Ashby is hard to set up. Here's a simpler way.

Ashby is a hiring tool (an ATS). Before a company can start hiring, someone has to build every step of it by hand.

AshbyATSOnboardingSetup

To start using Ashby, a new customer has to build its whole hiring process by hand: interview steps, feedback forms, candidate emails and scheduling rules.
The simpler way: answer 3 questions about how you hire, and start from a setup that's already filled in. You check it and change what you need.
Sources: Ashby's setup guide for new customers.

Ashby's own setup guide: 5 stages of setup — including interview steps, feedback forms, email templates and scheduling. — docs.ashbyhq.com, Admin onboarding
7 Sep 2026, a reviewer on G2: "The initial setup and onboarding is VERY heavy for new users." — g2.com, Ashby reviews
13 Nov 2025, a company that switched to Ashby: "Expect to iterate for 60–90 days." — medium.com, From Lever to Ashby
"Learning curve" is the most mentioned dislike about Ashby on G2.

Today: Ashby gives a guide. The customer does the work. "They'll give you an excellent playbook… but you drive the setup."
Templates: Ashby has templates — but the customer has to build them first. — Ashby setup guide, "Reusable templates" step
Why it matters: How setup is done decides what Ashby's hiring reports can show later. — Ashby help, reports by stage need interview steps grouped first
So: setup should start filled in, not blank.

Today, build each part yourself: interview steps — blank; feedback forms — blank; candidate emails — blank; scheduling rules — blank.
1. You answer: what role are you hiring for? How many interview rounds? Who interviews in each round?
2. Ashby fills in: interview steps, feedback forms, candidate emails, scheduling rules.
3. You check and edit.
Not doing: letting a machine set it up alone. Nothing goes live until the customer approves it.

$30,000 a year — what companies of 100–300 people typically pay. (Reported by buyers, Truffle)
60–90 days spent adjusting setup after going live, for one team that switched. (From Lever to Ashby, Medium)
$5k–7.5k of the first year paid while still getting set up. ($30,000 ÷ 12 = $2,500 a month × 2–3 months)
Ashby added about 2,000 new customers last year (2,400 → 4,400+). Every one of them starts with this setup — so every week saved is value each customer gets back. (Source: Ashby, May 2026)

Why them: Ashby already brings over their old data from Greenhouse and other tools, so many answers can be filled in for them. (Ashby migration guide)
What to measure: how much of the starting setup they keep, and how many days until their first job goes live.
What to watch: old data arrives as-is — "outdated templates… duplicate roles, and random tags." So show what came over and ask what to keep. (From Lever to Ashby, Medium)
If they keep most of it and go live sooner, offer it to every new customer.

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