Brindle Reference Checking vs Xref Engage

Brindle Reference Checking automates reference checks for recruitment agencies, from candidate consent through referee follow-up to a completed report. Recruiters set up reusable templates, add candidates, capture consent, and send requests; Brindle sends reminders and returns a structured PDF. Reports organize answers by section and include identity verification, a completion timestamp, an audit trail, and candidate and referee consent. Accounts can have unlimited templates with open, scaled, multiple-choice, and scenario-based questions. Referees respond through a guided web conversation, while recruiters can conduct checks by phone for referees who will not go online. CV templating returns a candidate CV in the agency’s house format and is free on annual plans. Brindle can run alongside ATS products including JobAdder, Bullhorn, FastTrack360, and Astute, but ATS integration is not available. The company says it complies with GDPR and the Australian and New Zealand Privacy Acts, does not train AI on customer data, and retains candidate and reference data for 10 working days after last activity. Annual Foundation starts at $299 a year; monthly Foundation is $499 a month.

Xref Engage provides employee engagement, Leadership 360, onboarding and pulse surveys for collecting, analysing and sharing organisational feedback. Users can select expert-designed templates or create their own questionnaires. Employees complete surveys on desktop or mobile, and surveys are available globally. Anonymous and repeat surveys, automated reminders, industry benchmarking, eNPS tracking and demographic filtering are supported. Data Studio lets teams explore metrics and download or share reports. Xref’s workplace psychology team can advise on survey curation. Xref says the platform is ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certified, encrypts data with TLS 1.2 in transit and AES 256 at rest, and conducts annual independent penetration tests. Customers can choose AWS storage regions in Sydney, Frankfurt, Toronto or North Virginia. Engage requires an active Xref Enterprise subscription and costs extra. Pricing starts at $70/mo (annual), with a free trial offered.