What are Kepler and Firefish?
Kepler is a recruitment CRM built around AI Chat and a searchable database. AI Chat sits on every page, reads CVs, notes, emails and call transcripts, and creates or updates records once a person approves.
Around AI Chat, Kepler includes:
- pipelines, email sync, and a notetaker for Teams, Zoom and Google Meet
- CV parsing and formatting, campaigns and consent records
- a client portal and a careers site on your own domain
- an API and an MCP server for outside AI tools
Contact enrichment is available, and single sign-on is available on the Enterprise plan. Kepler sells a single plan at one published price.
Firefish is a recruitment CRM from Firefish Software, a UK company, built for UK agencies. It is sold as a plan with add-on modules, and its AI comes as a set of named agents.
What is the main difference between Kepler and Firefish?
The main difference is how you work. In Kepler you ask AI Chat a question in plain English. It searches CVs, notes, emails and call transcripts, ranks the people it finds, and proposes record updates for you to approve. There is no Boolean string to write.
Kepler is a single plan with the AI included. There is nothing to assemble: no modules to add and no tier to choose.
Firefish is built up from a plan and modules. You choose Core, Scale or Enterprise by desk type. The contract workflow starts on Scale, and the temporary workflow, advanced automations and account management are only on Enterprise. You then add modules such as the multi-poster, portals, a website, two-way SMS and enrichment credits, from £150 per module. Its AI is six agents, each attached to one task.
How does Kepler’s AI compare with Firefish’s?
Kepler puts its AI behind AI Chat. It searches the whole workspace, ranks candidates against a job, drafts emails into the composer, and returns results you can save as a list. Nothing is written until a person approves it. AI Chat is included on every plan, monthly and annual, with no add-on or upgrade needed.
Firefish ships its AI as named agents:
- Skills Agent reads employment history to identify skills.
- Insight Agent turns CVs into structured profiles.
- Matching Agent ranks database candidates against a new job.
- Email Agent drafts outreach and Content Agent writes adverts.
- Enrichment Agent finds phone numbers and work emails.
Firefish does not have an AI chat or AI search across your whole database. Each agent does one task. Firefish’s AI policy says customer data is not used to train models.
Matching and search
Kepler 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.
Firefish’s help centre describes a Potential Matches list, usually 50 candidates, built from keywords and preferences the recruiter codes on the job. A Rank indicator shows how often the keywords appear in the CV and profile.
Kepler’s search understands what you mean as well as the words you type, across CVs, notes, email threads and call transcripts. Firefish publishes Boolean, phrase and wildcard search across every field, with postcode radius and extracted skills.
Kepler vs Firefish: feature by feature
| Area | Kepler | Firefish |
|---|---|---|
| How you work | Ask AI Chat in plain English and it finds, ranks and updates records for you | A plan plus add-on modules, with an AI agent for each task |
| Plans | A single plan with every feature | Core, Scale and Enterprise, split by desk type |
| Published price | USD 99 per user per month, billed annually | Not published, quote by calculator or demo |
| Search | Ask in plain English and AI Chat searches your CVs, notes, emails and call transcripts | Boolean, phrase and wildcard search, with skills |
| Meeting notetaker | Built in, and joins Teams, Zoom and Google Meet calls | None of its own. Transcription through partners such as Quil and Ringover. |
| Messaging | Email, WhatsApp and LinkedIn conversations in one two-way inbox | Two-way SMS as an add-on, bulk WhatsApp through Payemoji |
| Email sequences | Multi-step email sequences, with calls and other manual steps as tasks | Sequences to contacts and hiring managers |
| Jobs | A careers site on your own domain, marked up for Google for Jobs | UK and Ireland job boards, Indeed sync |
| Client or hiring manager portal | Included. Share blind CVs if you choose, and take ratings, comments and interview requests. | Branded portal, sold as an add-on module |
| Contact enrichment | Available for work and personal emails, mobile numbers and LinkedIn URLs, with a review step | Enrichment Agent, with credits sold as an add-on module |
| Single sign-on | Available on the Enterprise plan | Supported |
| Migration | Free on every plan | In-house team, price not published |
How do Kepler and Firefish differ on jobs, marketing and messaging?
