Contingency agency
Cost
Time to hire
GuaranteePay on placement. Replacement window varies by contract.
A percentage of first-year salary, paid on placement. The fee rises with every dollar you offer.
Pricing & economics
Run the math on your role.
Flat $25,000 per search, or $40,000 for leadership roles at $400k+. Pick the seat you are filling and see what the same hire costs everywhere else, in money and in weeks.
The seat you are filling
Retained search
Cost
Time to hire
GuaranteeNone on the fee. Paid in stages whether or not they deliver.
Executive search, paid in thirds whether or not they deliver. Typically 25–33% of first-year compensation.
Paraform
Cost
Time to hire
GuaranteePay on placement. Terms set per recruiter.
Recruiter marketplace. Typically 20–25% of first-year salary, or a set bounty of roughly $10k–$30k per role.
Dover
Cost
Time to hire
GuaranteeNone. The monthly fee runs either way.
Embedded recruiter, roughly $8k–$15k a month, billed whether or not the seat gets filled. The longer the search runs, the more it costs.
In-house recruiter
Cost
Time to hire
GuaranteeNone. The salary runs either way.
Salary plus tooling, before a single hire and before ramp. Hard to justify below a steady pipeline of roles.
SourceSHRM 2026 benchmarks
ConnectPath
Cost
Time to hire
GuaranteeQualified candidates in 14 days or we keep working free. A hire in 21 days or a full refund. Free 90-day replacement.
Flat, per search. $40,000 for leadership roles paid above $400k. It does not move when the salary does.
SourceOur terms
You save against a contingency agency at the rate above
Weeks back against an in-house search for this role
Output not lost engineering output the open seat would have cost over those weeks
Comparison rates and timelines are typical published ranges for each model, not quotes. Market time-to-hire is the 2026 benchmark for the selected role; each model is adjusted from it using published time-to-fill differences. Output not lost uses our own model for an open senior seat. Your numbers will vary, so bring them to the call. Role time-to-hire benchmarks: TechHiringCost and Talmatic.
Next step: book your call
Book a 30-minute call and get your real numbers.
The figures above are benchmarks. On a call, Alland Ali, founder of ConnectPath, runs them against your actual seat, your compensation band and your timeline, then tells you honestly whether the embedded model fits. If it does not, he will say so. Answer a few questions about the role and pick a time at the end.
Book your callTakes two minutes. No obligation, and no hard sell on the call.
