Sophia Bennettto me
Today, 09:12Re: Senior Data Engineer at Northwind
Thanks for sending the details over. The role sounds great, and I can start on 3 October if the timing works for them.
Kepler vs Bullhorn: the AI-first choice. Ask Kepler’s AI Chat, and it finds, ranks and updates for you.
Kepler is a modern recruitment CRM where you ask AI Chat in plain English and it does the searching for you. It is one published plan at USD 99 per user per month, with AI Chat, the API and a done-for-you migration included. Bullhorn Pro, the Bullhorn plan with the AI, is quote-only.
The short answer
The difference is how you work.
Kepler is a simple, modern CRM where you ask AI Chat in plain English instead of searching by hand. AI Chat is included on every plan, monthly and annual, with no add-on or upgrade needed.
Bullhorn is a large platform sold in editions, and its AI sits on the quote-only Bullhorn Pro plan or in separately sold Amplify skills.
- Choose Kepler if
- You run a permanent, contingency or retained desk and your best asset is a database nobody can search. You want to ask a question in plain English and get the right people back. You want to see the evidence behind every match score and approve updates instead of retyping them. And you want one published price with AI Chat, custom fields, the API and a done-for-you migration inside it.
- Bullhorn is built for
- A large platform sold in editions, with Amplify AI skills, Automation and Analytics as separate products and a marketplace of partner integrations.
Written from Bullhorn's own public documentation and pricing pages, . Tell us if we have something wrong and we will correct it.
Longer reads: the full Bullhorn review and the best Bullhorn alternatives in 2026.
Side by side
Where the two differ.
- 14 Kepler ahead
| Dimension | keplerKepler |  |
|---|---|---|
| AI Chat and matching | 5 dimensions: 5 Kepler ahead | |
| AI Chat |
Kepler
Kepler ahead.
On every page and every plan Ask in plain English and it finds and updates records once you approve. |
Bullhorn
Amplify Chat, only on Bullhorn Pro Bullhorn Pro is quote-only. Starter and Core do not include it. |
| AI pricing |
Kepler
Kepler ahead.
Included in the seat price A monthly AI allowance comes with the plan. More capacity is available on request. |
Bullhorn
AI products sold separately AI Assistant Premium, AI Search and Match and each Amplify skill are separate purchases on a Growth, Enterprise or Industry package. |
| AI model |
Kepler
Kepler ahead.
Included, nothing to supply Kepler runs the AI for you inside the seat price. |
Bullhorn
Standard AI Assistant runs on your own model Bullhorn says the customer owns and controls the AI model. |
| Search |
Kepler
Kepler ahead.
Ask in plain English AI Chat searches your CVs, notes, emails and call transcripts together. |
Bullhorn
Amplify Chat searches the database, on Pro AI Search and Match, which ranks candidates for a job, is sold as its own product. |
| Matching |
Kepler
Kepler ahead.
A 0 to 100 score for every candidate Based on criteria from the job description, which you can edit. Each criterion shows the line from the CV, call or email behind it. |
Bullhorn
AI Search and Match, sold as its own product Ranks best-fit candidates for a specific job. |
| Keeping records current | 4 dimensions: 3 Kepler ahead | |
| Record updates |
Kepler
Kepler ahead.
Suggested updates you approve Emails, calls and messages become field updates and tasks. Every change keeps its history and can be undone. |
Bullhorn
Amplify skills, each a separate purchase Amplify digital workers with skills such as Enrich and Transcribe, bought on top of a package. |
| Contact enrichment |
Kepler
Kepler ahead.
Emails, mobile numbers and LinkedIn URLs One record or in bulk, with a review before anything is saved. |
Bullhorn
Amplify Enrich, sold separately One of the Amplify skills, bought on top of a Bullhorn package. |
| Call notes |
Kepler
Both have this.
A notetaker on Teams, Zoom and Google Meet It joins the call and files the summary, next steps and transcript on the record. |
Bullhorn
Both have this.
AI call transcription, only on Bullhorn Pro Listed on the quote-only Pro plan. |
| Automations |
Kepler
Kepler ahead.
