Glassdoor vs. Indeed: 2023 Comparison

There are so many job boards out there in the world — some being a better choice than others, depending on your needs. So let’s compare two of the top job search engines out there — Glassdoor vs. Indeed — to help you make a decision on which one you should be using, whether as a job seeker or an employer looking to post job listings.

Glassdoor and Indeed are owned by the same holding company, but they operate as separate entities. They both function as a way to improve recruiting and hiring, but they can serve different purposes. Many companies find success using both websites to complement their recruiting efforts.

Another website that addresses many of the options on both sides, in one location, is ZipRecruiter. If neither Indeed nor Glassdoor has everything job seekers or employers need, it may be a better choice to find qualified candidates or land your next role. Read on to understand which job board will help you achieve your professional goals.

What is Glassdoor?

Glassdoor goes beyond the typical job board and features employer branding solutions for companies in the hiring process and gives job seekers the ability to research companies before applying to the jobs posted. In addition to seeing job postings, job seekers can read more about potential companies, including their benefits and salary information. Employers can post photos of the office and from events, too, to give potential candidates a better understanding of what the company culture is like.

A particularly unique feature of Glassdoor is that current and former employees (as well as people who have only interviewed with them) can leave employee reviews for other candidates to see. Pros, cons, feedback on the interview process and what can be done to improve all help job seekers get a more in depth look into the company.

As for size, there are 50 million unique monthly users on Glassdoor, nearly 20 million less than Indeed.

What is Indeed?

Indeed is the largest job-searching website in the world — there are tens of millions of employers posting jobs and hundreds of millions of applicants hoping to find their next role. It’s main and only focus is as a job-search engine.

There are more than 70 million monthly users coming to Indeed to search for their next role, twice what Glassdoor has. With such a large audience, it’s a great option for employers to upload free job postings and for applicants to find plenty of job openings.

How Does Glassdoor Work for Employers?

When looking to hire for more niche roles, Glassdoor is a great solution for employers looking to showcase their business and company culture. The ability to create a brand that job seekers are interested in can be a huge advantage during the recruiting process.

Companies can create a brand page for free, as well as utilize the insights that Glassdoor provides to improve employee and interviewee experiences.

With a paid membership, hiring managers can use premium features on Glassdoor like competitor comparisons, branded advertising to get in front of more qualified candidates, and review analysis.

Because Glassdoor’s main focus isn’t the job search, but instead a branding site for companies, there aren’t as many features for recruiters to utilize as there are on a job site like Indeed or ZipRecruiter. There’s no applicant tracking system, nor can employers conduct a resume search.

How Does Indeed Work for Employers?

Employers can post a basic job opening for free on Indeed, making it an ideal platform for hiring managers working on a budget. But as great as the free option is, that also means the competition is stiff to get your job posting seen. How many other employers are competing for the eyes of qualified candidates?

Indeed’s solution to that problem is a paid job post. For as little as a few bucks a day, employers can post sponsored jobs and make sure the job postings get in front of the most applicants. When you pay for a post, you can invite people to apply for your job after finding resume matches.

Other free solutions for employers include adding screener questions and the ability to message and virtually interview candidates. It’s not possible to repost jobs from other websites onto Indeed.

Indeed also simplifies the screening process by grouping qualified applicants to the top of a dashboard, automatically declining applicants and helping to schedule interviews all within their website.

The Differences and Similarities for a Job Seeker: Glassdoor vs. Indeed

For job seekers, Glassdoor is a window into what it will be like to work for a company. When perusing the job board, they’ll be able to see not only the job postings, but an estimated salary range, company description and company reviews plus the benefits that are offered.

The uniquely detailed insight into an employer brand isn’t a feature that exists on Indeed, but if using both Glassdoor and Indeed together, candidates can pop back and forth between the two websites to get the information they need before applying on either website.

Another difference is the amount of available jobs and competition from other job seekers. Glassdoor jobs tend to be more niche, but there are  about 20 million less users searching for jobs on the site each month as there are on Indeed. On the flip side, Indeed can be overwhelming with the amount of available jobs to search through.

Glassdoor’s job board requires an account for all job seekers to be able to view jobs, salaries and reviews from previous and current employees — but it’s free to use.

Indeed is free for every job seeker and doesn’t necessarily require an account to search for job postings  and apply for jobs. Job seekers can create an account to post their resume and make it easier for recruiters to contact them, but it’s not necessary.

The job search engines on both sites let job seekers filter their search results by job title or keyword and location. Plus, they can get email job alerts when a job posting that matches their search is added to the website.

Can’t Decide Between Glassdoor vs. Indeed? Try ZipRecruiter

If you’re comparing Indeed vs. Glassdoor to decide which job board to use, a third option is ZipRecruiter. It’s a more streamlined way to post jobs and recruit top talent without being behind an account wall — or having to flip between two different sites — and it also happens to be the No. 1 job search engine online.

ZipRecruiter has a free trial for companies (it’s always free for people looking for new opportunities), then prices start as low as $16 per day for one reusable job post. The features that come with the cost make it worthwhile, if you’re serious about filling your positions quickly.

Each job posting can be syndicated to more than 100 other job boards, multiplying the number of qualified job seekers that will see your listing. Employers can also conduct a resume search and see potential candidates’ employment history before inviting them to apply to a specific position instead of waiting for future employees to find them.