How much does it cost to
advertise a job?
Advertising a job in the UK can cost nothing or several thousand pounds, depending on how you do it. Here's what drives the price, and where the value is.
The honest answer is that it ranges from free to several thousand pounds. Free and organic listings cost nothing but have limited reach. Premium single-board slots often run into the low hundreds of pounds each. A multi-board credit that covers many boards at once is usually the best value: Workvine DIY is £399 for one advert across 10+ UK job boards. And a recruitment agency, the most expensive route, has traditionally charged a percentage of salary.
Here's what actually drives the cost, from free listings up to full agency fees.
Four things move
the price.
- How many boards One board is cheap but limits reach. Being on several at once costs more done individually, but reaches far more candidates.
- Organic vs sponsored A free or included listing appears organically. Paying to sponsor or feature a listing pushes it higher for longer, at extra cost.
- Single slots vs a bundle Buying each board separately means separate fees and logins. A multi-board credit bundles many boards into one price.
- Agency fees Handing the whole hire to an agency is the most expensive route: traditionally a percentage of salary, though fixed-fee options now exist.
You can advertise
for nothing.
For an easy-to-fill role, free listings can be enough. Indeed allows free adverts (organic reach only, subject to Indeed's policies at the time), Google for Jobs surfaces correctly marked-up adverts at no cost, and the government's Find a Job service is free to use.
The catch is visibility. Free listings slide down the results quickly, so for anything competitive you'll usually need paid reach as well.
Where multi-board
wins on value.
A premium slot on a major board often runs into the low hundreds of pounds, and if you want to be on four or five boards you pay, and manage, each one separately. The cost and the admin both climb quickly.
A multi-board credit fixes both. You write one advert, it goes to many boards at once, and you pay a single price. Workvine DIY is £399 for one advert across 10+ UK job boards, with no contract, and every application lands in one place in Talentvine, our ATS.
What an agency
costs.
Job advertising costs,
answered.
It ranges from free to several thousand pounds. Free and organic listings (Indeed organic, Google for Jobs, the DWP Find a Job service) cost nothing but have limited reach. Premium single-board slots often run into the low hundreds of pounds each. A multi-board credit that covers many boards at once is usually the best value: Workvine DIY is £399 for one advert across 10+ UK job boards.
Yes, up to a point. Indeed allows free listings (organic reach only, subject to Indeed policy), Google for Jobs surfaces correctly marked-up adverts at no cost, and the DWP Find a Job service is free. Free listings work for easy-to-fill roles but drop down the results quickly without a paid boost.
Per advert, one board is cheapest, but it caps your reach. Buying several boards individually gets expensive fast. A multi-board service is normally the cheapest way to reach many boards at once, because the boards are bundled into a single price.
A traditional agency typically charges 15 to 25 percent of the first-year salary, which can run to thousands of pounds per hire. Advertising the role yourself across multiple boards costs a few hundred. Fixed-fee recruitment sits in between: a set price for the full service, from £1,999 with Workvine.
Advertise once,
reach everywhere.
Skip the per-board maths. Buy one credit and we'll get your advert live across the UK's major job boards, with every applicant in one place.