Cutshort
Cutshort is an AI-powered hiring platform founded in 2015 that matches India's technology employers — from startups to GCCs and large enterprises — with vetted tech and tech-adjacent candidates via 60-minute AI-generated priority shortlists, sold as a flat subscription (Freedom Plan) and an outcome-based assisted-hiring service (Lightning).
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersPune, India
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Cutshort does
Cutshort is a private, India-focused AI-powered hiring platform founded in 2015 and headquartered in Bangalore, with co-founder and CEO Nikunj Verma leading the company. The platform targets technology employers — ranging from seed-stage startups and growth-stage companies to large enterprises and Global Capability Centers (GCCs) — and serves candidates across experience bands, with the strongest concentration in the 2–8 year mid-to-senior range. The company claims that every 3rd premium product engineer in India is on Cutshort and serves an employer base described as 25,000+ companies across Bangalore, Delhi/NCR, Pune, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai, and other tech hubs.
The core platform uses AI to generate a priority shortlist of role-fit candidates within approximately 60 minutes of a job posting, evaluating fit across skills, experience trajectory, role context, and company stage rather than keyword overlap alone. Around this engine, Cutshort has assembled an integrated product suite: a self-serve Freedom Plan subscription with unlimited postings and unlocks, an assisted-hiring service (Lightning) priced at 8.33% of CTC, an AI-powered Application Reviewer, a Talent Database with semantic search and AI Profile Attributes, audio screening questions, hiring pipeline automations, and Smart ATS Sync that integrates with 50+ applicant tracking systems including Lever, Greenhouse, Workable, Keka, Zoho Recruit, and PyjamaHR. Distribution is product-led on the candidate side through a free mobile and web experience, and sales-led on the employer side through a dedicated enterprise portal at cutshort.ai.
Cutshort monetises exclusively from employers via two complementary revenue mechanics: a flat recurring subscription (Freedom Plan) priced by company size starting at ₹10,000/month and reaching ₹2.99L/year for the Enterprise tier, and a transaction-fee assisted-hiring model charged as a percentage of candidate CTC. Candidates use the platform at no cost. The company is privately held with no disclosed institutional funding rounds or revenue figures in the available source material, and customer logos span BrowserStack, Flipkart, Amazon, Google, Uber, Adobe, Shiprocket, Sprinto, upGrad, Biofourmis, and Fractal alongside a long tail of startup adopters.
Cutshort firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Cutshort
- Legal name
- Cutshort
- Website
- https://cutshort.io
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2015
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Cutshort is an AI-powered hiring platform founded in 2015 that matches India's technology employers — from startups to GCCs and large enterprises — with vetted tech and tech-adjacent candidates via 60-minute AI-generated priority shortlists, sold as a flat subscription (Freedom Plan) and an outcome-based assisted-hiring service (Lightning).
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Cutshort industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Talent Acquisition Software
- NAICS
- Employment Placement Agencies and Executive Search Services (56131), Employment Placement Agencies (561311)
- SIC
- Services-Employment Agencies (7361)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Contingent Workforce / Contractor RPO (Contractor Recruiting) (BPACABAK)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- High-Volume / High-Turnover Temp Staffing (BPACACAF)
Keywords
Where Cutshort is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Pune
- HQ country
- India
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices2 records
Markets served
Cutshort business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Self-Serve Subscription (Freedom Plan): Monthly or annual subscription model for companies to hire self-serve. Unlimited job postings, unlimited candidate unlocks, and no seat limits at a flat price starting ₹10,000/month. Designed to remove per-resume, per-seat friction that slows hiring on conventional platforms.
- Assisted Hiring (Vendor Model): Cutshort's team handles sourcing and shortlisting end-to-end at 8.33% of CTC (approximately half to a third of typical agency fees). Also offers a vendor model as low as 4.99% of CTC for more affordable assisted hiring.
- Candidate Acquisition (Free): Platform is completely free for job seekers — no subscription fees, hidden charges, or premium tiers. Candidates get full access to job opportunities, matching, and company interactions at no cost. Revenue is generated entirely from employer payments.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Early-stage (1-25 employees) - Freedom Plan |
| Subscription | Monthly | Startup (25-200 employees) - Freedom Plan |
| Subscription | Monthly | Growth (200-500 employees) - Freedom Plan |
| Subscription | Annual | Enterprise (500+ employees) - Structured Hiring Plan |
| Outcome Based/ Performance | Pay-as-you-go | Assisted Hiring Model |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels12 records
Cutshort product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Cutshort is an AI-powered hiring platform that matches technology companies in India with tech professionals through relevance-first matching, generating priority shortlists within 60 minutes of job posting. The platform operates on a self-serve subscription model (Freedom Plan) for employers with unlimited postings and unlocks, plus an assisted hiring service (Lightning) where Cutshort's team handles sourcing end-to-end at a percentage of candidate CTC. The platform is free for job seekers and integrates with 50+ ATS systems.
