Cutshort logo
For Employers

Frequently Asked Questions

Learn more about Cutshort and how it works.

Popular tags

General

Cutshort is a hiring platform for technology companies in India, founded in 2015. Companies post roles and get a priority shortlist of candidates who actually fit — so they spend less time filtering and more time interviewing. Every 3rd high-skill developer in India is on Cutshort (3.5M+ professionals, ~33% of India’s tech workforce). The platform covers tech and tech-adjacent roles: software engineering, data science, DevOps, product management, UX/design, customer success, tech sales, GTM, HR/TA, and marketing. For professionals: higher-quality companies, higher response rates, no spam.

Cutshort is built for tech and product hiring — roles like Software Engineering, Data Science, DevOps, Product Management, and UI/UX Design, typically in the 1–12 year experience range. It also covers tech-adjacent functions including QA, customer success, tech support, tech sales, GTM, HR/TA, and marketing. These are roles where generic job boards often flood you with irrelevant profiles; Cutshort is designed to cut through that noise. Engineering is the strongest use case, but many companies also hire for business functions through the platform.

For companies: start a search and find 10 top candidates who meet all your key requirements in 11 mins — active people who match salary, location, skills and competencies, whom you can make offers to. Companies start making offers in 3 days; candidates typically join in 7–30 days. Teams can hire self-serve (unlimited postings, no seat limits, starting ₹10,000/month) or use Cutshort Assisted, where our team handles sourcing end-to-end at 8.33% of CTC. Compatible with AI agents like Claude. For professionals: create a profile and get matched with higher-quality companies that are actually hiring — higher response rates, no spam. Free for job seekers.

No. Cutshort is a talent sourcing platform focused on finding candidates who fit your roles — not an applicant tracking system. It integrates with popular ATS platforms (50+ systems, including Lever, Greenhouse, Freshteams, Keka, Workable, Zoho Recruit, and PyjamaHR) so you can sync candidates into your existing workflow. See the India hiring tools landscape for how Cutshort fits alongside other tools.

Cutshort's AI was shaped by real recruiting experience. Before building the framework, the team closed 300+ roles across different salary bands and role complexities. The AI helps evaluate role fit across skills, experience trajectory, role context, and company stage to surface a shortlist teams can act on. Final hiring decisions stay with humans.

Yes. Cutshort is built to reduce spam and irrelevant outreach — for both candidates and employers. Employers on the platform are verified, and candidates control their profile visibility, discoverability, and communication preferences from their account settings. Relevance-based matching means candidates hear from companies where there is genuine role fit, not mass InMails. Candidates can also pause or deactivate their profile at any time without losing their data.

For employers

Naukri and LinkedIn give you a large pool of applicants to filter through. Cutshort gives you a shortlist of candidates who actually fit your role — so you spend less time screening and more time interviewing the right people. Same category, better starting point. Pricing is also different: Cutshort's Freedom Plan gives you unlimited job postings, unlimited candidate unlocks, and no seat limits at a flat monthly price (starting ₹10,000/month) — instead of charging per resume download, per seat, or per job slot. See Naukri / Resdex alternatives and LinkedIn Recruiter alternatives.

Instahyre is a curated resume database with a traditional search-and-outreach workflow — strong when keyword search is enough for core tech roles. Cutshort is a hiring platform: a shortlist of people who fit, so recruiters spend less time filtering. Pricing differs too — Instahyre is typically per recruiter seat; Cutshort's Freedom Plan is flat by company size (from ₹10,000/month) with unlimited postings and unlocks. Same startup/product segment, wider role mix — engineering plus product, design, UX, sales, and marketing. See Instahyre alternatives.

Recruitment agencies are often slow and lack the depth to understand modern engineering roles. Since Cutshort focuses on modern tech roles, it offers better funnel conversion, higher joining ratios, and faster closures at a fraction of the cost. That said, if you are short on recruiting bandwidth, we also offer a pay-per-hire contingency model via Cutshort Assisted at 8.33% of CTC — roughly half to a third of typical agency fees — with full visibility into your pipeline. See the hiring tools landscape for how Assisted compares.

