How Much Do College Recruiting Services Cost? Free Plans, Prices and What You Get
What nine college recruiting services charge, what paying adds at each price, and what you can get free. Each price comes from the service's own page, with the date we checked it, except NCSA's, which come from two dated reports. We built RawRecruit, a competitor to every service here, so read this with that in mind. RawRecruit is one row of the table, in alphabetical order like the rest, and one free option among the others.
TL;DR
Six of the nine services have a free profile or plan. Month-to-month prices run from $19.99 to $249.99, yearly plans start at $119.94, and one service charges $100 once. NCSA doesn't publish its prices; two reports give $1,320 to $4,200 for its three paid tiers (Grant Magazine, December 2023) and $250 to $2,100 (Scholarships360, October 2025). Services charge in three ways: a subscription billed by the month or the year, a one-time fee, or a price quoted on a call. Camps, showcases, club travel and film are separate costs, and this page doesn't price them.
What each service costs
| Service | Free option | Paid price | What paying adds | How you pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CaptainU | Bronze profile with stats, pictures, videos and evaluations, always free. New athletes get a 2-week free trial of Silver | Silver $22.50, Gold $39.95, Platinum $199.95 a month | Silver: messaging, templates, to-do lists and seeing which coaches view your profile. Gold: up to one meeting a month with a CaptainU recruiting counselor. Platinum: a dedicated counselor you can call anytime | Monthly. CaptainU says there's never a contract |
| Elevate Recruits | A free informational meeting | Two Star $200, Three Star $450, Four Star $850, Five Star $1,500 a year | For college football. Two Star: a year of website and Recruiting Academy access. Three Star adds a highlight film evaluation and college-level projection; Four Star, a recruiting game plan; Five Star, a dedicated recruiting coordinator and college coach outreach | Paid yearly. A second year costs $150, $225, $425 or $750, by plan |
| FieldLevel | Free forever: unlimited video, discoverable in search | Silver $29, Gold $49, Platinum $79 a month, or 20% off billed yearly | Silver: college activity, matches and research. Gold adds needs alerts, contacting 20 colleges a month and a 2X profile boost. Platinum: unlimited college contacts and a 5X profile boost | Monthly, or billed yearly. FieldLevel publicly lists the yearly prices as $278, $470 and $758 |
| GetRecruited | The first step of its plan, free to read | $100, paid one time, with lifetime access | Its 4-stage recruiting playbook and its Fit Estimator, Program Finder, email templates, Net Cost Calculator and Decision Scorecard. No recruiting coaches or 1-on-1 calls | Paid once, no renewal. Your $100 back if it isn't useful for your family within 14 days of signup and you email them |
| NCSA | A free profile college coaches can see | Not published; NCSA asks families to book a call. Two reported ranges: $1,320 to $4,200 for its three paid tiers (Grant Magazine, December 2023) and $250 to $2,100 (Scholarships360, October 2025) | Champion, Elite, MVP and MVP+ memberships let you message any college coach, D1 to NAIA, and see when they view your messages and profile. MVP and MVP+ add a personal recruiting coach | Quoted on a call. NCSA recommends a plan after discussing your needs |
| NextCommit | Free plan: 10 coach emails a week, its coach database, AI-written emails and a profile builder | Its Varsity plan: $19.99 a month or $119.94 a year. Pro: $49.99 a month or $299.94 a year | Its Varsity plan: 50 coach emails a week, email open, reply and film view tracking, and automated follow-ups. Pro: 200 a week, plus a Recruit Score, school matching and a 24/7 recruiting agent | Monthly, or yearly charged upfront. Canceling stops renewal |
| RawRecruit | Prospect: Top 5 matches, one revealed coach in total, 5 school searches a month | Varsity $29.99 a month or $269 a year. Blue Chip $249.99 a month or $2,249.91 a year | For football, basketball, track & field, and girls flag football. Varsity: every coach on your list we have contact details for, plus coach phone numbers and social profiles, the AI Recruiting Advisor, roster analytics and Fit Score breakdowns. Blue Chip adds a weekly 1:1 call with Kevin Monangai, RawRecruit's founder | Monthly or yearly. Cancel anytime in account settings; the account returns to the free plan when the paid period ends. No refunds |
| Rosterhunter | A free 3-day trial in its iPhone app. On the web, the 3-day trial is $0.99 | $0.99 for the first 3 days, then $19.99 a month, $49.99 every 3 months or $149.99 a year | One Premium plan. Rosterhunter says it includes unlimited emails to college coaches, direct coach contact info, full rosters by class year and position, playing-time data and transfer pathways, for every sport and NCAA division | Monthly, every 3 months or yearly, renewing automatically. Cancel in one click in account settings |
| SportsRecruits | A free profile with exposure to college coaches | Not published. Pro is a monthly or yearly subscription you buy after logging in | Pro: its messaging system, College Views (which colleges view your profile, watch your video and open your transcripts) and IMG Academy+ Essentials | Monthly, renewing every 30 days, or yearly. Its terms say subscriptions are non-refundable |
Each price comes from the service's own page, checked September 24, 2026. NCSA publishes no prices, so its row gives the two ranges reported by Grant Magazine and Scholarships360. "Not published" means we found no price on the service's public pages.
