What a recruiter costs a seed or Series A startup
Updated
A contingency recruiting agency usually charges 20 to 25 percent of a hire's first-year cash pay (SHRM, 2016), so a $180,000 engineer costs $36,000 to $45,000 in fees. Vouch charges 10% of first-year base salary, $18,000 on that hire, and only when an offer is signed.[1][2]
The ways to pay for recruiting
What an in-house recruiter costs
The BLS counts recruiters among human resources specialists, whose median pay was $75,940 a year in May 2025. Recruiters who report pay to Levels.fyi show a median total compensation of about $152,000 in the US and $196,000 in the San Francisco Bay Area.[3][4]
A recruiter speeds things up. Ashby found that at startups with fewer than 25 people, time to hire averaged 42 days with a recruiter involved and 62 days without.[5]
A worked example: one $180,000 hire
| Fee on a $180,000 hire paid in salary alone | |
|---|---|
| Contingency at 20% | $36,000 |
| Contingency at 25% | $45,000 |
| Vouch at 10% | $18,000 |
Check what a percentage is taken of. SHRM's range, from 2016, is of first-year cash compensation, which can include a bonus; Vouch's 10% is of base salary alone.[1][2]
What hiring costs beyond the fee
SHRM's 2025 benchmarking puts the average cost per hire at $5,475 for non-executive roles and $35,879 for executive roles. At a small startup, the founder hours spent screening are often the larger cost.[6]
Questions to ask any recruiter
- Is the fee a percentage of base salary or of total cash pay?
- When is it due: at the offer, at the start date, or later?
- Is anything due up front, or if the search fails?
- Who does the first interviews, you or them?
- Can either side stop, and what is owed if you do?
How Vouch charges
10% of the hire's first-year base salary, invoiced when the offer is signed and payable within 30 days of the start date. No retainer, no fee to open a role, and no charge for a search that does not end in a hire. The full terms are on the terms page.[2]
Questions founders ask
Do candidates pay Vouch?
No. Candidates are never charged. Companies pay the placement fee, and only if someone they met through Vouch signs an offer.
Is a cheaper recruiter a worse one?
Not by itself. Ask who screens the candidates and what you see before you meet anyone. That decides how much of your time the search takes.
Sources
- SHRM, How to Work Effectively with an Executive Search Firm, 18 July 2016. Read 25 October 2026.
- Vouch, Terms of Service, The fee. Read 25 October 2026.
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Human Resources Specialists, updated 27 August 2026, wages for May 2025. Read 25 October 2026.
- Levels.fyi, Recruiter salaries. Read 25 October 2026.
- Ashby, The State of Startup Hiring, 2026 Talent Trends Report, 23 February 2026. Read 25 October 2026.
- SHRM, SHRM Releases 2025 Benchmarking Reports, 15 October 2025. Read 25 October 2026.