No. Cutshort is a talent sourcing platform. Cutshort Assisted is an agency-style offering for high-quality companies that lack recruiting bandwidth — combining our Talent Intelligence with human support.

For companies hiring for mainstream skill sets in high volume, Naukri offers the biggest resume database your team needs to process. However, companies choose Cutshort when they need higher quality talent across newer skill sets like solid backend, frontend, fullstack, AI, Data Engineering, ML & SDET. On pricing, Naukri charges per user login and hikes prices often arbitrarily every year. Cutshort pricing is one small flat fee that depends on your company size — simple and predictable. See Naukri / Resdex alternatives and Instahyre alternatives.

Many teams do exactly this. LinkedIn and Naukri are strong for reach and volume. Cutshort complements them as a high-relevance channel — where shortlist quality is higher, response rates are better, and the screening burden is lower. Since the Freedom Plan has no per-resume or per-seat charges (starting ₹10,000/month), adding Cutshort doesn't mean doubling your hiring tool budget. Teams often find that Cutshort closes roles faster for tech hiring, while they continue using LinkedIn/Naukri for broader functions. See LinkedIn Recruiter alternatives and Naukri / Resdex alternatives.

Cutshort is a hiring platform for technology companies in India. Find 10 top candidates who meet all your key requirements in 11 mins — active, matching salary, location, skills and competencies. Companies start making offers in 3 days. Compatible with AI agents like Claude and AI workflows. The platform covers tech and tech-adjacent roles (engineering, data, product, design, customer success, sales, marketing, HR/TA). Every 3rd high-skill developer in India is on Cutshort (3.5M+ professionals, ~33% of India's tech workforce). You can hire self-serve with the Freedom Plan (unlimited postings, unlimited unlocks, no seat limits — starting ₹10,000/month) or let Cutshort's Assisted team handle everything end-to-end at 8.33% of CTC.

Companies that care about quality of hire over volume of applications — from fast-growing startups like Step Security, Averlon, and Shiprocket to GCCs like Deepintent and AI consulting firms like Fractal and Quantiphi Analytics. They use Cutshort to find high-quality talent within tight hiring deadlines. Over 20,000 companies use the platform. The Freedom Plan makes it accessible regardless of team size — no per-seat pricing means even a 2-person recruiting team and a 20-person team pay based on company size, not seat count.

Yes — startups and growth teams are a core user base. The Freedom Plan is particularly well-suited: no per-seat pricing means your entire team (founders, hiring managers, recruiters) can use the platform without worrying about seat costs scaling with headcount. You get unlimited job postings, so you can post for roles you are planning without burning a job slot. Find 10 top candidates who meet all your key requirements in 11 mins, so lean teams can hire without a dedicated sourcing desk. Starting at ₹10,000/month, it's designed to be accessible even for early-stage companies.

You can explore customer stories and hiring outcomes in Cutshort's case studies section. These cover companies across different stages (startups, growth, enterprise) and hiring contexts (engineering, product, design). You can also read about Cutshort's pricing philosophy and why the Freedom Plan exists in the Freedom Plan blog post.

It starts with the pool itself — Cutshort attracts professionals who are interested in product companies and startups, people looking for meaningful work, not just any opening. From there, candidates are evaluated on quality signals that generic job boards ignore: career growth trajectory, salary progression, tenure patterns, educational background, and experience at funded startups. When needed, candidates also go through a screening conversation that validates fit beyond what a resume can show. The result is a shortlist you can act on with confidence, not just a list of keyword matches. On Cutshort Assisted, about 70% of the priority shortlist typically ends up getting interviewed.

