10 Best Free Job Posting Sites in 2026 (and the Catch With Each)

The best free job posting sites in 2026 are Indeed, LinkedIn, your own careers page, Google for Jobs and your state's job bank. Indeed gives you three free jobs a month and LinkedIn gives you one at a time. Your careers page and Google for Jobs have no limit, and state job banks don't charge employers.

Every free option is capped somewhere: how many jobs you can post, how many people can apply, or how long the post stays up. On the big boards, paid listings also rank above free ones.

Below are 10 sites where you can post a job and get applicants without paying, what the free version includes, and the well-known sites that look free but aren't. We checked each site's own pages in October 2026.

The 10 free job sites at a glance

How we picked them

Each site had to let an employer post a job and receive applications without paying. Free trials don't count. We used each site's own help and pricing pages, and left off anything we could only confirm from other blogs. Free plans change often, so check the terms before you post.

The 10 best free job posting sites

1. Indeed

What's free: Three jobs a month posted directly on Indeed, each live for up to 30 days, according to Indeed's pricing page. The count resets each calendar month.

Indeed and Glassdoor have the same owner, and Glassdoor no longer takes job posts of its own. Employers who try to post there are sent to Indeed, and jobs posted on Indeed show up on Glassdoor too. One free post covers both.

Best for: Almost any role in the US, especially hourly and local jobs.

The catch: Sponsored jobs rank above free ones, so a free post can slide down the results as new jobs go up. A fourth job in the same month needs sponsorship, and so do some kinds of posts, including roles that offer relocation and confidential posts that don't name the company. Reopening a free job you closed in an earlier month also means paying.

2. LinkedIn

What's free: One free job post active at a time, with a limit on how many you can post in 30 days. A free post stays active for up to 14 days. After that LinkedIn pauses it, and if you don't pay to promote it, it closes after 30 days (LinkedIn Help).

You need a LinkedIn Page for your company before you can post.

Best for: Office, professional and sales roles, and any job where your candidates spend more time on LinkedIn than on Indeed.

The catch: Free posts stop taking applications after a set number, usually somewhere between 10 and 30 depending on the role, and they show up less in search over time. Staffing and recruiting agencies can't post for free.

A regular post on your own feed saying you're hiring costs nothing and has no limits. It reaches people who follow you rather than people searching LinkedIn Jobs, so use it alongside the job post, with a link to where people should apply.

3. Your own careers page

What's free: Everything. No limit on jobs, applicants or time.

A careers page is the one job listing you control. It doesn't pause after 14 days or stop at 30 applicants, and nobody can pay to rank above you on it. It also gives every other post on this list somewhere to point. A Facebook listing, a Hacker News comment and a state job bank posting can all link to the same page.

If you don't have one, you don't need a web developer. Most applicant tracking systems include a hosted careers page, and some include it on a free plan.

Best for: Every role.

The catch: Nobody finds it on their own. People see it when you send them there, or when Google shows it in search, which is the next site on this list.

4. Google for Jobs

What's free: Getting your jobs into Google's job search results. There's nothing to pay and no account to set up.

Google for Jobs is a search feature rather than a job board. When someone searches something like "warehouse jobs near me," Google shows a box of job listings it has collected from across the web. Your job can get there in two ways:

• From your own site. Add job posting structured data to each job's page. It's a block of code that tells Google the title, description, location, pay and date posted. Many careers page tools add it for you.
• From a job board. Jobs you post on sites Google already collects from can show up without any work on your part.

Best for: Roles people look for by searching Google, which includes most local jobs.

The catch: Google doesn't promise to show any job, and there's no dashboard telling you why one isn't showing. The code has to match what's on the page, and Google expects you to remove it once the job is filled.

5. Facebook

What's free: Meta brought jobs back to Facebook in October 2025. In the US you can create a job listing from Facebook Marketplace, your business Page or Meta Business Suite, and listings show up in a jobs tab on Marketplace and in Groups and Pages (Meta). Meta's announcement doesn't mention a fee. Sharing the job in local community groups is free too, as long as the group's rules allow job posts.

Best for: Entry-level, trade and service jobs, which is what Meta built the feature for.

The catch: Applicants contact you through Messenger, so applications arrive as chat threads instead of resumes. Once more than a handful of people write in, it's easy to lose track of who you've answered. Put a link to your careers page in the listing so serious applicants can apply properly.

6. Your state's job bank

What's free: Posting jobs. Every state, plus DC and the US territories, runs a job bank through its workforce agency, and employers can post there at no charge. CareerOneStop's list links to each one.

State job banks feed the National Labor Exchange, a network run by state workforce agencies and the nonprofit DirectEmployers Association, which passes the jobs on to other job sites.

Best for: Local, hourly and trade roles, and reaching people who are working with a local job center.

The catch: These sites are often dated and slow. You register and get approved as an employer first, and new jobs can take a few days to go live. Minnesota, for example, says most postings appear within three days.

7. Handshake

What's free: Handshake's Basic plan costs nothing and has no limit on the number of jobs you post (Handshake). It reaches college students and recent graduates.

Best for: Internships, part-time student jobs and entry-level roles.

The catch: On Basic you can send 10 messages a month, so you mostly wait for students to apply instead of reaching out. Jobs stay open for 15 or 30 days unless you upgrade or pay to promote them, and promoted jobs start at $34 a day.

8. Wellfound

What's free: Wellfound, formerly AngelList Talent, lets startups post unlimited jobs for $0, with no card needed and a built-in applicant tracker (Wellfound).