What do you actually get for the money at each price?
What each paid level adds, in the service's own terms:
- CaptainU: Silver ($22.50 a month) adds messaging, templates, to-do lists and seeing which coaches view your profile. Gold ($39.95) adds up to one meeting a month with a recruiting counselor, and Platinum ($199.95) a dedicated counselor.
- FieldLevel: Silver ($29 a month) adds college activity, matches and research. Gold ($49) adds needs alerts and contacting 20 colleges a month; Platinum ($79) makes that unlimited.
- NextCommit: its Varsity plan ($19.99 a month) allows 50 coach emails a week, with open, reply and film view tracking. Pro ($49.99) allows 200 and adds school matching and a 24/7 recruiting agent.
- Rosterhunter: one Premium plan, $0.99 for 3 days, then $19.99 a month, which it says includes unlimited emails to college coaches, coach contact info and roster data.
- Elevate Recruits, a college football service, publicly lists yearly plans from Two Star at $200, for website and Recruiting Academy access, to Five Star at $1,500, which adds a recruiting coordinator and college coach outreach.
- GetRecruited: $100, paid once, for its recruiting playbook and tools, with no recruiting coaches or 1-on-1 calls included.
- NCSA and SportsRecruits don't publish paid prices. NCSA's MVP and MVP+ tiers include a personal recruiting coach; SportsRecruits Pro adds messaging and shows which colleges view your profile.
How much does NCSA cost?
NCSA doesn't publish its prices. Its membership page lists Free, Champion, Elite, MVP and MVP+ without prices, and its answer to what NCSA costs is to schedule a call, where it recommends a plan for your needs.
Two reports give figures, and they disagree. Grant Magazine reported in December 2023 that NCSA's three paid tiers ranged from $1,320 to $4,200, with the pricing explained on an introductory phone call. Scholarships360's review, updated October 2025, puts NCSA's packages at $250 to $2,100. Neither says whether those prices are per year.
You may see '$2,000 to $6,000' reported online for NCSA's packages; we found no dated source for it, so we don't use it.
If NCSA quotes you a price, ask for the total for the membership you're offered, in writing, and set it beside the published prices in the table above. If a personal recruiting coach is what you want, MVP and MVP+ are the tiers that include one.
Read our NCSA review: what its memberships add and its public record
What can you get for free before paying anyone?
Writing to college coaches yourselves costs nothing but time, and six of these services have a free profile or plan. Here is what each gives you before you pay:
- CaptainU: a Bronze profile with stats, pictures, videos and evaluations, always free, plus a 2-week free trial of Silver for new athletes.
- FieldLevel: a free-forever plan with unlimited video that makes your athlete discoverable in search.
- NCSA: a free profile that college coaches can see.
- NextCommit: a free plan with 10 coach emails a week, its coach database, AI-written emails and a profile builder.
- SportsRecruits: a free profile with exposure to college coaches. Messaging needs Pro.
- RawRecruit (ours, for football, basketball, track & field, and girls flag football): the free Prospect plan, with Top 5 matches, one revealed coach in total and 5 school searches a month.
- Rosterhunter's iPhone app has a free 3-day trial, GetRecruited lets you read the first step of its plan free, and Elevate Recruits offers a free informational meeting.
