If you're trying to choose between Eightfold, SeekOut, Phenom, and hireEZ for your talent intelligence needs, you've come to the right place. We used QBack to analyze G2 reviews from the last 6 months, dug through recent Reddit discussions (May 2025 - November 2025), and compared current pricing across all four platforms to give you a clear picture of which one might work best for you.

This comparison covers everything from pricing and features to what real customers are saying. Whether you're a talent acquisition leader looking for AI-powered sourcing, an enterprise needing comprehensive talent management, or a recruiter wanting better candidate discovery, we break down the strengths, weaknesses, and true costs of each platform so you can make an informed decision.

Which talent intelligence platform has the best G2 rating?

G2 Performance Metrics

Source: hireEZ G2 Reviews, SeekOut G2 Reviews, Phenom Applied AI G2 Reviews, Eightfold AI G2 Reviews

How much do talent intelligence platforms really cost?

Eightfold Pricing

Source: Eightfold Pricing Information

Pricing Model: Per employee per month (PEPM) with custom enterprise quotes

Note: Eightfold does not publish detailed pricing publicly. The following are estimates from third-party sources:

Estimated Pricing (from third-party sources):

• $7-10 per employee per month (PEPM) (estimated)
• Starting price: Approximately $650/month (estimated)
• Custom enterprise pricing based on modules and employee count

What's Included:

• AI-powered talent matching
• Internal talent mobility tools
• Career planning and development
• Predictive analytics for workforce planning
• Integration with ATS/HRIS systems

Additional Costs:

• Implementation and integration services
• Training and change management
• Custom configuration for enterprise needs

Note: Eightfold does not publish detailed pricing publicly. Costs vary significantly based on organization size, selected modules (Talent Acquisition, Talent Marketplace, Workforce Planning), and implementation scope.

SeekOut Pricing

Source: SeekOut Pricing

Pricing Model: Annual contracts with tiered plans

SeekOut Recruit (Software):

• Professional Plan: ~$830-$1,250/month (3 seat minimum, billed annually)
• Enterprise Plan: ~$1,250-$2,500+/month (billed annually)
• Ultimate Plan: Custom pricing
• Grow Plan: Custom pricing (internal talent focus)

SeekOut Spot (Service):

• Charged per candidate slate
• No annual commitment required
• Delivers qualified candidates in 14 days

Annual Contract Range (estimated from third-party sources):

• Typical range: $10,000-$90,000+ per year (estimated)
• Average subscription: ~$27,000 per year (estimated)
• Based on team size, features, and negotiation

Note: SeekOut does not publish specific pricing publicly. Contact SeekOut for official pricing quotes.

What's Included:

• Access to 800M+ candidate profiles
• AI-powered search and matching
• Diversity and inclusion filters
• ATS integrations
• Automated outreach campaigns

Phenom Pricing

Source: Phenom Pricing Information

Pricing Model: Custom enterprise quotes

Estimated Pricing (from third-party sources):

• Starting Price: Approximately $10,000 per month (estimated)
• Per Employee Pricing: $7-13 PEPM (estimated)
• Annual Contracts: Often start at $100,000+ (estimated)

What's Included:

• Intelligent Talent Experience platform
• Candidate experience tools
• Recruiter automation
• Employee experience and career pathing
• Manager insights and analytics

Additional Costs:

• High implementation costs (often requires third-party consultants)
• Customization and configuration
• Training and adoption services

Note: Phenom does not publicly disclose detailed pricing. Costs vary based on organization size, modules needed, and level of customization.

hireEZ Pricing

Source: hireEZ Pricing

Pricing Model: Per-user subscription (billed annually)

Note: hireEZ does not publish detailed per-user pricing publicly. The following are estimates from third-party sources:

Estimated Pricing Tiers (from third-party sources):

• Starter Plan: ~$169 per user/month (billed annually, estimated)
• Professional Plan: ~$199 per user/month (billed annually, estimated)
• Enterprise Plan: Custom pricing (typically $250+/user/month or starting at $7,000/year, estimated)

Additional Information (from third-party sources):

• Free trial available (15-day trial)
• Median buyer pays $15,000 per year (estimated)
• Range: $6,000-$31,500 annually (estimated)
• Additional seats and features (Applicant Match, Strategy Hub, Insights) available as add-ons

Contact hireEZ for official pricing quotes.

What are the top pain points for each platform?

