CRM vs ATS – two systems that companies often confuse, and that’s partly because CRM in HR is sometimes used even in the sense of working with candidates. However, CRM primarily serves to manage relationships with customers, whereas ATS is designed for working with candidates and recruitment. In the article we will explain the differences, give examples and look at practical usage.
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What is the difference between CRM and ATS?
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is used to manage relationships with customers and business activities , whereas ATS (Applicant Tracking System) is designed for candidate management and recruitment .
Simply put: CRM helps companies acquire and retain clients, ATS helps find and select employees. Both systems address a similar principle of relationship management , but with a different type of data .
In the recruitment and HR context you may sometimes encounter the term CRM as “Candidate Relationship Management” . But this overlaps in most cases with the functions of modern ATS systems rather than with the classic CRM for sales.
In the following parts of the article we will explain each system in more detail and show concrete examples from practice.
What is an ATS system and what is it for?
ATS (Applicant Tracking System) is software for recruitment management that helps companies manage candidates, automate the selection process and streamline the entire hiring process. It enables you to create a database of candidates, collect CVs, communicate with applicants, schedule interviews and evaluate candidates in one place.
An ATS system therefore replaces fragmented tools (emails, Excel, notes) and gives HR teams and recruitment agencies an overview of the entire recruitment process from the first contact to the candidate’s start date.
If you are interested in how to choose an ATS system, read our practical guide to choosing an ATS .
TIP: If you want to go more in depth and find out how an ATS works or what the key functions of modern recruitment software are, we recommend reading our article What is an ATS and why you need it for your recruitment.
What are the main functions of an ATS system?
In practice, an ATS system covers the entire recruitment process – the functions of an ATS specifically allow you to:
- Collect and centralise candidates – it automatically imports responses from job portals, emails or LinkedIn and stores them in a single database.
- Organise candidates in the recruitment process – move them clearly between the individual phases of the selection procedure (e.g. screening → interview → offer).
- Automate communication – send personalised emails, interview invitations or rejections without manual work.
- Collaborate with hiring managers – share candidates, collect feedback and comments in one place.
- Search and filter candidates – quickly find suitable candidates according to skills, experience or keywords.
- Schedule interviews and manage tasks – synchronise with the calendar, plan meetings and manage tasks in the team.
- Evaluate recruitment using data – track recruitment metrics such as time-to-hire, sources of candidates or recruitment performance.
Thanks to these functions, an ATS significantly reduces administration and helps HR and recruiters manage recruitment systematically and efficiently . They find all the information clearly in one place and can focus on what’s most important – working with candidates.
TIP : Modern ATS tools, such as Datacruit , today use AI to speed up recruitment in addition to basic candidate management – for example when searching for suitable candidates, summarising information from CVs or creating adverts. Thanks to this, HR teams can handle routine tasks faster and can focus more on the actual work with people.
Practical use of an ATS in recruitment
On an ordinary day for a recruiter or HR specialist, the ATS functions as the main working tool in which they have the entire recruitment open. In the morning they check new responses to adverts that have automatically entered the system, quickly go through them and divide them – suitable candidates move on, the others receive a rejection. For each candidate they see the CV, notes and communication history, so they don’t have to look anything up in emails.
During the day they then use the ATS to schedule interviews, create candidate profiles and share them with the hiring manager, who immediately adds feedback. When a position drags on, they simply return to the database and approach candidates from previous selection processes. Everything takes place in one place , without manual rewriting of information and unnecessary administration.
What is a CRM system and what is it for?
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is software for managing relationships with customers that helps companies manage contacts, business opportunities and communication with customers in one place. It allows you to track the entire business process from the first contact to closing the deal and subsequent client care.
A CRM system therefore serves primarily sales and marketing teams who need to have an overview of customers, their needs and communication history.
CRM in HR: Customer vs Candidate Relationship Management
In an HR context you may encounter that the abbreviation CRM does not mean Customer Relationship Management , but also Candidate Relationship Management . This designates CRM as a tool for building and maintaining relationships with candidates outside the actual selection process. In this sense CRM does not serve to manage customers, but to work with talent pools, segment candidates, maintain long-term communication and “nurture” passive applicants.
It is often presented as a supplement to an ATS – while an ATS handles active recruitment (the selection process), CRM in this sense helps create a pipeline of candidates for future needs. This approach, however, often blurs the difference between a traditional CRM system and recruitment tools, because these functions are now covered by modern ATS systems.
What are the main functions of a CRM system?
A CRM system helps sales teams keep an overview of customers and manage the sales process from the first contact to closing the collaboration. In practice, the salesperson records companies and contact persons , notes communication (emails, meetings, calls) and monitors which stage individual business opportunities are in.
At the same time, a CRM makes it possible to plan the next steps – for example when to contact the client, prepare an offer or follow up on previous meetings. Thanks to this, the whole team has a shared overview of who is communicating with whom and what stage the business relationship is at, without the need to search for information in emails or notes.
What does typical use of CRM look like in practice?
In a salesperson’s day-to-day work CRM functions as a place where they keep track of what is going on around clients . In the morning they look through who they should contact, who they’re waiting for a reply from and where communication has stalled for several days. After a call they quickly note what was discussed, set a reminder for the next step and move on – without having to rely on memory or search through old emails.
And for example in marketing CRM is used as a source of contacts and context . The marketing team segments customers according to behaviour or stage in the purchase process and sends them targeted relevant content. At the same time they see how contacts are moving towards a sale and can better evaluate which campaigns actually bring results.
ATS vs CRM: overview of the main differences
CRM and ATS differ mainly in what data they work with and what process they manage – CRM focuses on customers and sales , whereas ATS focuses on candidates and recruitment . Although they may partially overlap in some functions, their main purpose is different.
|
Area |
CRM system |
ATS system |
|
Main purpose |
Managing customer relationships and sales activities |
Managing recruitment and candidate processes |
|
Data type |
Clients, companies, contacts, sales opportunities |
Candidates, resumes, job positions, hiring processes |
|
Users |
Sales reps, account managers, marketing |
Recruiters, HR, hiring managers |
|
Process |
Sales pipeline (lead → offer → deal) |
Recruitment process (application → interview → hire) |
|
Goal |
Acquire and retain customers |
Find and hire the right candidate |
|
Metrics |
Revenue, conversion rate, sales cycle length |
|
|
Communication |
With customers and leads |
With candidates |
Summary: ATS vs CRM in a nutshell
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is a system for managing customers and business relationships. ATS (Applicant Tracking System) is a system for managing candidates and recruitment.
In HR CRM is sometimes used also as Candidate Relationship Management , but these functions are now commonly part of ATS systems.
Simply:
- CRM = customers, sales, relationships à works with clients and the sales pipeline
- ATS = candidates, recruitment, selection procedure à works with candidates and the recruitment process
Try a modern ATS for free and find out what it brings you
Are you getting lost in emails, spreadsheets and candidates who have “fallen apart” across different tools? That’s exactly the moment when it makes sense to start using an ATS . You can try Datacruit free for 30 days and you’ll see for yourself what recruitment looks like when you have everything in one place and under control.
Get inspired by the way hundreds of companies use it today and how it significantly streamlines and helps evaluate recruitment processes .
