vs.
LinkedIn Hiring Assistant

SquarePeg vs LinkedIn Hiring Assistant: every candidate scored 0–100 inside your ATS, with no seat fees

LinkedIn Hiring Assistant is an AI agent sold as a paid add-on to LinkedIn Recruiter, which is priced by seat. It highlights top-match applicants and sources from LinkedIn's network, but it works inside Recruiter, and how much reaches your ATS depends on your ATS and integration tier. SquarePeg works inside your ATS and ranks every applicant, past candidate and sourced profile 0–100, with a subscore and resume evidence for each criterion and company data the resume leaves out. There are no seat fees, so your whole team can log in.

SquarePeg vs LinkedIn Hiring Assistant at a glance

LinkedIn Hiring Assistant is LinkedIn's AI agent, sold as an add-on to LinkedIn Recruiter seats. LinkedIn says it "reviews thousands of applicants against your criteria in minutes, highlighting top candidates," sources from its network of 1B+ professionals, drafts InMail and runs initial prescreening. It isn't an ATS; it connects to select ATS partners through LinkedIn's Recruiter System Connect integrations.

SquarePeg
LinkedIn Hiring Assistant
Screening
Scores every applicant against your criteria
✓
✓
A 0–100 score with a subscore for each criterion
✓
–
Shows the resume evidence behind each score
✓
–
Scores on company data the resume leaves out (headcount, funding, public or private)
✓
Unknown
Eligibility rules set aside mismatches before they're scored
✓
–
Fits your stack
Works inside your existing ATS
✓
–
Rejections and stage changes go back to your ATS
✓
–
Chrome extension beside your ATS
✓
Unknown
Authenticity
Flags fake or misrepresented candidates
✓
✓
ID and selfie verification
✕
–
Beyond inbound
Rediscovers past applicants
✓
Unknown
Outbound sourcing
✓
✓
Plain-language agent or assistant
✓
✓
Outreach email sequences
✕
–
AI interviews or screening calls
✕
–
Pricing
No per-seat licenses
✓
✕
AI screening included, no add-on to buy
✓
✕

Based on each company's public website and announcements, checked October 2026. Unknown means we couldn't find it described there.

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As an AI company, SquarePeg gives us a lot of credibility. It has saved us so much time on screening and improved quality of hire.

Tara Pramme
Head of People @ Laurel

How SquarePeg and LinkedIn Hiring Assistant compare in detail

Hiring Assistant is built for finding people on LinkedIn. SquarePeg works inside your ATS and goes deeper on scoring every candidate you have.

Screening

SquarePeg

Every score shows its evidence. SquarePeg scores applicants as they apply, plus past candidates and sourced profiles, against criteria you write in plain language or generate from the job description, each marked Required, Preferred or Bonus. Every criterion gets a 0–100 subscore with a written explanation and the resume lines it's based on, so you review the best people first and can explain every ranking. Eligibility rules (location or radius, time zone, screening answers, a previous rejection reason or the application source) run first, so ineligible applicants are never scored or charged.

LinkedIn Hiring Assistant

Hiring Assistant evaluates applicants against your hiring criteria and highlights top-match applicants. LinkedIn describes top-match and lower-match applicants, not a numeric score or a subscore for each criterion, and it doesn't describe company data such as headcount or funding behind the match. It works on applicants that reach LinkedIn, through LinkedIn Jobs or a connected ATS.

Fits your stack

SquarePeg

SquarePeg connects to Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby, Workable, iCIMS, Recruitee and other ATSs and syncs your jobs and applicants. SquarePeg makes rejections and stage changes in your ATS just as if you had made them there, so your ATS emails and automations still run, and the Chrome extension opens it right next to the job or candidate you're viewing. No migration and no new system for your team to learn.

LinkedIn Hiring Assistant

Hiring Assistant lives in LinkedIn Recruiter, not in your ATS. LinkedIn says its ATS features are "available with select ATS partners," and automatic stage syncing requires RSC+ for Hiring Assistant. iCIMS support for RSC+ is expected in spring 2027.

Authenticity

SquarePeg

Every candidate gets an authenticity confidence rating (High, Mixed, Limited, Low or Unknown), kept separate from their score. It's built from LinkedIn, phone, email and resume signals, and it also flags a phone, email or resume shared with a differently named applicant. It's included in the credit that scores the candidate. Signals inform your review; nothing is rejected automatically.

