Wondering if Appycan or Sonara is better for job seekers? This full comparison breaks down features, pricing, and real differences to help you choose the right tool for your job search needs. Get the facts before you subscribe.
Overview: What Are Appycan and Sonara?
When you’re applying to dozens of jobs per week, repeating the same steps gets old fast. Job application automation tools promise to handle the bulk work for you. Appycan and Sonara are two popular options, each offering to save time by applying to jobs on your behalf. But how do their approaches and results actually compare? Let’s look at what each one does and who they’re built for.
Appycan: Simple Chrome Extension for LinkedIn
Appycan is a browser extension designed specifically to automate LinkedIn’s Easy Apply process. Once set up, it fills out applications based on your saved preferences, answers common questions automatically, and even writes AI-generated cover letters (on higher plans). It resumes applying after LinkedIn’s daily limit resets and lets you set clear preferences for job types, locations, salary, and companies to skip. Pricing is weekly, and you can cancel anytime.
Sonara: Broad Job Board Automation
Sonara is a web-based platform that claims to search for jobs across multiple boards (LinkedIn, Indeed, ZipRecruiter, and more). It uses your uploaded resume and profile to auto-submit applications to a range of roles it identifies as matches. The platform uses AI to find new postings, fill out forms, and track your applications. Pricing is monthly, and Sonara offers a free trial.
Feature Comparison: How Appycan and Sonara Work
Both tools automate job applications, but their methods and coverage are different. Here’s a breakdown of key features and what they mean for your workflow:
- Appycan: Chrome extension only. Runs directly in your browser while you’re logged in to LinkedIn.
- Sonara: Web-based dashboard. Applies to jobs on your behalf using your uploaded resume and profile information.
- Appycan: Focuses on LinkedIn Easy Apply jobs (the quickest, lowest-friction applications on the platform).
- Sonara: Covers LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster, ZipRecruiter, and others, though not every job on those boards is included.
- Appycan: Lets you set specific roles, locations, work styles (remote, hybrid, onsite), salary targets, and companies to skip. You’re always in control of what gets applied to.
- Sonara: Uses AI to match jobs to your resume and preferences, but manual control over exclusions and targeting is more limited.
- Appycan: Saves your answers to common application questions to reuse later. Premium and Ultimate plans generate custom long-form answers and cover letters using AI.
- Sonara: Uses AI to fill out basic forms and sometimes to generate application answers, but details on how customizable those answers are can be limited.
Pricing and Plans: What Do You Actually Pay?
Cost is always a factor when you’re paying out of pocket during a job search. Here’s how Appycan and Sonara stack up on pricing and value for US job seekers:
- Appycan Standard: $8.99 per week (up to 100 applications/month)
- Appycan Premium: $13.84 per week (up to 200 applications/month, AI cover letters, 3-day free trial)
- Appycan Ultimate: $29.99 per week (up to 500 applications/month, 3-day free trial)
- Sonara: $49 per month (up to 420 applications/month, basic AI matching, 7-day free trial)
Appycan’s weekly billing makes it easy to start and stop as needed. Sonara’s monthly plan may look simpler, but you pay for the whole month even if you find a job sooner. Both offer free trials, but Appycan’s entry price is lower if you want to try it for a single week.
User Experience: Control, Automation, and Transparency
How much do you want to control the application process? Here’s where Appycan and Sonara take different paths.
- Appycan: You run it in your own browser, see every application as it happens, and can start or stop any time. You can change settings (roles, locations, salary targets, skipped companies) on the fly.
- Sonara: You upload your resume and let the platform handle the rest. You get updates on what’s applied to, but you don’t see every step in real time. Some users like the hands-free nature, while others feel out of the loop.
If you want to know exactly where your resume is going, Appycan makes it easy to review or tweak your search. Sonara’s strength is in its ability to shotgun your resume to a wide range of listings with almost no extra input.
Results: Which Gets More Interviews?
Ultimately, the only thing that matters is getting interviews. Both Appycan and Sonara can increase your application volume, but which leads to more responses?
Appycan focuses on LinkedIn’s Easy Apply jobs, which are typically low-friction and have a higher volume of applicants. This approach is best for getting in front of many recruiters quickly, especially for roles where speed matters. The built-in AI cover-letter feature (on Premium and Ultimate) can boost your odds with jobs that require longer answers.
Sonara casts a wider net, which can put you in the running for jobs on more platforms. However, some users report that generic, mass-submitted applications may get ignored by ATS systems or flagged as spam. The lack of granular targeting can mean wasted applications on roles you might not actually want.
Privacy, Security, and Support
Sharing your resume and personal info online is never trivial. Here’s how each tool handles privacy and support:
- Appycan: Runs locally in your browser. It never uploads your resume or answers to a central server unless you use the AI cover-letter feature (then only for generation). This gives you more control over your data.
- Sonara: You upload your resume and profile directly to their servers. The platform applies on your behalf, which means you trust them with more information.
Support options for both tools are email-based. Appycan’s smaller user base means faster, more personal responses, while Sonara’s size can mean longer wait times for troubleshooting.
How Appycan Handles LinkedIn Job Applications
Appycan specializes in automating the LinkedIn application process. It saves your answers to common application questions, applies to roles based on your filters, and automatically resumes after the daily application limit resets. You can set your roles, locations, work style, and salary targets, plus exclude any companies you don’t want to apply to. For those who want to apply to many jobs efficiently but still maintain control, Appycan offers a streamlined, browser-based solution.