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Best GTM and sales recruiting agencies (2026): who hires sellers, and what they charge

GTM and sales recruiting agencies find account executives, SDRs, sales engineers, customer success people and revenue leaders for companies that sell software. The choice is usually a specialist contingency firm, a retained search for a VP or CRO, or a marketplace of independent recruiters.

UltraTalent is in the first group because it recruits GTM and sales talent for SaaS, AI and technology companies and publishes how its three fee models are staged, even though it does not publish the percentage. Coastal Recruiting is on the list because it places GTM talent at VC-backed startups and is a OneGTM client. Engineering and product recruiting lives on the tech recruiting agencies page.

By Garrett Wolfe, founder of OneGTM (Clay Artisan Solutions Partner) and former GTM engineer at Unify. Updated .

Key takeaways

  • UltraTalent recruits GTM and sales talent for SaaS, AI and tech companies across the US, EMEA and APAC, with contingency, engaged and retained models.
  • Betts Recruiting covers sales, marketing and customer success at tech companies, from SDRs to CROs, including a subscription it calls Recruitment as a Service.
  • Coastal Recruiting publishes its fee: 25% of first-year base salary, nothing upfront. Most other firms on this list do not publish a percentage.
  • TheLIONS has recruited technology sales talent since 2010. Captivate Talent works with high-growth tech companies on contingency, a hybrid it calls container search, and embedded recruiters.
  • For a VP of Sales or CRO, ask whether the search is retained. For an AE, contingency is the common model.

SaaS and tech GTM recruiters

These firms hire sales and go-to-market people at software and technology companies. UltraTalent is listed second. Coastal is listed with a client tag because OneGTM built its candidate sourcing system.

Betts Recruiting

Go-to-market recruiting agency for sales, marketing and customer success roles at tech companies from seed to later stages, from SDRs to CROs. Offers contingency search, executive search, a self-sourcing platform called Betts Connect, and Recruitment as a Service.

Best for: Tech companies hiring several GTM roles a year

Fees: Fees not published. Recruitment as a Service is a subscription with unlimited hires. Traditional search is contingency.

UltraTalent

GTM and sales recruitment agency for SaaS, AI and technology companies. It hires account executives, sales engineers, marketing, customer success, RevOps, partnerships and revenue leaders, including CRO and VP searches, across the US, EMEA and APAC. The firm was founded by Pree Sarkar, a former account executive and sales VP, and lists offices in San Francisco and Sydney. It says a quota-vetted AE shortlist lands in about two weeks.

Best for: SaaS, AI and tech companies hiring GTM and sales talent

Fees: Three models, percentage not published. Contingency: fee due on the start date, 3-month guarantee. Engaged: 20% upfront and 80% on the start date, 3-month guarantee. Retained: 33% upfront, 33% when the shortlist is presented, 34% on placement, 6-month guarantee.

Captivate Talent

Recruiting firm for sales, marketing, customer success and RevOps talent at high-growth technology companies. It also runs executive searches for sales and marketing leaders. The process it describes starts with a discovery call and a shortlist in the first two weeks.

Best for: Startups hiring B2B sales and other revenue roles

Fees: Contingency, a hybrid it calls container search (an engagement fee upfront, the rest on placement), and embedded recruiters. The fee percentage is not published. Ask for the current rate.

TheLIONS

Technology sales recruiting firm operating since 2010. It places VPs of sales, sales directors, account executives and SDRs, and has also worked on solutions engineers, account managers and customer success. Candidates join free. The firm says it does not require exclusive agreements.

Best for: Technology companies hiring quota-carrying sellers

Fees: Success fee paid by the company when a candidate they introduced is hired. The percentage is not published on the site.

Coastal Recruiting

OneGTM client

Boutique recruiting firm for VC-backed startups, placing engineering, product and GTM talent from founding roles through VP of Sales. Offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Miami. OneGTM built the candidate sourcing system its recruiters use. The full story is in the Coastal Recruiting case study.

Best for: Seed to growth-stage startups hiring early GTM roles

Fees: Placement fee of 25% of first-year base salary. No upfront payment. Free replacement if a hire leaves within the guarantee period.

B2B sales recruiting firms

These firms recruit salespeople across B2B industries, with SaaS as one of the verticals. They are a fit when the role is a seller and the company is not only a venture-backed software startup.

Peak Sales Recruiting

Sales recruiting firm for B2B companies. Its process combines role profiling, headhunting and candidate assessment, plus advice on compensation. Contracts can be cancelled after a project starts.

Best for: B2B companies hiring individual sellers and sales leaders

Fees: Fixed-price stages. Dollar amounts are not published.

Treeline

Sales recruiting firm that says it has focused on building sales organizations since 2001. A fee agreement comes before the search. Treeline says it aims to present candidates within 3 days and to reach an offer within 30 days.

Best for: Companies that want a sales-only recruiting firm

Fees: Set in a fee agreement. The rate is not published.

Talentfoot

B2B sales recruiting firm covering manufacturing, SaaS and IT sales, from account executives through chief revenue officer and VP of Sales. It says candidates are assessed before they are presented, and that a search can include compensation benchmarking.

Best for: B2B companies hiring sales contributors or a sales leader

Fees: Performance-based fee. The rate is not published. Talentfoot says a search takes about five weeks.

Hirewell

Recruiting and talent advisory firm covering executive search, single hires, embedded interim recruiters, and full or fractional RPO. Technology work includes GTM roles alongside engineering, product, data and corporate functions.

Best for: Companies that want an outsourced recruiting team, including GTM

Fees: Fees not published; contact sales.

A recruiter marketplace

A marketplace spreads one role across independent recruiters. You do more of the coordination than you would with a single agency.