Eightfold: Top 3 Complaint Categories

1. Integration Challenges ⚠️ High Impact

Severity: High - Can delay implementation and increase costs

• Difficulties integrating with existing ATS and HR systems
• Complex tech stack integration requirements
• Additional costs for integration services

Evidence:

• Recent G2 reviews from the last 6 months note integration challenges with existing ATS and HR systems - G2 Reviews

2. Learning Curve and User Interface

Severity: Medium - Requires training investment

• Extensive features can feel overwhelming
• Less intuitive interface compared to some competitors
• Recruiters and HR teams may require additional training

Evidence:

• Recent G2 reviews from May-November 2025 note that extensive features can feel overwhelming and require additional training - G2 Reviews

3. AI Limitations and Data Accuracy

Severity: Medium - Can impact matching quality

• AI features sometimes don't provide exactly what users are looking for
• Occasional data inaccuracy issues
• CV upload and parsing can fail to capture correct information

Evidence:

• Recent G2 reviews from the last 6 months (May-November 2025) identify AI limitations and data accuracy issues as concerns - G2 Reviews

SeekOut: Top 3 Complaint Categories

1. Pricing Transparency

Severity: Medium - Makes budgeting difficult

• No public pricing information
• Requires sales engagement for quotes
• Pricing can vary significantly between customers

Evidence:

• SeekOut does not publicly disclose detailed pricing, requiring contact with sales for quotes

2. Limited LinkedIn Profile Access

Severity: Low-Medium - May affect sourcing breadth

• Smaller set of profiles compared to LinkedIn Recruiter
• Some users note limitations in profile coverage
• May require supplementing with other tools

Evidence:

• G2 comparison data shows SeekOut has 759 reviews compared to LinkedIn Recruiter's 406 reviews, but users may still experience limitations in profile coverage compared to LinkedIn's native platform

3. Advanced Features Require Training

Severity: Low - Can be addressed with proper onboarding

• Boolean search expertise needed for optimal use
• Advanced features may require training
• Learning curve for new users

Evidence:

• G2 reviews note that advanced features may require training for optimal use

Phenom: Top 3 Complaint Categories

1. High Implementation Costs ⚠️ Critical Issue

Severity: High - Can be prohibitive for mid-market organizations

• Enterprise-grade pricing starting at $10,000/month
• Often requires third-party consultants for setup
• Implementation costs add significantly to total investment

Evidence:

• G2 review: "Phenom Intelligent Talent Experience Platform is a powerful solution, but it presents challenges, particularly in terms of cost, implementation complexity" - G2 Reviews
• G2 reviews identify "implementation complexity" as a top con (13 mentions), with users feeling overwhelmed by the information provided - G2 Reviews

2. Limited Mid-Market Accessibility

Severity: High - Targets enterprise only

• Primarily designed for large enterprises
• Less accessible to mid-market businesses
• Lack of tailored solutions for smaller organizations

Evidence:

• G2 reviews show that 60% of Phenom reviews are from Enterprise (>1000 employees) users, indicating the platform primarily targets large organizations - G2 Reviews

3. System Glitches and Support Challenges

Severity: Medium - Can impact daily operations

• Some users report system glitches
• Support and infrastructure can be challenging to work with
• Occasional technical issues

Evidence:

• G2 review from July 29, 2025: "System often does not work properly, HMD is not user friendly, Support team extremely lacking" - G2 Review
• G2 reviews from the last 6 months (May-November 2025) report "glitches" such as timeouts and upload issues, disrupting workflow and candidate interactions (12 mentions) - G2 Reviews

hireEZ: Top 3 Complaint Categories

1. Outdated Contact Information

Severity: Medium - Can impact outreach effectiveness

• Contact information may not always be current
• Some users report incomplete data
• Email/phone numbers may be outdated

Evidence:

• G2 review from July 29, 2025: "While I really enjoy using HireEZ, one area for improvement is the occasional inconsistency in candidate contact information. Sometimes emails or phone numbers are outdated, which can slow down outreach efforts" - G2 Review
• Reddit discussion from October 20, 2025 mentions hireEZ problems with contact information - Reddit Discussion
• G2 reviews from the last 6 months (May-November 2025) identify "outdated contact information" as a top con, affecting usability and verification - G2 Reviews

2. Cost Increases

Severity: Medium - Budget impact over time

• Pricing can increase with usage
• Additional features may require add-on costs
• Cost considerations for growing teams

Evidence:

• G2 reviews from the last 6 months (May-November 2025) express concerns about "unexpected cost increases" and high prices, especially for larger enterprises and staffing agencies - G2 Reviews

3. Incomplete Data

Severity: Low-Medium - May require additional verification

• Some candidate profiles may have incomplete information
• Data enrichment may not always be comprehensive
• May need to supplement with other sources

Evidence:

• G2 reviews from the last 6 months (May-November 2025) report frustration with "incomplete data," citing outdated information and tracking issues affecting candidate outreach - G2 Reviews

What are the competitive strengths and weaknesses?

