Firefish Software Alternative for UK Recruitment Agencies (2026 Comparison)

Firefish is a capable, well-supported UK recruitment CRM, and for many agencies it is the right choice. Agencies look for an alternative mainly because capability is split across three tiers, because costs beyond the subscription (migration, training, renewal increases) are reported to add up, and because the contract is annual. If you run a 3-to-10 seat UK agency and want one tier with everything included, month-to-month terms and BD signals built in, that is where an alternative like Shortlists fits. If you run temp desks, Firefish likely covers more of your workflow.

Key takeaways

• Firefish is a UK-built recruitment CRM with a strong reputation. It holds around 4.6 out of 5 on Capterra, and reviewers particularly praise its support team.
• Firefish is sold in three tiers (Basic, Professional, Enterprise), so capability depends on which tier you buy. Published figures put Basic at roughly $102 per user a month, Professional around $114 and Enterprise around $133. (Source: Capterra, checked July 2026; converted from GBP, see Sources.)
• Price is not the main reason to look elsewhere. At entry tier, Firefish sits below Shortlists on headline price. The differences that matter are tiering, total cost and contract terms.
• Independent trackers report additional costs beyond the subscription: migration fees that some users found high, training charged separately, and annual increases at renewal. (Source: ITQlick and PricingNow analyses, 2026.)
• Firefish is the better fit if you run temp or contract desks needing shift scheduling and timesheets. Shortlists is built specifically for 3-to-10 seat UK agencies wanting one tier, one price and business development (BD) tools included.

What Firefish is, and what it does well

Start with credit where it is due, because a comparison that pretends the incumbent is weak is not useful to anyone deciding.

Firefish is a recruitment CRM and applicant tracking system built in the UK, aimed at UK staffing agencies across permanent, contract and temporary desks. It combines recruitment marketing, a candidate database and an ATS, with a focus on keeping the database engaged rather than just stored. Its feature set includes job multiposting, temp desk shift scheduling, CV parsing and candidate matching. (Source: Capterra and SaaSrat product summaries, checked 2026.)

It is also well regarded. Firefish holds a rating of around 4.6 out of 5 on Capterra, and the theme reviewers raise most consistently is the quality of the support team, described as responsive, knowledgeable and unusually good compared with other vendors. Reviewers also praise the onboarding and the frequency of updates. (Source: Capterra and GetApp verified reviews, checked 2026.)

If you are currently on Firefish and happy with it, none of what follows is a reason to move. The rest of this article is for agencies where something specific is not fitting.

Reason 1: Capability is split across tiers

Firefish is sold in three tiers: Basic, Professional and Enterprise. Each unlocks more of the product.

Published breakdowns describe Basic as covering the core recruiting workflow: online applications, job board multiposting, the ATS job workflow, potential matches and standard reporting. Professional adds capability such as the content management system, interview management and social recruitment. Compliance management and custom reports are also described as sitting above Basic, with employer portals and advanced configuration in Enterprise. (Source: PricingNow and ITQlick pricing analyses, 2026. Confirm current tier contents directly with Firefish.)

This is a normal way to sell software, and it works well when your needs map cleanly onto one tier. The friction for a 3-to-10 seat agency is that the capability list you actually need often straddles two tiers. You want custom reports, which sit above Basic, but not employer portals, which sit in Enterprise. So you buy up, and pay for a band of capability you will not use, or you stay down and work around the gap.

The practical test during an evaluation: write down the capabilities your desk genuinely needs, then ask which tier each one sits in. If the answer spans tiers, you have found your real price.

Reason 2: The subscription is not the whole cost

Published tier pricing gives you a starting point. Independent pricing analyses describe several costs that sit outside it.

Migration is the one raised most often. Analyses note one-time migration costs from other systems, with some users reporting these as high. Training is described as an additional cost depending on the level of support required. And renewal increases are described as something to expect, particularly as new capability is added to the product. (Source: PricingNow pricing analysis, December 2025, and ITQlick pricing analysis, February 2026.)

One tracker also notes that hidden costs can include charges for additional support, data migration, or exceeding usage limits. (Source: ITQlick, February 2026.)