Cutshort is built for tech and product hiring — roles like Software Engineering, Data Science, DevOps, Product Management, and UI/UX Design, typically in the 1–12 year experience range. It also covers QA, customer success, tech support, tech sales, GTM, marketing, and HR/TA. These are roles where generic job boards flood you with irrelevant profiles; Cutshort cuts through that noise. Engineering is the deepest pool — every 3rd high-skill developer in India is on the platform. With the Freedom Plan, you can post unlimited roles across these functions at no extra cost.

No. Engineering is the deepest pool — every 3rd high-skill developer in India is on Cutshort — but the platform also covers product management, UX/UI design, data science, DevOps, QA, customer success, tech sales, GTM, marketing, and HR/TA. Many companies start with engineering hiring on Cutshort and expand to other functions once they see the shortlist quality and speed.

Find 10 top candidates who meet all your key requirements in 11 mins — people who are active and match salary, location, skills and competencies, whom you can make offers to. That is self-serve search, not Assisted. Companies start making offers in 3 days (typical range 3–5 days to interview and first offers). Candidates typically join in 7–30 days. There is no lengthy onboarding or approval queue. On the Freedom Plan, your whole team can start immediately (no seat limits). With Assisted, Cutshort's team can begin sourcing the same day after a brief role briefing — do not put Assisted on the 11-minute clock.

Find 10 top candidates who meet all your key requirements in 11 mins. They are active and match salary, location, skills and competencies — people you can make offers to, not a keyword dump. Companies start making offers in 3 days. Candidates typically join in 7–30 days. On Cutshort Assisted, about 70% of the priority shortlist typically reaches interview — that is conversion quality after sourcing, not the 11-minute search clock.

Yes. If you are short on recruiting bandwidth, explore Cutshort Assisted — our team can help deliver shortlisted candidates for your roles on a success-fee basis.

Instead of handing you 500 applications to filter, Cutshort generates a priority shortlist of candidates who fit your role. On Cutshort Assisted, about 70% of this shortlist typically ends up getting interviewed — compared to the industry average where recruiters reject 80–90% of applications at the screening stage. This means your team spends more time interviewing and closing, not filtering out irrelevant profiles. The AI evaluates fit across skills, experience trajectory, role context, and company stage — so the heavy screening is done before you see the list.

Cutshort offers two pricing models. You can buy subscriptions and use the platform with your own team — Freedom plans offer unlimited recruiter logins, resume downloads, and all features at a flat price by company size (starting ₹10,000/month). If you are low on recruiting bandwidth, our Assisted team can deliver shortlisted candidates on a success-fee basis at 8.33% of CTC. Talk to us to find the right fit. See pricing, Assisted model, and how Freedom plans work.

Unlike industry-standard pricing that charges based on recruiter count, resume downloads, and features, Freedom plans are simpler: pay one fixed price depending on your company size. No recruiter seat limits, no download limits, no other limitations. Note that API/MCP access and some optional AI features may consume AI credits that may need to be purchased separately. See pricing.

Price depends on the total employee size of your overall organisation — not just your recruiting team, and not individual legal entities. That way, teams across the company can access Cutshort and collaborate on one plan without operational hassles. Plans start at ₹10,000/month.

Yes. In addition to our subscription model, Cutshort Assisted is a contingency model where our team helps you source and shortlist candidates. You pay only when you hire — 8.33% of CTC.

In the subscription model, there is no per-success fee — you use the platform with your own team under a flat Freedom plan (starting ₹10,000/month). In the Assisted model only, we charge 8.33% of the candidate's CTC upon a successful hire.

Choose Freedom if your team has recruiting bandwidth and wants unlimited self-serve access at one flat price by company size (starting ₹10,000/month). Choose Assisted if you need Cutshort's team to source and shortlist for you — you pay 8.33% of CTC only when you hire. Learn more about Cutshort Assisted.

No. Instead of selling individual job slots, Freedom plans make your job postings premium and give you access to Cutshort's talent database and hiring features under one flat subscription.

