Superposition vs. Retained Recruiters
Retained search buys a human process. Superposition gives startups an always-on recruiting operator with software-speed iteration.
Retained search can be too slow and expensive for early-stage hiring
- Retained recruiters.
- LinkedIn Recruiter seats.
- Keyword-matched resumes.
- Templated InMails.
Retained recruiters can be valuable for narrow executive searches, especially when a partner has a deep network in the exact market. The model, however, often starts with a large upfront fee and a multi-month cadence.
For seed and Series A teams, that cost and timeline can be hard to justify. You need evidence fast: who exists, who is reachable, who is interested, and what your market is telling you.
Superposition keeps the specificity of a search process while using an AI agent to broaden research, personalize outbound, and iterate quickly as founder taste changes.
Why startups compare Superposition first
Lower upfront risk
A monthly agent fee plus success fee avoids committing tens of thousands before the market has responded.
Transparent candidate work
You can see the pipeline, research, outreach, and reasoning instead of waiting for a black-box shortlist.
Broader open-web sourcing
The agent can research public evidence at scale, including code, writing, communities, and company history.
Faster calibration loops
As you react to candidates, the search can update without waiting for weekly recruiter syncs.
Side-by-side
Compare the workflow, not just the feature list.
Questions.
Answered.
Traditional recruiters charge 20–30% of first-year salary and run a generic search across multiple clients at once. Our agent goes deep on just your company — researching thousands of candidates and bringing back people who are specifically a fit, not just generically good.
$500 per agent per month, plus a 15% success fee on first-year base salary only — not equity, not bonus.
Interested candidates are typically flagged within days of kickoff. Time-to-hire averages six weeks, depending on role seniority and your interview cadence.
We offer a 90-day replacement guarantee for any reason within the first 90 days.
There's an initial voice intake, usually 30 minutes, where the agent learns your company, values, and the specific shape of who you're hiring.
Superposition vs. Gem
Gem organizes a recruiting team. Superposition runs the search for teams that do not have one yet.
Superposition vs. hireEZ
hireEZ expands the search surface. Superposition turns the search surface into qualified conversations.
Superposition vs. Juicebox
Juicebox makes profile search faster. Superposition takes responsibility for the recruiting work around the search.
Run the search without the retainer drag.
Get transparent recruiting leverage before committing retained-search dollars.