What should you ask before you pay a recruiting service?
The FTC's advice on scholarship services makes a good checklist. It covers scholarship services in general, not recruiting platforms, and most of it is written for families at a scholarship or financial aid seminar. We'd ask the same questions on any call before paying:
- Is anyone promising a scholarship? The FTC says legitimate companies never guarantee or promise scholarships.
- What is the total cost, and what is the refund policy? For families at a seminar, the FTC advises asking both and getting the total cost in writing.
- Is there pressure to pay today? At a seminar, the FTC says not to pay any money there, and that only scammers tell you to pay now or risk losing out.
- Can you talk to families who used it? At a seminar, the FTC advises not trusting success stories, since the operator may have paid people to give them, and asking for at least three local families who used the company in the last year.
- What does the paid tier add over the free one? Hold it up against the table above, and pay only for the part your family will use.
Key Differences
Subscriptions: CaptainU bills monthly. FieldLevel, NextCommit and SportsRecruits bill monthly or yearly, and Rosterhunter monthly, every 3 months or yearly. Elevate Recruits sells its plans by the year, with a lower price to renew for a second year.
A one-time fee: GetRecruited costs $100, paid once, with lifetime access and no annual renewal.
A price quoted on a call: NCSA lists its memberships without prices and recommends a plan after discussing your needs, so the only dated figures for it are the two reports on this page.
The Verdict
Decide what the money should do before you compare prices. If your family will find schools and write to coaches yourselves, start with the free plans and pay only for a tool that does a job you'd otherwise do by hand. If you want a person working with you, look at the top tiers, and ask exactly how much of that person's time the price buys. Either way, get the total price and the cancellation terms in writing before you pay.
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See My Fit Score, FreeFrequently Asked Questions
Are yearly plans cheaper than paying by the month?
Where a service publishes both, yes. FieldLevel takes 20% off when billed yearly. NextCommit's Varsity plan is $19.99 a month or $119.94 a year, charged upfront. Rosterhunter is $19.99 a month or $149.99 a year, which it shows as $12.50 a month. Elevate Recruits sells yearly plans, and a second year costs less than the first. Paying yearly means paying for the whole year at once, so read the cancellation and refund terms before you choose it.
Can I cancel a recruiting service anytime?
Terms differ, so read them before you pay. CaptainU says there's never a contract. NextCommit says canceling stops renewal, and Rosterhunter lets you cancel in one click from your account settings. SportsRecruits Pro renews automatically, every 30 days or every year. Elevate Recruits' plans are paid a year at a time, and GetRecruited is paid once, with no renewal. The How you pay column in the table has each service's terms.
Does paying more get you a person to help?
At some services. CaptainU's Gold plan adds up to one meeting a month with a recruiting counselor, and Platinum a dedicated counselor you can call anytime. Elevate Recruits' Five Star plan adds a dedicated recruiting coordinator. NCSA's MVP and MVP+ tiers include a personal recruiting coach. GetRecruited says its $100 includes no recruiting coaches or 1-on-1 calls.
