What are Kepler and Crelate?
Kepler is an AI-first recruitment CRM. At its centre is AI Chat, in a sidebar on every page. You ask a question in plain English, and it searches the whole workspace, returns the people as a list you can save, and creates or updates records once you approve.
Around AI Chat sit the parts of an agency desk:
- pipelines, jobs and tasks, with Gmail and Outlook sync, AI email drafting and one-click thread summaries
- one inbox for email and WhatsApp, and phone integrations for call history and click-to-call
- a meeting notetaker for Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Google Meet
- CV parsing and formatting, and contact enrichment
- a careers site, a client portal, campaigns, automations, reporting and a consent ledger
- a public REST API with webhooks, and an MCP server for outside AI tools
Single sign-on is available on the Enterprise plan.
Crelate is a recruiting platform sold mainly to boutique and mid-size agencies in the United States. It calls itself “The Strategic Recruiting Platform”. Crelate Recruit is the ATS and CRM, with Crelate Hire and Crelate Deliver as further modules. Its AI is a named family: Co-Pilot for in-app chat, with Co-Screen, Co-Target, Co-Interview and Co-Create, plus a Discovery Agent and an Insights Agent.
For contract placements, Kepler records each placement’s fee, invoice status and payment status and connects to a pay-and-bill system through its API. Crelate Deliver is Crelate’s optional back office.
What is the main difference between Kepler and Crelate?
The main difference is how you work. In Kepler you ask. AI Chat reads what your agency already owns: CVs parsed years ago, old notes, synced email threads and call transcripts. It answers with a list you can act on.
Kepler then does the follow-through. It scores candidates for a job and turns emails, calls and messages into updates you approve. Everything is on one plan, so there is no tier to pick.
Crelate is sold across four tiers. Its search is Boolean, and a Crelate blog post from 14 Aug 2026 describes a model writing the Boolean query from a plain-language prompt. Its Advanced AI Assistant, sequences and full API are only on Business Plus, which is priced on request.
Crelate’s main agents point outward. The Discovery Agent searches Crelate’s own database of people and companies, and the Insights Agent keeps records fresh from outside data.
How do Kepler and Crelate search and rank candidates?
Kepler’s search understands what you mean as well as the words you type, so a question phrased the way a person talks reaches a CV that used different words. It reads CVs, notes and tags plus the email threads and call transcripts on each record. A candidate who said on a call that they will not relocate can be found from that call.
Crelate’s search, in its help centre, is a full-text keyword search across résumé and notes, with AND, OR, quotation marks and parentheses. Results are scored on how closely each record matches the keywords.
Kepler’s matching scores every candidate from 0 to 100 against the job. The score is based on criteria taken from the job description, which you can edit, and each criterion shows the line from the CV, call or email behind it.
Crelate ranks by search relevance, and Co-Screen summarises a résumé from a recruiter’s point of view once you open a record.
How do Kepler and Crelate compare feature by feature?
| Area | Kepler | Crelate |
|---|---|---|
| Searching your database | Ask in plain English and AI Chat searches your CVs, notes, emails and call transcripts. | Boolean keyword search over résumé text, notes and tags. |
| AI chat | AI Chat on every page, across the whole workspace. It acts after you approve. | Co-Pilot chat. The AI Assistant starts on Business, and the Advanced AI Assistant is only on Business Plus. |
| Matching | A simple 0 to 100 score for every candidate, with the reason behind each criterion. | Search relevance, with Co-Screen résumé summaries. |
| New names | Search LinkedIn, see who is already in your database, and add new people. Contact enrichment and careers-site applicants too. | Discovery Agent searches Crelate’s external database of people and companies. |
| Keeping records current | Updates suggested from emails, calls and messages for you to approve, with history and undo on every field. | Insights Agent enriches records, sold à la carte. Changed-field auditing only on Business Plus and Enterprise. |
| Meetings | A notetaker joins Teams, Zoom and Google Meet and files the notes for you. | No meeting notetaker of its own. |
| Outreach | Email campaigns on every plan that send for you and remind your team when it is time to call or reach out on LinkedIn or WhatsApp. | Sequences only on Business Plus. Email campaigns cost extra. |
| Messaging | One inbox for email and WhatsApp, plus one-off texts from a connected phone line. | Text messaging costs extra. |
| Client portal | Clients rate, comment on and request interviews with your shortlist, from a simple link. | Client and team portals from the Business tier. |
| Careers site | On your own domain, set up so search engines can index each job. | Hosted at jobs.crelate.com and embedded on your site. |
| API and AI tools | REST API, webhooks and an MCP server for Claude or ChatGPT, on every plan. | Full API only on Business Plus. No MCP server yet. |
| Price | USD 99 per user per month billed annually, with everything included. | Business Plus is priced on request, paid annually. |
Where does Kepler go further than Crelate?
