Checkr Background Check Pricing 2026: Basic $29.99 per Check
Checkr's three published per-check tiers, add-on rates, and the operational notes that matter for HR ops at SMB and enterprise scale.
The fast facts
| Category | Workforce background checks |
| Pricing model | per check |
| Cheapest published | $29.99 per check (Basic) |
| Free tier | No |
| Geographic coverage | United States primary, with international packages starting at $32 per check covering 200+ countries. |
| Source | checkr.com/pricing |
| Verified | 17 June 2026 |
Tier breakdown
| Tier | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $29.99 / report | SSN trace, sex offender registry search, global watchlist search, national criminal search. |
| Essential | $59.99 / report | Basic plus county criminal search. Marked Most Popular on the published pricing page. |
| Complete | $94.99 / report | Essential plus federal criminal search, state criminal search and employment verification. |
| Enterprise | Quote only | Custom package, volume pricing, dedicated implementation. Contact sales. |
The pricing model in one paragraph
Pay-per-check across three published packages plus an Enterprise quote-only tier. Add-on screenings (MVR, drug, employment verification) are priced separately. Pass-through court and database fees are charged at cost.
Notes from the pricing page
- Tier names changed on the public page: previously Basic / Pro / Premier, now Basic / Essential / Complete. Re-checked 23 September 2026: Basic holds at $29.99, but Essential is $59.99 (was recorded here as $54.99) and Complete is $94.99 (was recorded as $89.99). Both were $5 low.
- Motor Vehicle Records add-on: $9.50 per check, plus standard state DMV access fees that vary by location and are passed through at cost with no markup.
- Drug screening is published as starting-from floors, not flat rates: clinic-based from $60 per test and onsite from $37 per test, both varying by panel selection (4-panel to 10-panel) and, for clinic, by location. A $90 fee applies at expanded-hours clinics, defined as Monday to Friday 7pm to 7am and any time at weekends. Random drug and alcohol testing is from $10 per test plus a $10 per test fee; occupational health assessments from $23 per test.
- Other published add-ons: identity verification $4.99 per check, federal criminal search $10, state criminal search from $10, county criminal search $25, global watchlist $9, FACIS from $6 (Level 1 $6, Level 3 $15.50), employment verification from $12.50 (current employer $12.50, 3 years $15, 5 years $25, 7 years $35, 10 years $50).
- Standard third-party court and database access fees are passed through at cost with no markup.
- API-first developer experience; widely used in technology-sector HR ops.
Tier names rebranded in 2026
Checkr's middle and top tiers were previously labelled Pro and Premier. As of 17 June 2026 the pricing page shows Basic / Essential / Complete with per-check prices unchanged at $29.99 / $59.99 / $94.99. The rebrand aligned the tier names with GoodHire, the SMB-focused brand Checkr acquired in April 2022. Older third-party listings still show the Pro / Premier labels; both refer to the same packages.
Add-on rates
- Motor Vehicle Records (MVR). $9.50 per check. Standard MVR report; useful for any role driving a vehicle on company business.
- Drug screening. $60 per clinic-based test (urine, 5-panel SAMHSA). $37 per onsite test where the employer collects the sample.
- Employment verification. Included in the Complete tier ($94.99) for 7 years. Available as a separate add-on at SMB volume.
- Education verification. Available across all tiers as a paid add-on; rate not published on the per-check page.
Pass-through court fees
Standard third-party court and database access fees are passed through at cost with no Checkr markup, per the published pricing page. At scale these fees add up to roughly 10 to 25 percent on top of the published per-check rate, depending on hiring footprint.
International coverage
Checkr international background checks start at $32 per check covering 200+ countries. This is the only published international per-check rate among the six workforce vendors covered on this site.
Why pick Checkr
- API-first developer experience; widely used by technology companies.
- Same per-check rate as GoodHire (Checkr's SMB sister brand).
- International packages with one published starting rate.
- Pass-through court fees at cost rather than vendor markup.
Why not pick Checkr
- SMB UX is less polished than GoodHire (the trade-off Checkr made with the 2022 acquisition).
- Pass-through court fees can vary materially by hiring footprint.
- Add-on drug screening is among the priciest in the workforce field at $60 per clinic-based test.
Try it in the calculator
The multi-vendor calculator includes Checkr alongside the rest of the workforce, tenant, and consumer-KYC field. Enter your monthly verification volume to see how Checkr's pricing model compares against published alternatives.
Where to go next
- Multi-vendor calculator, estimate annual cost at your volume.
- Workforce background checks, full category breakdown and side-by-side comparison.
- Quote-only vendors, the operational consequences of vendor pricing opacity.
- Methodology, every source URL and verification date.