Sources
- CaptainU, Athlete PlansCaptainU publishes its prices: Bronze is free, and Silver is $22.50, Gold $39.95 and Platinum $199.95 a month.Checked September 24, 2026
- CaptainU, Athlete PlansCaptainU's Bronze profile, with stats, pictures, videos and evaluations, is always free, and new athletes get a 2-week free trial of Silver.Checked September 24, 2026
- CaptainU, Athlete PlansCaptainU's Silver plan adds messaging, templates, to-do lists and seeing which coaches view your profile; Gold adds up to one meeting a month with a CaptainU recruiting counselor; Platinum adds a dedicated counselor you can call anytime.Checked September 24, 2026
- CaptainU, Athlete PlansCaptainU's paid plans start at $22.50 a month, and CaptainU says there's never a contract.Checked September 24, 2026
- Elevate Recruits, Choose Your Recruiting PlanElevate Recruits, a college football recruiting service, publicly lists four yearly plans: Two Star at $200, Three Star at $450, Four Star at $850 and Five Star at $1,500 a year.Checked September 24, 2026
- Elevate Recruits, HomeElevate Recruits offers a free informational meeting to learn how it can help your athlete.Checked September 24, 2026
- Elevate Recruits, Choose Your Recruiting PlanElevate Recruits' Two Star plan gives a year of website and Recruiting Academy access; Three Star adds a highlight film evaluation and college-level projection; Four Star adds a recruiting game plan; Five Star adds a dedicated recruiting coordinator and college coach outreach, each for a year.Checked September 24, 2026
- Elevate Recruits, Choose Your Recruiting PlanElevate Recruits publicly lists each plan as a yearly payment, and renewing for another calendar year costs $150 (Two Star), $225 (Three Star), $425 (Four Star) or $750 (Five Star).Checked September 24, 2026
- FieldLevel, Plans and PricingFieldLevel publishes its prices: a free plan, then Silver at $29, Gold at $49 and Platinum at $79 a month, with 20% off when billed yearly.Checked September 24, 2026
- FieldLevel, Plans and PricingFieldLevel's free-forever plan includes unlimited video and makes your athlete discoverable in search.Checked September 24, 2026
- FieldLevel, Plans and PricingFieldLevel's Silver plan adds college activity, college matches and college research; Gold adds needs alerts, contacting 20 colleges a month and a 2X profile boost; Platinum makes contacting colleges unlimited, with a 5X profile boost.Checked September 24, 2026
- FieldLevel, Plans and PricingFieldLevel publicly lists monthly or yearly billing; paid yearly, Silver is $278, Gold $470 and Platinum $758 a year, which the page shows as $23, $39 and $63 a month.Checked September 24, 2026
- GetRecruited, Pricing (May 27, 2026)GetRecruited costs $100, paid once, with lifetime access, no contract and a 14-day refund if it isn't useful for your family.Checked September 24, 2026
- GetRecruited, How to Get Started with GetRecruitedGetRecruited's first plan step is free to read; the other fourteen steps and its tools need the $100 unlock, paid once.Checked September 24, 2026
- GetRecruited, Pricing (May 27, 2026)GetRecruited's $100 covers its 4-stage recruiting playbook and its Fit Estimator, Program Finder, email templates, Net Cost Calculator and Decision Scorecard; it includes no recruiting coaches or 1-on-1 calls.Checked September 24, 2026
- GetRecruited, Pricing (May 27, 2026)GetRecruited is paid once, with no annual renewal, and gives the $100 back if it isn't useful for your family within 14 days of signup and you email them.Checked September 24, 2026
- NCSA, MembershipsNCSA's membership page lists its Free, Champion, Elite, MVP and MVP+ memberships without prices and asks families to schedule a call.Checked September 24, 2026
- Grant Magazine, Pay To Play (December 14, 2023)This December 2023 article reports that NCSA's three paid tiers range from $1,320 to $4,200, and that an NCSA employee explains that pricing on an introductory phone call. It doesn't say whether those prices are per year.Checked September 24, 2026
- Scholarships360, NCSA review (updated October 28, 2025)This review, updated October 2025, puts NCSA's packages at $250 to $2,100. The reports disagree, so we show both.Checked September 24, 2026
- NCSA, MembershipsNCSA has a free profile that college coaches can see.Checked September 24, 2026
- NCSA, MembershipsNCSA's MVP and MVP+ tiers include a personal recruiting coach.Checked September 24, 2026
- NCSA, MembershipsNCSA's Champion, Elite, MVP and MVP+ memberships let you message any college coach from D1 to NAIA and see when they view your messages and profile.Checked September 24, 2026
- NCSA, MembershipsNCSA says it offers a range of plans, options and add-ons and recommends one after discussing your needs with you; its answer to what NCSA costs is to schedule a call.Checked September 24, 2026
