Hound and its alternatives at a glance
| Attribute | Hound | VeterinaryHires | Roo | iHireVeterinary | AVMA Career Center | NAVTA Career Center | Indeed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | A veterinary career network covering full-time jobs and relief shifts | A job board built only for veterinary jobs | A shift platform where veterinary hospitals post and pay per confirmed shift | A veterinary job board sold as monthly or quarterly job slots | The AVMA's job board for the veterinary profession | The career center NAVTA runs for veterinary employers | A general job site covering every industry |
| Roles covered | Veterinarians, technicians, assistants, receptionists and managers, in full-time and relief work | Veterinarian, emergency and relief veterinarian, technician, assistant, receptionist, practice manager and kennel attendant | Not published (shift-based work at veterinary hospitals) | Not published on the pricing page | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| Pricing model | Monthly plans for job posts and boosts; relief posts free, paying per booking | One-time payment per listing; monthly group plans for practice groups | Free to post; pay per confirmed shift at a price shown before posting | Job-slot subscription, monthly or quarterly | Pay per posting | Pay per posting | Free organic posts; sponsored posts billed per interaction on a set budget |
| Published price | $199/month for job posts (Scout); $499/month for boosts; relief free, pay per booking; Groove and candidate access custom | $199 Standard or $399 Featured per 30-day listing at launch pricing; group plans $899–$1,749 a month | Not published — shift prices vary by location, type of work and shift length | $369, $450 or $799 a month for 1, 3 or 10 slots; quarterly plans run $316–$733 a month | $193 (AVMA members) or $249 (non-members) for a 30-day nationwide posting | $209 for 30 days; $349 for 60 days | Not published — many jobs post free; sponsored spending is set per job |
| Contract | Not published | None — single listings are one-time; group plans cancel anytime | None — no membership fees or posting minimums; pay only for confirmed shifts | None — upgrade, downgrade or cancel at any time | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| How candidates apply | Inside Hound, with in-app chat and interview scheduling | On the employer's own application link or email; no candidate accounts | Through Roo; the hospital confirms each shift | Not published | Not published | Not published | On Indeed — billed interactions include clicks and started applications |
| Where listings appear | In the Hound jobs feed; boosted posts show first and in digest emails | Matching role and city pages, and Google Jobs | Not published | Not published | All job boards in the Veterinary Career Community (VCC) | The NAVTA Career Center | On Indeed |
As of October 2026, checked on each company's own website.
Why do veterinary practices look for an alternative to Hound?
Hound covers a lot in one place: full-time jobs and relief shifts for veterinarians, technicians, assistants, receptionists and managers, with in-app chat and a PayScore pay-transparency rating on the candidate side.
The trade-off is the shape of the pricing.
Job posts (Scout) are $199 a month and boosts are $499 a month — a subscription, not a per-post fee.
For a practice with one opening, an occasional vacancy, or relief needs that come and go, a monthly plan can cost more than the hiring it supports.
That is the gap most alternatives fill.
Some sell one-time listings (VeterinaryHires, the AVMA Career Center, the NAVTA Career Center), one rents job slots (iHireVeterinary), one is built for relief shifts (Roo), and one lets many jobs go out free (Indeed).
Which Hound alternative fits which kind of hiring?
Each alternative earns its place with a different buyer:
- VeterinaryHires — a veterinary-only board selling one-time, 30-day listings ($199 Standard, $399 Featured at launch pricing). Fits practices filling one role at a time that want a flat fee and no subscription.
- Roo — hospitals post unlimited shifts free and pay only for confirmed shifts, with the price shown before posting. Fits practices plugging scheduling gaps rather than hiring employees.
- iHireVeterinary — veterinary job slots from $316 to $799 a month depending on slot count and term. Fits employers hiring steadily who want to swap jobs in and out.
- AVMA Career Center — per-posting ($193 for members, $249 for non-members, 30 days), distributed across the Veterinary Career Community. Fits veterinarian searches that benefit from association channels.
- NAVTA Career Center — a 30-day post for $209, or 60 days for $349. Fits practices that want a per-post price on an association career center.
- Indeed — many jobs post free, subject to Indeed's limits, and sponsored posts are billed per interaction. Fits practices that want volume and will screen.
What does each Hound alternative cost?
Published prices, as checked on each company's own site in October 2026:
- VeterinaryHires: $199 per 30-day Standard listing or $399 Featured (launch pricing; regular prices $299 and $499) — one payment, no contract. Group plans run $899–$1,749 a month. See the pricing page.
- Roo: free to post; shift prices are set by location, type of work and shift length and shown before you post, and you pay only for shifts you confirm.
- iHireVeterinary: monthly slots cost $369, $450 or $799 a month; quarterly plans run $316, $405 or $733 a month.
- AVMA Career Center: $193 for AVMA members or $249 for non-members for a 30-day nationwide posting.
- NAVTA Career Center: $209 for a 30-day posting, $349 for 60 days.
- Indeed: no published rate — many jobs post free, and sponsored spending is set per job and billed by interactions.
Against that, Hound is $199 a month for Scout job posts and $499 a month for boosts, with relief posts free and charges only when a booking happens; Groove and candidate-network access are custom-priced.
When does staying on Hound make more sense?
Hound is the better fit in specific situations, and its relief product is the clearest one.
Relief posts are free to publish and the practice pays only when a booking happens — the same pay-per-use logic as Roo, but with full-time jobs in the same network.
Its candidate-side tooling is also distinctive: applicants chat with hiring teams in-app and can schedule interviews through the Chat Assistant, and PayScore puts pay transparency in front of candidates as a comparable rating.
A practice hiring continuously — several openings at once plus regular relief coverage — gets more out of that monthly spend than a practice hiring once.
