiter rather than job seekers. Similarly, despite offering valuable resources such as career-specific blogs and ebooks free of charge, this is all designed for companies to expedite their hiring process, rather than helping job seekers find work opportunities.

Pros:

• Advanced automation tools
• Access to 45 platforms with over 800 million profiles
• Integrations with other major hiring platforms

Cons:

• Lack of pricing transparency 
• A steep increase in price
• Focused extensively on best recruitment practices

Dice.com

With more than six million registered users, 500 staff members and over 80,000 active jobs available, Dice is one of America’s leading IT recruitment platforms. 

For Employers

The most concerning element of Dice.com is the fact that sometimes recruiters are offered information about candidates who might not even be aware that they’ve been added to the platform’s database. This might constitute a severe violation of privacy rights.

If you still decide to go ahead and use Dice.com to hire candidates, you should know that they offer four pricing options. You can choose between paying $495 for one job listing, $429 for two job listings, $399 for three job listings or contacting them for a customized price.

For Job Seekers

Apart from the fact that Dice.com doesn’t offer positions for hospitality professionals, there are a couple more disadvantages that users have been complaining about. For example, it’s mandatory to write down the ZIP code when searching for a job, whether it’s on-site or remote. Other inconsistencies include things like poor filtering options, inaccurate job alert results and an unresponsive support team.

Pros:

• Fairly large user base

Cons:

• Privacy concerns
• Tailored exclusively for IT roles
• Lagging website performance
• A fee of $495 for one job listing

Best Way To Post a Job For Free

Among these top platforms, OysterLink stands out as the only place with high-quality hospitality professionals, where you can post multiple job listings completely FREE of charge.