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November 19, 2025 
9 min read
Applicant tracking systems (ATS) and candidate relationship management (CRM) platforms are essential recruiting software tools that allow your team to:
But here’s the catch: ATS software and CRM software focus on different parts of your hiring process. Relying on just one won’t help you find ideal candidates or maintain a steady talent pipeline. You need both to work together.
In this guide, we’ll explore the similarities and differences between ATS vs CRM, and show how they transform your hiring process when used in tandem.
An applicant tracking system tracks candidates through every step of the application process, from job posting to offer letter. ATSs streamline and optimize the entire hiring process for recruiters and hiring managers.
Modern ATSs automate administrative tasks, such as sending interview reminders, without your direct involvement. Key features include:
ATS systems focus on streamlining the process once job seekers apply for your open positions. They manage internal operations, speed up time-to-hire by automating time-intensive tasks, simplify application review, and encourage candidate responses.
ATSs are critical for most businesses. They handle the majority of back-end hiring functions. Without one, you’re stuck with manual tracking methods like Excel spreadsheets, which quickly become unwieldy as hiring needs grow.
That said, an ATS alone works best for companies with only occasional open positions. It’s a reactive tool that manages applicants once they enter your pipeline. Your recruitment team still needs to handle talent sourcing and evaluation.
Want to learn more? Check out How to use an ATS to improve the candidate experience.
Candidate relationship management systems use strategic, personalized communication to build relationships with top talent and encourage applications to open roles.
A CRM system uses recruitment marketing techniques to attract passive candidates alongside active applicants. It builds relationships with prospects to create pools of nurtured, highly qualified candidates you can tap for hard-to-fill or urgent roles.
Key candidate engagement tools of a CRM system include:
The benefit of a CRM is that recruiters can build effective drip campaigns that target relevant candidates based on criteria important to them. These can include skills, experience, interests, availability, or specific credentials. As a result, you can gain access to unbiased shortlists of potential candidates faster and more reliably than traditional screening.
Large companies need CRM platforms to manage high-volume hiring, especially for specialized roles. Unlike an ATS, a CRM proactively sources candidates, builds talent pipelines, and nurtures relationships with prospects automatically, even when you’re not actively hiring. You’ll always have ready-made lists of great talent, especially for backfilling urgent positions.
CRM platforms are more strategic hiring tools than ATSs, so small businesses may find them too advanced for infrequent hiring. But once businesses begin scaling, a CRM becomes critical for managing application influxes and marketing to ideal candidates.
What to learn more? Explore using candidate relationship management to hire top talent, or download our Guide to engaging top talent.
While both ATS and CRM systems streamline hiring and boost team efficiency, they differ in focus and scope. Check out the chart below for details.
| ATS | CRM | |
| Focus | Manages the hiring process once an active applicant applies for an open position. | Nurtures and guides passive and active candidates through the recruitment funnel. |
| Scope | Reactive; waits for candidates to apply. | Proactive; leverages online campaigns to encourage applications or talent network sign-ups. |
| Best for | All companies with monthly or quarterly hiring demands. | Large companies or enterprises need a constant stream of high-quality candidates. |
| Benefits | Centralizes collaboration and automates workflows to reduce time-to-hire. | Removes reliance on recruitment agencies through 24/7 candidate sourcing, reducing time-to-hire and cost-per-hire. |
| Use case | Progressing an applicant to a new stage in the recruitment funnel. | Creating an email drip campaign targeting candidates with third-shift availability by highlighting differential pay and perks. |
| Example platform | iCIMS ATS | iCIMS CXM |
Medium- to large-sized companies need both an ATS and a CRM. Without both, you risk inefficiencies that slow hiring, balloon recruitment costs, and lose qualified talent to competitors.
Together, these systems power strategic talent acquisition and workforce planning, keeping you ready for future needs.
With an integrated ATS and CRM, you can easily transition candidates from passive interest to active job seekers to new employees. This is because together these platforms support the full recruitment life cycle, from preparation to sourcing, hiring, and onboarding.
What’s more, you won’t need to toggle between multiple software solutions for managing recruitment. Instead, you have all the tools available as your business evolves.
Manually entering candidate data at every stage of your recruitment process takes too much time and is prone to too many errors. A connected CRM and ATS eliminate data duplication by synchronizing information seamlessly across stages.
Consider the contact information gathered from prospects at a job fair. Your CRM uses that data to maintain relationships over time. When it’s time to hire, candidate interaction data flows into your ATS to support evaluation.
Beyond efficiency in sourcing, communication, and tracking, a combined ATS and CRM improves collaboration between executives, hiring managers, and recruiting teams. Stakeholders can work together on planning, tasks, and communication, leading to better outcomes through transparent workflows.
As your company scales, you need more advanced recruiting tools to attract and manage the growing number of candidates. A synced ATS and CRM automates and optimizes both.
Your CRM diversifies marketing communications across different talent pool segments, ensuring consistent, personalized messaging that keeps candidates engaged.
Your ATS, meanwhile, collects and organizes incoming applications for efficient candidate review. Automated stage progression features, like knockout questions, also allow hiring teams to focus on candidates who meet the minimum requirements.
With both systems, your team can easily manage job openings and maintain communication with your talent network, even as hiring demands become more complex.
Explore how to enhance your high-volume hiring needs using talent pools in How to manage your talent pool for high-growth hiring.
Integrated data between your ATS and CRM gives you access to key metrics, such as:
When you layer, segment, or compare these metrics side-by-side, you gain a more comprehensive view of your talent pipeline.
For example, you might connect an increase in qualified project managers to heightened engagement from an email campaign promoting your open PM position. You can then use this insight to adjust your talent acquisition strategy for future requisitions.
Data from a connected ATS and CRM informs business decisions, establishes talent goals, and measures the success of recruitment efforts. All of this is data you need to build out future hiring plans.
An ATS and CRM enable a positive candidate experience by freeing up time from administrative tasks. This gives you more time to nurture relationships with your best candidates.
These platforms make it easy for you to engage with applicants, answer questions, and build rapport. But, their greatest benefit by far is making candidates feel valued throughout your hiring process. Timely, consistent messaging, even for application updates or news about other openings, demonstrates that you care about their time and effort.
If a prospect moves from passive candidate to active applicant, a connected ATS and CRM make data flow seamless. This way, they don’t have to re-enter information. A positive experience with your technology may give them a sense of what it’s like to work for you. This has a better chance of increasing the likelihood they’ll accept a job offer.
To attract, engage, and ultimately hire the best possible talent, you need to start from the moment they connect with you. Building relationships with talent is essential. Set yourself apart by uniting ATS and recruitment CRM technology to create an exceptional candidate experience from day one.
To take it a step further, look for modern recruitment software vendors that combine ATS and CRM functionalities. iCIMS, for instance, offers powerful tools such as AI-powered candidate matching and workflow automation.
Ready to gain a competitive edge? Schedule a free 15-minute iCIMS demo, and see how an all-in-one solution can transform your hiring.
