Twelve vendors you're probably looking at. One honest table each.

How these pages were written

Each page was built from the vendor's own public pages, read on the date at the top of the page. We describe what they say rather than quote their marketing, we link the terms page where a guarantee or a notice period comes from it, and where a figure is not published we say so instead of guessing. Where a company is genuinely the better choice for a kind of buyer, the page says that too, in its own section, before it gets to us.

Two things we don't do on any of them. We don't repeat anyone's acceptance-rate claim, ours included, because nobody publishes the denominator and the number means nothing without it. And we don't call ourselves the cheapest, because we aren't, and several of the companies above will show you why in one line.

What you will find on every page: the vendor's full-time price if they publish one, what is paid before the person starts, the commitment and notice period, the replacement terms and their conditions, the stated time to a first candidate, and whether you meet anyone before you commit. Then our numbers, which are always on the pricing section and the guarantee section of the front page, and the cost of a US hire that both of us are being compared against.

If a figure here is out of date, tell us and we'll fix it and update the date.