Compare
Excellent vs Workable: hosted ATS vs local-first hiring
A hosted ATS that bills per job — versus hiring built into a local-first OS where agents screen, score, and hand back a shortlist.
Workable
Workable in one line
A hosted applicant tracking system built around sourcing, careers pages, and structured interviewing.
- Best for
- Hiring teams that want a polished careers-page-plus-pipeline with stock candidate sourcing add-ons.
- Weak at
- Flat per-job pricing, all candidate data lives in Workable's cloud, and the workflow is human-driven — there's no agent screening or scorecarding for you.
- Pricing
- $149 / mo (Starter)
Excellent
Excellent in one line
A team of agents on your own machine — operating tasks, CRM, hiring, documents, and integrations against one data layer that stays with you.
- Best for
- Founders and small ops teams that want the whole business on their own machine, with agents to do the work.
- Strong at
- Local-first data, MCP-native agents, ship/verify gate across every change.
- Pricing
- Flat workspace license
Head to Head
The capabilities that decide it
Capability by capability — Workable on the left, Excellent on the right. No marketing checkmarks.
| Capability | Workable | Excellent |
|---|---|---|
Data lives on your machine | No | Yes |
Public job pages + apply form | Yes | Yes |
Candidate pipeline / kanban | Yes | Yes |
Agent screens, scores, and drafts outreach | Sourcing add-on | Triager + scribe roles, ship/verify-gated |
Immutable, evidence-backed scorecards | Editable | Yes |
Same record as CRM + tasks | No | Yes |
Per-job pricing | $149 starter (per active job) | Flat workspace license |
When to pick which.
Workable is a fine standalone ATS. Excellent is the move when you want hiring on the same database as your CRM and tasks — and agents doing the first-pass screen.
Pick Workable if
Hiring teams that want a polished careers-page-plus-pipeline with stock candidate sourcing add-ons.
Pick Excellent if
You want AI and data that live on your machine, an agent layer that does the work, and a verify gate that keeps autonomous work honest.
I posted a role on Friday and woke up Monday to a ranked shortlist of nine candidates, each with an evidence-backed scorecard. The Scribe even drafted the outreach.
Design partner
Hiring manager · Series B startup
Ready to put the work on your hard drive?
Join the waitlist — we onboard early users in cohorts. You'll get a setup call and a database file that's yours from day one.
Still shopping? See the full list of Workable alternatives →
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Own the AI — and the data — that runs your business.
Excellent is in early access. Join the waitlist — we onboard new operators every couple of weeks.