Both give you candidates without doing the search yourself. They differ in what you pay for, how fast it starts and what you are locked into.
Last updated: October 2026
A sourcing agency sells the time of human sourcers, or charges a fee when you hire. Sourcing as a service sells the result: candidates who match the role and have already replied that they are interested. With LeadForce Talent you pay a monthly plan for a set number of these interview-ready candidates, from $49 a month, with no contract.
| Sourcing agency | In-house sourcer | LeadForce (sourcing as a service) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you pay for | Hours, a monthly retainer or 15–25% of first-year salary per hire | Salary, around $6,500 a month | Interview-ready candidates delivered |
| Typical cost | $10,000–17,000 per hire on a $70K role | $78,000 a year plus tools | $49–249 a month for 10–100 candidates |
| Time to start | Briefing, contract, ramp-up | Hiring and onboarding | Same working day |
| Who runs outreach | The agency | Your employee, from your accounts | LeadForce, from its own LinkedIn and email accounts |
| What you get | A shortlist, often with a placement fee attached | Whatever one person can process | Candidates who matched and replied with interest |
| Contract | Usually yes | Employment | None, cancel anytime |
| Scales with | More hours or more fees | More hires | A bigger plan |
Agency fees are typical market ranges. In-house cost is an average monthly cost of a sourcer in the US and Western Europe.
In the first week of Simple mode across 11 live roles this produced 71 interview-ready candidates, a median of about 6 per role.
If you need someone to run interviews, negotiate offers and own the placement, or you are hiring for a very niche or highly localized role, an agency or a retained search firm can do more. LeadForce covers the top of the funnel: finding people and getting a yes. Your recruiters do the rest.