If you’re trying to identify the best executive search software in 2025, you’re likely facing one of three situations:
Either way, you’re looking for more than a traditional recruitment CRM or ATS.
You need software that understands how search professionals think. Software that helps you track long-term candidate, client and corporate relationships, shortlist faster, collaborate across teams, and most importantly — deliver measurable results to clients.
With Talentis, we believe we’ve built exactly that — and this article explains why search professionals across the world believe Talentis is the best executive search software on the market in 2025.
Let’s be clear: executive search is not recruitment.
Where typical recruitment software is focused on speed and volume, executive search is about precision, discretion, and strategy. Assignments take weeks or months. Clients expect detailed reports, market insight, and rigor — not resumes scraped from job boards.
This means your software must be:
Talentis is designed specifically for:
It is not for transactional recruitment agencies, internal HR, or staffing companies who work on volume or speed alone. It’s software for professionals who view executive search as a craft.
Here’s what makes Talentis stand out in a market full of underwhelming CRMs and outdated legacy platforms:
Built for Executive Search — Not Just Recruitment
Talentis is a true executive search CRM, supporting business development, long-cycle candidate tracking, client management, and assignment delivery. It includes dedicated tools for:
True CRM – Tracking Relationships in 3D
Most recruitment CRM platforms track relationships between the search firm and the candidate. That’s not enough for an executive search CRM, however – in the world of senior level recruiting, today’s candidate is tomorrow’s client and next week’s source. Companies matter not just as potential clients, but as hunting grounds for Talent.
Talentis recognizes that and takes a more sophisticated view of CRM.
Talentis tracks relationship between the search firm and both the people it knows and the organizations it cares about. But it goes further – Talentis makes it quick and easy to track relationships between third parties – Jane recommend Jill. Bob served on a board with Nirav. Laura is on the advisor board for Megacorp. Megacorp is an investor in Portco.
Every type of relationship tracked through a fast and easy UI. A more sophisticated view of CRM, designed for recruiting where the “Relationship” part of CRM is absolutely key.
AI-Powered Sourcing Without LinkedIn Recruiter
One of the biggest pain points in executive search is finding passive candidates who are under the radar. Talentis is a fully executive search CRM, offering all of the functionality you’d expect from a such a product. However, it goes beyond this to offer “Talentis Intelligence” via our proprietary TalentGraph — a unique index of hundreds of millions of global profiles, enriched with corporate data and fully searchable without needing LinkedIn Recruiter.
Clients regularly tell us this feature alone reduces their sourcing time by 50% or more.
Virtually No Data Entry Required
Let’s be honest — CRMs fail when they rely on consultants to keep them updated. Talentis auto-enriches candidate and company records by pulling live data from the public web, reducing admin and ensuring your database never goes stale. Users love it, so users use it!
Instant Productivity with Pre-Built Databases
Unlike other platforms that require you to spend weeks configuring the system, Talentis comes pre-loaded with data. We enrich legacy records during migration and can even prebuild live candidate lists before you log in — meaning you’re productive from day one.
100% Cloud, SaaS and Web Based. Identical functionality on both Mac and Windows (Full Outlook Support)
Many legacy systems — like Invenias — struggle to deliver consistent functionality across devices. Talentis runs seamlessly on both Mac and Windows and offers native Outlook integration on both platforms without the need for workarounds or virtual machines.
Privacy by Design
Unlike some platforms such as Loxo, whose browser extensions may share your data with third parties (see Loxo Privacy Policy), Talentis ensures your information remains yours — with no hidden sharing or fine print.
Source: https://www.loxo.co/privacy-policy – July 2, 2025
Talentis is trusted by search firms worldwide. Our clients range from solo consultants to offices of multinational firms, including the likes of Odgers Berndtson and Signium International.
Despite our scale, we pride ourselves on boutique-level service. The team behind Talentis is Ikiru People (Dillistone) – the team behind FileFinder. We have over 30 years of executive search software and CRM experience, and the very best Trustpilot scores in the industry.
“After 11 years on another leading CRM/ATS, my executive search firm has made the leap to Talentis. The transition and data migration were handled seamlessly… the new software is simply outstanding.”
— Steve McGovern, President & CEO, McGovern Executive Search (USA)
“Talentis helps us identify ‘under the radar’ candidates that aren’t found using traditional research tools.”
— Vanessa Bathe, Director, Johnson Partners (Australia)
“Talentis is intuitive, fast, and built for the way search firms actually work. I highly recommend it.”
— Anders Toftkjær, Founder, WeDoSearch (Denmark)
“We find it a great tool and would be happy to recommend it to other executive search firms looking for a top-class executive search software!” — Kenichi Takashima, Senior Consultant, Signium International (Japan)
“The combination of AI-enhanced search capabilities with CRM features made for executive search gives me great capability to quickly identify promising prospects, build slates of candidates and share them with my colleagues and clients.” – Diego Merino, Search Consultant, Resource Group 175 (USA)
Want more reviews? Check out our Talentis Executive Search Software reviews on G2!
Yes! Talentis is a fully functionality ATS / CRM designed for executive search firms, in-house strategic talent acquisition teams and private equity firms. It includes functionality covering everything from business development, relationship tracking, client engagement, candidate research and sourcing, project management and team collaboration.
