Alert Hire and Bullhorn Amplify: how the two approach screening
We build one of these, so read it with that in mind. The table is drawn from Bullhorn’s own pages, and the section naming where Amplify beats us is not a formality.
Bullhorn Amplify is Bullhorn’s own AI, and its Screen capability conducts, summarises and scores candidate interviews inside Bullhorn. Alert Hire is a third-party tool that grades every CV against criteria the recruiter wrote before any conversation starts, works across Bullhorn, JobAdder and Workday, and never declines a candidate.
The short version
They are not the same kind of product. Amplify is first-party AI across the whole Bullhorn workflow, of which screening is one capability. Alert Hire does one thing: it reads every application, grades it against criteria you wrote for that role, screens the ones above your line, and hands you a ranked shortlist with the reasoning attached.
If you are already on a Bullhorn tier that includes Amplify, try it first. It costs you nothing extra and it is the lowest-friction option available to you. The reason to look at a third party is a different approach rather than a missing feature, and the table below is where that difference shows.
| Alert Hire | Bullhorn Amplify | |
|---|---|---|
| Who it is built for | Recruitment agencies, Australia first | Staffing and recruitment firms already on Bullhorn |
| Where it runs | Alongside Bullhorn, JobAdder or Workday, through each platform’s API | Inside the Bullhorn Platform and Bullhorn Recruitment Cloud |
| What a candidate is scored against | Criteria you write per role, in plain words, weighted by you | Not described on the Amplify page beyond scoring the interview |
| What the recruiter sees behind a score | One sub-score per criterion, each quoting the line in the CV that produced it | A summary and score of the interview |
| How the candidate is contacted | SMS, WhatsApp or email, one question at a time, untimed | Interviews conducted around the clock |
| Whether it can decline a candidate | No. The threshold decides who gets a conversation, not who is out | Not stated. It routes top talent to the right recruiter |
| ATS platforms covered | Bullhorn, JobAdder and Workday, with more as connectors | Bullhorn |
| Pricing model | Flat monthly fee per agency, plus completed conversations. Published in full, without a rate | Not published, quote only |
| Where candidate data is stored | Australia | Not stated on the Amplify page |
One caveat on reading that table. The blanks in the Amplify column are not criticisms; they are things Bullhorn does not state on its Amplify page. We are not going to infer a competitor’s behaviour from silence, so where their page says nothing, this page says nothing.
The honest part
Where Bullhorn Amplify wins
Five reasons to pick the other one, from the company that would rather you picked ours.
It is first-party
Nothing to integrate, nothing to break when Bullhorn ships an API change, and one vendor to call when something is wrong. That is worth real money in avoided maintenance.
It is far broader
Screening is one capability among many. Amplify spans the wider Bullhorn workflow, so if you want one AI layer across the whole desk rather than a screening tool, a point product is the wrong shape.
It sees data we cannot
Bullhorn’s AI can draw on what sits inside Bullhorn in ways no third party is able to replicate. If that history is your advantage, first-party access to it matters.
It may already be paid for
If your tier includes it, the cost of trying it is zero and the procurement conversation is already over. That is a genuinely strong position and we are not going to pretend otherwise.
Its roadmap follows your ATS
You already committed to Bullhorn. A capability built by Bullhorn moves with that decision instead of alongside it.
The other side
Where Alert Hire wins
The criteria are yours
Written per role, in plain words, by the recruiter who owns it. Not a general model of a good candidate applied to your desk.
Every score is readable
Each sub-score points at the sentence in the CV that produced it, so you can check it, disagree with it, and explain it to a client or a regulator months later.
It never declines anyone
The threshold decides who gets a conversation, not who is out. Everyone stays on the list, graded and visible.
It is not tied to one ATS
The same behaviour on Bullhorn, JobAdder and Workday, so screening does not lock you further into a platform decision.
Flat fee, not per seat
One fee for the agency. Putting another consultant on it costs nothing, so nobody rations access. The model is published in full.
Data stays in Australia
Candidate data is stored encrypted in Australian data centres and never used to train models. How that works.
Questions
The general list is on the home page. Anything else: admin@alertai.com.au.
No, and it does not try to be. Bullhorn stays your system of record. Alert Hire reads new applications through the API and writes scores, summaries and status flags back to the candidate record, each on a switch you control.
Technically yes, but we would not recommend paying for two things that grade the same applicant. If Amplify is included in your tier, try it on a live role and see whether the output is what you need before adding anything.
You should not trust it, you should check it. Every claim about Amplify on this page is sourced to Bullhorn’s own site and dated, the blanks are where their page is silent rather than where we think they are weak, and the section naming where Amplify beats us is longer than most vendors would print.
Bullhorn does not publish a rate for it, so we will not guess. Alert Hire publishes its pricing model in full, also without a rate, and explains why.
Sources
- Bullhorn, Bullhorn Amplify product page. Checked 10 September 2026.
- Bullhorn, GRID 2026 Industry Trends Report, APAC edition. Checked 10 September 2026.
Bullhorn and Amplify are trade marks of Bullhorn, Inc. Alert Hire is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Bullhorn, beyond the integration described on our integrations page. Everything said about Amplify here is taken from Bullhorn’s own website, read on 10 September 2026. If we have it wrong, tell us at admin@alertai.com.au and we will correct it.
Try it on a role you already filled
Write the criteria you actually used, run it over the applicants you actually got, and see whether the top five match the people you called.