Choose Crumblelead if you want a perm-focused desk with AI assistance and native MCP at $30 per user on flexible monthly terms. Choose Loxo when its broader AI workflows and larger published MCP action set cover work your agency needs and justify the package and annual commitment.
Both products support natural-language work with recruitment information. The question is what your consultants can accomplish with it, how the output is checked and which commercial package provides the necessary capabilities.
Crumblelead and Loxo at a glance
Checked 24 September 2026. Prices are USD per user per month, with annual figures expressed as monthly equivalents. Loxo's Core entry price was presented as a limited-time offer for new customers, billed annually upfront.
| Area | Crumblelead | Loxo |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $30 monthly; $25 annual equivalent | Core from $149 annually upfront; Professional $199 annually; Enterprise quote |
| Billing | Month-to-month; no seat minimum; pro-rata changes; cancel without fee | Published Core offer requires annual payment; confirm renewal and seat terms |
| AI | Parsing, semantic search, matching with evidence, summaries and briefing | Core includes natural-language AI search; Professional includes broader AI work with credits |
| MCP | Built-in, 30+ tools; role permissions, team scope and revocable key | Native MCP; product page describes about 180 actions; included in Core pricing |
| Migration | Free from Loxo with sandbox dry run | Pricing offers free migration from three seats; guided self-service below that |
| GDPR tools | Lawful basis, consent logs, retention reviews, SAR ZIP and erasure | Admin-enabled GDPR settings and candidate request processes documented |
| Export | One-click CSV for candidates, clients, jobs and placements | People/company CSV excludes CVs, activity, work history and education; agree wider retrieval |
What should you understand about the Loxo offer?
The advertised Core price is not evidence of a month-to-month contract. It is an annual-upfront offer with conditions. Ask what applies after the first term and how the price changes if you alter the seat count.
Loxo Professional lists 2,500 monthly credits per seat, pooled across the team. Credits are not inherently a problem. The useful question is what your intended work consumes and whether the allowance suits an ordinary month and a busy one.
Avoid valuing an unused allowance as a saving. Equally, do not dismiss a higher subscription if its capabilities replace meaningful work elsewhere. Ask the vendor to run your examples and explain the applicable package and consumption.
A hypothetical five-seat Core purchase at $149 would be $8,940 for twelve months before tax or other separately purchased services. Five Crumblelead seats cost $1,800 over twelve months on monthly billing, or $1,500 annually. These figures compare subscription cash, not identical products.
Where is Loxo stronger?
Loxo has a much larger published MCP action catalogue. Its product page describes roughly 180 actions across records including people, jobs, companies, deals and placements. That breadth may matter when your agency wants to do a wider range of work through an external assistant.
Its broader AI offering is another reason to investigate it. If the tasks available on Professional match a defined agency process, the credit-based package may be a sensible purchase. Test that process before assuming a cheaper seat provides equivalent capability.
Loxo also includes unlimited jobs and candidates in its published Core description. An agency evaluating capacity can establish that point directly, then concentrate its trial on search quality, everyday use and the particular workflows it wants to adopt.
Choose Loxo on demonstrated fit. A larger action count is useful only when the actions cover work your team intends to do and operate under acceptable permissions.
Where is Crumblelead stronger?
Crumblelead combines the perm-focused 360 desk and AI assistance in one $30 plan. Candidates, clients, contacts, jobs and placements are linked; placements track fees, invoicing status and fall-offs.
The lower subscription and flexible seats are practical advantages for a small agency. You can add or remove users pro rata without a seat minimum and cancel without a fee. Your $30 rate will not rise while subscribed, and features included today will not move behind a paywall.
Migration from Loxo is free without a three-seat threshold. We use an official API where the source supports it, otherwise an export, and load a sandbox dry run for review. That service still needs your team to check the result and make decisions about the move.
How should you compare matching and search?
Use a real job specification and briefing with an authorised sample of candidate records. Include somebody with an adjacent title and somebody with an obvious title match but a missing requirement. Those cases reveal more than a search designed to produce easy results.
Crumblelead's semantic search works in plain language and finds adjacent titles. Its matching scores candidates against the specification and briefing with evidence for fit and concerns. Recruiters still need to assess what the evidence means.
Loxo lists natural-language AI search in Core and broader AI capabilities on higher packages. Ask it to demonstrate the same task, then compare the checking and correction required as well as the initial result. This is a buying test, not a claim that either product has been benchmarked against the other.
Does MCP change the security review?
It adds another access route to evaluate. Crumblelead's connection respects the user's role permissions, accesses only their team's data and uses a key that can be revoked at any time.
Loxo's native MCP support is verified, but the reviewed product page did not establish every detail of permission enforcement or revocation for this comparison. Request that documentation and test with an ordinary consultant account. Do not turn an unverified control into either a positive claim or an accusation that the control is absent.
For both products, try the specific supported actions you plan to use. Clear requests and a check of the resulting record are more valuable than treating a successful connection as a completed evaluation.
What should you know about migration and export?
Loxo's pricing page offers free migration from three seats, with guided self-service for smaller purchases. Confirm the service scope and any conditions for your order rather than relying on the word “migration” alone.
Its standard people and company CSV export explicitly excludes CVs and activity, work and education history. That does not prove those items cannot be retrieved another way. It tells you to agree the wider route before treating the CSV as a complete handover.
Crumblelead's migration preserves CVs, linked client and contact records, jobs and stages, activity, ownership, placements, revenue history and attachments. Typically done within a week, depending on your data size and format. Review files and linked records in the sandbox before cutover.
What privacy workflow will your agency use?
Loxo documents GDPR settings that an administrator enables and candidate request processes. Confirm how your proposed configuration handles retention, a complete access response and deletion across relevant data.
Crumblelead provides candidate-level lawful basis records, consent requests with timestamped logs and retention reviews. Its SAR ZIP contains a PDF summary, JSON and files, while erasure removes files and anonymises or redacts the relevant record content.
Compare the process your staff will follow rather than relying on a generic compliance label. Crumblelead does not have SOC 2 yet; verify any mandatory assurance requirement before making the choice.
Where Crumblelead fits
Crumblelead suits independent and small-to-mid agencies focused on permanent recruitment. It gives recruiters a linked desk with AI assistance while keeping responsibility for relationships and judgement with people.
It is not built for large temp or contract staffing firms needing timesheets, payroll or VMS integrations. Choose Loxo when its broader AI and MCP capabilities fit the work better than our narrower product scope.
FAQ
Do both products have native MCP support?
Yes, both publish a native MCP offering. Compare the actions and permissions you need rather than selecting solely on the number of available operations.
Is Loxo Core $149 on a monthly contract?
The reviewed offer was $149 per user per month with annual payment upfront for new customers. Confirm the current offer, renewal rate and term in writing.
Does Loxo's CSV contain the complete candidate history?
Its documented people/company CSV excludes CVs and several history categories. Ask for the wider retrieval route if those items belong in your migration.
Sources
Loxo pricing. Checked 24 September 2026.
Loxo MCP. Checked 24 September 2026.
https://loxo.co/products/loxo-mcp
Loxo export people and company records. Checked 24 September 2026.
https://help.loxo.co/en/articles/1238814-export-people-and-company-records-from-loxo
Loxo manage GDPR. Checked 24 September 2026.
https://help.loxo.co/en/articles/8758155-manage-gdpr-in-loxo