> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://documentation.opencats.org/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://documentation.opencats.org/introduction-and-overview.md).

# Introduction and Overview

![](https://1269012679-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FFMP3hgt72kl23HAv7iDu%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-81098d5dfe622f4eb051f4b0e560113e3560d0fd%2Fopencats-logo.svg?alt=media)

OpenCATS is a free and open source, full-featured, web-based applicant tracking system, or ATS. It helps you manage the complete recruitment life-cycle from business development through finalizing a placement. It manages a huge range of information for you, including:

### What is an Applicant tracking system (ATS)?

An Applicant tracking system, or ATS, is software designed specifically for Recruiting firms, and HR departments within organizations to organize and track everything within the recruiting process for their organizations.

### How is it free and what is Open Source software?

Without getting too specific or technical on what is and is not open source, open source software is community developed software that is available to use for free, by anyone, at any time, in any way they choose to. It is truly “free” software. Furthermore, because of the open nature, if you want to dig into the code and customize it, you are allowed to. If you want to share your changes back with the community, you are allowed to (please do!).

There are a lot of different variances in open source software and they’ve been covered extensively online. If you want to really dig into, and understand the purpose, intentions, limitations of open source software, please read up on it.

The developers behind OpenCATS will never contact you to try to sell you anything. We are a community of people creating recruiting software for people who do recruiting. Pure and simple.

### OpenCATS vs CATSOne vs “open source”

OpenCATS is a free, open-source ATS. This means that there are no charges or limitations to install or to use it.

* For software developers, this also means that you are free to modify or extend the OpenCATS software, and to participate as a member of its development community.
* This also means that there is no help desk that you can call for support, though we do have this documentation, some YouTube videos, support forums and a community that helps.

The origins of OpenCATS are in a commercial/open-source development effort called CATS, which split into two separate efforts:

* This open-source OpenCATS system: [http://www.opencats.org](http://www.opencats.org/)
* The commercial CATS product: [http://www.catsone.com](http://www.catsone.com/)

The commercial CATS product is a highly polished, professionally supported, hosted software service.

OpenCATS, on the other hand, has somewhat less functionality, is installed on your server(s), and is supported only by you – with some help from the community.

The OpenCATS team and the CATSOne organization are not associated in any way. We will not push anyone into any paid service, any time, ever.

### What can OpenCATS be used for?

If you have to fill jobs, even if it’s only one or two jobs a year, OpenCATS can make your life a lot easier. It will work in small to enterprise sized environments. From one user to hundreds.

### How does OpenCATS compare to other free software and paid Applicant Tracking Systems?

Choose an ATS by testing your recruitment workflows, hosting requirements, integrations and support needs. OpenCATS is self-hosted and has no per-user licence fee, but operating, securing, backing up and maintaining the system still takes time and resources. Commercial services offer different features and support arrangements.

With a self-hosted installation you control where the data is stored and who can access it. That control also makes your organisation responsible for security, updates and tested backups. See the [installation guides](/installation.md) and [security guidance](/technical-configuration-options/security.md).

### OpenCATS General Features

Try our demo!

What better way to dig in to the OpenCATS capabilities and feature than to dig into it for yourself?

[OpenCATS Demo](http://demo.opencats.org/) (Currently offline!)

**Free:** OpenCATS is open source software. Which means it is free (no cost) to use, and you are free to modify it in (almost) any way you want. Seriously, if you can do it, get down into the code and change absolutely anything!

**Support:** It also means support may be hard to find. We have an active community of people that are willing to help as much as possible though. Also, we are slowly adding to our documentation and YouTube channel.

**It is easy:** OpenCATS has an easy to use, intuitive interface. This means minimal training time for you and your recruiters. The job portal has a simple search and application process that your candidates will get through easily.

**Web based or local:** OpenCATS can be installed in a variety of environments. For the solo recruiter/single user, OpenCATS can be installed on your local computer, accessible only by you. OpenCATS can be installed on a local network, accessible by everyone within the office, with no limit on users, yet still protected and removed from the outside internet. OpenCATS can also be installed and accessible via the internet, through a public facing web server, A VPS, a shared-hosting environment, so multiple users from all over the world can access and use OpenCATS together. Keep in mind though, that because OpenCATS is open source software, security is your responsibility. Make sure the appropriate measures are taken for the setup that you choose.

