Certn vs GoodHire
Both are the rare background-check vendors that let you order a single check online with no sales call, which is exactly why they get cross-shopped. The split is geography and depth. Certn covers roughly 195 countries starting around $13.99 a check, the pick if you're hiring contractors or remote staff outside the US. GoodHire is US-only but packages deeper: its $89.99 Complete tier adds employment, education, and professional license verification, the checks that actually catch someone applying under a borrowed identity or an invented work history, and it inherits Checkr's domestic integration depth since GoodHire is Checkr's SMB storefront. If your hiring never leaves the US, GoodHire's deeper domestic packages win. If any of it crosses a border, Certn is the only one of the two that actually covers that hire.
| Pricing model | per-check | per-check |
| Starting point | Entry-level checks start around $13 | Three self-serve packages: Basic+ $29 |
| Best for | Small businesses hiring internationally or on a tight budget that want to order checks without a sales process. | Small businesses hiring a few people a month that want published pricing, FCRA guardrails, and no sales call. |
| Countries | United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, India, Philippines | United States |
| Editorial score | 8.1/10 | 8/10 |
Certn
- Lowest entry price point of the major background check platforms covered here
- Genuine international reach if you hire contractors or remote staff outside the US
- No sales call required to get started, order a check and go
- Domestic US depth and turnaround can lag Checkr on high-volume US-only hiring
- Plugs into fewer US applicant tracking systems than the bigger domestic competitors
- Pay-as-you-go pricing gets expensive fast if you're running high volume without negotiating a plan
GoodHire
- Published prices and no minimums, you can run a single check without talking to sales
- FCRA adverse-action workflow is built in, which is where DIY screeners get sued
- Complete package covers the identity and work-history checks that catch payroll fraud at the door
- Same company as Checkr underneath, so it's not a true second opinion on your shortlist
- County court fees and add-ons inflate the sticker price in fee-heavy states like New York
- US-only screening, no real international coverage for global hires