- NextCommit, Pricing (last updated September 5, 2026)NextCommit lists a free plan, then Varsity at $19.99 a month or $119.94 a year and Pro at $49.99 a month or $299.94 a year, with yearly plans paid upfront.Checked September 24, 2026
- NextCommit, For AthletesNextCommit's free plan includes 10 coach emails a week, its coach database, AI-written personalized emails and a recruiting profile builder.Checked September 24, 2026
- NextCommit, Pricing (last updated September 5, 2026)NextCommit's Varsity plan raises the limit to 50 coach emails a week and adds email open, reply and film view tracking and automated follow-ups; its Pro plan raises it to 200 a week and adds a Recruit Score, school matching and a 24/7 recruiting agent.Checked September 24, 2026
- NextCommit, Pricing (last updated September 5, 2026)NextCommit's individual plans are available monthly; its paid individual plans can also be billed yearly, charged upfront for the year, and canceling stops renewal.Checked September 24, 2026
- RawRecruit, PricingProspect is free, with Top 5 matches and 5 school searches a month.Checked September 23, 2026
- RawRecruit, in-app paywall copyA free Prospect account reveals one coach in total.Checked September 23, 2026
- RawRecruit, PricingVarsity is $29.99 a month and adds coach phone numbers and social profiles.Checked September 23, 2026
- RawRecruit, PricingVarsity includes the AI Recruiting Advisor, coach phone numbers and social profiles, roster analytics and Fit Score breakdowns.Checked September 24, 2026
- RawRecruit, PricingBlue Chip is a flat $249.99 a month and includes a weekly 1:1 call with Kevin.Checked September 23, 2026
- RawRecruit, PricingRawRecruit covers 6 sports: football, men's basketball, women's basketball, men's track & field, women's track & field, and girls flag football.Checked September 23, 2026
- RawRecruit, Terms of ServiceYou can cancel a RawRecruit plan at any time in account settings; when the paid period ends, the account returns to the free Prospect plan.Checked September 24, 2026
- RawRecruit, Terms of ServiceRawRecruit's terms say all sales are final: no refunds for any subscription payment, including partial months, annual payments or unused time.Checked September 24, 2026
- Rosterhunter, PricingRosterhunter lists one Premium plan: $0.99 for the first 3 days, then $19.99 a month, $49.99 every 3 months ($16.66 a month) or $149.99 a year ($12.50 a month).Checked September 24, 2026
- Rosterhunter, PricingRosterhunter's iPhone app has a free 3-day trial with the same Premium access; on the web, the 3-day trial costs $0.99.Checked September 24, 2026
- Rosterhunter, PricingRosterhunter says its Premium plan includes unlimited emails to college coaches, direct coach contact info, full rosters by class year and position, playing-time data and transfer pathways, for every sport and every NCAA division.Checked September 24, 2026
- Rosterhunter, PricingRosterhunter bills monthly, every 3 months or yearly, renews automatically on that schedule, and lets you cancel in one click from your account settings.Checked September 24, 2026
- SportsRecruits Help, Upgrading to a Pro AccountPro is a monthly or yearly subscription that you buy after logging in. We found no Pro price on SportsRecruits' public pages.Checked September 24, 2026
- SportsRecruits, For Student-AthletesSportsRecruits has a free profile with exposure to college coaches. Messaging and view tracking need Pro.Checked September 24, 2026
- SportsRecruits Help, Upgrading to a Pro AccountSportsRecruits Pro unlocks its messaging system, College Views (which colleges are viewing your profile, watching your video and opening your transcripts) and IMG Academy+ Essentials.Checked September 24, 2026
- SportsRecruits, Terms of ServiceSportsRecruits' terms say Pro is sold as a monthly subscription that renews every 30 days or an annual one that renews every year, and that its subscriptions are non-refundable.Checked September 24, 2026
- FTC, How To Avoid Scholarship and Financial Aid ScamsThe FTC says legitimate companies never guarantee or promise scholarships. Its advice covers scholarship services in general, not recruiting platforms.Checked September 24, 2026
- FTC, How To Avoid Scholarship and Financial Aid ScamsIf you go to a scholarship or financial aid seminar, the FTC says not to pay any money there, and that only scammers tell you to pay now or risk losing out.Checked September 24, 2026
- FTC, How To Avoid Scholarship and Financial Aid ScamsIf you go to a scholarship or financial aid seminar, the FTC advises asking how much you'll have to pay and what the company's refund policy is, and getting the total cost in writing.Checked September 24, 2026
- FTC, How To Avoid Scholarship and Financial Aid ScamsIf you go to a scholarship seminar, the FTC advises not trusting success stories, since the seminar operator may have paid people to give them, and asking for at least three local families who used the company in the last year.Checked September 24, 2026