Certn
The budget-friendly, international-first background check option
score
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Certn does criminal record checks, employment and education verification, and identity checks, with a real selling point being international coverage, it supports background checks across roughly 195 countries, which matters if you're hiring remote contractors abroad and want to catch a fabricated work history or identity before they're on payroll.
Pricing starts lower than most of the well-known US competitors, entry checks around $13.99, and you can run checks pay-as-you-go without a sales call, which is unusual in this category and genuinely useful for a small business that just needs to vet a new hire this week rather than sign a contract.
Where it's thinner than the big US players is depth of domestic coverage and integration ecosystem. If you're US-only and want deep integration with a specific ATS, Checkr or a similar US-focused provider may fit your workflow better even at a higher price.
Pricing
Entry-level checks start around $13.99 per check on a pay-as-you-go basis, no sales call required. Full background packages with international components run higher, budget $20-$50+ per check depending on scope.
| Basic check | $13.99+ per check, pay-as-you-go |
| Standard/international package | $20-$50+ per check, scope-dependent |
Features
- Criminal record checks across ~195 countries
- Employment and education verification
- Identity verification and document checks
- Global watchlist and sanctions screening
- Self-serve pay-as-you-go ordering
- Candidate-facing status portal
- 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
- Smaller integration ecosystem than the bigger US-focused competitors
- Pay-as-you-go pricing gets expensive fast if you're running high volume without negotiating a plan
Small businesses hiring internationally or on a tight budget that want to order checks without a sales process.
High-volume US-only employers who need deep ATS integration and the fastest possible domestic turnaround.
Screenshots
Supported countries
Background checks available across roughly 195 countries total, the list above covers its most requested markets.
Integrations
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