How should a practice choose between Hound and its alternatives?
Start with the shape of your hiring, not the brand:
- One opening, once in a while: a per-post price beats a subscription — a $199 VeterinaryHires listing, the AVMA Career Center at $193–$249, or the NAVTA Career Center at $209.
- Relief gaps to fill: Roo, or Hound's own relief posts — both free to publish, with pay tied to booked work.
- Constant, multi-role hiring: compare Hound's Scout plans with iHire's slots ($369–$799 a month) and VeterinaryHires' group plans ($899–$1,749 a month) on how many jobs you actually keep live.
- Widest funnel, tolerance for screening: Indeed's free posts, then a sponsored budget if a role stalls.
Whichever you pick, the published prices are the easy part — the real comparison is how many jobs you need live at once and whether you want a subscription at all.
Which one should you choose?
Stay on Hound if…
- You hire full-time and relief in one place and want them in a single network.
- You want relief posts that are free to publish, with charges only when a booking happens.
- In-app chat, interview scheduling and PayScore pay transparency matter to how you hire.
Choose VeterinaryHires if…
- You are filling one role and want a one-time listing ($199 Standard, $399 Featured) instead of a monthly plan.
- You want every listing on a veterinary-only board, indexed in Google Jobs.
- You run a practice group and want a monthly group plan you can cancel anytime.
Choose Roo if…
- Your need is relief coverage, not permanent hires.
- You want to post unlimited shifts with no upfront costs, membership fees or posting minimums.
- You want each shift's price before posting and pay only for shifts you confirm.
Choose the AVMA Career Center if…
- You want one posting distributed across every Veterinary Career Community job board.
- You are recruiting a veterinarian and want association channels behind the listing.
Choose Indeed if…
- You want to test a posting at no cost, subject to Indeed's limits.
- You are comfortable screening a mixed, all-industry audience.
- You already run sponsored budgets and just want veterinary roles in the mix.
Frequently asked questions
What is Hound (Scout by Hound)?
Hound is a veterinary career network covering full-time jobs and relief shifts for veterinarians, technicians, assistants, receptionists and managers.
Its employer plans run under the Scout name: job posts at $199 a month, boosts at $499 a month, and relief posts that are free to publish with the practice paying per booking.
Candidates get in-app chat with hiring teams and Hound's PayScore pay-transparency rating.
How much does Hound cost a veterinary practice?
Job posts (Scout) cost $199 a month and include PayScore insights, job-view alerts, profiles of who viewed the job, and the ability to message viewers and applicants.
Job boosts cost $499 a month and add first placement in the jobs feed, local and nationwide matching, and showcase slots in digest emails.
Relief posts are free, with the practice paying only for bookings; Groove and candidate access are custom-priced.
What is the cheapest one-time option for posting a veterinary job?
Among the boards compared here, the lowest published per-post price is the AVMA Career Center at $193 for AVMA members ($249 for non-members) for a 30-day nationwide posting.
The NAVTA Career Center charges $209 for 30 days, and a Standard VeterinaryHires listing is $199 at launch pricing.
All three charge per posting rather than by the month.
What is the best Hound alternative for relief veterinarians and technicians?
Roo is the closest pure-relief alternative: hospitals post unlimited shifts with zero upfront costs, no membership fees and no minimum posting requirements, pay only for shifts they confirm, and see each shift's price — set by location, type of work and shift length — before posting.
Hound's own relief posts are also free to publish, so compare the two on where your relief clinicians already look.
Do any Hound alternatives distribute a posting to association job boards?
Yes.
A job posted on the AVMA Career Center also appears on all job boards in the Veterinary Career Community, a partnership among national and state veterinary associations and veterinary medical schools.
That distribution is included in the posting price: $193 for AVMA members or $249 for non-members for a 30-day nationwide posting.
The NAVTA Career Center is the association-board equivalent at $209 for 30 days.
Which alternative works like a subscription but with job slots?
iHireVeterinary rents job slots: 1 slot at $369 a month, 3 at $450, or 10 at $799, with cheaper per-month rates on quarterly terms ($316, $405 and $733).
You can swap jobs in and out of a slot as openings change, and iHire says you can upgrade, downgrade or cancel at any time with no long-term commitment.
Can I post veterinary jobs for free instead of using Hound?
On Indeed, many jobs can be posted for free, subject to Indeed's terms, quality standards and usage limits — sponsored placement is what costs money, billed against a budget you set.
For relief work, Roo lets hospitals post unlimited shifts free and pay only for shifts they confirm, and Hound's own relief posts are free to publish, with the practice paying per booking.
VeterinaryHires offers no free posting option, and the AVMA, NAVTA and iHireVeterinary postings compared here are paid.
Is Hound free to post on?
Only for relief.
Hound's relief posts are free to publish and the practice pays when a booking happens, with pay set by shift, hour, production or a custom arrangement.
Full-time job posts and boosts under Scout are monthly subscriptions at $199 and $499 a month, and Groove (ongoing relief coordination) and candidate-network access are custom-priced.
Where these facts come from
- Hound: hound.vet (checked October 5, 2026)
- Hound: hound.vet/employers (checked October 5, 2026)
- Roo: roo.vet/veterinary-hospitals (checked October 5, 2026)
- iHireVeterinary: ihireveterinary.com/employers/solutions/jobads (checked October 5, 2026)
- AVMA Career Center: avma.org/education/veterinary-careers/employers (checked October 5, 2026)
- AVMA Career Center: jobs.avma.org/employer/pricing (checked October 4, 2026)
- NAVTA Career Center: careers.navta.net/employer/pricing (checked October 4, 2026)
- Indeed: indeed.com/hire/pricing (checked October 5, 2026)