What users are saying about
323 Ratings
<a href='https://www.trustradius.com/static/about-trustradius-scoring' target='_blank' rel='nofollow noopener'>trScore algorithm: Learn more.</a>Score 7.8 out of 100
Based on 323 reviews and ratings
49 Ratings
<a href='https://www.trustradius.com/static/about-trustradius-scoring' target='_blank' rel='nofollow noopener'>trScore algorithm: Learn more.</a>Score 6.8 out of 100
Based on 49 reviews and ratings
Feature Set Ratings
- CATS Applicant Tracking System ranks higher in 1 feature set: Recruiting / ATS
Human Resource Management

7.5
Ascentis (discontinued)
75%

CATS ATS
Feature Set Not Supported
N/A
Ascentis (discontinued) ranks higher in 7/7 features
Ascentis (discontinued) ranks higher in 7/7 features
Employee demographic data
7.6
76%
137 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Employment history
7.8
78%
140 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Job profiles and administration
7.6
76%
128 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.
7.4
74%
126 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Organizational charting
6.3
63%
90 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Organization and location management
7.9
79%
109 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)
7.8
78%
102 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Payroll Management

8.3
Ascentis (discontinued)
83%

CATS ATS
Feature Set Not Supported
N/A
Ascentis (discontinued) ranks higher in 7/7 features
Ascentis (discontinued) ranks higher in 7/7 features
Pay calculation
8.3
83%
115 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors
7.2
72%
62 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment
8.2
82%
28 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Benefit plan administration
7.7
77%
108 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Direct deposit files
9.2
92%
100 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management
8.5
85%
92 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Reimbursement management
8.8
88%
51 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management

8.1
Ascentis (discontinued)
81%

CATS ATS
Feature Set Not Supported
N/A
Ascentis (discontinued) ranks higher in 3/3 features
Ascentis (discontinued) ranks higher in 3/3 features
Approval workflow
8.5
85%
99 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Balance details
7.8
78%
99 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment
8.0
80%
84 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Employee Self Service

7.9
Ascentis (discontinued)
79%

CATS ATS
Feature Set Not Supported
N/A
Ascentis (discontinued) ranks higher in 5/5 features
Ascentis (discontinued) ranks higher in 5/5 features
View and generate pay and benefit information
8.2
82%
138 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Update personal information
8.8
88%
151 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
View company policy documentation
6.9
69%
110 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Employee recognition
7.1
71%
61 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
View job history
8.5
85%
108 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Asset Management

6.0
Ascentis (discontinued)
60%

CATS ATS
Feature Set Not Supported
N/A
Ascentis (discontinued) ranks higher in 1/1 features
Ascentis (discontinued) ranks higher in 1/1 features
Tracking of all physical assets
6.0
60%
33 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
HR Reporting

6.6
Ascentis (discontinued)
66%

CATS ATS
Feature Set Not Supported
N/A
Ascentis (discontinued) ranks higher in 3/3 features
Ascentis (discontinued) ranks higher in 3/3 features
Report builder
6.5
65%
144 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Pre-built reports
7.3
73%
142 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data
6.0
60%
73 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Onboarding

6.3
Ascentis (discontinued)
63%

CATS ATS
Feature Set Not Supported
N/A
Ascentis (discontinued) ranks higher in 2/2 features
Ascentis (discontinued) ranks higher in 2/2 features
New hire portal
6.5
65%
98 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Manager tracking tools
6.1
61%
76 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Performance and Goals

7.0
Ascentis (discontinued)
70%

CATS ATS
Feature Set Not Supported
N/A
Ascentis (discontinued) ranks higher in 4/4 features
Ascentis (discontinued) ranks higher in 4/4 features
Corporate goal setting
6.5
65%
43 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Individual goal setting
7.5
75%
53 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility
7.1
71%
38 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Performance tracking
7.0
70%
50 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Performance Management

6.4
Ascentis (discontinued)
64%

CATS ATS
Feature Set Not Supported
N/A
Ascentis (discontinued) ranks higher in 5/5 features
Ascentis (discontinued) ranks higher in 5/5 features
Performance plans
6.2
62%
59 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Performance improvement plans
6.3
63%
50 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Review status tracking
6.7
67%
57 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Review reminders
7.0
70%
55 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Multiple review frequency
5.9
59%
50 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Succession Planning

6.0
Ascentis (discontinued)
60%

CATS ATS
Feature Set Not Supported
N/A
Ascentis (discontinued) ranks higher in 4/4 features
Ascentis (discontinued) ranks higher in 4/4 features
Create succession plans/pools
6.4
64%
21 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Candidate ranking
6.4
64%
21 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Candidate search
5.4
54%
27 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Candidate development
6.0
60%
23 Ratings

