Søknadsbasen vs LinkedIn (Jobs / Recruiter)
LinkedIn is the world's largest professional network (over 1.3 billion members) and the strongest tool for reaching passive candidates, at a high and composite price.
We compare honestly: LinkedIn's global sourcing against Søknadsbasen's predictable Norwegian price and privacy.
What is what
LinkedIn for employers is several products: free/promoted job ads (PPC), and LinkedIn Recruiter for searching the whole network and sending InMail. Recruiter is sold as an annual subscription per seat. US-owned (Microsoft).
Søknadsbasen is Norwegian and EU-hosted, with pay-per-job and an anonymous candidate base from the Norwegian job market.
Side by side
| Feature | Søknadsbasen | |
|---|---|---|
| Price / modelRecruiter Lite ~$170/month, Corporate ~$9-12k/year per seat; promoted post PPC | Per job, NOK 990-2,990 (14-90 days), volume discount | Composite |
| Job posting | highlighted in the job seeker feed, exclusively | free basic + paid promotion |
| Searchable candidate base (active sourcing) | anonymous candidate base, unlocks NOK 49-99 each | Recruiter, search 1.3bn+ members |
| Application handling (ATS / pipeline)Projects/pipeline in Recruiter, not a full ATS | pipeline with ATS score + AI summary | Partly |
| AI (ad + screening) | AI ad + AI screening | AI Hiring Assistant |
| No lock-in / annual contractRecruiter is sold as an annual subscription per seat | no lock-in, pay per job | No |
| Free to get startedA free job post is possible; sourcing tools are paid | free account, pay only on publishing/contact | Partly |
| Norwegian + EU/GDPR storageGlobal, US-owned (Microsoft) | Norwegian, EU/GDPR, never sells data | No |
| Company profile / employer branding | public company profile + brand upgrade | Company / Career Pages |
| Target group | Founders/SMBs to HR/agencies | White-collar and specialist roles, enterprise/agencies |
What LinkedIn does well
- The world's largest professional network for actively sourcing passive candidates.
- Unmatched reach for white-collar, specialist and management roles.
- AI candidate suggestions and InMail straight to people who aren't actively looking.
Where LinkedIn falls short
- Recruiter costs five to six figures per seat per year, a completely different cost class.
- Global and US-owned, no Norwegian localisation or EU privacy by default for the employer tools.
- Not a full ATS, you need something else for application handling.
What Søknadsbasen offers beyond that
- Much lower and predictable cost in NOK, with no annual subscription per seat.
- Norwegian and EU-hosted, built for the Norwegian job market and privacy.
- An anonymous candidate base + a pipeline with an ATS score together, not a separate ATS purchase.
Choose LinkedIn
Choose LinkedIn if you headhunt specialist or management roles, preferably internationally, and need to reach passive candidates at scale.
Choose Søknadsbasen
Choose Søknadsbasen for a predictable Norwegian price with no annual agreement, EU privacy, and a candidate base + pipeline in one, especially for the Norwegian market.
Common questions
- Is Søknadsbasen an alternative to LinkedIn Recruiter?
- For the Norwegian market it can be, at a fraction of the price: you search an anonymous candidate base and contact people per unlock (NOK 49-99), without an annual subscription per seat. For global headhunting of passive specialists, LinkedIn's network is still the largest.
- What does LinkedIn cost for employers?
- It varies a lot: a free job post, a promoted post as PPC, and LinkedIn Recruiter from around $170/month (Lite) to $9,000-12,000 per seat per year (Corporate). Søknadsbasen costs from NOK 990 per job, with no lock-in.
Ready to hire, calmly?
Free to set up. You only pay when you publish a job or contact a candidate.