Recruitment Agency vs Headhunter: What Is the Difference?
Key Points:
Recruitment agencies run many vacancies at once and usually charge 20% to 25% of gross annual salary, only on a hire.
Headhunters take fewer searches, work exclusively and typically charge 30% to 33%, partly upfront.
Confidential, senior and scarce sales roles need a direct approach, while common profiles can be filled from applicants.
Specialist SaaS agencies such as Katapult combine a direct approach with published fees and a no-upfront-cost option.
A recruitment agency fills roles with people who are already open to a move, using job ads and its own database, and usually charges only when you hire. A headhunter approaches specific people who aren't looking, works exclusively on your search and asks for part of the fee upfront. In SaaS sales, the recruitment agency vs headhunter line is blurring, as the strongest specialist agencies now do a bit of both.
What Is the Difference Between a Recruitment Agency and a Headhunter?
The main difference is the candidate pool. A recruitment agency mostly works with active candidates who respond to ads or are in its database, while a headhunter maps the market and approaches people who are happy where they are. The fee model differs: agencies usually work on no cure, no pay, while headhunters charge a retainer and work exclusively on your search.
| Recruitment agency | Headhunter |
Candidates | Mostly active job seekers | Mostly passive, employed candidates |
Sourcing | Job ads, database, network | Market mapping and direct approach |
Fee model | No cure, no pay | Retained, part paid upfront |
Typical fee in the Netherlands | 20% to 25% of gross annual salary | 30% to 33% of gross annual salary |
Exclusivity | Often works alongside other agencies | Works exclusively on your search |
Typical roles | Entry-level to mid-level | Senior, leadership and board roles |
Fee ranges come from recruitment trainer Jacco Valkenburg's 2026 overview of the Dutch market. In practice, the labels overlap, since executive search is the formal name for retained headhunting at senior level and many agencies headhunt for harder roles. What matters is how a partner finds candidates and how it gets paid.
How Does a Recruitment Agency Work?
An agency advertises your vacancy, searches its database and sends you the best-matching CVs. On a no-cure-no-pay contract, you pay nothing unless someone starts, so the risk is low and it's easy to brief several agencies at once.
That convenience has a cost. Valkenburg notes that agencies on this model often work in parallel and select candidates based on their chance of being hired rather than fit. Brief four agencies and the same CV can land in your inbox three times, with a fee discussion attached.
You get speed and volume, but your own team does the filtering. That trade-off is manageable for an SDR vacancy with plenty of applicants and painful for a senior Account Executive.
How Does a Headhunter Work?
A headhunter starts with the market, not with applicants. They map the companies where your ideal candidate works today and approach the best people there directly, reaching candidates who would never answer a job ad.
You pay for that focus in advance. Dutch retainers typically require 30% to 50% of the total fee upfront, with the rest due at milestones and on placement; 30% to 33% of annual salary is standard for executive search. The upfront payment buys exclusivity and depth, not a guaranteed hire.
A direct approach does pay off. Gem's 2025 Recruiting Benchmarks Report, based on 1.3 million hires, found that sourced applicants are five times more likely to be hired than inbound ones.
Headhunter vs Recruiter: Which Should You Use for a Sales Hire?
In the recruitment agency vs headhunter decision, the role decides. If strong candidates apply on their own, an agency's database and job ads will do. These signals mean you need a direct approach, the core of headhunting:
You are replacing a sales leader and the current team cannot know yet
The role needs a rare mix, such as a German-speaking enterprise AE with logistics experience
Your best candidates work at competitors and will never see your job ad
A wrong hire would cost you a quarter or more of pipeline
A direct approach doesn't have to mean a retainer. Colt Technologies needed a successor to a long-serving sales director and ran a confidential search with Katapult.
The candidate it hired was introduced nine days after the role opened, well under the [average time to fill a sales role].
Where Do Specialist SaaS Recruitment Agencies Fit?
For most SaaS sales hires, the recruitment agency vs headhunter question has a third answer. A specialist agency approaches passive candidates like a headhunter but keeps an agency fee structure.
Katapult works this way. The consultants are former SaaS professionals who contact candidates directly, and in 2025, recruitment messages got a 62% reply rate, as explained in why recruitment campaigns get no responses. Candidates also come from a network of over 10,000 commercial SaaS professionals, and you meet at most four per role, from BDR to Sales Director.
You also choose how to pay. Katapult search costs 26% of annual salary with no upfront cost. Katapult plus costs 28%, split 50% upfront and 50% at hire, and adds a prioritised search, multiple consultants and a recruitment marketing budget.
Customs4trade, a Belgian customs software company, used Katapult to hire two enterprise Account Executives within about two months. Before comparing quotes, read recruitment agency fees explained.
Weighing up recruitment agency vs headhunter for your next sales hire? Book a call with Katapult to scope the role and pick the package that fits it
FAQ - Frequently asked questions
Can I work with several recruitment agencies at once?
Yes, most agencies accept it on no-cure-no-pay terms. Agree on a rule for duplicate CVs first, because in Dutch practice the agency that submitted the candidate first often has the claim. An exclusive brief usually gets you more effort in return.
What types of recruitment agencies are there?
The main types are generalist agencies covering many fields and specialist agencies focused on one area, such as Katapult for SaaS sales and customer-facing roles. Executive search firms handle C-suite and board positions, while staffing agencies supply temporary workers.
Will a headhunter approach my own employees?
It can happen, since approaching people at other companies is their job, and your team may be on someone else's target list. Agree in writing that the firm will not approach your staff while it works for you and for a fixed period afterwards.
Sources
RecruitmentTraining.pro (Jacco Valkenburg), "Wat kost een recruitmentbureau echt? Tarieven & valkuilen", 15 May 2026
Gem, "2025 Recruiting Benchmarks Report", hiring data from January 2021 to December 2024.
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