Comparison

LinkedIn Recruiter vs Clockwork Recruiting

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

LinkedIn Recruiter

This app helps talent professionals find and engage ideal candidates quickly. Search and connect with a vast network, review profiles, and manage your recruitment pipeline from anywhere. It offers AI-powered messaging and smart filters to streamline the hiring process.

Highlights
  • Search entire LinkedIn talent pool
  • AI-generated messages for higher acceptance rates
  • Real-time candidate response notifications
  • Manage job posts and applicants
  • Collaborate with team members
  • Access ATS data on candidate profiles
Features
Read full description

Find your ideal candidate faster with the LinkedIn Recruiter app. Stay on top of recruiting while you’re on the go by searching and connecting with our entire network of 1 billion+ members, right from your phone. Review profiles, reach out and respond to candidates, and manage your pipeline, whenever and wherever you’d like. With the LinkedIn Recruiter app, you can: • Be notified in real-time when candidates respond to your messages • Increase InMail accept rate by 40% with AI-generated messages • Search the entire LinkedIn talent pool using Spotlights, smart filters and keywords • Review best-matching candidates using Recommended Matches and Spotlights • Stay on top of important tasks with Suggested Actions • Post, update and manage your job posts and applicants • Access and edit your recent searches easily • Collaborate with your team by tagging them in Notes and starting a conversation • Easily share candidate profiles with your hiring manager/client for feedback • View information from your ATS directly on candidate profiles with Recruiter System Connect The LinkedIn Recruiter app requires a Recruiter or Recruiter Lite account, which is a paid LinkedIn subscription for talent professionals. If you are interested in learning more about LinkedIn Recruiter, please visit: https://business.linkedin.com/talent-solutions/recruiter LinkedIn is committed to making its products and features accessible. Please find our statements to support this commitment at https://linkedin.com/accessibility/reports.

About

Clockwork Recruiting

This software streamlines executive talent acquisition for retained search firms. It offers a comprehensive online solution for managing clients, teams, and data, alongside professional services to optimize its use.

Highlights
  • Client management
  • Team management
  • Data management
  • Talent acquisition acceleration
  • Business development tools
  • Professional services
Features
Read full description

Clockwork provides innovative and highly flexible software and services for retained executive search firms to accelerate executive talent acquisition. A Solution For Improvement & Growth Clockwork is a complete online solution for executive search that includes: - Proven software based on a methodology to streamline and simplify client, team, and data management efforts; then leverage them for business development. - Professional Services, including Training, Data Services, and Custom Development to help you get the most from Clockwork. - Partner services to help fill any gaps when you need it.

Screenshots

LinkedIn Recruiter4 screens
Clockwork Recruiting4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Clockwork Recruiting at free against LinkedIn Recruiter's paid. Clockwork Recruiting also leads on ads (none vs shown) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). LinkedIn Recruiter's advantage is ratings volume (9.2K vs 5). On price, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Clockwork Recruiting holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: LinkedIn Recruiter has 9.2K ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

LinkedIn Recruiter ships an update every 5 weeks, Clockwork Recruiting every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and June 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
LinkedIn Recruiter versus Clockwork Recruiting: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLinkedIn RecruiterClockwork Recruiting
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (9.2K ratings)5.0 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews25.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings9.2K — better5
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS16.013.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size59 MB33 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLinkedIn CorporationClockwork ESE, Inc

Customer experience

LinkedIn Recruiter

All ratings9,161 ratings
Positive96.6%
Neutral2.4%
Negative1.0%
Written reviews321 reviews
Positive25.2%
Neutral6.5%
Negative68.2%

Clockwork Recruiting

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

LinkedIn Recruiter

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Messages not sending properly
  • Profiles and projects not loading correctly
  • Push notifications not working as expected
  • Incompatibility with newer devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to edit message templates
  • Option to select candidate relocation preferences
  • More granular distance search filters
  • Expanded city/location database
  • Direct access to job applicants and pipelines

Clockwork Recruiting

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

LinkedIn Recruiter

No in-app purchases

None

Clockwork Recruiting

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is LinkedIn Recruiter free?
LinkedIn Recruiter is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Clockwork Recruiting free?
Clockwork Recruiting is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, LinkedIn Recruiter or Clockwork Recruiting?
Clockwork Recruiting is rated higher. LinkedIn Recruiter averages 4.8 out of 5 from 9.2K ratings, while Clockwork Recruiting averages 5.0 from 5 ratings.
Do LinkedIn Recruiter or Clockwork Recruiting have ads?
LinkedIn Recruiter shows ads; Clockwork Recruiting does not.
Which is updated more often, LinkedIn Recruiter or Clockwork Recruiting?
LinkedIn Recruiter ships an update every 5 weeks, and Clockwork Recruiting every 2 weeks. Most recently, LinkedIn Recruiter was updated on September 28, 2026 and Clockwork Recruiting on June 5, 2026.

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