Vendor comparison · Verified 17 June 2026

Checkr vs Sterling 2026: Published $29.99 vs Quote-Only Enterprise

Checkr publishes three per-check tiers and an Enterprise quote option. Sterling, now operating as a First Advantage company, publishes no per-check rates or escalator terms. The choice is between SMB self-serve velocity and Fortune 500 enterprise depth.

Direct answer

Which is cheaper, Checkr or Sterling?

Cannot be answered with public data. Checkr publishes Basic $29.99, Essential $54.99, Complete $89.99 per check. Sterling publishes no per-check rates and operates under enterprise quote-only contracts. At above 500 checks per year and Fortune 500 compliance requirements, Sterling negotiated rates may undercut Checkr published rates; at SMB volume the published Checkr rate is almost always cheaper than the quoted Sterling rate.

Side-by-side

Dimension	Checkr	Sterling
Cheapest published	$29.99 / check (Basic)	Quote only
Top published	$89.99 / check (Complete)	Quote only
Sales cycle	Self-serve sign-up, minutes	4 to 12 weeks typical enterprise procurement
Setup fee	$0 published	Not disclosed publicly
Annual minimum	None at published rates	Yes (typical enterprise contract)
International	$32 / check, 200+ countries	15+ countries (US, Canada, UK, Australia, China, others)
Ownership status	Independent (owns GoodHire)	First Advantage company (post-acquisition)
2026 pricing change	None published	Not publicly disclosed

Sources: checkr.com/pricing and sterlingcheck.com/pricing, both fetched 17 June 2026.

When Checkr is the right answer

You hire fewer than 500 people per year and you can use a published rate card.
You need an API integration into Greenhouse, Workable, Lever, or a custom ATS.
You want to start running checks today rather than running a 4 to 12 week enterprise procurement.
You hire internationally and need a published per-check rate to budget against.

When Sterling is the right answer

You hire 1,000+ people per year and you have a dedicated procurement function.
You operate in healthcare, financial services, or government and need industry-specific compliance packages (DOT, FDIC, JCAHO).
You need post-acquisition First Advantage scale (the combined entity is the largest US background-check provider by revenue).
You have a fingerprint-based screening requirement (livescan).

The procurement-velocity gap

Checkr's self-serve account creation closes the gap between "decide to run a check" and "first check submitted" to under one hour for an SMB buyer. Sterling enterprise contracts typically take 4 to 12 weeks from first sales call to first production check, depending on integration scope and legal review. The published-rate vs quote-only difference is, in practice, a procurement-velocity difference.

The 2026 pricing picture

Checkr did not publish a 2026 pricing change. As of 17 June 2026 the Checkr published rates ($29.99 / $54.99 / $89.99) are unchanged from the 2025 verified rates. Sterling does not publish per-check rates or annual escalator terms; year-on-year contractual changes are private to each customer and are not visible in public data.

The verdict

For SMB and most mid-market buyers, Checkr's published rate is more useful than Sterling's quote for budget reasons alone. For Fortune 500 buyers with dedicated procurement and industry-specific compliance, Sterling's enterprise contract structure often clears Checkr at high volume. The honest answer for the 50 to 500 hire-per-year mid-market segment is: get a Sterling quote, compare to Checkr's published rate at your volume, and pick on procurement and integration fit rather than price.