Eightfold

Strengths:

• Comprehensive talent management platform integrating acquisition, management, and development
• Advanced AI matching capabilities from Facebook AI engineers
• Strong internal talent mobility and career planning tools
• Predictive analytics for strategic workforce planning
• Enterprise-grade configurability for Fortune 500 companies

Weaknesses:

• Integration challenges with existing HR systems
• Steep learning curve for users
• Average customer support responsiveness
• AI limitations and occasional data accuracy issues
• Higher complexity compared to some competitors

Proof Point: "Eightfold leverages advanced AI to transform talent acquisition, management, and development into a unified system" - OutSail Review

SeekOut

Strengths:

• Excellent diversity recruiting tools (ranked #1 by G2)
• User-friendly interface and intuitive design
• Fast implementation (average 1 month vs 2.13 months industry average)
• Strong customer support and relationship management
• Access to 800M+ candidate profiles including technical talent

Weaknesses:

• Limited public pricing transparency
• Smaller LinkedIn profile coverage compared to LinkedIn Recruiter
• Requires Boolean search expertise for optimal use
• Annual contracts can be expensive ($10,000-$90,000+)
• Advanced features may require training

Proof Point: "SeekOut is ranked number one in G2's Diversity Recruiting Software category" - SeekOut Blog

Phenom

Strengths:

• Comprehensive Talent Experience Management (TXM) platform
• AI-driven personalization across candidate, recruiter, employee, and manager experiences
• Strong integration capabilities with major HRIS systems
• Internal mobility and career pathing features
• Over 700 global brands trust the platform

Weaknesses:

• Very high implementation costs (starting at $10,000/month)
• Limited accessibility for mid-market organizations
• System can be glitchy according to some users
• Support and infrastructure challenges reported
• Overlapping functionality with ATS platforms

Proof Point: "Phenom is an enterprise-grade platform, and with that comes a hefty implementation cost" - OutSail Review

hireEZ

Strengths:

• Ease of use and intuitive interface (highly rated on G2)
• Strong sourcing efficiency and features
• Good access to contact information
• Effective email sequencing and campaign tools
• Strong customer service and support

Weaknesses:

• Outdated contact information can be an issue
• Cost increases over time
• Some incomplete data in profiles
• Pricing can be expensive for smaller teams
• May require supplementing with other tools

Proof Point: "Users love the ease of use of hireEZ, appreciating its intuitive layout and efficient sourcing capabilities" - G2 Reviews

How do these platforms position themselves in the market?

Competitive Positioning Matrix

Platform Positioning Summary

Eightfold: Positions as the comprehensive AI-native talent intelligence platform for Fortune 500 companies. Focuses on end-to-end talent lifecycle management with deep AI capabilities.

SeekOut: Emphasizes diversity recruiting leadership and user-friendly sourcing. Strong positioning for teams wanting to diversify talent pools while maintaining ease of use.

Phenom: Markets as the Intelligent Talent Experience platform covering candidate, recruiter, employee, and manager experiences. Targets enterprises wanting holistic talent management.

hireEZ: Positions as an easy-to-use, efficient sourcing platform with strong engagement tools. Appeals to recruiters wanting intuitive tools without complexity.

Feature Comparison Table

Sources & Links

Competitor Pricing Pages

Eightfold:

• Website
• Contact for Pricing

SeekOut:

• Pricing
• Website

Phenom:

• Pricing
• Website

hireEZ:

• Pricing
• Website

G2 Reviews

• Eightfold AI G2 Reviews
• SeekOut G2 Reviews
• Phenom Applied AI G2 Reviews
• hireEZ G2 Reviews

Reddit Discussions

• Eightfold/Phenom pricing discussion (February 2024)
• Phenom ATS discussion (April 2024)

Additional Resources

• OutSail: Eightfold Reviews
• OutSail: Phenom Reviews
• SeekOut: Diversity Recruiting Leadership
• Findem: hireEZ vs SeekOut Comparison