Control over storage and access
Resume files stored outside the public web root, authenticated file serving, and local infrastructure control reduce the distance between policy and implementation.
MIT licensed · Self-hosted
Open-source recruiting software
Open-source recruiting software matters when hiring workflows cannot be outsourced to a closed vendor stack. Vekt is published under the MIT licence: you can run it, read it, change it and use it commercially, with no seat or candidate limits. Teams with privacy, security, or legal obligations need to inspect how candidate data is processed and where workflow decisions are made.
Self-hosting changes the operational model. The organization owns the application, the workflow execution, the logs, and the underlying data store. That reduces vendor lock-in and makes it easier to align hiring infrastructure with internal standards.
Vekt uses recruitment orchestration to turn those ownership requirements into a practical system. Structured vetting, status updates, audit logs, and retention jobs remain visible in code and in deployment.
Infrastructure
Self-hosting and data ownership
Ownership is not only about where the server runs. It is about who can inspect, change, and audit the workflow that handles candidate records.
Control over workflow changes
Source visibility makes it possible to inspect how screening, notification, and deletion jobs operate without depending on undocumented vendor behavior.
How workflows stay under direct control
The hiring flow is defined by application code and infrastructure the organization can run itself. Candidate submissions trigger workflow functions, status changes schedule emails, and purge operations remove expired data according to retention settings.
Because those mechanisms are part of the deployable system, teams can audit them, modify them, and align them with internal review requirements. That is a stronger posture than relying on a vendor-managed interpretation of process rules.
Category framing
Open source supports recruitment orchestration
Recruitment orchestration emphasizes explicit workflows. Open source complements that by exposing the implementation surface that controls those workflows.
Auditability improves with source visibility
When teams can inspect the code path behind a candidate decision, they can review assumptions, validate changes, and connect workflow outputs with operational logs.
Vendor lock-in becomes a design choice
Choosing a workflow-oriented alternative to ATS software is more effective when infrastructure and execution remain portable.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is Vekt really open source?
Yes. The full source code is on GitHub under the MIT licence. You can run it, read it, change it and use it commercially; the licence asks only that you keep the copyright and licence notice.
What is the difference between free and open-source recruiting software?
Free usually means a no-cost tier of a hosted product, with limits on jobs, users or candidates and no access to the code. Open source means the code is published under a licence that lets you run, inspect and modify it yourself, without those limits.
Why does the MIT licence matter compared with AGPL or GPL?
MIT lets you modify Vekt and run your changes without publishing them. AGPL-licensed software requires you to share the source of a modified version that you offer to users over a network, and GPL has similar terms for distributed copies. Both are open source; MIT places the fewest obligations on you.
Can I adapt Vekt to my own hiring process?
Yes. Per job you set screening questions, the score threshold and optional weighting criteria for the AI prompt; retention, email delay and email templates are set in the admin dashboard. Anything beyond that is a TypeScript and Next.js codebase you can change.
Who maintains Vekt?
Vekt is built and maintained on GitHub by its creator, Behnoud Mostafaie. Issues and pull requests are welcome; the contributing guide in the repository explains how.
Vekt is open-source recruitment infrastructure, not a closed hiring appliance. Self-hosting and data ownership matter because hiring workflows carry legal, operational, and architectural consequences.
Owning the deployment means owning the obligations that come with it. Running Vekt to screen applicants in the EU makes you the deployer of a high-risk AI system, and reading the source is not the same as having validated it for your own use.