A month-to-month Loxo alternative for 3-to-10-seat UK agencies
The best Loxo alternative for a 3-to-10 seat UK agency is a recruiting CRM billed month to month, with AI and BD tools in the same price. Shortlists is that, at $120 per user a month. Loxo remains the better choice if your desk lives on outbound sourcing across a very large talent graph, because that is what its Professional plan is built for.
Key takeaways
-
Loxo Core costs $149 per user a month, billed annually and paid up front, and Loxo labels that figure a new-customer limited-time offer. (Source: Loxo pricing page, checked 19 October 2026.)
-
Loxo Professional includes access to its 850M+ profile talent graph and AI agents, but its price is no longer publicly listed. You need to book a demo to get a quote.
-
A five-seat agency pays $8,940 a year on Loxo Core, against $7,200 on Shortlists, which is billed month to month.
-
Loxo is stronger for outbound sourcing across a very large talent graph. Shortlists is built around BD Radar, the pipeline and the client portal for a small permanent desk.
-
If you have prepaid a Loxo contract, ask Shortlists about its contract-bridge offer before planning the switch.
What Loxo is built for: outbound sourcing, AI agents and a broad recruiting stack
Loxo combines an ATS and a recruiting CRM, with natural-language AI search in every plan. Its Professional plan adds Loxo Source, a talent graph of more than 850 million profiles, and a set of AI agents that cover job intake, job descriptions, longlists, shortlists, outreach and an AI notetaker. Loxo says its agents run only when you ask and that credits are consumed only when work is completed. (Source: Loxo pricing page, checked 19 October 2026.)
Its product menu also lists a hiring manager portal, account-based prospecting and a sales CRM, and its solutions pages cover direct hire, executive search, staffing, in-house and RPO teams. That breadth is real, and it is a good reason to choose Loxo. It also means a 3-to-10 seat UK desk may be paying for capability aimed at a wider range of recruiting models than its own.
What Loxo costs in 2026: Core at $149 per user a month and Professional through a demo
| Loxo plan | Per user a month | Billing | What the page lists |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core | $149 | Annual, paid up front; new-customer limited-time offer | ATS and CRM, AI search, unlimited jobs, candidates and companies, pipelines, reporting, Chrome extension |
| Professional | Quote on request | Confirm with Loxo | Everything in Core, plus Loxo Source, AI agents, AI chat and API access, with 2,500 credits per seat a month |
| Boost | Sized with the account team | Not stated | 5,000 or 12,500 credits per seat a month |
| Enterprise | Custom | Annual agreements | Single sign-on, advanced roles, a dedicated success team |
Source: Loxo pricing page, checked 19 October 2026. US dollars, as published. Our earlier Loxo pricing breakdown covers how the plans have changed.
Two details matter most to a small desk. The first is that every Loxo plan is annual and paid up front, so the commitment arrives on day one. The second is that the AI agent work on Professional is metered in credits that pool across the team and refresh monthly. Loxo also offers a seven-day trial of the full Professional plan that starts without card details, which is a fair way to test it before committing.
How much do Loxo and Shortlists cost for 3, 5 and 8 users?
| Seats | Loxo Core, annual | Shortlists, month to month |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | $5,364 | $4,320 |
| 5 | $8,940 | $7,200 |
| 8 | $14,304 | $11,520 |
Loxo Professional is not included in this comparison because its current price is available only through a demo.
On Core, the gap is $1,044 a year at three seats, $1,740 at five and $2,784 at eight. The bigger difference is timing. Loxo's annual total leaves your account on day one, whereas Shortlists is billed monthly, so a five-seat agency commits $600 a month instead of $8,940 up front.
Why smaller agencies look beyond Loxo: annual billing, AI tiers and product fit
The first reason is billing. A prepaid annual plan suits a firm that knows its seat count for twelve months, but a small agency's headcount can change within a quarter. If the system turns out not to fit, the remaining months are still owed, which is why a small desk may prefer a plan with no annual contract, as we explain in our guide to month-to-month recruitment CRMs.
The second is where the AI sits. Natural-language search is in every Loxo plan, but the agents, Loxo Source and contact information sit on Professional, and agent work draws down credits. That is a sensible design for a firm running many agentic searches. A desk that wants a predictable monthly bill may prefer one price that already includes the notetaker, outreach and 40 credits a month, which is how Shortlists is packaged.
The third is fit. Loxo serves several recruiting models, while Shortlists is built only for 3-to-10 seat UK agencies doing permanent recruiting. Neither is better in the abstract. The difference is that Shortlists' defaults are those of a small desk, with a pipeline board, a branded client portal and daily BD scanning in the same plan.
