--- title: "Hiring with lemonly – $8,000 Flat, Only on a Hire" lang: en canonical_url: "https://www.lemonly.ai/hiring" last_updated: "2026-08-07" last_updated_source: page summary: "What a hiring team buys: lemonly assesses 20,000+ candidates per role and its recruiters interview the strongest, so you meet only the few worth your calendar – for $8,000 flat per hire, due only on a hire, with a 90-day replacement guarantee. The page is candid about when lemonly is the wrong call." --- # Fewer, better candidates. > **Summary:** lemonly is an AI talent-sourcing platform with human recruiters in the loop, based in Vancouver and serving teams across Canada and the US. For each role, lemonly’s AI sources and assesses 20,000+ candidates against the written brief – including passive candidates who never see a job post – and lemonly recruiters personally interview the strongest before anyone reaches the hiring team. Only 31% of interviewed candidates clear the bar to be introduced. First candidates typically arrive within a week (median 5.5 days across a sample of recent searches, June–September 2026); the eventual hire is found in a median of 19 days from first candidate contact (a sample of placements made in 2026). The fee is a flat $8,000 per hire, due only when you hire, with no percentage of salary, and a non-exclusive agreement, backed by a 90-day replacement guarantee. That is roughly 60–68% below a 15–25% agency fee, which runs $15,000–25,000 on a $100,000 hire. lemonly’s separate AI candidate screening product, for ranking applicants who already applied, is $150 per month per active role and is priced independently of the placement fee. lemonly's AI assesses 20,000+ candidates for your role, our recruiters interview the strongest, and you meet only the few worth your calendar – for $8,000 flat, due only when you hire. The short answer You write the brief. lemonly’s AI assesses 20,000+ candidates against it, our recruiters interview the strongest, and you meet a short list of people already worth your time. You pay $8,000 flat, and only if you hire. $8,000 flat fee per hire On placement the only time you pay 90 days guarantee ## What you are actually buying **A finished shortlist, not a tool and not a pile of applications.** lemonly is an AI talent-sourcing platform with human recruiters in the loop, built in Vancouver and serving teams across Canada and the US. The AI does the scale work – sourcing and scoring 20,000+ candidates per role against your written brief, including the passive people who never see a job post. Our recruiters do the interviews. What reaches you is a small set of candidates who have already had a real conversation with a recruiter, been briefed on the role, and confirmed they are interested – each with a fit briefing explaining why they made the list. In our own data, only 31% of the candidates we interview clear that bar. The pricing is published: [$8,000 flat per hire](https://www.lemonly.ai/pricing.md), due only when you hire, with a 90-day replacement guarantee and a non-exclusive agreement. The full process is laid out on [how lemonly works](https://www.lemonly.ai/how-lemonly-works.md). ## The three differences that matter Most of what separates lemonly from an agency or a sourcing tool comes down to how the fee is shaped and who does the talking. 01 ### The fee never scales with salary An agency charging 15–25% of first-year salary earns more when your hire is paid more. At $8,000 flat, we have no reason to talk your compensation up - so you can trust our advice on the band. 02 ### A person interviews every candidate The AI does the scale work; our recruiters do the interviews. Nobody reaches your calendar on a score alone, and every introduction comes with a human judgement attached to it. 03 ### You see the passive market Job posts only reach people who are actively applying. Most of the qualified market for any role is not looking - reaching them takes outreach, and that is most of what we do. ## What a $100,000 hire costs Percentage fees scale with the salary you pay. A flat fee does not. Retained search (25–35%) $30,000 Contingency agency (15–25%) $15,000–25,000 lemonly $8,000 On a $100,000 hire, a contingency agency charging 15–25% of first-year salary bills $15,000–25,000, and a retained firm charging 25–35% bills around $30,000 in installments whether or not the search succeeds. lemonly is $8,000 flat – roughly 60–68% less – and only if you hire. [Try the interactive cost calculator →](https://www.lemonly.ai/cost-calculator.md) ## How a lemonly search runs 1. 