Indeed Vs. Monster: Which Job Board Is the Best For Your Business?

Both Indeed and Monster make it easy to post jobs, create custom applications, track applicants through the hiring process and manage your postings with ease. They also offer plans based on the number of requests or clicks you expect from potential candidates in response to your posting.

There are two distinct divisions to Monster. There’s the regular Monster and Monster+ (beta). With Monster, you can integrate your own applicant tracking system (ATS) and search its résumé database. With Monster+, post jobs for free, and you can pay to sponsor the listing, but you don’t have access to its résumé database.

Indeed has over 200 million résumés in its database. It’s also an aggregator, so your jobs will be posted alongside other jobs sourced from outside of Indeed. With both platforms, you can promote your listings on a pay-per-click (PPC) basis, which means you don’t pay unless the ad performs, such as someone clicks on your listing.

Use Indeed if you want to source international candidates, as Indeed is one of the top job boards operating in more than 60 countries. While Monster operates in around 15 countries, it’s best for local and regional hiring. Indeed is also best for skills you need to verify through its 150-plus online skills assessments. Monster also has a candidate evaluation tool but doesn’t verify skills via assessments. It’s best to use Monster for positions where you can verify skills by other means, such as looking up a nurse’s license in a state database.

Indeed

Free Plan

Yes

Screening Questions

Yes

Free Trial

Not needed, it’s free

Learn More

On Indeed's Website

Yes

Yes

Not needed, it’s free

Editor's Take

Sixty-one million monthly users worldwide rely on Indeed for their job-hunting needs. This is because Indeed makes it easy to find jobs by sending alerts when new positions match a seeker’s search terms. Best of all, it’s free to post a job, making it great for employers on a budget. To stand out, though, consider paying to boost your job listing. Set your budget, and only pay when a candidate views your listing.

Indeed also offers screener questions, which are a series of customized questions you can ask potential candidates to help you narrow down the applicant pool. If you pay to sponsor a post, you can use Instant Match, where you can invite a candidate to apply based on who matches your job description.

Choose from three employer tracks:

1. Post for free: Your listing appears in search results. You can accept mobile applications and manage your listing and candidates from a dashboard.
2. Sponsor your listing: Get more visibility in search results, invite ideal candidates, candidates get job alerts about your listing, and pay-per-click for as little as $5 per day.
3. Launch a hiring campaign: Set a budget, and Indeed will go through your listings to choose the jobs you should sponsor. It can take these from your career site or your applicant tracking software.

Pros & Cons

• There are over 200 million résumés in its database
• It’s free
• Gauge an applicant’s skill with an assessment

• It doesn’t syndicate your job post to other boards
• Some applicants mass apply to jobs they aren’t qualified for
• High volume of competition

Monster

Free Plan

Yes

Screening Questions

No

Free Trial

Four days

Yes

No

Four days

Editor's Take

Monster has three paid plans; Starter, Standard, and Premium. Starter is $279 per month and gives one active job slot and up to 50 résumé views. Standard is $399 per month and provides three active job slots, cross-posting to hundreds of other job boards for a 30-day period, and 150 résumé views. Premium offers five active job slots, the same cross-posting as the Standard plan, but gives 250 résumé views.

Choose the Starter plan if you have a one-off job, Standard for small, but expanding, teams. Premium is best for fast-growing teams. With Monster+, you can post for free but won’t have access to Monster’s résumé database. Promote these listings on a pay-per-click basis.

Have trouble coming up with a great job description? Monster has you covered. Choose from over 500 templates to craft a winning description. Not only will Monster give tips on how best to adapt these for your role, but Monster does a great job of educating candidates, too. They receive tips and advice throughout their entire job hunt journey.

Pros & Cons

• Has its own ATS
• 500-plus job description templates
• Monster+ lets you post jobs for free

• No screening questions
• Must have a Standard plan or higher for cross-posting
• Can’t integrate your own ATS

	Indeed	Monster
Pricing	Only pay-per-click for sponsored listings	Free to over $649 per month
Free Plan	✓	✓
Free Trial	Not needed, it’s free	Four days
Résumés in Database	More than 200 million	Not advertised
Skills Assessment	✓	X
Sponsored Listings	✓ - Pay-per-click	✓ - Pay-per-click
Candidate Evaluation Tool	✓	✓
Learn More	On Indeed's Website	-
Read Reviews	Read Indeed Review	-

See More See Less

Free Plan

Indeed is free to post jobs, and you can pay to promote your listing on a PPC basis. Monster+ is a division allowing you to post for free, and it also has PPC job ads.

Free Trial

There is no free trial necessary for Indeed because it’s completely free to post and doesn’t offer any paid plans. For any of Monster’s paid plans, get a four-day free trial to test out its features.

Pricing

The amount you pay for ads with either Indeed or Monster depends on your bid and budget as they’re on a PPC basis.

Résumés in Database

Both Monster and Indeed have a résumé database, but only Indeed advertises how many. Indeed has more than 200 million résumés globally.

Skills Assessment

Indeed wins in the skills assessment category because Monster has none. Skills assessments help you determine a candidate’s aptitude for the job they’ll perform, rather than relying on self-reported skills.

Sponsored Listings

Monster and Indeed offer sponsored job listings on a performance basis known as PPC. You set the bid and budget and only pay when a candidate interacts with your listing (such as clicking on the listing to view it). This is a great way to control your budget.

Candidate Evaluation Tools

When you’re sorting through hundreds of applications, it can get overwhelming. This is why candidate evaluation tools are so beneficial. Monster assigns a score to the candidate based on how well they match your requirements. Indeed takes it a step further by verifying the skills on a candidate’s résumé to help you choose the most qualified employee.

Both Indeed and Monster are great options for recruiting. However, if you’re looking to hire someone with a specific set of skills, Indeed is the better option. Monster has a skills assessment feature, but it’s not as comprehensive as what you’ll find with Indeed. Additionally, Monster doesn’t verify the skills listed on a candidate’s résumé, which can lead to making a bad hire. Use Monster for skills that aren’t easy to verify via online assessments, such as nursing, where you can look up someone’s license in a state database instead.