One list of everything that runs Each automation shows what it reads, what it writes and when it last ran, with a switch to turn it off. |
Bullhorn
Bullhorn Automation, sold in four editions A separate product from the ATS. |
| Price and plans | 5 dimensions: 5 Kepler ahead | |
| Price |
Kepler
Kepler ahead.
USD 99 per user per month Billed annually, or USD 129 monthly. Every feature is included. |
Bullhorn
Bullhorn Pro, quote-only Pro carries the AI. Starter at USD 99 and Core at USD 165 do not include it. |
| Plans |
Kepler
Kepler ahead.
A single plan Every feature is included, monthly or annual, with no add-on or upgrade needed. |
Bullhorn
Editions and add-ons Starter, Core, Pro and Max for small agencies. ATS Growth, Bullhorn ATS, Front Office Growth, Front Office Enterprise and Bullhorn One above them. |
| Custom fields and storage |
Kepler
Kepler ahead.
Included, with unlimited records No per-record or per-contact charge. |
Bullhorn
Not in the entry ATS edition Custom fields and unlimited storage start at Bullhorn ATS, and at Bullhorn Core for small agencies. |
| API and webhooks |
Kepler
Kepler ahead.
On every plan A public API and webhooks with delivery logs. AI tools like Claude and ChatGPT can also work in your data. |
Bullhorn
Custom API integrations from Front Office Growth Partner integrations come from the Bullhorn Marketplace. |
| Migration |
Kepler
Kepler ahead.
Done for you, free, on every plan Kepler maps and de-duplicates your data, and you check fifty of your own records first. |
Bullhorn
Self-guided implementation Listed for Starter, Core and Pro. |
| Running the desk | 3 dimensions: 1 Kepler ahead | |
| CV formatting |
Kepler
Both have this.
Your own branded template, Word or PDF Formatting a CV never changes the candidate profile. |
Bullhorn
Both have this.
AI resume formatting, on Bullhorn Pro Listed on the quote-only Pro plan. |
|
Kepler
Both have this.
Search LinkedIn from Kepler It shows whether a person is already in your database and what has changed since you last spoke, and adds them if not. |
Bullhorn
Both have this.
LinkedIn integrations from Bullhorn Core RSC and Apply Connect are listed from Core upward. |
|
| Reporting |
Kepler
Kepler ahead.
Billings and consultant splits, included Read from real placements, with each fee, invoice status and payment status. |
Bullhorn
Real-time analytics from Bullhorn Pro Bullhorn Analytics is also sold as its own product. |
The difference in practice
AI Chat is not a line item. It is how you use Kepler.
Kepler puts AI Chat on every page and every plan, with a monthly AI allowance inside the USD 99 seat. You ask in plain English, it finds and ranks the people, and nothing is written until you approve. Bullhorn includes Amplify Chat only on the quote-only Bullhorn Pro plan and sells each other Amplify skill as a separate purchase.
Active data engineers in London who have used Kafka in production, available within a month
Found 4 candidates. Three mention Kafka on their CV; one said it on a recorded call last week.
| Candidate | Current employer | Notice | Why it matched |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sophia Bennett | Monarch Analytics | 1 month | Kafka streaming for card transactions at Halcyon CV |
| Amir Hassan | Northwind Capital | 2 weeks | Kafka feed for the risk platform CV |
| James Okafor | Juniper Systems | 3 months | Rebuilt the Kafka clickstream pipeline CV |
| Oliver Chen | Northwind Capital | Immediate | Mentioned running Kafka on the 2 Sep call Call note · 2 Sep |
A shortlist you can explain
Every candidate scored from 0 to 100, with the evidence attached.
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. A consultant can show a client exactly why the shortlist is in that order.
| Candidate | Match | Role title | Current employer | Skills | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sophia Bennett | 92Strong | Senior Data Engineer | Monarch Analytics | Python, Spark, AWS, Terraform, dbt | |
| Amir Hassan | 81Good | Data Engineer | Northwind Capital | Python, Spark, EMR, SQL, Airflow | |
| James Okafor | 74Good | Senior Data Engineer | Juniper Systems | Spark, Azure, Databricks, Kafka, Scala | |
| Mei Tan | 68Weak | Engineering Manager, Data | Atlas Cloud | AWS, Leadership, Python, Snowflake | |
| Elena Rossi | 55Weak | Analytics Engineer | Forma | dbt, SQL, Python, Looker | |
| Oliver Chen | 49Off spec | Platform Engineer | Northwind Capital | AWS, Kubernetes, Terraform, Go |
Select a candidate to read the evidence.