Yes! Talentis has built in integrations with both OpenAI and Sonar (Perplexity). This functionality is included in our standard platform.
Very few products offer the range of functionality that Talentis does. Talentis offers full CRM functionality, similar to products such as FileFinder, Cluen’s Encore, Invenias, Ezekia, Crelate, RecruitCRM and Thrive. It also offers candidate sourcing functionality comparable to platforms such as LinkedIn Recruiter. Talentis is most commonly compared to Loxo in that it is an integrated “Talent Intelligence Platform.
Executive search software is assignment driven – based around the process of going out and “headhunting” the very best candidate in the market. It’s about passive candidate research and engagement. Traditional ATS systems are primarily designed to manage applicants – that’s literally what ATS stands for – applicant tracking system!
Generally speaking, when you buy a legacy executive search software, it’s empty. Talentis comes with hundreds of million of profiles on tap – with virtually no data entry needed for any of them. It ensures you hit the ground running and dramatically reduces your time to value – by as much as 90%!
Yes. In fact, most of our clients are boutique search firms with between 1–50 users.
Absolutely. Talentis is used by firms with offices across multiple countries and includes time zone, GDPR, and multi-language support.
Yes. We’ll both migrate your data and enrich it. Import from a legacy executive search CRM, a CSV file or even your LinkedIn Connections!
Talentis is unbelievably easy to use – you may not need training! However, we offer free, open training webinars every month. If you’d like a dedicated session for your team, speak to us!
In many cases, yes. TalentGraph provides visibility into candidates you might otherwise miss. Many clients reduce or cancel their LinkedIn Recruiter seats.
Yes — it’s fully cloud-based, secure, and accessible anywhere with enterprise-grade hosting. True cloud, true SaaS.
Talentis and Loxo are similar in that they are both examples of “Talent Intelligence Platforms”. Both feature a combination of CRM and candidate sourcing in a single platform. However, there are significant differences.
While Loxo does list executive search firms amongst its clients, the product is aggressively marketed to recruiters involved in everything from “Professional Recruiting” to “Staffing Agencies” to “High Volume” to “In-House”. As a result, the platform offers substantial functionality that is not relevant to executive search firms – job posting, for example. Loxo also has a privacy policy which – in the highly confidential world of executive search – may be concerning to some buyers. Loxo also has a pricing policy that means much of the core functionality (including sourcing) is sold at a premium.
Talentis is designed for executive search, period and all core functionality is available in the standard pricing model.
Invenias is an Outlook based executive search software. Talentis is a web based executive search software. To get the most out of Invenias, users need to be using Microsoft Outlook in “Classic Mode” on a Windows computer. Talentis has an Outlook Add-in, but it supports both “Classic” and the “New” versions of Outlook, and offers identical support for Outlook on both the Mac and Windows platforms.
Like most systems, Invenias is sold as an empty database (obviously, migrations are possible). It does not have access to the Talentis TalentGraph and does not offer the functionality associated with it.
If your current platform feels slow, outdated, or built for a different industry — it probably is.
Talentis is the executive search software trusted by leading search firms worldwide. Built by the team behind FileFinder, and backed by decades of experience supporting headhunting professionals, Talentis delivers on the promise of faster, smarter, more effective search.
Book a demo now to see how Talentis can transform your workflow.
Depends who you ask. Every search firm has different needs and so the best solution for one firm may not be the best for a second.
However, “which executive search software supplier provides the best service?” Well, that’s much easier to define. The majority of specialist vendors have publicly available reviews on sites like Trustpilot. To help you understand which provider offers the best service, we’ve put together this summary of Trustpilot scores for executive search CRM suppliers, correct as of July 2, 2025.
Trustpilot rating: 4.9 on 836 reviews (as of July 2, 2025).
(NB – Talentis is actually covered by two Trustpilot reviews. Support is provided by Ikiru People – rated 4.9 on 881 reviews. In addition, Talentis and sister product GatedTalent have a combined product review of 4.5 on 1,424 reviews).
Trustpilot rating: 4.9 on 836 reviews (as of July 2, 2025).
(NB – FileFinder support is provided by Ikiru People – rated 4.9 on 836 reviews).
Trustpilot rating: 4.4 on 53 reviews (as of July 2, 2025).
4. Vincere
Trustpilot rating: 4.3 on 256 reviews (as of July 2, 2025).
(NB – Vincere support is provided by The Access Group, rated 4.6 on 4,430 reviews).
5. Zoho Recruit
Trustpilot rating: 4.1 on 5,345 reviews (as of July 2, 2025).
Trustpilot rating: 3.6 on 9 reviews (as of July 2, 2025).
7. RecruitBPM
Trustpilot rating: 3.5 on 3 reviews (as of July 2, 2025).
8. Crelate
Trustpilot rating: 3.2 on 2 reviews (as of July 2, 2025).
When it comes to considering software for your executive search firm, here are some questions to keep in mind:
We’d love to talk to you about how Talentis can help with your executive search software needs. To schedule a demo followed by a free trial, get in touch with our team today!
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