How to choose an AI sourcing tool in 2026
Nine questions that separate two AI sourcing tools, in the order that matters. What to ask, what a good answer sounds like, and what disqualifies a vendor.
Nine questions separate two AI sourcing tools. Only three of them are usually asked.
Most buying processes compare database totals, monthly prices and feature grids.
Those are the three that tell you the least.
Every vendor in this category can search in plain language now. That stopped being a differentiator around 2025.
What still differs is what happens after the search, and what the invoice looks like at the end of the year.
This page gives the nine questions in the order that matters, what a good answer sounds like, and what should end a conversation.
TL;DR:
- Ask what share of the profiles you get carry a number, not how big the database is.
- Ask whether outreach leaves from inside the tool or after a CSV export.
- Ask what the ATS integration costs and on which plan it opens. It is often the most expensive line.
- Ask who owns the talent pool when a recruiter leaves.
- Ask for the total across a year for your headcount, not the monthly figure.
Key facts:
- Kalent database: 850 million profiles, 250 million enriched with verified contact details
- Share of returned profiles directly reachable: around 80%
- Automated channels: email, LinkedIn, SMS, WhatsApp
- Price: $149 and $179 a month, $1,490 and $1,790 a year, per licence
- Contact details included: 100 a month or 1,500 a year
- ATS connectors: more than 50, as an add-on on the two published plans
Question 1: what share of the profiles I get carry a contact detail?
This is the first question, and almost nobody asks it first.
Not the database total. The share of the twenty profiles a real search puts in front of you.
A good answer is a percentage plus a live search. Kalent publishes 250 million enriched profiles out of 850 million, and around 80% of what the agent returns is directly reachable.
A bad answer is a database total, or "verified contact details" with no number.
Question 2: can outreach leave from inside the tool?
Or do you export a CSV and switch to another product?
Every handoff between tools is a place where candidates go cold, and a place where history stops travelling.
A good answer names the channels and the plan they start on. At Kalent: email, LinkedIn, SMS and WhatsApp, on Copilot at $179 a month.
Watch for the word "step". Some tools list LinkedIn as a sequence step, then pause the whole sequence until a human ticks it. Forty candidates means forty boxes. That is not automation.
Question 3: what does the ATS integration cost, and when does it open?
This is the line that surprises buyers most often.
Several vendors reserve integrations for a higher tier, on quote, annual only. The entry price you compared was for a product that does not connect to your ATS.
At Kalent it is an add-on on both published plans, and included on Team. More than 50 connectors.
We do not claim it is included. Any comparison saying so is wrong, including one of ours.
Question 4: does the tool rank, and does it say why?
A list of five hundred profiles is a research output. A shortlist is twenty, ordered, with a reason each.
The reason matters twice. It lets you reject fast. And it goes straight into the note to your hiring manager or client.
A tool that returns an unordered list has moved the work, not removed it.
Question 5: does it apply criteria or filters?
A filter cuts. A criterion judges.
"Five years of experience" is a filter, and it drops the person who did the same job for four and a half.
"Has run production infrastructure at scale" is a criterion. It reads a career.
Ask to add three of your own questions during the demo, the ones you would ask on the phone, and watch what happens.
Question 6: who owns the talent pool?
Ask what happens when a recruiter leaves.
A pool built inside one person's account is an asset the company loses on their last day.
This is the question teams ask twelve months late, usually the week someone resigns.
Question 7: where is the data processed?
Recruitment sits in Annex III, point 4, of the EU AI Act, which covers systems used for recruitment and candidate evaluation.
The Digital Omnibus, Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, in force since 27 July 2026, pushed part of the standalone obligations to 2 December 2027. Postponed is not cancelled.
Ask two things: where the data sits, and whether that includes the AI models. Some vendors state plainly that they host only in the United States, models included.
Kalent is built in France, SOC 2 Type 2 certified, with 47 controls published on our trust center and readable without a login.
Our hosting country is not published to date, so we do not assert it.
Question 8: what is the real cost across a year?
Not the monthly figure. The total for your actual headcount, everything included.
Three lines usually move it: the number of seats or licences, the contact detail allowance, and the add-ons.
A Kalent licence is individual. Five recruiters, five licences. The column multiplies exactly like a per-seat price and we do not pretend otherwise.
And check the contact detail model. A cheaper subscription that bills each detail as a credit turns a fixed cost into a variable one: three hundred approaches can consume six hundred credits.
Then divide the annual total by the number of candidates one person can actually contact per month. That is the figure that compares two different products.
Question 9: what does the vendor refuse to answer?
This one tells you the most.
A vendor who sends coverage questions to its sales team has answered. Just not the way you wanted.
Three answers that should end the conversation: a database total offered instead of a coverage rate, a firm competitor price with no source, and a feature described in marketing that the documentation does not confirm.
Related reading
The AI sourcing comparison cluster, all read on the same date against the same criteria:
On the same subject: candidate contact data enrichment, boolean search vs AI sourcing, and Kalent pricing in 2026.
To see the mechanism on a real account: how FAB Group structured its direct sourcing.
And the product pages: pricing, ATS integrations, trust center.
Frequently asked questions
What matters most when choosing an AI sourcing tool?
The share of returned profiles you can actually contact, and whether outreach leaves from inside the tool. Database size and monthly price come after both.
How do I compare two tools with different pricing models?
Divide the annual total for your headcount by the number of candidates one person can contact per month. That gives a cost per contacted candidate, which compares across models.
Is the ATS integration usually included?
Often not. At Kalent it is an add-on on the two published plans and included on Team. Several vendors reserve it for a quote-only tier.
What should a vendor be able to tell me about coverage?
A percentage of the profiles a real search returns, demonstrated live. A database total is not an answer.
Does the AI Act change what I should ask?
Yes. Ask where the data is processed and whether that includes the AI models, and ask what documentation the vendor provides for the deployer obligations that fall on you.