Sophia Bennett
1 of 692
judge score
Strong match
3 of 4 criteria met
Assessment
A strong fit for the brief. Sophia has run a production Spark platform on AWS and has managed a team through a migration. Financial services exposure is via a payments client rather than a bank.
Candidate
EmployerMonarch AnalyticsLocationLondonStatusActiveLatest degreeMSc Computer ScienceEmailsophia.bennett@monarch.exampleProfileSophia Bennett
Criteria · 3 of 4
- Financial services“Two years on a payments client; no bank or fund experience stated.”
- Python & Spark in productionmust“Built the ingestion platform in Python and Spark, processing 40 TB a day.”
- AWS data platform“Ran the platform on AWS: Glue, Redshift and S3, with Terraform.”
- Led a team“Managed four engineers across two squads through the warehouse migration.”
Suggested, not applied
A conversation changes a record. You still get the last word.
Kepler reads the emails, calls and messages on a record and turns them into suggested updates and tasks, each with the message it came from. Nothing changes until a person accepts it, and every change can be undone from the field’s history.
Three candidates · this week
Amir Hassanonline
WhatsAppAre you still keeping half an eye out?
I handed my notice in this morning, so I am actively looking now.
Catch-up call · 14 minJames Okafor · Today, 11:20
ZoomJames · 11:26For my next move I am looking for £105,000. I would want a step up for a move.
ListsData engineers · London
Assistant
| Candidate | Available from | Status | Expected salary | Notice period | Company | Owner | Skills | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sophia Bennett | Not set | Passive | £90,000 | 1 month | Monarch Analytics | Priya Nair | ||
| Amir Hassan | 14 Oct 2026 | Passive | £85,000 | 2 weeks | Northwind Capital | Priya Nair | ||
| James Okafor | Immediate | New | £100,000 | 3 months | Juniper Systems | Tom Reilly | ||
| Mei Tan | Not set | Passive | S$160,000 | 2 months | Atlas Cloud | Tom Reilly | ||
| Elena Rossi | Not set | Active | €78,000 | 1 month | Forma | Tom Reilly | ||
| Oliver Chen | Immediate | New | £88,000 | None | Northwind Capital | Priya Nair | ||
| Rahul Menon | 2 Nov 2026 | Active | £92,000 | 1 month | Juniper Systems | Priya Nair | ||
| Yuki Tanaka | Not set | Passive | ¥14,000,000 | 3 months | Atlas Cloud | Tom Reilly | ||
| Hafiz Rahman | 20 Oct 2026 | Active | S$145,000 | 2 weeks | Meridian Partners | Priya Nair | ||
| Clara Nowak | Not set | New | €84,000 | 1 month | Forma | Tom Reilly | ||
| Daniel Okonkwo | Immediate | Active | £78,000 | None | Northwind Capital | Priya Nair | ||
| Ana Ferreira | 8 Dec 2026 | Passive | €96,000 | 3 months | Juniper Systems | Tom Reilly | ||
| Tomas Novak | Not set | Active | €71,000 | 1 month | Monarch Analytics | Priya Nair | ||
| Grace Adeyemi | 27 Oct 2026 | Active | £105,000 | 2 weeks | Atlas Cloud | Tom Reilly | ||
| Ivan Petrov | Not set | Passive | €88,000 | 2 months | Forma | Priya Nair | ||
| Leila Haddad | Immediate | New | £82,000 | None | Meridian Partners | Tom Reilly | ||
| Marcus Reid | 16 Nov 2026 | Active | £98,000 | 1 month | Monarch Analytics | Priya Nair | ||
| Nadia Kaur | Not set | Passive | S$172,000 | 3 months | Northwind Capital | Tom Reilly |
Where the engine comes from
Not a first attempt at parsing CVs.
Kepler's CV parsing and formatting come from RemakeCV, built by the same team and used by 300+ recruitment agencies. The migration that fills your database on day one runs on an engine that has been reading real agency CVs for years, not on something written for this launch.
The 300+ figure is RemakeCV's agency count. The parser reading your archive is the one those agencies already run.