- AI Chat for everything. Kepler’s AI Chat works across the whole workspace. It returns records, saves a result as a list, drafts an email or an automation, and updates records after you approve.
- Every call on the record. Kepler’s notetaker files the summary, next steps and transcript of each meeting, and AI Chat can search them. Crelate does not have its own meeting notetaker.
- Updates you can check. Kepler suggests each change with the message it came from attached, and every field keeps its history with an undo on every plan.
- Everything on one plan. Campaigns, the REST API, webhooks, contact enrichment and an MCP server for Claude, ChatGPT or another AI tool are all in the one price. Crelate does not have an MCP server yet.
How much does Kepler cost, and how much does Crelate cost?
Kepler is USD 99 per user per month billed annually, or USD 129 monthly. Every feature is included, with unlimited records and storage and a free migration. AI Chat is included on every plan, monthly and annual, with no add-on or upgrade needed.
Crelate Business Plus is the plan to compare. The Advanced AI Assistant, automation and sequences and the full API are only on this tier. Crelate lists it as “Custom Per user, paid annually”, with no public figure (13 Sep 2026).
Crelate’s cheaper tiers are Business, at USD 119 annual or USD 149 monthly, and Essentials, at USD 85 annual for up to two users. Essentials does not include the AI Assistant or the client portals.
Texting, email campaigns, eSignature and contact enrichment carry an additional fee on every Crelate tier. Data migration is a separate package, priced by sales.
Which agencies is Kepler built for?
Kepler is built for boutique and mid-size agencies whose main asset is their database: years of CVs, consultant notes, email threads and call transcripts. It suits teams that would rather ask a question than write a Boolean string.
It fits an agency that wants:
- AI Chat that answers across all of that data and acts after a person approves
- a clear 0 to 100 score for every candidate, with the reason behind it
- updates suggested rather than applied, with every field’s history and an undo
- the client portal, campaigns, API and contact enrichment at one published price, with no tier to work out
Can you migrate from Crelate to Kepler?
Yes. Kepler runs the migration for you, free on every plan. You send an export from Crelate plus any loose CVs and spreadsheets, and Kepler does the mapping, clean-up and checks.
Custom fields are rebuilt as real fields, and activity, stages and history come across. Before the full load you review fifty of your own records.
The parsing engine comes from the team behind RemakeCV, a CV parsing and formatting tool that 300+ recruitment agencies use. You can export your whole workspace at any time, with no exit fee.
Frequently asked questions
Is Crelate better than Kepler?
It depends on how you want to work. If you want a simple, modern CRM with the AI included, where you ask AI Chat in plain English and it searches your CVs, notes, emails and call transcripts, ranks candidates and updates records for you, choose Kepler. It is one plan at USD 99 per user per month billed annually, with campaigns, the API and a free migration in the price. If you want a platform built from named modules across four tiers, with AI agents that search an external pool of profiles, Crelate is built for that.
How much does Crelate cost?
The Crelate tier to compare is Business Plus, the only tier with the Advanced AI Assistant, sequences and the full API, listed as “Custom Per user, paid annually” on 13 Sep 2026. Business is USD 119 per user per month annual or USD 149 monthly, and Essentials is USD 85 annual for up to two users. Texting, campaigns, eSignature and enrichment cost extra on every tier. Kepler, for comparison, is USD 99 per user per month billed annually (USD 129 monthly), with every feature included.
