How to read this chart
Every row is a thing a small business actually needs out of its hiring function. Every column is a way someone has tried to deliver it. Most options check a few boxes. Almost none check most of them, and the ones that do tend to cost more than a small business can sustain.
The two columns that check almost every box are Full-Time Internal Recruiter and Fractional Recruiter. They are the same model on different volumes. An internal recruiter at $100,000-plus loaded cost only pencils out at sustained high hiring volume. Below that, the fractional model delivers the same function at a fraction of the cost. That is the gap fractional fills.
The trade-offs to notice
Agencies are fast and they handle hard-to-fill roles, but they are paid on commission, which means the incentive runs against you on salary and against retention. Staffing fills active flow but not much else. Offshore sourcing, virtual assistants, and AI tools are useful pieces of a larger function, not a function on their own. DIY hiring is free in dollars and the most expensive option in your time, your owner-hours, and the cost of getting it wrong.
If most of the rows in this chart matter to your business and none of the existing options check enough of them, that is the math that makes fractional recruiting the right answer.