N/A
0 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS

6.4
Ascentis (discontinued)
64%

8.1
CATS ATS
81%
CATS Applicant Tracking System ranks higher in 14/15 features
CATS Applicant Tracking System ranks higher in 14/15 features
Job Requisition Management
6.7
67%
85 Ratings

9.5
95%
17 Ratings
Company Website Posting
6.5
65%
79 Ratings

9.5
95%
17 Ratings
Publish to Social Media
6.5
65%
59 Ratings

8.5
85%
17 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting
6.6
66%
71 Ratings

10.0
100%
17 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention
6.5
65%
57 Ratings

4.5
45%
18 Ratings
Applicant Tracking
6.4
64%
83 Ratings

7.5
75%
19 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts
5.7
57%
69 Ratings

9.5
95%
17 Ratings
Customized Application Form
N/A
0 Ratings

9.5
95%
18 Ratings
Resume Management
N/A
0 Ratings

8.0
80%
19 Ratings
Candidate Search
N/A
0 Ratings

6.0
60%
19 Ratings
Collaboration
N/A
0 Ratings

8.5
85%
12 Ratings
Task Creation and Delegation
N/A
0 Ratings

8.5
85%
15 Ratings
Email Templates
N/A
0 Ratings

9.5
95%
19 Ratings
User Permissions
N/A
0 Ratings

8.5
85%
17 Ratings
Reporting
N/A
0 Ratings

4.5
45%
18 Ratings
Attribute Ratings
- Ascentis (discontinued) is rated higher in 3 areas: Usability, Performance, Support Rating
- CATS Applicant Tracking System is rated higher in 4 areas: Likelihood to Recommend, Likelihood to Renew, Availability, Implementation Rating
Likelihood to Recommend

7.6
Ascentis (discontinued)
76%
164 Ratings

8.0
CATS ATS
80%
28 Ratings
Likelihood to Renew

6.3
Ascentis (discontinued)
63%
12 Ratings

8.4
CATS ATS
84%
10 Ratings
Usability

7.5
Ascentis (discontinued)
75%
44 Ratings

2.7
CATS ATS
27%
1 Rating
Availability

6.5
Ascentis (discontinued)
65%
7 Ratings

9.1
CATS ATS
91%
4 Ratings
Performance

6.9
Ascentis (discontinued)
69%
5 Ratings

5.9
CATS ATS
59%
4 Ratings
Support Rating

8.1
Ascentis (discontinued)
81%
252 Ratings

4.5
CATS ATS
45%
2 Ratings
In-Person Training

8.0
Ascentis (discontinued)
80%
1 Rating

CATS ATS
N/A
0 Ratings
Online Training

8.2
Ascentis (discontinued)
82%
4 Ratings

CATS ATS
N/A
0 Ratings
Implementation Rating

8.2
Ascentis (discontinued)
82%
8 Ratings

9.1
CATS ATS
91%
2 Ratings
Product Scalability

6.4
Ascentis (discontinued)
64%
4 Ratings

CATS ATS
N/A
0 Ratings
Likelihood to Recommend
Ascentis (discontinued)
In working with Ascentis in payroll, the program makes my job so much easier. I am new to this position and the learning process has been so much easier with this product than those in the past. I appreciate the patience I am given when I call in for assistance as well.

Verified User
Paraprofessional in Corporate
Hospital & Health Care Company, 501-1000 employeesCATS ATS
It has a great parsing feature and the extension is very helpful. Many ATS systems do not support parsing within LinkedIn...this one does. I was sad to see this option go when we finally transitioned. I would almost keep CATS just for the LinkedIn parsing if I knew I could easily get the information OUT of the system once it was there. A good API/webhook would be great, but sadly the API connections don't work well. Our firm also works with companies with multiple sites all across the US. There was never a way to "nest" a location with a parent company. Because of this, being able to research or report on a true client relationship was not possible. It was a very manual process.

Verified User
Partner in Other
Staffing & Recruiting Company, 1-10 employeesPros
Ascentis (discontinued)
- Easy to use software. I have had several new HR employees comment on how easy the system is to learn!
- Problem Solving- Ascentis is always problem solving! When we were in the process of selecting a new payroll company, we needed unemployment claims management assistance for our locations, something Ascentis did not currently offer. The sales rep went out of his way to find a unemployment claims management company that would work with Ascentis and us. That company has helped us keep an 80% win rate for our claims!
- User conference- Engage is an awesome way to learn more about the products Ascentis has available as well and meet up with the staff you work with every day!