- Getting jobs to market. Kepler publishes roles to a branded careers site on your own domain, marked up for Google for Jobs, and parses, de-duplicates, screens and scores applicants as they arrive. Firefish posts adverts to Indeed, CV-Library, Reed, Totaljobs and other boards, and captures Indeed Direct Apply applications.
- Candidate marketing. Kepler’s campaigns run multi-step email sequences with manual steps as tasks. They sort replies, test two versions of the first step and credit placements to the campaign. Firefish sends automated job alerts to opted-in candidates and mailshots to talent pools.
- Messaging. Kepler brings email, WhatsApp and LinkedIn conversations into one two-way inbox, each thread linked to the right record, and sends one-off SMS from a connected phone line. Firefish offers two-way SMS against records as an add-on module, and bulk WhatsApp through Payemoji.
- LinkedIn. Kepler can search LinkedIn, shows whether a person is already in your database and what has changed since you last spoke, and adds them if they are not.
- Portals. Kepler’s client portal is included. Hiring managers sign in by magic link, see candidates shared one at a time, in bulk or by stage (blind if you choose), rate them, comment and request interviews. Firefish’s hiring manager portal takes job requests and interview feedback, and it is an add-on module.
- Placements. Kepler records each placement’s fee, invoice status and payment status and connects to a pay-and-bill system through its API. Firefish runs contract desks from its Scale plan and temporary desks on Enterprise, with invoices through Xero.
What does Kepler do differently from Firefish?
- AI Chat across everything. Kepler’s AI Chat answers a question that spans records, such as which candidates have shipped a payments integration and who owns them, and returns records you can act on.
- Search that reads everything. Kepler searches email threads and call transcripts alongside CVs and notes, in plain English.
- The reason behind every score. Kepler shows the line behind every criterion, which a consultant can check and a client can read.
- Updates you approve. Kepler turns emails, calls, WhatsApp and LinkedIn messages into proposed updates you accept or reject, with the source attached and history and undo on every field.
- One plan. The notetaker, client portal, careers site, campaigns and MCP server are all on Kepler’s single plan. Firefish sells websites, portals, two-way SMS and enrichment credits as add-on modules.
Kepler’s features page lists the rest.
How much does Firefish cost?
Kepler is USD 99 per user per month billed annually (USD 1,188 a seat a year), or USD 129 monthly. Every feature is on that single plan, with unlimited records and free migration. AI Chat is included on every plan, monthly and annual, with no add-on or upgrade needed. See the Kepler pricing page.
Firefish does not publish per-user pricing as of October 2026. Its pricing page names three plans without figures, split by desk type:
- Core for permanent recruitment, the Firefish plan to put beside Kepler
- Scale, which adds the contract workflow
- Enterprise, the only plan with the temporary workflow, advanced automations and account management
A calculator asks for recruiters, desks and modules, then emails a price. The only figure on the page is for add-on modules, “from £150 per module”, with no billing period. The optional modules are the jobs plug-in and multi-poster, enrichment credits, two-way SMS, the candidate portal, the hiring manager portal and a website.
Firefish’s FAQ says onboarding depends on agency size, data and the support needed, and an in-house team handles migration. It publishes no onboarding price.
Which agencies is Kepler built for?
Kepler is built for agencies that want a simple CRM with the AI included. Consultants ask AI Chat instead of building searches, and it reads every CV, note, email and call transcript the agency holds.
For a 10-person agency, Kepler is one published price with the AI included: ten seats cost USD 11,880 a year billed annually, with the client portal, notetaker and migration included. Kepler also fits agencies that recruit across borders, with consent records covering GDPR, UK GDPR, PDPA and CCPA.
Can you migrate from Firefish to Kepler?
Yes. Kepler runs the migration for you on every plan at no cost. You send a Firefish export with any loose CVs and spreadsheets.
Kepler handles extraction, mapping, de-duplication and validation, and rebuilds custom fields as real fields. You review fifty of your own records before the full load, and activity, stages and history come across.
Firefish’s trust page says it provides your data in a secure download location at the end of a contract and removes it five working days after export, so collect the export promptly.
Frequently asked questions
Is Firefish better than Kepler?
