Marxel vs Lever: Choosing the Right CV Screening Tool for Your UK Business

Lever is renowned for its robust features tailored for tech companies and startups, focusing on comprehensive recruitment solutions. Marxel stands out with its native GDPR compliance and affordability, making it ideal for UK/EU SMBs. Choose Lever for advanced features and scalability; opt for Marxel if you need cost-effective, AI-powered CV screening with UK-specific integrations.

CV Parsing and Screening: Both tools offer CV parsing, but Marxel’s AI-driven screening provides a more automated approach, reducing manual workload significantly. Lever's parsing is robust but may require more human intervention.

AI/Automation Features: Marxel excels with AI features tailored for efficient CV screening, making it ideal for high-volume recruitment. Lever includes automation but focuses more on comprehensive recruitment workflows.

Integrations: Marxel integrates seamlessly with UK job boards, a crucial advantage for local businesses. Lever offers broad integrations but may lack specific connections to UK-centric platforms.

Reporting and Analytics: Lever provides in-depth analytics suitable for large-scale operations. Marxel offers essential reporting features, well-suited for SMBs needing straightforward insights.

Collaboration Features: Both platforms support team collaboration, but Lever’s tools are more comprehensive, catering to larger teams with complex workflows.

Marxel offers a free tier, making it accessible for SMBs to start without upfront costs. Its pricing is transparent, with options to scale as your needs grow. Lever’s pricing is custom and typically starts around $3000 per month, which may be prohibitive for smaller teams.

Free Tiers and Trials: Marxel provides a free tier, allowing companies to experience its core functionalities. Lever’s trial is more limited, focusing on enterprise needs.

Per-Seat vs Per-Job Pricing: Marxel offers flexible pricing, often per-job, which is more predictable for SMBs. Lever’s pricing is typically per-seat, which can escalate costs quickly.

Hidden Costs: Lever’s custom pricing may include additional fees for integrations or advanced features, whereas Marxel is more upfront about costs.

For a 10-person team, Marxel remains cost-effective, while Lever could result in higher expenses.

Marxel provides support during UK business hours, ensuring timely assistance. It offers comprehensive onboarding help and clear documentation, essential for SMBs.

Lever, while offering multiple support channels, primarily operates on US time zones, which may delay responses for UK businesses. Their documentation is thorough, but onboarding support might not be as personalized as Marxel’s.

Lever is ideal for tech companies and startups looking for a scalable, feature-rich recruitment platform. It suits larger teams requiring advanced collaboration tools and in-depth analytics. If your workflow involves intricate recruitment stages and you have the budget, Lever’s comprehensive suite is a strong choice.

Marxel is perfect for UK/EU businesses prioritizing GDPR compliance and affordability. It’s well-suited for SMBs needing AI-powered screening without the high cost of enterprise platforms. If you’re handling 50-200 CVs per role and seeking to reduce time-to-shortlist, Marxel offers an efficient, budget-friendly solution.

Transitioning from Lever to Marxel can be streamlined with data export options available in Lever. CVs and candidate data transfer easily, but custom integrations might require additional setup.

The typical transition timeline is a few weeks, depending on the complexity of your current setup. Marxel provides dedicated support throughout the process, including data migration assistance and training for your team to ensure a smooth switch.

For UK SMBs focused on cost-effective, GDPR-compliant solutions, Marxel is the clear choice. Its AI-driven screening and UK-specific integrations offer tangible benefits. Lever remains a strong contender for larger, tech-focused organizations with the budget for comprehensive features. Evaluate your needs and scale to make the best decision for your recruitment strategy.

Lever (now part of Employ Inc.) positions itself as a Talent Relationship Management (TRM) platform rather than a traditional ATS:

• CRM-first approach — designed to nurture passive candidates over time, not just process active applicants
• Enterprise pricing typically starts at £3,000+/month with custom quotes
• Strong adoption among tech startups and mid-market companies
• Unified ATS + CRM in a single platform

Lever's differentiator is the relationship-building aspect — tracking candidate interactions over months or years, building talent pipelines before roles even open.

Lever optimises for long-term talent relationships. Marxel optimises for the moment you have 200 CVs and need to make fast, fair decisions:

• 200 CVs screened in approximately 4 minutes — with transparent reasoning for every candidate placement
• Weighted rubric system calibrated from both job descriptions and hiring manager briefing notes
• Free tier with 26 CVs/month vs Lever's enterprise-only pricing
• 168 skill categories with semantic matching, so nuanced technical roles get proper evaluation

If your hiring challenge is building talent pipelines and nurturing passive candidates, Lever excels. If your challenge is screening high volumes of active applicants quickly and consistently, Marxel is purpose-built for that.