Sourcing is the work of finding people who have not applied, and opening a conversation they did not start. Recruiting is everything after that conversation is real. Most products sell the first half and name it the whole job.
Sourcing finds people who are not applying. Screening, interviews, and the ATS record come later. A sourcing tool usually returns profiles and contact details. You still write the message, chase the reply, and book the slot. Metix AI runs that loop against a bar you approve, across 860M+ public profiles in 190+ countries, and spends a credit only when a qualified, interested candidate is booked. Disclosure: Metix AI publishes this and sells the recruiter half, not a self-serve sourcing seat.
A job post waits. Sourcing goes out and looks.
Someone who is good at the work is often already employed, not refreshing a careers page. You have to find them, write something they will answer, and keep the thread alive until a first conversation is real. That stretch, from nameless market to a person who has confirmed interest, is sourcing. It is not the interview. It is not the offer. It is not the ATS record of how you decided.
Recruiting is the whole hire. Sourcing is one slice of it. The slice is expensive in hours, which is why so many products sell it as if it were the product, and why a week of Boolean can look like progress while the calendar stays empty.
It is not screening. Screening asks whether this person, already in motion, clears the bar. Sourcing still has to produce the person.
It is not an ATS. An ATS stores applications, stages, scorecards, and offers. Put an empty pipeline into it and you get a well-organized empty pipeline. That half of the market is ATS versus AI recruiter.
It is not a placement. An agency fee prices a hire. A sourcing seat prices access to names. Mixing those two invoices is how firms overpay for software or underprice their own judgment. The fee analysis sits on agency fee versus software cost.
| Stage | What comes out | Who usually owns it |
|---|---|---|
| Sourcing | People who match the bar and have not applied | Sourcer, recruiter, or an AI recruiter |
| Outreach | A reply, or a documented non-reply | Whoever sends under the company name |
| Screen | Fit and real interest | Recruiter, hiring manager, or delivery review |
| First interview | A confirmed calendar slot with evidence attached | Hiring team |
| Record | Applicant file, scorecards, offer | ATS, kept by the employer |
The product question is which of those rows it actually finishes.
That is not an insult. It is the product.
A sourcing desk searches a graph, pulls contact details, and sometimes sequences a first message. What comes back is names. Useful names, if the search is good. Still names. You live in the inbox after that. The difference between that desk and a recruiter that books the interview is on AI sourcing tool versus AI recruiter.
Buy the desk when a recruiter will operate every query and every follow-up. Do not buy it hoping the list will interview itself. The week after you subscribe looks the same as the week before, except the Boolean is faster.
Metix AI searches 860M+ public professional profiles in more than 190 countries. You write the bar. You approve outreach before anything sends under your name. Mira runs sourcing, follow-up, screening for fit and interest, and scheduling. A delivery lead reviews every candidate before a credit is in play. The interviews, the offer, and the ATS record stay yours.
A credit is an interested, interview-ready candidate, booked. If nobody clears the bar, the credit stays unspent. Plans run $49 to $299 a month for 3 to 75 such candidates against 1 to 12 active roles. The trial is 14 days, 3 New Roles, 12 Credits, no card. 95 percent of roles get a first interview scheduled within 24 hours: a confirmed slot, not a same-day meeting. Company-reported.
That is not a sourcing seat you operate. It is also not an agency placement. If you want to inspect every Boolean yourself, this is the wrong product. The desk versus delivery fork is the whole point of the comparison cluster on this site.
Write the bar the way you talk about the work. Watch who gets booked. Keep the interviews. The trial is 3 roles and 12 credits, no card.
Sourcing is the work of finding and opening a conversation with people who have not applied. It sits before screening, interviews, and the ATS record. A job post waits. Sourcing goes out and looks.
Recruiting is the whole hire: bar, search, outreach, screen, interview, offer. Sourcing is the search-and-first-contact slice. Many tools sell sourcing and call it recruiting. Ask what lands on your calendar when the week ends.
Most do not. They return profiles, emails, and sometimes sequences. You still qualify interest, keep the thread alive, and book the slot. That split is the subject of the AI sourcing tool versus AI recruiter page on this site.
Sourcing runs across 860M+ public professional profiles in more than 190 countries. Outreach goes out only after you approve the message. A delivery lead reviews every candidate before a credit is spent.
Published plans run $49 to $299 a month for 3 to 75 interview-ready candidates. A credit moves only when a qualified, interested candidate is booked. Free 14-day trial with 3 New Roles and 12 Credits, no card.