Pay-per-use (credits) is usually the better fit for Indian staffing agencies whose volume spikes with client ramps and goes quiet between them. Subscription seats are simpler to budget and more expensive when consultants sit idle. Neither model is “free screening.” Credits meter work; seats meter access. Pick the meter that matches how your reqs actually arrive.
A seat you did not use in August is a tax. A credit you did not use can still work a req in November — if the vendor does not lock it to one job.
| Pay-per-use / credits | Subscription / seats | |
|---|---|---|
| What you buy | Work done (scan, download) | Access per user / month |
| Quiet month | Low bill if you do not run jobs | Same bill |
| Spike month | Bill follows volume | May still throttle by seats |
| Best when | Seasonal staffing, shared queues | Flat, all-day usage by named users |
Credits vs seats — two different bets
Seats assume every named recruiter will use the product every month. That matches an in-house TA team with stable reqs. Staffing desks add and drop consultants, share queues across 10+ jobs, and run 4–6 hour triage spikes when a client opens a bulk mandate. Billing the chair instead of the scan means you pay through the dip and still scramble for logins in the spike.
TeamOB - SafalHires deducts a scan credit when an inbound application is screened (₹20 equivalent) and the same scan credit when you click Screen on a sourced profile (₹20 equivalent). Viewing the ranked list — name, designation, company, match score — does not consume credits. That last rule matters: ranking should be cheap to look at.
Seasonal Indian staffing makes seats expensive
Campus season, BFSI year-end, a GCC ramp, a sudden 50-open walk-in week: volume is not a straight line. Subscription software sold on “unlimited” still gates by seats, modules, or fair-use. You will either over-buy seats for the peak or under-buy and watch a consultant work from Excel again. Credits scale with the 6,355-application kind of inbound week without inventing 20 extra named users.
Neither credits nor ATS seats replace job-board spend. Compare ranking cost to salary hours, not to your Naukri invoice.
Unlock credits and carry-forward
Ask four credit questions: expiry, whether they lock to one job, whether unused credits carry across positions, and whether a free pack is enough to trial a real req. SafalHires credits (free and purchased) are valid for 12 months from issue and carry across jobs. New accounts receive complimentary credits so you can try before you subscribe to a pack. “Unlock credits” in some products means paying extra to see contact details after a teaser rank — know which event actually burns money.
If opening the ranked list burns a credit, you will under-use ranking. If only screening inbound or downloading a sourced profile burns it, recruiters can judge first. That is the SafalHires design.
Honest tradeoffs of each model
Busy months cost more. Finance must forecast scans. You need to watch scan vs download price so consultants do not hoard or spray.
Easy PO. Painful when half the floor is on a client who paused hiring. Named-seat products also fight shared-queue operations.
Platform fee plus credits, or seats plus overage. Read which meter moves when you post a high-volume req. That is the real price.
How to choose for your volume pattern
If last year’s req count by month looks like a heartbeat, buy credits. If every recruiter lives in the tool eight hours a day, seats may be cheaper at scale — still insist on a trial. Either way, compare to the 4–6 hour screening block you already pay in salary. The software model is secondary to whether ranking actually returns those hours.
Questions agencies ask
Is pay-per-use better than a subscription for staffing agencies?
For seasonal Indian staffing, credits that follow volume are usually better than seats you pay through a quiet month. Subscriptions can still win if usage is flat and you want a single predictable invoice.
What happens to unused recruiting software credits?
On TeamOB - SafalHires, credits stay valid for 12 months from issue and carry across positions — they are not locked to one job. Always ask a vendor about expiry, job-lock, and whether viewing a ranked list burns a credit.
What is the downside of pay-per-use?
Busy months cost more in credits, finance wants a forecast, and you must watch unit price (scan vs download). Seats are simpler to budget and worse when half the team is idle.
Pay for scans, not empty seats
See how SafalHires credits work on a live requirement — ranked list first, download only when you choose.
See how SafalHires works