How does search differ between Kepler and Crelate?
Kepler understands meaning as well as keywords and searches candidates, CVs, notes, email threads and call transcripts, so something a candidate said once on a call can be found. Crelate’s search is a Boolean keyword query over résumé text, notes and tags. A Crelate blog post from 14 Aug 2026 describes a model writing that Boolean query from a plain-language prompt.
Does Crelate have an AI assistant, and is it included in the price?
Kepler’s AI Chat is included on every plan, monthly and annual, with no add-on or upgrade needed. Crelate’s Co-Pilot is an in-app chat whose skills change with the part of the app you are in. On Crelate’s pricing page the AI Assistant starts on Business (USD 119), and the Advanced AI Assistant is only on the custom-priced Business Plus.
Does Kepler have contact enrichment like Crelate?
Yes. Kepler’s contact enrichment finds work and personal emails, mobile numbers and LinkedIn URLs, for one record or in bulk with a review step. Kepler also suggests updates from the emails, calls and messages on a record, for you to approve. Crelate lists contact enrichment as an additional fee on every tier, and its Insights Agent is sold à la carte.
Can you migrate from Crelate to Kepler?
Yes, free on every Kepler plan. You send a Crelate export plus any loose CVs and spreadsheets. Kepler maps and cleans the data, rebuilds custom fields and brings activity, stages and history across. You review fifty of your own records before the full load. Crelate sells its own migrations as separate packages scoped by sales.
Sources
Every claim about another vendor on this page comes from that vendor's own public material. Where a vendor does not publish something — pricing is the usual one — this post says so rather than estimating.
- Crelate — pricing Essentials "$85 Per user/month, paid annually", up to 2 users, with no AI Assistant or client portal listed; Business "$119 Per user/month", monthly $149, with the AI Assistant and client and team portals; Business Plus "Custom Per user, paid annually" with the Advanced AI Assistant, automation and sequences and full API; Insights Agents as à la carte options on Platform. Text Messaging, Email Campaigns, eSignature and Native Contact Data Enrichment "additional fee applies". The site navigation lists "MCP Server (Coming Soon)". No meeting notetaker or transcription listed.
- Crelate home page "The Strategic Recruiting Platform"; the Discovery Agent over Crelate's database of people and companies; the Insights Agent keeping records fresh.
- Crelate — recruiting that works with your HCM or back office Crelate Deliver as the optional in-platform back office.
- Crelate — Co-Pilot AI The named AI capabilities: Co-Screen, Co-Target, Co-Interview, Co-Create, Discovery Agent and Insights Agent. No meeting recording or notetaker listed.
- Crelate help centre — Copilot and Real Recruiter Intelligence Co-Pilot as a chat assistant with Skills that vary with the area of the app and the data on screen.
- Crelate help centre — Using Search Full-text keyword search of a candidate's résumé and notes with Boolean operators.
- Crelate help centre — Crelate Search Logic Each record is scored on how closely it matches the search keywords.
- Crelate — Boolean vs semantic search, redux Published 14 Aug 2026. Crelate's case for keeping Boolean underneath, with the model writing the Boolean query from a natural-language prompt.
- Crelate help centre — Auditing Reports Advanced auditing, including changed fields on updated records, for Business Plus and Enterprise subscriptions.
- Crelate help centre — What is a Portal URL? The job portal URL format https://jobs.crelate.com/portal/yourorgname, and the widget and iframe embed methods.
- Crelate — ATS data migration Standard and Advanced migration packages scoped and priced by a sales contact.
- Kepler pricing USD 99 per user per month billed annually (USD 1,188 per seat per year), a single plan with every feature included, unlimited records and storage, free migration on every plan, additional AI capacity on request.
Kepler is a recruitment CRM and this post is published by Kepler, so read it as an interested party's account. We have tried to describe Crelate as its own team would recognise it, and every factual claim is sourced above. If something here is out of date or wrong, tell us and we will correct it.