Best for: Startups hiring engineers, designers, product managers and early sales and operations staff.

The catch: The audience is people who want to work at startups. A dental office or a roofing company won't get much from it. Promoting a job and searching for candidates yourself cost extra.

9. Hacker News "Who is hiring?"

What's free: One post a month. On the first weekday of each month, Hacker News starts a thread called "Ask HN: Who is hiring?", and companies reply with a comment describing the role (October 2026 thread).

Best for: Software engineers and other technical roles, especially remote ones.

The catch: The rules at the top of the thread allow one post per company, written by someone who works at the hiring company, so recruiting firms and job boards can't use it. You have to say where the job is and whether it's remote or onsite, and only post if you're actively hiring and will reply to applicants. Your post is one comment in a long thread, with no dashboard, and applicants email you directly.

10. PostJobFree

What's free: Posting jobs. The site says it passes your jobs on to other job search sites, and it doesn't publish a limit on how many you can post (PostJobFree).

Best for: An extra listing for any role, especially once you've used Indeed's three for the month.

The catch: It's much smaller than the big boards, so expect fewer applicants. Use it alongside the sites above, not as your main source.

Free in name only

These show up in most lists of free job sites. None of them gives you a free job post of its own.

• ZipRecruiter. Offers a short free trial, but you enter a card to start it and you're billed if you don't cancel in time.
• Craigslist. Most of Craigslist is free, but job posts cost $10 to $75 in the US depending on the area (Craigslist).
• Monster. Its pricing page lists no free option. Promoted jobs start at $8 a day, plus a $10 charge up front to verify your payment method (Monster).
• Glassdoor. Posting a job there sends you to Indeed, which is covered above.

The work starts after you post

Posting on five free sites takes an afternoon. Keeping up with what comes back takes much longer.

Each site sends applicants somewhere different. Indeed applicants sit in your Indeed dashboard, LinkedIn's sit in LinkedIn, Facebook's arrive in Messenger, and Hacker News and state job bank applicants email you. The posts also expire on different schedules: LinkedIn pauses free posts after 14 days, Indeed's last 30, and Handshake's 15 or 30.

A few habits keep it manageable:

1. Write the job once. Keep one master description with the title, pay range, location, schedule and duties, and copy it everywhere. Several states, including California, Colorado, New York and Washington, require a pay range in job posts.
2. Send everyone to one apply link. Wherever a site lets you link out, point to your careers page so applications land in one place.
3. Put the expiry dates in your calendar. A paused LinkedIn post stops getting applicants until you close or promote it, and Indeed's free posts end after 30 days.
4. Note where each applicant came from. After a hire or two you'll know which free sites are worth repeating, and which job is worth paying to promote.
5. Watch for fake applicants. Free posts for remote roles attract bots and people applying under fake identities. Our guide to spotting fake job applicants covers 12 red flags and a check for each.

Keeping every applicant in one place with Applisights

Applisights is an applicant tracking system for small teams and recruiting agencies, and the free plan covers the setup above.

• A free careers page. Each job gets a branded apply page that goes live in minutes. Link to it from your Facebook listing, your Hacker News comment, your state job bank posting and your own LinkedIn feed.
• Every applicant in one pipeline. Applications land in one list, scored against the criteria you set for the role. The free plan includes 25 AI resume analyses a month, unlimited jobs and unlimited team members.
• Paid boards when free isn't enough. If a role needs more reach, open the built-in JobTarget marketplace from the same job and choose from Indeed, LinkedIn, ZipRecruiter and 25,000+ other sites, paying only for the boards you pick. Applicants from supported Easy Apply boards come back into the same pipeline.

Starter, at $39 a month, adds fraud detection, knockout questions and automated email sequences. See how job distribution works or start free, with no credit card.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free job posting site?

For most US employers it's Indeed, which allows three free job posts a month, each live for 30 days, and shows them on Glassdoor too. Add a free LinkedIn post for office and professional roles, Handshake for students and new graduates, and Wellfound for startup roles.

Is it free to post a job on Indeed?

Yes, for up to three jobs a calendar month posted directly on Indeed, each live for up to 30 days. More jobs in the same month need sponsorship, as do some kinds of posts, such as roles that offer relocation and confidential listings. Free jobs rank below sponsored ones.

Is it free to post a job on LinkedIn?

You can have one free job post active at a time. It stays active for up to 14 days, then LinkedIn pauses it, and it closes after 30 days unless you pay to promote it. Free posts stop taking applications after a set number, typically 10 to 30, and you need a LinkedIn Page for your company.

Is ZipRecruiter free for employers?

No. ZipRecruiter offers a short free trial, but you enter a card to start it and you're billed if you don't cancel before it ends.

How do I get my job on Google for Jobs for free?

Add job posting structured data to the job's page on your own site, or post the job on a site Google already collects listings from. Google doesn't charge for either, but it doesn't guarantee your job will appear.

Can a staffing agency post jobs for free?

Rarely on the big boards. LinkedIn requires staffing and recruiting agencies to buy job slots, Indeed generally requires agencies to sponsor their jobs, and the Hacker News hiring thread doesn't allow recruiting firms. Your own careers page and posts on your own social accounts stay free.

Are free job posts worth it?

Usually, as a first step. They cost nothing but time, and for local and entry-level roles they can bring in enough applicants on their own. If a free post has few good applicants after a week or two, pay to promote that one job.