Verified User
Director in Human Resources
Hospital & Health Care Company, 1001-5000 employeesCATS ATS
- Simple to implement, SaaS based tool that needs no in-house IT support or resources
- Customizable reports, labels, fields, applications
- Affordable
- No long term contract, month-to-month with ability to cancel anytime
- Data backups are simple
- Email directly from the candidate record with response coming into Outlook is easy to configure and creates record and updates status automatically
Talent Management Lead
Market TrackMarket Research, 501-1000 employees
Cons
Ascentis (discontinued)
- Updating the system so it is one platform and not two.
- Create changes to the benefit enrollment process and upgrade the system so hire dates do not need to be changed to trigger benefits for status changes.
- Focus updates on HR Admin, mobile application, ATS and transitioning to one platform. Larger areas of focus have been on the payroll portion of the system with a few updates to other areas.
- When something is broken, quicker turn time on fixing the issue.
- System needs updates to support AAP reporting.

Verified User
Director in Human Resources
Civil Engineering Company, 501-1000 employeesCATS ATS
- I would like to see either an integration with a robust reporting tool that would allow me to design my own custom reports with a data export or more built-in reporting options.
- Mobile app is currently mostly just a look-up tool. I would like it to have the ability to do more - add tasks, update pipelines, etc.

Verified User
Executive in Other
Staffing and Recruiting Company, 1-10 employeesPricing Details
Ascentis (discontinued)
General
Free Trial
—Free/Freemium Version
—Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—Entry-level set up fee?
No
Starting Price
—Ascentis (discontinued) Editions & Modules
—
Additional Pricing Details
—CATS ATS
General
Free Trial
Yes
Free/Freemium Version
—Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—Entry-level set up fee?
No
Starting Price
$69 per month
CATS ATS Editions & Modules
Edition
Monthly Pro Plan | $991 |
---|---|
Annual Pro Plan | $691 |
- per user, per month
Additional Pricing Details
Please visit the CATS pricing page to compare plans and featuresLikelihood to Renew
Ascentis (discontinued)
Ascentis (discontinued) 6.3
Based on 12 answers
This rating would be a 10 if it were not for some issues we have been having recently with the benefit carrier connections. The carrier connections are critical for us so how these issues are resolved will be key in our renewal decision.
Human Resources Manager
San Juan Construction, Inc.Construction, 201-500 employees
CATS ATS
CATS ATS 8.4
Based on 10 answers
Our company has been using it and enjoying the benefits for a few years now. Its a perfect system for our end goal of finding the best candidate effectively and being able to track and write reports on our progress.
RPO Specialist
TriStarr StaffingStaffing and Recruiting, 11-50 employees
Usability
Ascentis (discontinued)
Ascentis (discontinued) 7.5
Based on 44 answers
I'd give it a 7.5. If the modules were easier to access and not so buried (or placed in left field to find), I would give it a higher rating. As I said, as the potential to be great if ACCESS to other modules was easier.

Verified User
Director in Human Resources
Building Materials Company, 51-200 employeesCATS ATS
CATS ATS 2.7
Based on 1 answer
not recruiter friendly. workflow is not good

Verified User
Employee in Human Resources
Human Resources Company, 1-10 employeesReliability and Availability
Ascentis (discontinued)
Ascentis (discontinued) 6.5
Based on 7 answers
They normally give you notice when an update will affect the use of the system. Otherwise, when we have an error , we send a message to the support team. Sometimes someone will get right back with you and sometimes it takes a while.

Verified User
Employee in Human Resources
Government Administration Company, 51-200 employeesCATS ATS
CATS ATS 9.1
Based on 4 answers
No answer on this topic is available.
Performance
Ascentis (discontinued)
Ascentis (discontinued) 6.9
Based on 5 answers
Yes, this pages do load pretty good but there are times when things are slow and I believe that's because they are sometimes trying to do updates.

Verified User
Employee in Human Resources
Government Administration Company, 51-200 employeesCATS ATS
CATS ATS 5.9
Based on 4 answers
No answer on this topic is available.
Support Rating
Ascentis (discontinued)
Ascentis (discontinued) 8.1
Based on 252 answers
Support is attentive and quick to answer the call and get the answer for you. If they for any reason cannot answer right then, they are back to you within a day and always seem to have a sense of urgency. You truly get the impression that they are aiming to make you happy.

