Indeed vs LinkedIn: How to Choose Where to Post Your Next Open Role

Should you post your next open role on Indeed or LinkedIn? With dozens of job boards to choose from, recruiters are spoiled for choice – and primed for decision fatigue.

Today we’re comparing two of the most popular job posting platforms to see which one makes the most sense for your recruitment process.

Indeed vs LinkedIn: The real pros and cons of each

While Indeed is strictly a job board, aggregating job posts from company portals, recruiter sites, and even other job boards, LinkedIn is first and foremost a professional networking site – but with stellar job search capabilities, too. 

Here’s how the main features stack up:

5 factors to consider before choosing

At the end of the day, the choice of whether to post your next open role on Indeed vs LinkedIn boils down to how you want to present your company to job applicants. 

When recruiting on LinkedIn, details matter. If you have the time to create a strong LinkedIn profile and routinely reach out to your connections, it  can be a powerful employer branding and recruitment tool. But if you’re looking for a job search engine that emphasizes simplicity and volume, Indeed may be the better bet.

1. Target audience: who do you want to reach? 

LinkedIn reports over 1.2 billion members globally, with approximately 25% of users accessing the platform daily. Indeed, meanwhile, serves over 350 million unique visitors monthly. But raw numbers don't tell the whole story.

LinkedIn is ideal for targeting white-collar professionals and is known for its network of passive candidates who may not be actively looking for a new job, but are open to opportunities.

As a social media network, LinkedIn encourages strong personal branding on both the candidate and employer side, helping users build their network and maximize career momentum with features like the ability to add your company’s Commitments and a Life tab to showcase your culture. This, combined with direct messaging options, makes LinkedIn a good fit for companies that want to make a personal connection with candidates.

But while job listings are more like an added bonus on LinkedIn, Indeed’s main focus is matching candidates to posted job openings.

In terms of free places to post jobs, Indeed is right at the top of the list. It’s suitable for a wide range of job types, from entry-level positions to specialized roles. And with a user-friendly job search engine on the candidate side, Indeed makes it easy for job seekers to explore openings without the need for prior connections.

2. Budget constraints: how much can you spend?

LinkedIn offers pay-per-click pricing for job ads, allowing you to choose your own budget. This can end up being pricey, but it’s also more targeted. With the ability to set a daily budget for the job post, it’s especially beneficial if you’re looking for a specific type of candidate and want to control your spending.

LinkedIn also offers a Talent Solutions premium subscription if you’re looking to move beyond job posting. Starting at $139.99 per month, the Lite version allows you to find and engage users in your 1st, 2nd or 3rd degree network alongside messaging perks and advanced search and filtering options. The Advanced version allows unlimited network access, bulk messaging, and more at an undisclosed amount per month.

Like LinkedIn, Indeed allows free job postings with the option to sponsor posts to increase visibility. At as little as $5 per day, this model may be more cost-effective for companies with limited recruitment budgets. However, if you want to access Indeed’s resume database, expect to pay between $120 and $300 per month.

3. Hiring urgency: how quickly do you need to fill this position?

In today’s job market, it’s not just about finding the right talent – it’s about finding them before the competition does. With Indeed’s vast job seeker database, you’re likely to find quick hires, but with a large volume of open positions, you’ll also need a proven process for screening applicants quickly.

By upgrading your roles for visibility, you can keep your jobs at the top of candidates’ feeds for longer. Depending on the level of available talent for the role you’re hiring for, you may also need to fine-tune your candidate engagement process to shorten the time from sourcing to offer.

And with LinkedIn’s emphasis on long-term relationship building, it’s the perfect platform to do exactly that. Though it may take longer to yield results, especially for niche roles, employers can find qualified candidates ready to jump at the right opportunity.

4. Role type: what kind of talent do you need?

The best job board for your needs also depends on the type of role you’re filling. “I’ve found that LinkedIn is better for white collar full-time, permanent employment. Indeed is better for gig work, temp jobs, part-time work, and jobs that hire quickly and have high turnover, such as minimum wage jobs,” writes one Redditor.

And with LinkedIn facing criticism from blue-collar workers unable to find employment on the site, Indeed seems like the better fit for manual laborers like Darren Rambo. “To be quite honest with you, I’ve had a LinkedIn account and I’ve never had any success with it,” Rambo told CNBC. “[But] Within three days [of making an Indeed account], I had four or five people calling me.”