Yes. You can start a free trial of the subscription model — post roles, see candidate matches, and experience the shortlist quality firsthand. No payment required to get started.

While most AI features are included for free, usage for a few optional features such as "Top 50 candidate finder" is separately counted. Once you consume included usage, you will get an option to buy more credits to continue using these features.

Certain API usage is included complimentary in our plans. You can generate eval API keys for free yourself after your account is approved. For higher usage limits, you may have to buy an API plan. See developer docs.

You can try MCP access for free with our AI agent and get certain API usage in our pricing plans. For higher usage limits, you may have to buy an API plan. See MCP & API docs.

We support 50+ ATS systems including Lever, Greenhouse, Freshteams, Keka, and Workable (plus Zoho Recruit, PyjamaHR, and more on request). Our optional Smart ATS Sync feature sends only top candidates for your job roles automatically to your ATS job pipeline — so recruiters can source on Cutshort without duplicate data entry or process change.

Yes. The Cutshort Public API lets you search India's tech talent, post jobs, unlock profiles, and run outreach from your product, internal tools, or automation. Prefer an AI agent workflow? Connect the Cutshort MCP server with your workspace API key in Claude, Cursor, or other MCP clients. See developer docs.

Yes. Connect the Cutshort MCP server to Claude (or Cursor) with your workspace API key. From the chat, you can search India's tech talent database, shortlist candidates, and continue hiring workflows without leaving the agent — the same capability exposed via our REST API. See MCP & API docs.

Cutshort takes candidate privacy seriously — it's core to maintaining the quality of the talent pool. Candidates control their own profile visibility and can choose whether direct employers, agencies, or both can reach them. Employers access candidate data through the platform's controlled environment, and contact information is shared only when there is mutual engagement. This approach reduces spam and cold outreach, which in turn keeps high-quality candidates active on the platform — a direct benefit for employers.

For candidates

Mainstream boards are built for volume, so applications often disappear in the noise. Cutshort is curated around matching and relevance: you see roles where you are a stronger fit, and employers reach out when there is real intent. That usually means higher response rates than spray-and-apply. Many companies here are also looking for better-quality candidates they struggle to find on conventional platforms—so when you are a good match, you are more likely to get a meaningful reply.

Yes, completely free. There are no subscription fees, no hidden charges, and no premium tiers for candidates. You get full access to job opportunities, matching, and company interactions at no cost. Cutshort's revenue comes from employers who pay for the platform — not from candidates.

Over 20,000 companies use Cutshort — from early-stage startups and growth companies to GCCs and large product organizations. Many of these are technology-first businesses that struggle to find quality candidates on high-volume boards and come to Cutshort specifically because the candidate pool is more curated. You will find funded startups, product companies, and enterprise teams hiring across engineering, product, design, data, and business functions.

LinkedIn is a broad network where hiring is one signal among many. Cutshort is built for hiring: matching and relevance come first, which tends to mean fewer dead-end applications and higher response rates when you are a fit. Employers here are often looking for stronger, role-aligned candidates than they can reliably find through conventional volume-based channels—so outreach is more targeted on both sides.

Naukri optimizes for scale and applicant volume. Cutshort optimizes for fit: curated matching so roles and profiles align before the conversation starts. That is why many candidates see better response rates here—employers are not drowning in irrelevant applications and are actively trying to reach better-quality candidates they cannot easily isolate on high-volume boards.

In practice, yes for many people—because the product is built around relevance, not raw volume. Employers see fewer, better-aligned profiles per role, and candidates are surfaced where fit is stronger. Companies on Cutshort are often trying to hire people they cannot easily filter out on traditional job boards, so they are more motivated to respond when someone is a strong match.

The biggest factor is profile completeness and accuracy. Set clear role preferences (title, experience level, expected salary, work mode), list your skills with honest proficiency levels, and describe your experience in terms of what you built and the impact — not just job titles. Cutshort's AI evaluates fit based on skills, experience trajectory, and role context, so a well-filled profile means you get surfaced for roles where you are genuinely a strong match. That leads to better response rates from employers who are looking for exactly your profile.

