vsMarvin Recruiter vs Bullhorn
One tool for the day-rate contract desk vs a modular ATS with a partner ecosystem
Target : Agencies of every size, UK back office through partners
Marvin
Bullhorn
Weighted score: ✅ = 1, 🟡 = 0.5, ➖ not counted. A criterion the vendor does not document publicly is left out of both scores.
In summary
Bullhorn (Boston) is the ATS/CRM most UK agencies know: 10,000+ customers, over 300 partners in its marketplace and an AI layer called Amplify. Its UK price list publishes Starter (£80) and Core (£120) per user per month; the recruitment CRM, AI search and match, call transcription and agentic outreach sit on the Pro and Max plans, priced on quote. Its native back office is presented for North American customers; a UK agency running contractors usually adds a pay and bill partner. Marvin keeps the day-rate contract loop in one tool: half-day timesheets, client sign-off without an account, then the invoice. Marvin does not run PAYE or RTI payroll, decide IR35 status or handle hourly timesheets.
Why Marvin against Bullhorn
The decisive strengths that tip a decision.
Contractor timesheets in days and half-days, signed by the client without an account, then invoiced at the day rate — Bullhorn presents its native back office for North America
Recruitment CRM in every Marvin plan — at Bullhorn it starts at Pro, priced on quote
AI note-taker and LinkedIn sourcing in the Suite plan — at Bullhorn, AI features sit on the Pro and Max plans
MCP server to connect your own AI assistant to your data
Feature — Marvin vs Bullhorn
Honest functional audit — every cell is sourced from the competitor's official site and public reviews.
What Bullhorn does better
We're not telling a one-sided story. Here's where Bullhorn keeps an edge.
Ecosystem: over 300 marketplace partners and open APIs
Scale: 10,000+ customers and 350+ support and customer success staff
Hourly time capture, shift scheduling and timesheet approval in its Salesforce-based Recruitment Cloud edition — Marvin works in days and half-days only
Agentic screening, matching and outreach (Amplify Digital Workers) on the Max plan
What reviewers criticise about Bullhorn
Capterra UK: 4.0/5 from 1,023 reviews, value for money 3.7/5 (seen 5 October 2026).
“Its not built with temp recruitment in mind and isnt good for shift work”
“The layout is poor - too many clicks to get what you need”
“Long time for wait on system issues you find”
Pricing — what's included
Marvin Recruiter
Pro £129, Suite £169 / user / month billed annually (£149 and £199 billed monthly); 12-month commitment, including when paid monthly
Included with Marvin
Pro: Desk (ATS, CRM, outreach, missions and timesheets, invoicing) and Career (career site). Suite adds Scout (AI sourcing), Note (AI interview notes) and Board (client portal).
Bullhorn
Starter £80, Core £120 / user / month; Pro, Max and enterprise plans on quote
Sources
- Bullhorn UK pricing (checked 5 October 2026)
- Bullhorn UK home page (checked 5 October 2026)
- Bullhorn Recruitment Cloud, time capture and approval (checked 5 October 2026)
- Bullhorn Back Office, North American customers (checked 5 October 2026)
- Capterra UK reviews (checked 5 October 2026)
Last reviewed: 5 October 2026
Migration & onboarding handled for you
Painless switch — no data loss, no rebuilding your database.
Full database transfer (candidates, clients, missions)
Deduplication clean-up included (LinkedIn + email + phone)
Dedicated CSM throughout onboarding
Let's talk about your goals
30 minutes to understand your challenges and show you how Marvin can transform your day-to-day.