JobClay

Guide

How much does it cost to start a job board?

A job board on a hosted platform costs from nothing, on a free plan without your own domain, to about $400 a month, with your own domain on the dearest entry plan listed here, before card fees, which the payment processor takes from each sale. Having an agency build one from scratch costs $16,000 to $22,000 once, from a published estimate, before hosting and upkeep. What decides it: the platform plan, whether you need your own domain, where the jobs come from and how many hours a week you give it.

JobClay wrote this page and sells job board software, so JobClay’s plans are rows beside the others’, priced the same way. Every cost line names the page its figures came from and the day we read it. How we check what we publish.

What drives the cost

  • The platform plan

    The biggest line, and the one that grows with the board: more live jobs, job sources and admins mean a higher plan.

  • Your own domain

    A small line next to the platform plan. Most platforms let you use your own on a paid plan.

  • Card fees

    Paid by the sale, not by the month, so they are zero until an employer pays you.

  • Jobs and your time

    Jobs arrive through the platform’s job sources or from employers; either way someone checks them. Plan for hours, not just dollars.

Each cost line, with its source

Figures are in US dollars as the page prints them, unless a line says otherwise.

  • A .com domain name

    $11.08 a year

    Porkbun lists $11.08 a year for both registration and renewal of a .com, fees included. Other registrars charge more or less.

    Read on at porkbun.com

  • Card fees, Stripe, cards issued in Canada

    2.9% of each sale

    2.9% of each sale plus CA$0.30, for domestic cards; 0.8% more for international cards. The processor keeps it from each sale, so it is not a monthly cost.

    Read on at stripe.com

  • Card fees, Stripe, standard UK cards

    1.5% of each sale

    1.5% of each sale plus 20p for standard UK cards. Stripe prints its rates by country, so read the page of the country your account is in.

    Read on at stripe.com

  • Owner time, an association board kept simple (hours a week)

    0.5 hours a week

    The Space Industry Association of Australia says its board needs around 30 minutes a week of admin time (page updated September 26, 2024).

    Read on at niceboard.co

  • Owner time, vetting inbound candidates for a talent collective (hours a week)

    2 to 3 hours a week

    The author of a newsletter says he spent about 2 to 3 hours a week vetting inbound candidates, on his own. A JobClay board does not vet candidates; this shows how much a hand-checked queue can take. Your own time is not in the budgets below.

    Read on at blog.pragmaticengineer.com

  • A custom-built job board from an agency

    $16,000 to $22,000, once

    ColorWhistle prints this estimate for a high-complexity job board website in the USA, with a 12 to 18 week timeline. It does not include hosting, upkeep or the jobs.

    Read on at colorwhistle.com

Left out because we found no price we could read on the vendor’s own page: paid job feeds, advertising and other marketing spend, and hosting for software you run yourself. If you add any of them, add them to the totals below.

The platform line, side by side

The same table as on the price table of job board software, in alphabetical order.

Job board software: entry price, what the entry plan includes, free plan or trial, cut of employer payments, how employers pay and who each suits, in alphabetical order
PlatformEntry priceEntry plan includesFree plan or trialCut of employer paymentsHow employers pay youBest for
Cavuno Checked October 30, 2026 on cavuno.com$39 a month, or $29 a month billed yearly500 live jobs, your own domain14-day Starter trial, no card needed, and the board can be published during itNone on its standard plans: no transaction fee or revenue share, though Stripe’s own fees applyStripe: job posts, bundles, employer subscriptions and talent access plansSmall boards that want AI job aggregation and an AI website builder at a low entry price
JBoard Checked October 30, 2026 on jboard.io$149 a month, or $119 a month billed yearly1,000 live jobs, 3 import sources, your own domain14-day free trial, card requiredNone: a flat monthly subscription, no commissions or revenue shareCharge for job postings on every plan; subscriptions and packages from StandardBoards that want resume tools, candidate messaging and an API
Job Boardly Checked October 30, 2026 on jobboardly.com$60 a month, or $40 a month billed yearly10,000 live jobs, your own domain14-day free trial on every plan, card needed to start, no charge until it endsJob posts, packages and a candidate paywall on every plan; employer subscriptions from Pro; Stripe Tax and invoicesSmall niche boards that want a low entry price and a ready supply of imported jobs
JobClay Read live from JobClay’s plans$49 a month, or $490 a year1,000 live jobs, 3 import sources, your own domainA free plan, no card neededNoneEmployers pay you directly, by card into your own Stripe account or by bank transferBoards that want to start free and grow into paid plans
Kardow Checked October 30, 2026 on kardow.com$79 a month, or $59 a month billed yearlyYour own domain14-day free trialNone: no platform fee on your revenue, on any planStripe is built in from Starter; invoices and payment links on ScaleBoards that want uncapped jobs and audience, with only imported jobs metered
Niceboard Checked October 30, 2026 on niceboard.co$399 a month, or $319 a month billed yearly5,000 live jobs, your own domain7-day free trialNone: a flat monthly subscription; a revenue share option is offered on its Enterprise planStripe only; it says other payment options will followAssociations and member communities that want a talent pool and several languages
Spacewalk Checked October 30, 2026 on gospacewalk.com$81 a month, or $65 a month billed yearly100 live jobs, no own domain14-day free trial, no card needed on Starter and ProNone: a flat monthly fee, no revenue shareEmployer posting fees go to the board ownerCommunities, training providers and associations running a private or public board
WP Job Manager Checked October 30, 2026 on wpjobmanager.comFree software; paid add-ons from $29 a yearThe core plugin is free; the add-ons are paidSimple Paid Listings takes payment through Stripe or PayPal; WC Paid Listings runs on WooCommercePeople who already run WordPress and will host and maintain it themselves

