Quick answer: UK recruiter fees in 2026 sit at 15-25% of first year salary for contingency, 25-35% for retained search. Job-board posting ranges from free (LinkedIn organic, Gov.uk, GeraJobs free tier) to £29-£399 per post. LinkedIn Recruiter Lite starts at £140/mo, full Recruiter at £600+/mo. Typical per-hire total cost for a mid-level tech role via agency is £9,000-£18,000 — direct-sourced via boards is £200-£1,500.

Recruitment agencies (contingency)

Contingency recruiters work on no-win-no-fee. They source candidates, you only pay if you hire one. Standard UK fees in 2026:

Generalist / admin / junior: 12-18% of first-year salary. On a £35,000 role, that is £4,200-£6,300.
Tech, finance, legal, mid-to-senior: 18-25%. On a £70,000 role, £12,600-£17,500.
Niche / hard-to-fill (AI, security, regulated domains): 22-30%. On a £90,000 role, up to £27,000.

Rebate clauses: most agencies offer a sliding rebate if the hire leaves within 12 weeks (typically 100% in first 4 weeks, decaying to 0% at week 13). Read the contract — some only rebate if you use the same agency to backfill.

Retained executive search

For director, VP, C-suite, and chair roles, retained search is the norm. Fees: 25-35% of total first-year compensation (base + bonus + equity cash value), paid in three instalments (one-third on engagement, one-third at shortlist, one-third on placement). A typical UK FTSE-100 board placement runs £120,000-£250,000 in fees.

Job boards — per-post pricing

Indeed UK: free organic posting (limited visibility) or sponsored at £0.10-£5 per click. Typical sponsored budget for a tech role: £300-£800 to generate 30-80 applications.
Reed.co.uk: £150-£300 per single post for 28 days. Subscription tiers from £500/mo.
Totaljobs: £199-£399 per post.
CWJobs: £199 per post; stronger for contract roles.
LinkedIn Job Post (pay-per-click): budget from £10/day; typical campaign £300-£1,000.
Otta / Welcome to the Jungle: employer fees from £2,500-£8,000 annual subscription.
Wellfound: free posts; £250-£400 subscription for enhanced visibility.
Hacker News Who's Hiring: free, once a month.
Gov.uk Civil Service Jobs: free (restricted to public-sector employers).
GeraJobs: £29/month for 10 posts — free tier available. Candidates apply free.

LinkedIn Recruiter tiers

Recruiter Lite: £140-£170/mo. 30 InMails, basic search filters. For low-volume hiring.
Recruiter Corporate: £600-£850/mo per seat. 150 InMails, full talent pool search, pipeline tools. Annual contracts only for large teams — volume discounts apply.
LinkedIn Talent Insights: add-on £600+/mo for market analytics.

Applicant tracking systems (ATS)

Workable: from £150/mo for 2 active jobs.
Greenhouse: from ~£8,000/year (Essential).
Lever: similar tier to Greenhouse.
Personio (UK/EU SME favourite): from £99/mo.

Referral bonuses

Internal employee referral bounties in UK tech 2026: typically £1,000-£3,000 for mid-level, £3,000-£7,000 for senior+, paid on new-hire start date or at 3-month milestone. Most cost-effective channel by a wide margin — referred hires retain 40-60% longer than agency hires.

Total cost of hire — honest comparison

For a mid-level tech hire at £65,000 base in 2026, typical total cost of hire:

Agency (contingency, 20%): £13,000 + 20-40 hours internal time.
LinkedIn Recruiter + job post: £800-£1,500 + 40-60 hours internal time.
Referral bonus: £2,000-£3,000 + 5-15 hours internal time (typically faster-time-to-hire).
GeraJobs + Otta + direct: £200-£1,000 subscriptions + 40-60 hours internal time.

Agency is often the fastest per external time spent but the most expensive per hire. Direct sourcing via boards + referrals produces the best unit economics at scale.

Hidden costs

Bad-hire cost: a wrong mid-level tech hire costs £30,000-£90,000 in salary, onboarding, rework, and re-hire. Dwarfs the sourcing fee.
Time-to-hire: every week a role is open costs roughly £1,200-£2,500 in lost output at a £65,000 band.
VAT: all agency fees attract 20% VAT.

UK Recruiter Fees & Job-Board Pricing: Honest Breakdown (2026)