Product overview
Cutshort is a unified AI-powered hiring platform for technology companies in India, consisting of a core matching platform with multiple integrated modules. The core Cutshort platform provides relevance-first candidate matching and shortlisting for tech and tech-adjacent roles. The Freedom Plan serves as the self-serve subscription model offering unlimited postings and unlocks. Lightning is the AI-powered acceleration feature for fast candidate discovery. The Talent Database provides AI search across candidate profiles, while the Application Reviewer automates screening. Smart ATS Sync enables seamless data flow to existing ATS systems. The platform supports 50+ ATS integrations including Lever, Greenhouse, Workable, Keka, and Zoho Recruit.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Cutshort Core Platform
- Lightning (Assisted Hiring)
Quantifiable outcome
- 70% of priority shortlist gets interviewed vs industry average of 10-20% interview rate
- +6 more outcomes
Companies that use Cutshort
Customer profileNamed customers25 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Cutshort technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration7 records
AI capability3 records
Feature7 records
Cutshort partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- LevercoreATS integration partner. Cutshort integrates with Lever, allowing companies to send shortlisted candidates automatically to their Lever ATS pipeline. Part of 50+ ATS integrations offered.
- GreenhousecoreATS integration partner. Cutshort integrates with Greenhouse, enabling automatic candidate syncing to job pipelines. One of the premium ATS integrations available on the platform.
- WorkablecoreATS integration partner. Cutshort integrates with Workable for seamless candidate management. Available as part of the platform's ATS connectivity.
- KekacoreATS/HRIS integration partner. Cutshort integrates with Keka for candidate and HR data synchronization. Part of 50+ ATS integrations offered.
- FreshteamscoreATS integration partner. Cutshort integrates with Freshteams for recruitment workflow management. Part of the basic ATS integrations available.
- Zoho RecruitcoreATS integration partner. Cutshort integrates with Zoho Recruit for candidate tracking. One of the supported integrations for seamless hiring workflow.
- PyjamaHRcoreATS integration partner. Cutshort integrates with PyjamaHR for recruitment management. Available as part of the platform's ATS connectivity options.
- 50+ ATS SystemscoreCutshort supports 50+ ATS integrations total, including major platforms like Lever, Greenhouse, Workable, Zoho Recruit, Keka, and PyjamaHR, with more available on request.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Cutshort competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Naukri (InfoEdge): India's largest job marketplace, focused on tech and non-tech roles across the country. Comparable as the primary horizontal destination for Indian job seekers and a key competitor Cutshort explicitly positions against on relevance and noise.
- Instahyre: AI-powered tech hiring platform for premium engineering and product roles in India. Closest direct competitor: overlapping target segment (tech talent and tech employers in India), AI-driven matching, and curated private talent pool.
- Hirist: India-based job portal exclusively for technology professionals. Closely comparable in vertical focus on tech talent and similar customer base of Indian tech employers and product companies.
- Foundit (Monster India): India operation of Monster, focused on tech and professional roles. Comparable as an established Indian hiring platform competing for the same employer budgets and candidate attention.
Broad incumbents
- LinkedIn (Talent Solutions): Global professional network with dominant recruiter tools. Comparable as the broadest incumbent employer brand for tech hiring and the default candidate profile database; competes on volume and reach rather than quality focus.
- Indeed India: Global job search engine with operations in India. Comparable as a horizontal volume-based job board targeting Indian employers and job seekers across verticals.
- iCIMS: Enterprise recruitment platform serving large employers globally. Comparable on the ATS integration and enterprise recruiting tooling side, where Cutshort offers iCIMS-adjacent functionality to Indian GCCs.
Emerging players
- Wellfound (AngelList Talent): Startup and tech-focused job platform with founder-friendly employer base. Comparable in vertical focus on tech/startup hiring and curating quality candidates rather than mass applications.
- Recruiterflow: India-origin recruitment CRM/ATS for staffing agencies. Comparable as an Indian recruitment-tech player serving staffing and RPO workflows that overlap with Cutshort's assisted hiring service.
Regional players
- ZipRecruiter: US-focused AI-driven job matching platform. Comparable business model (AI matching + employer subscription), though primarily North America rather than India direct competition.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Cutshort social profiles
Digital presenceCutshort financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Cutshort leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Cutshort funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Cutshort M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Cutshort
What does Cutshort do?
Cutshort is an AI-powered hiring platform that matches technology companies in India with tech professionals through relevance-first matching, generating priority shortlists within 60 minutes of job posting. The platform operates on a self-serve subscription model (Freedom Plan) for employers with unlimited postings and unlocks, plus an assisted hiring service (Lightning) where Cutshort's team handles sourcing end-to-end at a percentage of candidate CTC. The platform is free for job seekers and integrates with 50+ ATS systems.
Is Cutshort a public or private company?
Cutshort is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Cutshort founded?
Cutshort was founded in 2015. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Cutshort based?
Cutshort is headquartered in Pune, India, in the Asia region.
How does Cutshort make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Self-Serve Subscription (Freedom Plan) is the primary driver. The others are assisted Hiring (Vendor Model) and candidate Acquisition (Free).
Who are Cutshort's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Naukri (InfoEdge), Instahyre, Hirist and Foundit (Monster India). Broad incumbents are LinkedIn (Talent Solutions), Indeed India and iCIMS. Emerging players are Wellfound (AngelList Talent) and Recruiterflow. ZipRecruiter is listed as a regional player.
Does Cutshort have an API?
No public API is recorded for Cutshort.
What industry is Cutshort in?
Cutshort's product category is Talent Acquisition Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPACABAK, Contingent Workforce / Contractor RPO (Contractor Recruiting), with a secondary code of BPACACAF, High-Volume / High-Turnover Temp Staffing. Its NAICS code is 56131 and its SIC code is 7361.