Verified User
Strategist in Marketing
Oil & Energy Company, 201-500 employeesCATS ATS
CATS ATS 4.5
Based on 2 answers
I've had mixed results with asking for support. Sometimes they gave a quick answer and sometimes my emails were never responded to. Some responses were a single word.
Managing Director
The Six Second ResumeDefense & Space, 51-200 employees
In-Person Training
Ascentis (discontinued)
Ascentis (discontinued) 8.0
Based on 1 answer
First, to clarify our "in-person" training was done mainly through Web-X meetings and conference calls. It was the closest thing we got to as far as an "in-person" training for this software. However, for the large majority of it, this type of training worked out well. We were able to share our screens and the trainer was able to share his/her screen. We could follow along with what we were doing in our database in real time and see how different functions worked and how manipulating our information could produce different results. It was also nice in that it provided for real-time results if something hadn't been coded correctly or we were having issues as to why something wasn't working the way we thought it should be. However, it did have some downsides in that we often had to rely on a conference phone and that made it difficult to hear people on both sides. Also, sometimes the trainers had internet difficulties when working from home and that caused issues with the WebX meetings.
IT & Marketing Coordinator
Howry Residential ServicesMental Health Care, 201-500 employees
CATS ATS
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Ascentis (discontinued)
Ascentis (discontinued) 8.2
Based on 4 answers
Ascentis HR has a number of online training videos to watch on a number of different topics. I gave it a lower rating because there is not much interactivity with the videos and it seems to cater to really only one or two learning styles. Plus, one has to be pretty motivated to go to a separate area to access the videos and then pull up a specific one to watch it and then learn. From my experience, people know that they are there, many just don't take the time and effort to go find them and actually watch them - especially since the username and password are different from their normal username and password.
IT & Marketing Coordinator
Howry Residential ServicesMental Health Care, 201-500 employees
CATS ATS
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Ascentis (discontinued)
Ascentis (discontinued) 8.2
Based on 8 answers
It was very easy to implement, but the customization pieces should really be fleshed out in order to determine the full need of an organization at the time of implementation. I believe if a little more time was spent on the requirements, the recruiting module would not have to be customized again at a cost at a later date.
Human Resources Manager
MultiLingual Solutions, Inc.Government Administration, 201-500 employees
CATS ATS
CATS ATS 9.1
Based on 2 answers
This is an incredibly easy system to implement. There is no hardware or software required, it's entirely SaaS based. Compared to other systems I've implemented, it's breathtaking. Customization can all be done directly in the tool, there is no need for any involvement of consultants and most of the information you cannot figure out intuitively is covered in the knowledge base
Talent Management Lead
Market TrackMarket Research, 501-1000 employees
Alternatives Considered
Ascentis (discontinued)
Ascentis has far better customer service and the implementation experience was also better. The ability to do a lot of customization is also easier with Ascentis as it's smaller organization. The payroll has positive and negatives compared to ADP but the accuracy is the same in both. Ascentis just started their community site which doesn't have a lot of traffic but hopefully can become more like ADP's community site, which was extremely helpful to me as an administrator.

Verified User
Manager in Human Resources
Logistics & Supply Chain Company, 201-500 employeesCATS ATS
We used to use Sendouts (prior to it being acquired by Bullhorn) - and it wasn't browser based like CATS so instead of being able to access it from a home computer, laptop, mobile phone, etc. you could only use it on the computer with the software uploaded - which is a hindrance. It also wasn't as customizable as CATS. We picked CATS because it the price was right, it was browser-based, had email-integration, and integrates with social media and job posting services to share your jobs
with the public.
with the public.
Recruiter
automationtechiesStaffing and Recruiting, 11-50 employees
Scalability
Ascentis (discontinued)
Ascentis (discontinued) 6.4
Based on 4 answers
Large acquisition would be very complicated, seems more appropriate for companies under 100
Human Resources Manager
N/AEntertainment, 51-200 employees
CATS ATS
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Ascentis (discontinued)
- HR DPT. is much more effective, as we can assess any employee information no matter where we are, etc. This helps to provide information immediately when requested!
- Employees have access to Ascentis, and therefore to their timecard, open enrollment, etc., from anywhere at any time!
- Time, PTO requests, employee goals, and evaluations can be approved from anywhere at any time!
- Recruiting can be accessed any where at any time, and this helps with hiring, internal communication, etc.

Verified User
Employee in Human Resources
Mechanical Or Industrial Engineering Company, 201-500 employeesCATS ATS
- We went from Excel spreadsheets to using CATS so honestly anything would be an improvement. But CATS has saved tremendous time on an on-going basis in terms of managing the career portal automatically.
- Being able to log email conversations with the click of a button from Outlook right into CATS has been a time-saver and also has helped numerous times in providing better follow-through to candidates and providing better tracking of candidate interactions and what they have previously said (or not).
Staffing Manager
KBACE TechnologiesInformation Technology and Services, 201-500 employees