None of this is unusual for recruitment software, and none of it makes Firefish unusually expensive. The point for a small agency is that the headline per-seat figure understates the first-year total, so the comparison worth running is total cost of ownership across a full year, including migration and any training, not the monthly rate alone.

Reason 3: The contract structure

Firefish offers annual pricing alongside its monthly rates, which is standard in this market. (Source: Capterra pricing summary, checked July 2026.)

An annual term suits an agency with settled headcount and a predictable year. It suits a 3-to-10 seat desk less well, for the reasons that apply to any annual software contract at this size: headcount moves quickly, a per-seat commitment does not flex with it, and the renewal point is where increases land with the least room to push back.

The question to ask is not whether the annual price is lower, because it usually is. It is what happens if the tool stops fitting in month five, and what your exit looks like. Get the notice period and cancellation terms in writing before you sign, whichever vendor you choose.

Reason 4: Business development is still a gap in most recruitment CRMs

This is not a Firefish-specific criticism. It applies to almost every recruitment CRM on the market.

Recruitment CRMs are built to manage work that has already arrived: the job lands, you search the database, you fill the role, you record the placement. Very few help you find the role before it is posted, which is where the difference in fee income actually sits.

Of 220 UK agency founders interviewed before Shortlists was built, 217 had no repeatable business development (BD) system, and the three who did earned 2 to 3 times more placement fees than the rest. (Source: Jack Nicoll, 220 UK agency founder interviews, 2025.)

If you are evaluating an alternative to any recruitment CRM in 2026, this is worth adding to the checklist. A better interface on the same reactive workflow does not change your billing. Tools that monitor hiring signals ahead of a posted role do.

When Firefish is the better choice

Two situations where staying with Firefish, or choosing it, is the right call.

If you run temp or contract desks. Firefish supports temporary and contract workflows including shift scheduling and timesheet handling. (Source: Capterra and SaaSrat product summaries, 2026.) Shortlists is built for permanent and direct-hire recruiting at 3-to-10 seat agencies and does not cover temp desk scheduling. If a meaningful share of your billing is temp, Firefish covers more of your operation and that matters more than any other difference in this article.

If support responsiveness is your top priority. Support is the single most praised aspect of Firefish in verified reviews. If your team is not technically confident and you want a vendor with a strong reputation for picking up quickly, that is a real, documented strength worth weighing.

Firefish is also UK-built and UK-focused, which shows in how it handles UK recruitment workflows. For an agency that values that, it is a genuine point in its favour.

How Shortlists compares

Shortlists is a recruiting CRM built only for 3-to-10 seat UK agencies doing permanent and direct-hire recruiting. The comparison is about structure rather than a price war.

One tier, not three. There are no plans to choose between and no capability gated above your tier. CRM, ATS, interview notetaker, client portal, BD Radar, outreach and 40 enrichment credits per user a month are all included at $120 per user a month, published.

No cost outside the subscription. Migration is free, run by the Shortlists team rather than an external partner, with most agencies live within 48 hours. There is no implementation fee and no separate training charge.

Month to month. No annual contract, no notice period to track, no renewal increase waiting in year two. Your data stays exportable at no charge, so leaving never carries a fee.

BD Radar. Overnight scanning of funding rounds, senior hires and leaver signals, producing a ranked list of companies worth calling before the role is posted. This is the capability standard recruitment CRMs do not offer.

Mid-contract on Firefish? Use Shortlists at $40 per user a month until your existing contract ends.

The software carries the admin so your team keeps the work that wins placements. AI takes the admin. The craft stays with you.

Shortlists is used by 55+ UK recruitment agencies. (See the pricing page, how free migration works, and the BD Radar feature.)

FAQ

Next steps

If you are evaluating Firefish or already using it, run the comparison on total first-year cost and on tier fit, not on the monthly rate. Write down the capabilities your desk needs, check which tier each sits in, and confirm what migration and training would add. Shortlists is built for 3-to-10 seat UK agencies doing permanent recruiting, and used by 55+ of them.

• Book a Demo and test the interface on your own data.

• Try it free for 14 days and see how it fits your small UK agency.

• See the pricing page, the full comparison against other recruitment CRMs, and how free migration works.