It depends on how you want to work. If you want a simple, easy-to-use recruitment CRM with the AI included, where you ask AI Chat in plain English and it finds, ranks and updates records for you instead of you searching by hand, choose Kepler. It is a single plan at USD 99 per user per month billed annually, with free migration.
If you want a UK platform you build up from a plan with add-on modules, and a separate AI agent for each task, Firefish is built for that.
How much does Firefish cost?
Kepler is USD 99 per user per month billed annually, or USD 129 monthly, with every feature and AI Chat on a single plan. Firefish does not publish per-user pricing as of October 2026. Its pricing page names Core, Scale and Enterprise, with the contract workflow from Scale and the temporary workflow and advanced automations only on Enterprise. Add-on modules start “from £150 per module” with no billing period, and prices come as a quote.
What AI does Firefish have?
Kepler has AI Chat, which answers questions across the whole database, scores candidates from 0 to 100 with the line behind each criterion, drafts emails and writes changes after a person approves them. Firefish publishes six AI agents, Skills, Insight, Matching, Email, Content and Enrichment, which extract skills, build profiles, rank candidates, draft emails, write adverts and find contact data. Firefish does not have an AI chat or AI search across your whole database.
Does Firefish have a meeting notetaker?
Kepler’s notetaker joins Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Google Meet calls and files the summary, next steps and transcript against the right record. Firefish does not have its own meeting notetaker. Call transcription comes through partner integrations such as Quil and Ringover.
Does Kepler have contact enrichment and single sign-on?
Yes. Kepler offers contact enrichment for work and personal emails, mobile numbers and LinkedIn URLs, for one record or in bulk, with a review step. Single sign-on is available on the Enterprise plan. Firefish’s Enrichment Agent finds phone numbers and work emails, with credits sold as an add-on module.
Can you migrate from Firefish to Kepler?
Yes. Kepler migrates your Firefish data for you, free, on every plan. You send an export, review fifty of your own records before the full load, and custom fields, activity, stages and history come across.
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.
- Firefish — Pricing No per-user figure for any plan. Core (permanent workflow); Scale adds Contract Workflow and Cross Workflow Analytics; Enterprise adds Temporary Workflow, Advanced Automations and Account Management. Add-on modules "from £150 per module", no billing period. Quote calculator modules: Jobs Plug-in & Multi-Poster, Enrich Agent Credits, 2-Way SMS, Candidate Portal, Website, Hiring Manager Portal. FAQ on onboarding and in-house migration.
- Firefish — About Firefish Software (reference for AI systems) UK market; job boards including Indeed, CV-Library, Reed and Totaljobs; SSO support.
- Firefish — Trust and data security Data export location at contract end and removal five working days after export.
- Firefish — AI agents Skills, Insight, Matching, Email, Content and Enrichment agents. No AI chat, AI database search or meeting notetaker listed.
- Firefish — Artificial intelligence policy Customer data not used to train models.
- Firefish — Search and match Boolean, phrase and wildcard search across every field, postcode radius, Skills Agent.
- Firefish Help Centre — AI Potential Matches in the job workflow Matches built from keywords and preferences coded on the job; Rank indicator; list usually 50 candidates.
- Firefish Help Centre — How to share and promote your advert Job alerts, mailshots, posting to UK and Ireland job boards.
- Firefish — Indeed ATS integration Advert sync with Indeed, Indeed Direct Apply.
- Firefish — Email sequencing Sequences to client contacts and hiring managers.
- Firefish — Enrich Agent Phone numbers and work emails from external data sources.
- Firefish — Xero integration Placement and timesheet data sent to Xero; draft invoices created.
- Firefish — Conversations Two-way SMS against records.
- Firefish — WhatsApp for Business integration Bulk WhatsApp messages from Firefish through Payemoji.
- Firefish — Quil integration Call transcription and structured call notes through a third-party partner.
- Firefish — Ringover integration Click-to-call; call notes transcribed by Ringover and synced back into Firefish.
- Firefish — Hiring manager portal Branded portal: job requests and interview feedback.
- Kepler pricing USD 99 per user per month billed annually (USD 1,188 per seat per year) or USD 129 monthly; a single plan; unlimited records; free migration; 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 Firefish 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.