The best LinkedIn Jobs alternatives list a role once, from the employer's own careers page, and drop it when it closes. We ranked five on four tests: employer's own page, listed once, closed roles removed, tracker built in. First is Job Search, HighCircl's own job search with a built-in tracker. Then HiringCafe, Hacker News "Who is hiring?", Wellfound and Built In. Keep LinkedIn for recruiter messages.
What's wrong with LinkedIn for finding roles, and what is it still good for?
LinkedIn is good for being found and weaker for finding. Two things in its own help pages explain why.
If a recruiting agency posted the job you applied to, LinkedIn's help page on applying says the agency may share your application with its other clients for roles that fit your profile. You thought you applied to one company. Your application may now sit with several.
The second is visibility. LinkedIn's Open to Work help page describes two settings. "All LinkedIn Members" shows your status to recruiters and to people at your current company. "Recruiters only" limits it to people using LinkedIn Recruiter, and LinkedIn takes steps to hide it from Recruiter users at your employer. It can't guarantee complete privacy, so if you're employed, assume a determined colleague could still find out.
So the fix for LinkedIn itself is small:
- Set Open to Work to Recruiters only if you're still employed.
- On an agency-posted role, don't expect your application to stay with one employer.
- Open the company's own careers page before you apply, and apply there if the role is listed.
Keep LinkedIn for inbound recruiter messages (how to reply to a recruiter email) and for researching companies. Move the searching.
LinkedIn Jobs alternatives at a glance
| Site | Tests its own pages confirm | Best for | Catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job Search by HighCircl | All four | Fewer, cleaner results with a tracker | Far smaller than HiringCafe |
| HiringCafe | Employer pages, no agencies, tracker | The widest net | Ads, and a Talent Network recruiters can see |
| Hacker News "Who is hiring?" | Employer's own posting, listed once | Writing straight to the hiring company | A monthly thread you search by hand |
| Wellfound | None of the four | Small companies, salary shown up front | Startups only |
| Built In | Free tracker | Filtering by company size and remote | Doesn't say where listings come from |
Which sites should replace LinkedIn for searching?
1. Job Search by HighCircl
Job Search is our product. It's a job search plus an application tracker, and it's the only entry here whose own pages state all four tests.
Roles come only from employers' own boards on Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby and other applicant tracking systems, synced daily, with nothing from Indeed or LinkedIn. Postings with the same title become one result with the cities inside, and a role that's closed never shows in search. You apply on the employer's page, then follow the application on a board or table: Saved, Applied, Interviewing, Offer, Closed.
You'd pick it if your LinkedIn results show the same role four times and you want one place to log what you sent.
The catch is size and coverage. It's far smaller than HiringCafe, which says it has over 5 million jobs. It only covers employers on supported applicant tracking systems.
2. HiringCafe
HiringCafe is the widest search of employer pages here. It says it collects jobs from company websites in real time and filters out external recruiting agencies. Its free Job Tracker picks up the HiringCafe jobs you save or apply to.
You'd pick it if you want the widest net and don't mind sorting through it. It says it works on detecting stale postings and duplicate roles, but it states no rule for either. The tracker doesn't describe adding jobs from other sites.
The catch is what comes with free. It shows Google AdSense ads in search results and the tracker, and labels sponsored listings. If you join its Talent Network, employers and recruiters with an account may view your profile. If you're searching quietly, don't join. The full comparison is in HighCircl Job Search vs HiringCafe.
3. Hacker News "Who is hiring?"
Hacker News runs a monthly "Ask HN: Who is hiring?" thread. Its top post says to post only if you personally are part of the hiring company, "no recruiting firms or job boards", with one post per company. Posters should be actively filling a position and committed to replying to applicants, and remote roles are flagged REMOTE, or REMOTE (US) when the country is restricted.
You'd pick it if you'd rather write to the company that's hiring than apply through a form, and you want remote marked up front.
The catch is that it's a thread, not a tool. You search it by hand, nothing marks a role as closed, and there's no tracker. Confirm a post is still live before you write.
4. Wellfound
Wellfound is for startup roles. Its about page describes its origin as candidates talking directly to founders and engineers, with salary and equity shown up front.
You'd pick it if you want a small company and a number on the listing before you spend an evening on an application.
The catch is scope. Wellfound describes itself as a startup job platform, so expect small companies. It doesn't say where its listings come from, how it treats reposts or whether it has a tracker.
5. Built In
Built In is a tech and startup job board with filters for the things tech seekers care about, such as company size and remote or hybrid. A free account gets you a free application tracker.
You'd pick it if you're narrowing by company size or remote and want a tracker without paying for one.
The catch is that it doesn't say where its listings come from, and some show a "Reposted" timestamp. Confirm a listing on the employer's page before you apply.
One backend engineer, one week
An engineer laid off in October finds a backend role on LinkedIn, posted by an agency. The same company has a role with the same title on its own Greenhouse board.
The rule is to open the employer's board first. It's there, so the engineer applies there and logs the application once, in a tracker. If it hadn't been there, the LinkedIn post would stay unconfirmed: worth a message to the recruiter, not worth an application sent blind.
A second engineer is still employed. They set Open to Work to Recruiters only and search on a personal laptop and personal email, whichever tool they use.
What to do with your search this week
Make two decisions: where you search, and what you keep LinkedIn for.
Pick one search source from the table and stay in it for the week, instead of five tabs that each show the same role. If you want the widest net, that's HiringCafe. If you want fewer, cleaner results with the tracker built in, it's Job Search. Whichever you choose, put every application in one tracker and open the employer's page before you apply.
Keep LinkedIn for inbound messages and company research. Then judge the new source by what it sends you, not by how many results it shows. Silence after applications isn't a verdict on you; what to do when you hear nothing back is the next read, and the rest of the series is in tech job search guides.
Try Job Search while it's in open beta
If you're tired of working out which of five tabs holds the real posting, Job Search is free during the open beta. You can try it at Job Search by HighCircl.
FAQ
Is there a better place to look for jobs than LinkedIn?
It depends on what you need. For finding roles, pick a source that lists each role once from the employer's own page and removes closed ones, such as Job Search, or HiringCafe, which collects jobs from company websites. LinkedIn stays useful for recruiter messages and company research.
Can my employer see that I'm open to work on LinkedIn?
If you show Open to Work to all LinkedIn members, people at your current company can see it. "Recruiters only" limits it to people using LinkedIn Recruiter, and LinkedIn takes steps to hide it from Recruiter users at your company. It can't guarantee complete privacy.
Does LinkedIn Easy Apply share my application?
It's sent to the job poster. If a recruiting agency posted the job, LinkedIn says the agency may share your application with its other clients for roles that fit your profile.
Do I need to delete LinkedIn to use these sites?
No. Keep your profile so recruiters can find you, and use the sites above for searching and applying.