If you’re looking for full-time knowledge workers, LinkedIn allows companies to connect directly with high-quality candidates. And though some have joked it’s the “brag board of choice for the white-collar worker,” the impulse to share makes it easier to vet candidates and assess culture fit.

5. Employer branding: how do you want candidates to see you?

When it comes to employer branding, LinkedIn’s emphasis on social networking makes it a clear leader. The platform offers robust employer branding tools, allowing companies to showcase their culture, values, and employee experiences in a place where qualified applicants are almost guaranteed to see them. 

By empowering companies to tell their story, candidates are more likely to actively participate in a brand’s narrative. But it should be noted that Indeed also offers features that connect candidates with companies, providing company pages where employers can highlight reviews and salaries.

What does the data say?

Our analysis of over 24 million job applications reveals a clear pattern: Indeed dominates in terms of application volume and hiring success rates, while LinkedIn excels at attracting highly qualified candidates who make it further in the interview process.

With 66% of all applications coming through Indeed and an impressive 99% offer acceptance rate, it's the clear winner for high-volume hiring needs. Meanwhile, LinkedIn's more selective candidate pool (13% of total applications) yields twice the interview rate of Indeed, making it ideal for specialized roles where quality trumps quantity.

Here's the full breakdown of our findings:

Indeed

Over 17 million job seekers applied to open positions posted to Indeed via Breezy last year. Of those, 2% were offered an interview, 41% were offered the role and almost all of the candidates who received an offer accepted it.

Applied: 66%

Interviewed: 2%

Job Offered: 41%

Hired: 99%

LinkedIn

Of the 3.5+ million candidates who applied via LinkedIn, 4% made it to the interview round. Of those, 21% were offered the position and 77% accepted.

Applied: 13%

Interviewed: 4%

Job Offered: 21%

Hired: 77%

Platform-specific tips for success

So, should you choose LinkedIn or Indeed for your next open role? Here are a few tips to maximize your results on either platform:

Indeed best practices:

• Use specific job titles that match common search terms
• Include salary information
• Enable immediate candidate responses
• Utilize assessment tools to pre-screen candidates

LinkedIn best practices:

• Leverage your company page followers for organic reach
• Use LinkedIn's "Skills" feature to target qualified candidates
• Engage with potential candidates through LinkedIn groups
• Take advantage of LinkedIn's employee advocacy tools

Get easy posting for every platform with Breezy

Whether you’re recruiting for a brand new open role, nurturing your candidate pipeline, or building your brand, both Indeed and LinkedIn have a role to play.

And because both platforms offer no-cost options, there’s probably room for both in your hiring process. So go ahead and post a role, build out your company page, and see what happens – then you can concentrate your resources on the site that best fits your needs.

No matter where you promote your open roles, Breezy can help you reach more candidates. With just one click, you can automatically post your job listing to more than 50 of the top job boards, including Indeed and LinkedIn.

Try Breezy free for 14 days and start discovering your best sources of hire.

Frequently asked questions: Indeed vs. LinkedIn

Here are some of the most common questions about LinkedIn vs. Indeed.

Which is better, Indeed or LinkedIn?

Whether you opt for LinkedIn or Indeed totally depends on your hiring needs. LinkedIn is great for reaching professionals, especially for roles that require networking and industry connections. It also lets you target specific skills and experience levels. While Indeed is more focused on job seekers actively looking for work, so you might get a higher volume of applications.

What is the best job search engine?

For recruiters, the best job search engine depends on the role, industry, and hiring goals. Some platforms are better for attracting a high volume of applicants, while others excel at targeting specialized talent or connecting with passive candidates. The right choice also depends on whether you prefer a hands-on approach – actively searching for candidates – or an automated system that matches the right talent to your job posting. Ultimately, it’s about finding the platform that aligns with your recruitment strategy and helps you reach the best candidates quickly.

Which one’s best for employers, Indeed, LinkedIn, or ZipRecruiter?

Choosing the best job search engine depends on your hiring needs. Each job search engine has unique characteristics: Indeed is great for getting a high volume of applicants quickly, LinkedIn is ideal for finding quality candidates through networking and direct outreach, and ZipRecruiter uses AI to match job posts with the right candidates while distributing them across multiple job boards. If you want lots of applicants, go with Indeed. If you need highly skilled professionals, LinkedIn is your best bet. And if you want a smart, hands-off approach, ZipRecruiter can do the heavy lifting for you.