Migration
Get migrated in days.
Get migrated in days.
We handle the whole move.
-
1. Send us the export
Whatever your current system gives you, plus loose CVs and spreadsheets sitting in folders. Not sure how to export? We will walk you through it.
-
2. We build the migration
Extraction, mapping, de-duplication and validation, the unglamorous half most vendors leave on your desk. Your custom fields are recreated rather than flattened into notes.
-
3. You look at a sample
Fifty of your own records, fully parsed. Your people, not a demo set. Tell us what we got wrong and we re-run.
-
4. Everything loads
The full database goes in, mailboxes and calendars connect, and history backfills onto the right records. We stay on it until your team is working.
Pricing
What each one costs, like for like.
Kepler's one price next to the Bullhorn plan that carries the features compared on this page. Cheaper tiers are listed underneath with what they leave out.
Kepler
One planUSD 99 per user / month, billed annually
USD 129 billed monthly
One plan, monthly or annual. AI Chat and every feature on this page are included, with no add-on or upgrade needed.
- Unlimited records and storage
- Migration done for you, on every plan
- A monthly AI allowance is included, and more capacity is available on request
Bullhorn
Bullhorn ProNot published
The small-agency plan with AI search and match, Amplify Chat and AI call transcription, the features compared on this page. Quote-only.
- Bullhorn Max, Front Office, Bullhorn One and every add-on are also quote-only.
- Amplify AI skills, Automation and Analytics are sold as separate products.
- Published prices exclude VAT, and the billing basis is not stated.
Cheaper tiers, not compared above
- Bullhorn Starter · USD 99 per user / monthNo recruitment CRM, AI search and match, Amplify Chat, call transcription, custom fields or marketplace.
- Bullhorn Core · USD 165 per user / monthAdds custom fields, the marketplace and LinkedIn integrations, but none of Pro’s AI or the recruitment CRM.
From Bullhorn's pricing page, checked 13 Sep 2026.
Questions, answered.
Is Bullhorn 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 and it finds, ranks and updates records for you, choose Kepler. Kepler is a single plan at USD 99 per user per month billed annually, with plain-English search across CVs, notes, emails and call transcripts, matching that shows its evidence, and a free migration. If you want a large platform sold in editions, with add-on modules and a marketplace of partner integrations, Bullhorn is built for that.
How much does Bullhorn cost compared to Kepler?
Kepler is USD 99 per user per month billed annually (USD 129 monthly), on a single plan with every feature, unlimited records and free migration. The like-for-like Bullhorn plan is Bullhorn Pro, which carries AI search and match, Amplify Chat and call transcription, and it is quote-only. Bullhorn Starter at USD 99 and Core at USD 165 per user per month are published without Pro’s AI (prices exclude VAT, checked 13 Sep 2026).
Is Bullhorn’s AI included in the price?
AI Chat is included on every Kepler plan, monthly and annual, with no add-on or upgrade needed. Bullhorn includes Amplify Chat only with the quote-only Pro plan. Bullhorn’s standard AI Assistant runs on an AI model the customer supplies and controls, and AI Assistant Premium, AI Search and Match and every Amplify skill are separate purchases.
How does search compare in Kepler and Bullhorn?
Kepler searches in plain English across candidates, CVs, notes, emails and call transcripts, so it reaches the sentence inside a CV or a call that answers your question. It is included in the seat. Bullhorn’s AI Search and Match ranks best-fit candidates for a specific job and is sold as its own product.
Does Kepler offer contact enrichment?
Yes. Kepler finds work and personal emails, mobile numbers and LinkedIn URLs, for one record or in bulk, with a review step before anything is saved. Bullhorn lists Enrich among its Amplify skills, sold as a separate purchase.
How hard is it to move from Bullhorn to Kepler?
Kepler runs the migration for you on every plan, at no cost. You send a Bullhorn export plus any loose CVs and spreadsheets, and Kepler does the extraction, mapping, de-duplication and checks. Custom fields are rebuilt as real fields, and activity, stages and history come across with the records. You review fifty of your own records, fully parsed, before the full load, and the move is done in days.
See it run on your own database.
Bring your hardest search to a 15-minute call. We will run it live, on real records, and talk through what a migration would look like.