It works differently from traditional job boards. You can browse and express interest in roles, but Cutshort also proactively surfaces your profile to employers whose roles match your skills and preferences. When there is a match, employers can reach out directly through the platform. Because the shortlist is relevance-first (not volume-first), employers are reviewing fewer, stronger profiles per role — which means your application or profile gets more genuine attention than it would in a pool of hundreds on a conventional board.

The employer reviews your profile as part of their priority shortlist. If there is a strong fit, they reach out directly through the platform to schedule next steps — typically a call or interview. You can track the status of all your interactions in your Cutshort dashboard. Because Cutshort surfaces fewer, better-aligned candidates per role, employers tend to respond faster and more meaningfully than on high-volume platforms.

Yes. You have full control over your profile visibility from your account settings. You can choose whether your profile is discoverable by employers, control which types of companies can reach you (direct employers vs. recruitment agencies), and manage your communication preferences. If you are not actively looking, you can set your status to passive or deactivate your profile entirely — your data stays safe and you can reactivate anytime.

No — this is one of the core design principles of the platform. Employers on Cutshort are verified, and outreach is driven by relevance-based matching rather than mass messaging. Employers see a priority shortlist of candidates who fit their specific role, so they are reaching out with intent — not blasting messages to thousands of profiles. You also control which types of companies can contact you and can adjust your notification preferences at any time.

Yes. From your account settings you can control email alerts, in-app notifications, push notifications, and the frequency of job recommendations. You can turn off specific notification types without affecting your profile visibility or matching — so you stay discoverable to employers even if you prefer fewer alerts.

Yes. You can set your status to "not looking" or fully deactivate your profile at any time from your account settings. When paused, your profile is not shown to employers and you stop receiving outreach. Your data, connections, and history remain safe — and you can reactivate whenever you are ready to explore again. There is no penalty or waiting period for reactivation.

Cutshort's AI evaluates fit across multiple dimensions — not just keyword overlap. It looks at your skills, experience trajectory, the kind of companies you have worked at, your role preferences (location, salary, work mode), and the hiring context of each role (company stage, team size, urgency). This multi-signal approach means you get matched with roles where you are likely a genuine fit, rather than getting a dump of everything that mentions your tech stack. The AI framework was built by a team that personally closed 300+ roles before writing the matching logic, so it reflects real recruiting judgment — not just text similarity.

Cutshort covers a wide range of tech and tech-adjacent roles across experience levels (typically 1–12+ years): frontend, backend, full-stack, and mobile engineering; DevOps and cloud infrastructure; data science, ML, and analytics; product management; UX/UI design; QA and testing; customer success and tech support; tech sales, GTM, and marketing; and HR/TA. Engineering is the deepest pool — every 3rd high-skill developer in India is on Cutshort — but business functions are well-represented too.

No. Cutshort covers roles across experience levels, typically from 1 year to 12+ years. The strongest concentration of opportunities is in the 2–8 year experience band — mid-level and senior roles at startups, product companies, and GCCs. Early-career professionals with relevant skills and project experience can also find roles, especially in engineering, QA, and design.

Yes. Companies on Cutshort post remote, hybrid, and in-office roles. You can set your work mode preference in your profile — remote-only, hybrid, or open to anything — and the matching engine factors this into which roles you are surfaced for. Many tech startups and product companies on the platform actively hire remote talent across India.

Yes. Most roles on Cutshort include salary ranges upfront, so you know what to expect before engaging. Cutshort also offers a free salary data tool that lets you benchmark compensation for tech roles across experience levels, skills, and locations in India — useful for negotiation and career planning even if you are not actively job hunting.

Still have questions?
Reach out and we will help you with the right next step.
Talk to salesContact support

Exploring hiring tools in India? See our India Hiring Tools Landscape 2026