Independent · sourced · Updated June 2026
Best Background Checks (2026)
The cheapest background checks is Certn at $13.99/mo. This page compares 7 options on entry price, free tier, HIPAA/SOC 2 and best-for — every figure linked to its source, updated June 2026.
7 options compared on price, free tier, compliance and fit — ranked cheapest-first. Every figure links to the vendor's own page and the date we captured it; quote-only tiers show “—”, never a guess.
Key takeaways
- Cheapest: Certn at $13.99/mo (US Core Criminal Check).
- Typical paid price: from $13.99/mo, median $29.99/mo, up to $29.99/mo — across 4 with published pricing.
- Tracked: 7 vendors, data current through 2026-06-15.
Comparison
| # | Background Check | Entry price | Free | HIPAA | SOC 2 | Best for | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Certn | $13.99/mo US Core Criminal Check | No | — | Yes | Companies hiring globally or across 200+ countries | certn.co |
| 2 | Checkr | $29.99/mo Basic | No | — | Yes | High-volume tech and gig-economy employers | checkr.com |
| 3 | GoodHire | $29.99/mo Basic | No | — | Yes | SMBs wanting FCRA-compliant self-serve screening | goodhire.com |
| 4 | Verified First | $29.99/mo Basic | No | — | Yes | HR teams needing NIST 800-53 and SOC 2 compliance documentation | verifiedfirst.com |
| 5 | Accurate Background | — | No | — | — | Fortune 500 enterprises needing global screening at scale | quote-only |
| 6 | HireRight | — | No | — | — | Multinational enterprises requiring EMEA/APAC screening with local compliance | quote-only |
| 7 | Sterling (First Advantage) | — | No | — | Yes | Large enterprises needing enterprise-grade SLAs and global reach | quote-only |
Prices are the lowest published self-serve monthly rate as captured on the linked source. Annual-billing and usage details are on each vendor's record in our open dataset.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest background checks?
Certn has the lowest published entry price at $13.99/mo (US Core Criminal Check), as of 2026-06-15.
How much does background checks cost per month?
Across the 4 background checks with published paid pricing, the median starting price is $29.99/mo, ranging from $13.99/mo to $29.99/mo, as of 2026-06-15. 3 are quote-only.
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How we compiled this
Published self-serve USD pricing was collected directly from each vendor's official pricing page where accessible, or from a clearly-cited reputable comparison source where the vendor page returned a non-200 status or disclosed no prices. Background check vendors in this sector predominantly use a per-report (pay-as-you-go) billing model rather than flat monthly subscriptions; monthlyUsd records the per-check price for the smallest billable unit (one report). annualDiscountPct is null for all vendors because no annual subscription discounts apply in a per-check model. Quote-only / contact-sales tiers carry null monthlyUsd. Telephony fields (minutesIncluded, callsIncluded, overagePerMin, overagePerCall) are null on every plan because this is a non-telephony vertical. accessedAt is 2026-06-14 on every source. Certn CAD pricing was disregarded; USD pricing was sourced from certn.co/us/pricing/. Sterling Check (now First Advantage), HireRight, and Accurate Background publish no self-serve USD pricing and are recorded as quote-only.
Last verified 2026-06-15. We re-check published prices and compliance on a recurring cadence and update this page when they change.
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