How much does lemonly cost?
lemonly costs $8,000 flat per hire, due only when you place someone, backed by a 90-day satisfaction guarantee (full refund or a replacement search). There is no percentage of salary, no monthly fee, no contract, and no minimum commitment – run as many searches in parallel as you need. Every role includes AI assessment of 15,000–20,000 candidates and human screening interviews before any introduction. By comparison, a traditional recruiting agency charges 15–25% of first-year salary – $15,000–25,000 on a $100K hire – and LinkedIn Recruiter costs $10,000+ per year per seat plus your own sourcing hours. lemonly serves companies across Canada and the US.
Simple, transparent pricing
300x the reach. A fraction of the cost.
A human recruiter reviews ~60-100 candidates per hire. lemonly assesses 15,000-20,000 against your specific requirements[1] - then sends you the few worth interviewing.
974
Candidates assessed per role
$390
Flat placement fee
4-day
Satisfaction guarantee
What hiring actually costs
Recruiting agency
$15,000-25,000
per hire
- –20-25% of first-year salary
- –Incentivised to inflate salaries
- –Ghosting if the role is hard to fill
- –Robert Half: 2.0/5 on Trustpilot
- –Michael Page: 2.0/5 on Trustpilot
DIY (LinkedIn + job boards)
$5,000-10,000+
per role (ads + your time)
- –LinkedIn Recruiter: $10K+/yr per seat
- –LinkedIn sponsored posts: $5-20+ per click
- –Indeed: $5-25 per application, 90%+ unqualified
- –5% InMail response rate
- –You do all the work: searching, writing, screening, interviewing
$8,000
per hire, flat - no percentage, no monthly fee
- 15,000-20,000 candidates assessed per role
- Human-led first-round interviews included
- Aligned incentives - placement fee only when you hire
- 90-day satisfaction guarantee
- No contracts. Stop any time
Cost per hire – visualized
What you actually pay to fill a $100K role
Flat fees, regardless of salary.
The fee is the same whether you hire someone at $80K or $200K. Never a percentage of the candidate's salary.
Talent Sourcing
$8,000
per successful hire
Tell lemonly who you're looking for, lemonly goes and finds them.
Book a Demo- 15,000-20,000 candidates assessed per role
- Unlimited candidates
- AI-screened against your specific requirements
- Human-led screening interview + written briefing before every intro
- Placement guarantee: 90 days to refund or replace if the hire doesn't work out
lemonly AI Candidate Screening
$150/month
per Active Role
Find your best job applicants in seconds using lemonly's AI.
Book a Demo- Review and rank every inbound application automatically
- Score candidates against your Non-Negotiables and Nice-to-Haves
- Filter out AI-generated and unqualified submissions
- Track candidates across stages – applied, screened, interviewing, offer
- Cancel any time. 100% refundable if you're unsatisfied
What a typical hire costs
A recruiting agency on a $100K role: $15,000-25,000 (15-25% of first-year salary). lemonly is $8,000 flat - the same fee whether the role pays $80K or $200K, with our placement fee structurally aligned to your outcome instead of your salary band.
Try the interactive cost calculator →Just need help with inbound applications? See lemonly Screening.
The real cost of a $100K hire
| Method | Direct Cost | Hidden Costs | Total | Time Investment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recruiting agency | $15,000-25,000 | Inflated salary offers, exclusivity lock-in | $15,000-30,000+ | Low (but variable quality) |
| LinkedIn Recruiter | $10,000+/yr (seat) | Your time: searching, writing, screening, interviewing | $10,000+ plus 20+ hrs/hire | Very high |
| LinkedIn Jobs (Sponsored) | $2,000-5,000 (ad spend) | Screening 300+ applications, 90%+ unqualified | $2,000-5,000+ plus 30+ hrs | Very high |
| Indeed (Sponsored) | $500-2,500 (app fees) | Same screening burden, lower candidate quality | $500-2,500+ plus 20+ hrs | Very high |
| AI sourcing tools | $1,200-3,000/yr | Your time running the tool, writing outreach, screening | $1,200-3,000+ plus 15+ hrs/hire | High |
| lemonly | $8,000/hire | None – sourcing, screening, and human-led first interview included | $8,000/hire, flat | Near zero until interview |
Common questions
It depends on the role, but most clients see their first candidates within 2 weeks. Some roles fill in a month; others take longer. There's no time-based fee, so there's no pressure to rush.
Each role is a flat $8,000 placement fee, due only when you hire someone. Run as many searches in parallel as you need – add or remove roles at any time.
No contract or minimum commitment – if a search isn't working out, you can stop any time. The placement fee is covered by our 90-day satisfaction guarantee – if the hire doesn't work out, you get a full refund or we kick off a replacement search.
A flat fee means we have no reason to push a higher offer just to earn a bigger commission. The placement fee also aligns our incentives with yours: we only earn it when you actually hire someone we sourced. Recruiters charging 15-25% of salary are incentivised to inflate comp; we are not.
We source for non-technical commercial, marketing, operations, people, and specialist roles. If you're hiring knowledge workers who are hard to find through a job posting, we can help.
An agency typically charges 15-25% of first-year salary – $15,000-25,000 on a $100K hire. lemonly charges a flat $8,000, regardless of salary. Same service, roughly 60-68% lower total cost.
Greater scale. Aligned incentives.
$8,000 per hire, only when you place someone, backed by a 90-day satisfaction guarantee.
Book a Demo