How Loxo and Shortlists compare on pricing, features and flexibility
| What matters at 3-to-10 seats | Loxo | Shortlists |
|---|---|---|
| Price per user a month | $149 Core; Professional through a demo | $120 |
| Billing | Annual, paid up front | Month to month, 30 days notice |
| AI search | Natural-language search in every plan | Plain-English search of your own database |
| Sourcing beyond your own records | Loxo Source, 850M+ profiles, on Professional | A longlist built from inside and outside your database when you publish a role |
| Call notetaker | Listed among the agents on Professional | Included |
| Client updates | A hiring manager portal is listed among its products | Branded client portal included, no client login |
| Business development | Account-based prospecting and a sales CRM | BD Radar scans daily for funding rounds, leadership moves and posting spikes |
| Migration | Free for Core teams of 3 or more seats | Free, run by the Shortlists team |
Loxo column: Loxo pricing page and product menu, checked 19 October 2026. Loxo's plan cards do not say which plan includes the portal or prospecting tools, so confirm that with Loxo. Shortlists column: Shortlists pricing page, checked 19 October 2026.
For a feature-by-feature view, see the Shortlists and Loxo comparison page, and the full list of inclusions is on the Shortlists pricing page.
When Loxo is the better choice for a recruitment agency
Loxo is the stronger option if outbound sourcing is the daily job. A talent graph of 850M+ profiles searched together with your own database, plus agents that screen up to 10,000 candidates in one search, is a different class of sourcing from anything a small-agency CRM offers. It also suits you if you want AI agents to run whole searches, if you need API access, or if you are comfortable committing for a year in return for a lower seat price.
Migration is not a point of difference either, because Loxo migrates Core teams of three or more seats for free. Shortlists, for its part, does not handle temp desks, timesheets or shift scheduling, so a mixed temp and permanent agency should look elsewhere. Our ranking of ATS options for small UK agencies sets out who fits where.
How BD Radar and Loxo approach business development differently
Loxo's account-based prospecting is built to find and engage ideal clients and companies, which suits a desk that already knows its target accounts. BD Radar works the other way round. It scans every day for funding rounds, leadership moves, senior leavers and spikes in posting volume, ranks the companies worth calling against candidates already in your database, and drafts the outreach, so you can get to the hiring manager before the job is posted.
Both approaches are valid. BD Radar relies on public signals, so it does not see private hiring decisions or referrals. Our BD Radar and Loxo side-by-side goes through the differences in more detail.
Switching from Loxo mid-contract: timing, migration and bridge pricing
Start with your order form. Check the term end date, the renewal terms and the notice period, then plan the move so the two systems overlap as little as possible. If you have prepaid a Loxo year, Shortlists may offer a reduced bridge rate during the overlap. Confirm the amount and duration for your contract before planning the switch.
Moving the data is the part agencies tend to worry about most. The Shortlists team runs free data migration, and the steps are set out in our guide to switching recruiting CRM without losing candidate data. We respect the craft, so the software takes the admin and your recruiters keep the judgement that wins placements.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Loxo cost per user a month in 2026?
Loxo Core costs $149 per user a month, billed annually and paid up front, under a limited-time offer for new customers. Professional pricing is available through a demo, while Enterprise is custom-quoted. Loxo no longer publishes a per-user price for Professional. (Source: Loxo pricing page, checked 23 October 2026.)
Does Loxo charge extra for AI?
Natural-language AI search is included in every plan. The AI agents sit on Professional, which includes 2,500 credits per seat a month, pooled across the team, and Boost options raise that to 5,000 or 12,500 credits per seat, priced by the account team.
Does Loxo offer a free trial?
Yes. Loxo offers a seven-day trial of the full Professional plan that starts without card details.
Is Shortlists cheaper than Loxo for a five-seat UK agency?
Yes. Five seats cost $7,200 a year on Shortlists against $8,940 on Loxo Core, a gap of $1,740, and Shortlists is billed monthly rather than paid up front. Our guide to recruiting CRMs for small UK agencies compares the wider field.
Does Loxo charge for data migration?
No, not for Core teams of three or more seats, where Loxo's migration is free. Smaller teams use guided self-serve tools, and complex migrations on Professional or Enterprise are scoped as fixed packages before you sign.
Can I move from Loxo to Shortlists before my annual term ends?
Yes, although you remain liable for the rest of your Loxo contract. Shortlists offers contract-bridge pricing for eligible agencies, but you should confirm the rate and how long it applies before switching. You can read more about how the bridge rate works.
Try Loxo and Shortlists on the same live role before deciding
Run one live role through each system and compare how much admin it removed, how quickly your team built a shortlist, and whether either surfaced new clients worth calling. Shortlists is built for 3-to-10 seat UK agencies and used by 55+ of them.
- Start your 7-day free trial and see how your records sit in it before you commit to anything.
- Book a demo and we will map the migration around your existing term.