Staffing Agency Markup vs Recruiting Software: The Real Cost Comparison

Staffing agencies typically charge a substantial markup on every hour or a large placement fee, while recruiting software is a flat, predictable cost, so once you hire above a modest volume, software almost always wins on cost per hire.

How agency pricing works

Agencies charge either a markup on hourly wages or a percentage placement fee. Either way, the cost scales with every hire and every hour, forever. You never stop paying for the same roles.

How software pricing works

Recruiting software is typically a flat subscription regardless of how many people you hire through it. EasySource publishes flat-rate pricing at its pricing page rather than charging per hire or per location.

The break-even

Run the numbers: agency markup per hire times your monthly hires, versus the flat software cost. For most facilities contractors hiring at any real volume, software pays for itself within the first month or two.

The strategic difference

Beyond cost, insourcing builds a lasting capability and a candidate pipeline you own, while agency spend leaves you with nothing once the invoice is paid.

A real-world example

A contractor hiring dozens of cleaners a month calculated that its agency markup over a year exceeded the cost of a sourcing platform many times over, and switched most hiring in-house the next quarter.