Independent employer briefing

Posting a role across LinkedIn and its alternatives

Most comparison writing addresses the candidate. This page takes the other side: what it actually involves to advertise a single open role, and where the money goes.

At a glance

Reviewed
August 2026
Scope
One role, small team
Prices
US list rates, indicative
Excludes
Agency and RPO routes

Where employer money goes

FREE POST Visible, but competing with sponsored listings Cost: your time SPONSORED Charged per click or per application received Cost: a budget you set SEAT LICENCE Search and contact people who have not applied Cost: fixed monthly The first two scale with the number of roles. The third does not, which is the whole decision for a small team.

A team hiring once or twice a year is generally better served by the first two models. A seat licence becomes efficient when the same recruiter is filling roles continuously, because the cost stops rising with each new vacancy.

What each route gives you

RouteReachTypical cost shapeBest when
Aggregator, free post Broad, but position decays quickly in busy categories No charge to post A role with a clear title and a large candidate pool
Aggregator, sponsored Broad, with position maintained while budget runs Per click or per application, budget set by you Competitive categories, or a role that stalled unsponsored
Professional network listing Reaches people not actively searching Free and promoted options both exist Roles where a referral from an employee matters
Network sourcing seat Contact candidates who never applied From roughly $170 a month per seat, higher tiers quoted Continuous hiring, or a role with very few active candidates
Industry or niche board Small audience, high relevance Usually a flat fee per post Specialised roles where general boards return noise
Your own careers page Only people who look for it, plus whatever indexes it No platform fee Always. It is the source everything else should point to

A sequence that avoids overspending

  1. Publish on your own careers page firstEverything else should link back to it. Candidates checking whether a listing is genuine will look there, and its absence is a common signal of a fraudulent repost.
  2. Post free on one aggregator and one networkGives you a baseline. If applications arrive at a workable rate and quality, nothing further is needed.
  3. Wait a defined period before spendingA week or two, decided in advance. Sponsoring on day one removes your ability to tell whether the free route would have worked.
  4. Sponsor with a capped budget if volume is lowSet the cap before starting. Per-click and per-application pricing continues as long as the campaign runs.
  5. Consider a niche board before a seat licenceFor specialised roles a flat-fee post on the right board often outperforms a general sponsored campaign at lower total cost.
  6. Only then consider sourcing toolsJustified when the candidates you want are not applying anywhere, which is a different problem from not enough applications.

Costs that do not appear on a pricing page

Screening time. High application volume is not free. A campaign that produces two hundred applications for a role with three suitable candidates has moved cost from a card to a calendar, and someone still has to read them.

Duplicate listings. Aggregators index from multiple sources, so your role may appear more than once with different application routes. Candidates applying through a stale copy can be lost entirely.

Renewal terms. Seat licences and annual plans continue until the term ends. Check renewal dates before a hiring push rather than after it.

Pay disclosure obligations

Several jurisdictions require a salary or salary range in the posting itself, and the EU pay transparency directive had a transposition deadline of 7 June 2026, with implementation across member states uneven. Requirements differ by country, state and employer size. This is a general note rather than legal advice; confirm your obligations with a qualified adviser before publishing.

Independently published. Not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by LinkedIn Corporation, Microsoft, Recruit Holdings or any other platform named here.
All trademarks and brand names are the property of their respective owners and are used for identification only.
Prices are indicative United States list rates reviewed in August 2026, excluding tax, and vary by country, product and negotiation. Confirm current terms with the provider before committing, for example at business.linkedin.com.
No company paid for inclusion or placement. This page is informational and is not legal, employment, financial or recruitment advice, and no hiring outcome is promised.