01 ### Write the brief You give us the role with its non-negotiables and nice-to-haves. That written brief is what everything downstream is measured against - there is no second, hidden set of criteria. 2. 02 ### lemonly’s AI assesses the market Our AI sources and scores 20,000+ candidates per role, including the passive people who never see a job post, ranking every one against your brief. 3. 03 ### Our recruiters interview the strongest A lemonly recruiter runs a real screening interview with the top of that ranking - a conversation, not an automated screen. Only 31% of the people we interview clear this bar. 4. 04 ### You get warm introductions What reaches you is a short list of candidates already briefed on the role and confirmed interested, each with a fit briefing explaining why they are on it. 5. 05 ### You pay only if you hire The fee is $8,000 flat, due only when someone starts, backed by a 90-day replacement guarantee. No percentage of salary. Non-exclusive agreement. ### When lemonly is the wrong call - You are hiring an executive, or running a confidential search where one veteran recruiter’s network is the product. - You have an in-house recruiter with the hours to work a sourcing tool full-time across continuous hiring volume. - You need contractors or freelancers rather than a permanent employee. - You are hiring at high volume for frontline roles, where automated screening at scale matters more than a human first call. ### When lemonly fits - You are making 1–5 key hires and do not have a recruiter in-house. - You want to know the cost before the search starts, not after the offer. - You would rather meet four briefed candidates than sort a hundred applications. - You want the compensation advice to come from someone with no stake in the number. Keep reading ## Before you decide [Pricing](https://www.lemonly.ai/pricing.md) – The $8,000 flat fee, and what it does and does not cover See pricing [How lemonly works](https://www.lemonly.ai/how-lemonly-works.md) – The full process, from brief to warm introduction See the process [Compare](https://www.lemonly.ai/compare.md) – lemonly against agencies, job boards and AI sourcing tools Compare Already have applicants to sort? [lemonly’s AI candidate screening](https://www.lemonly.ai/ai-candidate-screening.md) ranks them against your brief for $150/month per active role – a separate product from the placement fee. ## Common questions ### How much does lemonly cost? lemonly charges $8,000 flat per hire, due only when someone you hire actually starts. There is no percentage of salary, and a non-exclusive agreement, so the fee is the same on an $80,000 hire and a $200,000 one. It is backed by a 90-day replacement guarantee. ### How many candidates does lemonly assess for a role? More than 20,000 per role, roughly 100 times a human recruiter's reach. That includes passive candidates who never see a job post, which is where most of the qualified market for any role sits. ### Does a human actually interview the candidates? Yes. lemonly’s AI does the sourcing and assessment at scale, and our recruiters run the screening interviews personally. In our own data only 31% of interviewed candidates clear the bar to be introduced, so the interview is a real filter rather than a formality. ### How long does it take to see candidates? First candidates typically reach you within a week of the brief being agreed – median 5.5 days across a sample of recent searches (June–September 2026). The candidate you end up hiring is usually found inside three weeks: median 19 days from first candidate contact to our recruiters’ interview of the eventual hire, across a sample of placements made in 2026. Sourcing and assessment run in the first few days; the rest is screening interviews. ### What happens if the hire does not work out? A 90-day replacement guarantee covers it: if the hire leaves or doesn't work out within 90 days of starting, lemonly runs a replacement search at no extra fee; the placement fee isn't refunded. The window runs from the start date. ### Is this different from lemonly’s AI candidate screening? Yes, they are two products. Screening works on applicants who already applied to you, at $150 per month per active role. Sourcing is the other: lemonly goes and finds candidates who have not applied, interviews the strongest, and charges a flat $8,000 due only when you hire. --- _Markdown version of [this page](https://www.lemonly.ai/hiring) for AI agents and LLMs. More lemonly content: [llms.txt](https://www.lemonly.ai/llms.txt) · [full index](https://www.lemonly.ai/llms-full.txt)._