Executive Search: The Retained Search Process
Run a retained mandate from briefing and market mapping to assessment, references, offer and onboarding.
An Atlas alternative. Without the 12-month commitment.
Atlas signs every customer to a year, including those on monthly billing. Longlist lets you pay month to month at a lower seat price, with calling and SMS built into Plus.
Free data migration 14-day free trial
YOUR NEXT CHAPTER
New software.
Same valuable relationships.
- Candidates, clients, and jobs together
- Outreach built into your workflow
- A real team to help you move
Good company. Great recruiting teams.
Longlist or Atlas: the short answer
Atlas fits search firms that want AI to record and search every call and meeting, and that accept a year's commitment. Longlist fits agencies that want a lower seat price, monthly terms and built-in calling, and can do without call recording. The question is how much the AI capture is worth to your desk.
Atlas and Longlist compared
We compared Atlas Basic, Premium and Agency & Enterprise, plus Atlas product pages at recruitwithatlas.com, with Longlist Growth and Plus. Checked October 16, 2026; USD prices shown.
Scroll across to compare every detail
| Feature | Recommended |  |
|---|---|---|
| Seat price per month | From $47 Growth $47 annual or $59 monthly; Plus $65 or $79 | From $125 annual / $150 monthly Basic; Premium is $165 annual / $200 monthly |
| Monthly plan without a 12-month commitment | Yes | No 12 months on every plan, billed monthly or yearly |
| Free trial | Yes 14 days, no card | Yes 14 days on Basic and Premium |
| Outreach sequences | Yes Email steps stop on reply; call and message steps become tasks | Yes Email, phone, social and task steps with AI drafts |
| BD deal pipeline | Yes Opportunities board on every plan | Yes Opportunities Kanban sorted by deal value |
| Calling and SMS | Built in on Plus Cloud number per recruiter, no phone account needed | Via integrations RingCentral, Ringover or Aircall; Talin for SMS |
| Mobile numbers and personal emails | Yes Apollo and Prospeo lookup in the Chrome extension | Premium Contact enrichment on shortlisted profiles |
| AI note taker and call recording | No Calls are logged, not recorded | Yes Meeting notes plus call recording in the mobile app |
| AI search across notes, calls and emails | No Search by keyword, skill, title and tag | Yes Magic Search shows the evidence for each match |
| What the client receives | Branded CV pack Cover page with formatted, original or watermarked CV | Search report AI-drafted branded executive search reports |
| Job board posting | Careers page Google for Jobs and Careerjet feed | Via integrations idibu or Broadbean |
| Book Demo |
Sources, verified October 2026: Atlas [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7].
Picking between Atlas and Longlist
| Choose Longlist if | Stay with Atlas if |
|---|---|
You want to cancel any month instead of committing to a year. | Your consultants want every call and meeting recorded, transcribed and searchable. |
Your seat budget is below Atlas Basic and $47 or $65 a month fits. | You run retained search and send clients AI-drafted, branded search reports. |
You want calling and SMS without a separate RingCentral, Ringover or Aircall contract. | Your contract desk tracks GP, invoiced amounts and payment status, with Xero connected. |
A careers page that feeds Google for Jobs covers your advertising. | You want verified mobiles and personal emails from Atlas's own data on Premium. |
THE DETAILS MAKE THE DIFFERENCE
What pushes agencies to leave Atlas
Two of these come from reviews on G2. The third is on Atlas's own pricing page.
The 12-month commitment
Atlas binds every plan to a year. Longlist monthly plans carry no annual commitment, and annual billing is optional.
Time to learn the system
Reviewers say full value takes a steep learning curve. Longlist starts you on standard agency stages and imports your data for you.
Limits on configuration
Reviewers mention they can't add a custom industry or colour-code activities. In Longlist you organise records with tags and tag groups.
Atlas pricing next to Longlist
Atlas sells in USD, GBP, EUR and AUD, with a 12-month commitment on each plan. Longlist prices are USD per user per month.
| Software | Starting price | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Longlist Growth | $47 annual / $59 monthly | USD per user/month; annual rate billed for the year. Unlimited jobs, CV parsing, client CRM, sequences and CV packs. Free migration. |
| Longlist Plus | $65 annual / $79 monthly | USD per user/month; annual rate billed for the year. Growth features, plus calling, SMS, custom reports and priority support. |
| Atlas Basic | $125 annual / $150 monthly | USD. AI sourcing, sequences, talent pools and pipeline tracking on your own contact data. |
| Atlas Basic | £105 annual / £125 monthly | GBP price for the same Basic plan. |
| Atlas Premium | $165 annual / $200 monthly | USD. Basic plus contact enrichment. |
| Atlas Premium | £135 annual / £160 monthly | GBP price for the same Premium plan. |
| Atlas Agency & Enterprise | Custom | 10+ desks. Consolidated billing, security review, custom onboarding and volume discounts. |
Source, verified October 2026: Atlas [1].
Currencies, billing terms and plan scope are shown separately; confirm the current terms with each provider.
Your Atlas data comes with you
Send us your Atlas export and our team maps and imports your candidates, contacts, companies, jobs, placements, notes and files, then checks it with you before you go live. Migration is free.
PUT IT INTO PRACTICE
Planning your exit from Atlas
Most of the work is timing and deciding what to do with recordings. The import itself is free.
- 01
Find the end of your 12 months
Atlas plans run on a 12-month commitment whatever the billing frequency. Check your start date and renewal terms, and plan go-live for when the year ends.
- 02
Ask Atlas for a full export
Atlas doesn't publish a bulk export format, though it has an Open API. Ask for candidates, contacts, companies, opportunities, notes and CV files.
- 03
Decide what happens to recordings
Longlist logs calls without recording them. Keep Atlas recordings and transcripts in an archive, or ask us to bring transcripts across as notes on each candidate.
- 04
Import, check and rebuild sequences
We map and import your records and parse the CVs. Then you recreate the sequences you still use and connect Gmail or Outlook.
How does Atlas pricing compare with Longlist?
Atlas Basic is $125 annual / $150 monthly per user/month and Premium is $165 annual / $200 monthly, each on a 12-month commitment. Longlist Growth is $47 billed annually or $59 monthly, and Plus is $65 or $79. See pricing.
Can we leave Atlas before the 12 months are up?
Atlas says every plan runs on a 12-month commitment, including monthly billing, so read your order form for the end date. Longlist monthly plans have no annual commitment.
Does Longlist record calls or take meeting notes?
No. Calls on Plus are logged with direction, status and duration. Longlist doesn't record or transcribe them.
Can Longlist find candidate phone numbers and emails?
Yes. The Chrome extension looks up contact details through Apollo and Prospeo on supported profiles. Results vary by profile and market.
Is moving from Atlas free?
Our side is free. We map the export, import records and CVs, and check them with you. Ask Atlas which export format it can provide.
From the blog
Before you switch from Atlas
Recruitment Software Cost: Prices and Worked Budgets
Compare monthly and annual seat prices, then budget for usage, setup, sourcing tools and exit costs.
Recruitment CRM Migration: An Agency Checklist
Map records, reconcile CVs and test a pilot before switching systems, with a downloadable migration checklist.
YOUR NEXT CHAPTER STARTS HERE
Less admin.
More “you got the job.”
Let’s walk through a better working day for your agency.