WayUp

Name: WayUp
Brand: WayUp

The #1 platform for early career candidates to get hired.

Est 2014|Valuation $55.5M|Raised $27.6M|26 Ref Customers

LinkedIn 51K|Web traffic 667K|FTEs 88|HQ Chicago, Illinois, US

MarketsSourcing & Recruitment Marketing

01Competitive Landscape

Narrative analysis

- Handshake appears stronger for organizations that prioritize deep university relationships and a mature plan structure, including a no-cost entry option and documented feature breakdowns. WayUp emphasizes vendor-reported database access and screening with ATS integration, but community discussion raises concerns about automated outreach and engagement quality. - Yello is positioned as a campus recruiting operations platform with event and scheduling features. WayUp functions as a sourcing layer that can be combined with workflow tooling. Organizations should evaluate whether an integrated workflow suite or a sourcing-focused marketplace better matches their operational needs. - Broad platforms (LinkedIn, Indeed) provide larger reach and brand recognition; WayUp’s differentiation is its focus on early-career hiring and associated candidate pools, which may be more or less relevant depending on role type.

Adoption trends / market signals

Public profile snapshots list WayUp as combined with another recruiting vendor, and public profiles indicate a modest team size, suggesting WayUp is operating within a combined organizational context rather than as an independent high-growth startup brand.

	WayUp	Handshake	Yello (campus recruiting)
Starting Price	Not publicly listed (contact sales; "Basic Platform Access")	Basic plan is free for employers; paid plans exist with eligibility/annual billing	Not publicly listed (demo/sales-led)
Best For	Employers seeking early-career sourcing, screening, and ATS feeds; candidates seeking internships/entry-level roles	Employers recruiting directly into university ecosystems; schools and employers; structured early talent matching	Enterprise campus recruiting operations: events, scheduling, workflows; sourcing can be combined with WayUp database
Key Strength	Vendor-reported large early-career candidate database; ATS feed and screening features; early-career focus	Strong university penetration; documented employer plan structure; broad adoption	End-to-end campus recruiting workflow and events; operational tooling focused on campus programs
Key Weakness	Limited public pricing transparency; mixed perceptions about outreach quality; limited public security disclosures	Some premium features require paid tiers; premium pricing is not fully public	Pricing opacity; may not be a fit for smaller teams without dedicated campus recruiting operations

01Competitive Landscape

Narrative analysis

Handshake appears stronger for organizations that prioritize deep university relationships and a mature plan structure, including a no-cost entry option and documented feature breakdowns. WayUp emphasizes vendor-reported database access and screening with ATS integration, but community discussion raises concerns about automated outreach and engagement quality.
Yello is positioned as a campus recruiting operations platform with event and scheduling features. WayUp functions as a sourcing layer that can be combined with workflow tooling. Organizations should evaluate whether an integrated workflow suite or a sourcing-focused marketplace better matches their operational needs.
Broad platforms (LinkedIn, Indeed) provide larger reach and brand recognition; WayUp’s differentiation is its focus on early-career hiring and associated candidate pools, which may be more or less relevant depending on role type.

Adoption trends / market signals

Public profile snapshots list WayUp as combined with another recruiting vendor, and public profiles indicate a modest team size, suggesting WayUp is operating within a combined organizational context rather than as an independent high-growth startup brand.

	WayUp	Handshake	Yello (campus recruiting)
Starting Price	Not publicly listed (contact sales; "Basic Platform Access")	Basic plan is free for employers; paid plans exist with eligibility/annual billing	Not publicly listed (demo/sales-led)
Best For	Employers seeking early-career sourcing, screening, and ATS feeds; candidates seeking internships/entry-level roles	Employers recruiting directly into university ecosystems; schools and employers; structured early talent matching	Enterprise campus recruiting operations: events, scheduling, workflows; sourcing can be combined with WayUp database
Key Strength	Vendor-reported large early-career candidate database; ATS feed and screening features; early-career focus	Strong university penetration; documented employer plan structure; broad adoption	End-to-end campus recruiting workflow and events; operational tooling focused on campus programs
Key Weakness	Limited public pricing transparency; mixed perceptions about outreach quality; limited public security disclosures	Some premium features require paid tiers; premium pricing is not fully public	Pricing opacity; may not be a fit for smaller teams without dedicated campus recruiting operations