Worked starter budgets

The first budget is a free start, with other platforms’ trials beside it. The others each pick the cheapest paid plan with its own domain among the platforms in the table, JobClay’s among them, and add a .com domain; the other platforms’ plans, priced the same way, sit beside it. Each rival price is shown with the day we read it. Card fees come out of each sale and your own time is not priced, so neither is in a total.

Test a niche without paying

JobClay Free
$0 a month
Total
$0 a month

Other ways to start without paying

  • Cavuno: 14-day Starter trial, no card needed, and the board can be published during it Checked October 30, 2026
  • JBoard: 14-day free trial, card required Checked October 30, 2026
  • Job Boardly: 14-day free trial on every plan, card needed to start, no charge until it ends Checked October 30, 2026
  • Kardow: 14-day free trial Checked October 30, 2026
  • Niceboard: 7-day free trial Checked October 30, 2026
  • Spacewalk: 14-day free trial, no card needed on Starter and Pro Checked October 30, 2026

Your own domain, paid month by month

Cavuno Starter Checked October 30, 2026
$39 a month
A .com domain
$0.92 a month
Total
$39.92 a month

Other plans priced the same way

  • JobClay Starter $49 a month
  • Job Boardly StandardChecked October 30, 2026 $60 a month
  • Kardow StarterChecked October 30, 2026 $79 a month
  • JBoard BasicChecked October 30, 2026 $149 a month
  • Niceboard CoreChecked October 30, 2026 $399 a month

Your own domain, paid a year at a time

Cavuno Starter, billed yearly Checked October 30, 2026
$29 a month
A .com domain
$0.92 a month
Total
$29.92 a month

Other plans priced the same way

  • Job Boardly Standard, billed yearlyChecked October 30, 2026 $40 a month
  • JobClay Starter, billed yearly $40.83 a month
  • Kardow Starter, billed yearlyChecked October 30, 2026 $59 a month
  • JBoard Basic, billed yearlyChecked October 30, 2026 $119 a month
  • Niceboard Core, billed yearlyChecked October 30, 2026 $319 a month

Questions

How much does it cost to start a job board?

On a hosted platform, from nothing, on a free plan without your own domain, to about $400 a month, with your own domain on the dearest entry plan listed here, plus the processor’s fee on each sale. Building one from scratch is a different order of cost: $16,000 to $22,000 once for a high-complexity job board in the USA, by one agency’s published estimate.

What is the cheapest way to start a job board?

Among the platforms in the table, the lowest monthly price for a paid plan with your own domain is Cavuno Starter at $39 a month, on the vendor’s own pricing page, read on October 30, 2026. Some boards start on a free plan or a trial instead, on a subdomain of the platform, and move to their own domain later.

What do card payments cost?

The processor keeps a share of each sale. Stripe prints 2.9% of each sale for cards issued in Canada (read on October 30, 2026) and 1.5% of each sale for standard UK cards (read on October 30, 2026), each plus a small fixed fee, and its rates differ by country, so read the page for the country your account is in. It comes out of what an employer pays you.

How much time does running a job board take?

It depends on how much you check by hand. One association board says its admin work takes around 30 minutes a week, and a newsletter author who vetted inbound candidates for a talent collective on his own says 2 to 3 hours a week (both read on October 30, 2026). Time is not in the budgets above.

Keep reading

Start your job board today

Free plan, no card needed.

Start free

jobclay.com uses Google Analytics cookies to see how visitors find and use the site. You can turn them off here or in cookie settings. Privacy policy