Paraform

Recruiting marketplace that matches roles to independent recruiters, with a talent strategist on the account. It reports a 27-day average time to hire. That figure is the firm's own.

Best for: Hard sales roles you want several specialist recruiters working at once

Fees: Pricing not published; demo required.

Fees are from each firm's own site as of November 2026. Where a firm does not publish a percentage, the card says so. This is an opinionated list, not a paid ranking, and nobody paid to be on it. Coastal Recruiting is a OneGTM client.

GTM and sales recruiting agencies compared

FirmBest forFee
Betts RecruitingTech companies hiring several GTM roles a yearNot published
UltraTalentSaaS, AI and tech companies hiring GTM and sales talentContingency, engaged, or retained
Captivate TalentStartups hiring B2B sales and other revenue rolesNot published
TheLIONSTechnology companies hiring quota-carrying sellersSuccess fee, % not published
Coastal RecruitingSeed to growth-stage startups hiring early GTM roles25% of first-year base
Peak Sales RecruitingB2B companies hiring individual sellers and sales leadersFixed stages, amount not published
TreelineCompanies that want a sales-only recruiting firmNot published
TalentfootB2B companies hiring sales contributors or a sales leaderNot published
HirewellCompanies that want an outsourced recruiting team, including GTMNot published
ParaformHard sales roles you want several specialist recruiters working at onceNot published

Fees as published on each firm's own site in November 2026. "Not published" means the firm does not list a percentage or a dollar amount.

Contingency, engaged and retained

Contingency means the fee is due when someone starts, and you can run more than one firm. UltraTalent, Betts, Captivate and TheLIONS all offer a version of this. Coastal publishes the percentage: 25% of first-year base salary.

An engaged or container search pays part of the fee up front so the firm prioritizes the role, with the rest due on hire. UltraTalent's engaged model is 20% up front and 80% on the start date. Captivate describes a similar hybrid and does not publish the split.

Retained search is for a VP of Sales, a CRO or another role where you want one firm committed to the work. UltraTalent's retained model is three payments and a 6-month guarantee. The salary percentage is still not on the site. Executive search firms for that seat are also on the executive search firms list.

How to choose a sales recruiting agency

Ask for placements of people who sold the way you sell: deal size, sales cycle, inbound or outbound, and company stage. A recruiter who fills enterprise AE seats will send the wrong people for a first founding seller.

  • Get the fee basis in writing: base salary, OTE, or a flat stage price.
  • Ask what the guarantee covers and how long it lasts. UltraTalent publishes 3 months on contingency and 6 months on retained search.
  • Ask who screens for quota, and what evidence they want beyond a resume.
  • Agree how many candidates per week, and how fast you will interview.
  • Confirm they will not recruit your current sellers for other clients.

The hire still needs a system to sell from

A good recruiter fills the seat. The lists, signals, sequences and CRM the new seller uses are a different job. OneGTM builds that system and hands it to the team.

We did the candidate-sourcing version of this for Coastal Recruiting. For a company hiring sellers, the same kind of build is outbound and CRM. See the outbound agency page.

  • New account executives have no scored account list.
  • Sequences are written by hand and replies land in a personal inbox.
  • The CRM cannot show which source produced the meeting.
  • You are about to pay a recruiting fee and still have no outbound infrastructure.

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GTM and sales recruiting FAQ

What are the best GTM and sales recruiting agencies?
For SaaS, AI and tech companies, Betts Recruiting, UltraTalent, Captivate Talent and TheLIONS specialize in go-to-market hiring. Coastal Recruiting places GTM talent at VC-backed startups and publishes a 25% fee on first-year base salary. Peak Sales Recruiting, Treeline and Talentfoot recruit B2B sellers more broadly. Hirewell can embed a recruiting team. Paraform is a marketplace of independent recruiters. Coastal is a OneGTM client.
How much do sales recruiting agencies charge?
Most do not publish a percentage. Coastal Recruiting charges 25% of first-year base salary with nothing upfront. UltraTalent publishes the payment schedule for contingency, engaged and retained search, and not the percentage of salary. Peak Sales Recruiting uses fixed-price stages and does not list the amounts. Ask for the fee basis, base or OTE, and the guarantee in writing.
What does UltraTalent do?
UltraTalent is a GTM and sales recruitment agency for SaaS, AI and technology companies. It hires account executives, sales engineers, marketing, customer success, RevOps, partnerships and revenue leaders across the US, EMEA and APAC. Contingency fees are due on the start date with a 3-month guarantee. Engaged search is 20% upfront and 80% on the start date. Retained search is paid in three parts with a 6-month guarantee.
Should I use a contingency recruiter or a retained search for a sales hire?
Contingency fits an account executive or SDR, where several firms can work the role and you pay only if you hire. Retained or engaged search fits a VP of Sales or CRO, where you want one firm committed to a smaller candidate pool. UltraTalent offers all three. Executive search firms are a separate list.
How is this different from the tech recruiting agencies list?
The tech recruiting agencies page covers engineering and product hiring, contingency firms, executive search and hiring platforms, with Coastal Recruiting first because OneGTM built its sourcing system. This page is only GTM and sales recruiting. Some firms, including Betts, Coastal and Hirewell, appear in both because they do both kinds of work.
How long does a sales recruiting search take?
UltraTalent says a quota-vetted account executive shortlist takes about two weeks. Treeline says it aims to present candidates within 3 days and reach an offer within 30 days. Talentfoot says about five weeks. Paraform reports a 27-day average time to hire. Those are the firms' own figures.
Does OneGTM recruit salespeople?
No. OneGTM builds outbound, signal and CRM systems. Coastal Recruiting, which places GTM talent and is a OneGTM client, is the recruiting firm. We built Coastal's candidate sourcing system, and we build the sales systems a new hire uses after they start.

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