LinkedIn Hiring Assistant

Verified Applicant Spotlight highlights applicants verified by LinkedIn, which LinkedIn says reduces the risk of fake applicants. It draws on verification members complete on LinkedIn; LinkedIn's hiring pages don't describe checking the phone, email or resume on each application.

Beyond inbound

SquarePeg

Rediscovery searches past applicants in your ATS for people who fit a new opening and scores them on the same criteria as today's applicants. Outbound sourcing finds new candidates outside your ATS on the same scale, and you reveal an email only for the people you want to contact. Every resume gets company context such as industry, headcount, funding and public or private status. And you can find, compare and fine-tune just by asking: the SquarePeg agent finds past candidates who fit a new role, compares your top applicants, explains any score, and can review and update a job's criteria and eligibility rules, in the web app or inside your ATS.

LinkedIn Hiring Assistant

Sourcing is Hiring Assistant's strength: it searches LinkedIn's 1B+ members and drafts personalized InMail, and Recruiter includes up to 150 InMails per seat per month. It also prescreens applicants and, in Hiring Assistant 2, remembers your hiring preferences. LinkedIn's pages don't describe rediscovering past applicants in your ATS.

Pricing

SquarePeg

Credits work across every feature, there are no seat fees and no platform fee, and your whole team can log in. Scoring an applicant or a rediscovered candidate uses 1 credit; sourcing a candidate uses 1 and revealing their email 2. Rediscovery also has a one-time fee to index your ATS, charged at cost. Rescoring is always free, the agent is free, applicants who fail your eligibility rules cost nothing, and new accounts start with 2,000 free credits, no credit card required. See the pricing page for current rates.

LinkedIn Hiring Assistant

LinkedIn doesn't publish prices. It says pricing depends on company size, the number of Recruiter seats and more, and Hiring Assistant is a paid add-on to Recruiter. LinkedIn says the Hiring Assistant 2 upgrade is free for existing English-language Hiring Assistant customers from November 2026.

When to choose which

Choose SquarePeg if
•You want every applicant scored 0–100, with a subscore and resume evidence for each criterion
•You want scoring inside your ATS, with rejections and stage changes made there
•You want past applicants in your ATS rediscovered and scored on the same scale
•You don't want to pay per seat to give your whole team access
When LinkedIn Hiring Assistant makes sense
•Most of your hires come from sourcing and InMail on LinkedIn
•Your team already pays for Recruiter seats and the Hiring Assistant add-on
70%
less time reviewing each resume at Laurel

"SquarePeg allowed us to do more with less without needing a full recruiting team with sourcers and coordinators. It will remain a core part of our recruiting strategy as we scale."

Tara Pramme, Head of People, Laurel · Uses Ashby
Read the case study →

Frequently asked questions

Does SquarePeg replace LinkedIn Recruiter?

Not necessarily. SquarePeg doesn't send InMail or run outreach sequences, so you can keep LinkedIn for outreach. SquarePeg scores every applicant inside your ATS, rediscovers past candidates and finds new ones outside your ATS, all on the same 0–100 scale, and you reveal an email only for the people you want to contact.

How is SquarePeg's scoring different from Hiring Assistant's?

Hiring Assistant highlights top-match applicants inside LinkedIn Recruiter. SquarePeg gives every candidate in your ATS a 0–100 score with a subscore, a written explanation and resume evidence for each criterion, adds company data such as headcount and funding, and runs your eligibility rules first, so ineligible applicants are never scored or charged.

Can I try SquarePeg before connecting my ATS?

Yes. The demo on our homepage lets you score up to three of your own resumes or LinkedIn profiles for free, or explore sample jobs that are already scored, without connecting an ATS. When you connect your ATS, you start with 2,000 free credits and no credit card.

How is SquarePeg priced?

Credits work across every feature, there are no seat fees and no platform fee, and your whole team can log in. Scoring an applicant or a rediscovered candidate uses 1 credit; sourcing a candidate uses 1 and revealing their email 2. Rediscovery also has a one-time fee to index your ATS, charged at cost. Rescoring is always free, the agent is free, applicants who fail your eligibility rules cost nothing, and new accounts start with 2,000 free credits, no credit card required. See the pricing page for current rates.

Last checked October 2026. LinkedIn Hiring Assistant details come from LinkedIn Hiring Assistant's public website and announcements; SquarePeg details describe the product as it works today.

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