**Full recruiting life-cycle:** OpenCATS provides the infrastructure for the entire recruiting life-cycle, regardless of the type of role that you are recruiting for, or the volume of openings that you are dealing with.

Note

OpenCATS can get cumbersome for very high-volume recruiting due to the current lack of bulk recruiting features. Importing and dealing with many candidates at once per role may be prohibitive in OpenCATS. You would need to gauge the effort against the results and decide if OpenCATS is the best solution for your situation.

OpenCATS will walk you through the process, including the sales cycle, from building targeted lead lists, making client calls, getting signed agreements and taking job orders. It will handle all of recruiting, from initial candidate intake, job posting and applications, through the interview, offer, acceptance and candidate start. OpenCATS was designed by recruiters, for recruiters and continues to be developed with recruiting as the sole focus.

**Internal and external recruiting:** OpenCATS has all the functionality for companies that need an Applicant Tracking system for their internal recruiting as well as recruiting companies that are recruiting for multiple, external clients.

For internal recruiting, all recruiting can be done by checking the “Internal posting” check-box on the job order. Departments can be created and customized within any organization, and contacts added for those departments. OpenCATS can be as thorough and specific as you need it to be. For recruiting firms with external clients, each client can be tracked individually, even if they have multiple locations, departments and hiring managers. The flexibility is there within OpenCATS to ensure accuracy throughout the recruiting process.

**Company branding:** OpenCATS can be branded for your organization, you can replace the OpenCATS logo with your company logo, and the public-facing job posting page and outgoing emails, can be changed to match the look of your company’s website and emails. **Search and tags:** OpenCATS provides candidate searches, key-skills fields and record tags. Document text extraction depends on the optional parser utilities and their configuration; Sphinx is an optional search integration. Tags label records and do not replace resume text search. See [Prerequisites](/technical-configuration-options/pre-requisites.md).

**Lists:** Users can manually group candidates, contacts and other records for later reference. Lists are not automatically refreshed searches and need ongoing review. CSV export through the export module requires Site Administrator access.

**Calendar:** OpenCATS has a rich and immersive calendar built in that provides a thorough and accurate overview of activities. If you use the calendar system, you will always know what is coming up, and be able to quickly find information from past scheduled events. Unfortunately, at this time, there is no integration with any external calendar systems. OpenCATS can not sync with anything outside of OpenCATS.

**Website integration and job board:** OpenCATS has a company job postings page built right in. All you have to do is turn it on and brand it however you want. All the “public” marked jobs in your OpenCATS system will show up on your jobs page, and candidates will be able to apply through your site. You can create questionnaires for candidates to answer prior to applying, to ensure only candidates that fit the requirements apply. The candidate would then be added to the pipeline of the job order, and the recruiter working the role would be notified of the new application for review. Lastly, your newly added openings can be automatically posted to certain job posting sites via a built in XML feed. This feature does not work with every job board out there, but it does work with some of the larger ones.

**Candidate and client management:** From the first phone call to the last email. OpenCATS will help you keep track of all the details, activities, records, contact numbers and keep your work-flow managed.

**Reporting:** Generate reports on recruiting activity for a quick and accurate overview.

**Ownership of data:** You own it. It’s yours. You can control it and secure it however you want. No need for your data to be on someone else’s servers, unless that is how you choose to do it.

**Backup and restore:** Back up the MariaDB database, attachments, configuration and customisations, and test recovery regularly. CLI database and filesystem backups are the recommended operational approach; a GUI backup alone should not be assumed to cover everything. See [Backup, Restore, and Upgrade](/technical-configuration-options/opencats-backup-restore-and-upgrade-instructions-this-section-incomplete.md).

**User access levels:** Administrators assign access levels that control actions within OpenCATS. Version 0.12.0 strengthens existing authorization checks and restricts CSV exports to Site Administrators. Ownership filters such as “Only My Candidates” are not a guarantee of record isolation. See [Access control lists](/technical-configuration-options/access-control-lists.md).

**Built in Emailing:** The email functionality within OpenCATS is substantial. Currently, OpenCATS can be used to send emails to candidates, clients, and contacts. It can also be used to notify of status changes and new applications, or anything you would like it to do. Templates can be set up and used and branding can be included.

**Built in modification system:** There are certain aspects of modifying OpenCATS that are built in and do not require any technical ability or coding. Fields can be added to the candidate, client, and contact pages quite easily. Any information you want included, or tracked, that isn’t built in to OpenCATS can be added through the intuitive interface with a few clicks.