Background screening · September 2026 Edition
Checkr vs GoodHire
Seven of twelve models named Checkr first on the direct prompt; one named GoodHire. Both were named by all twelve models and Checkr carries 49 labels and GoodHire 41, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in two categories this edition.
Named in one category this edition.
First-choice share43%14%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate6%2%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#1#2A position in a field of 10; printed, not drawn.
Labels4941A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Checkr reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Checkr vs Certn · GoodHire vs Certn
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all twelve models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the background screening page.
By framing
How many of the twelve models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
CheckrFirst choices, of twelve modelsGoodHire
Direct711 against GoodHire
Paraphrase82
Comparative81
Budget-constrained331 against Checkr
Scale-constrained00
Negative012 against Checkr
Bars are first choices, 0 to 12 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to twelve.
The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Checkr and GoodHire stood in it.
Both were the first choice
1 of 12 modelsThe answer named them together, and the judge labeled each a first choice.Mistral SmallCheckr, GoodHire alternatives: Certn
Checkr first, GoodHire an alternative
6 of 12 modelsGoodHire was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.GPT-5.4 miniCheckr alternatives: GoodHire, HireRight, Sterling
Grok 4.1 FastCheckr alternatives: Accurate Background, Bchex, GoodHire, Verified First
Qwen 3.7 FlashCheckr alternatives: Certn, First Advantage, GoodHire
Kimi K2Accurate Background, Checkr alternatives: Bchex, Certn, Mitratech AssureHire, Verified First
GLM 4.7 FlashXCheckr alternatives: Accurate Background, Certn, GoodHire, Verified First
MiniMax M2.5Checkr alternatives: Certn, GoodHire
Neither was the first choice, one was named
4 of 12 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Gemini 3.5 FlashVerified First alternatives: Accurate Background, Checkr, iprospectcheck
Perplexity SonarMitratech AssureHire alternatives: Bchex, Checkr, GoodHire, Verified First
DeepSeek V4 FlashVerified First alternatives: Certn, Checkr, Orange Tree
Llama 4 MaverickBackgroundChecks.com alternatives: Bchex, GoodHire, Mitratech AssureHire
Neither was named
1 of 12 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Claude Haiku 4.5EDIFY Screening alternatives: Accurate Background, First Advantage, HireRight, iprospectcheck
Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
By buyer segment
The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
GoodHire leads by fifteen points.
GoodHire38%#1 of 9Checkr23%#2 of 9Mid-marketThe figures above
The order flips: Checkr leads at mid-market.
Checkr43%#1 of 10GoodHire14%#2 of 10Enterprise
What the models said about Checkr
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of seven in this category shown.
“Complaints have risen sharply: 153 in 2023, 187 in 2024, and 469 in 2025... errors in reports and difficulty disputing incorrect information.” MiniMax M2.5 · negative prompt · hard negative
“watch out for additional court/DMV pass-through fees that can add 40–70% to the base price” GLM 4.7 FlashX · budget prompt · soft negative
“their automated matching algorithms are a frequent source of false hits” DeepSeek V4 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“Checkr Professional and GoodHire Complete are frequently recommended due to their balance of features, ease of use, and compliance support” Mistral Small · direct prompt · first choice
“Checkr consistently ranks as a top background check provider across industries, delivering 89% of criminal checks in just one hour” Claude Haiku 4.5 · comparative prompt · first choice
“For most mid-market B2B companies, Checkr Professional offers the best balance of features, integrations, and reliability.” MiniMax M2.5 · direct prompt · first choice
What the models said about GoodHire
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Four of five in this category shown.
“Checkr acquired GoodHire, so the product roadmap and support structure may be evolving” Kimi K2 · direct prompt · soft negative
“My Verdict: Start with a demo from GoodHire. They strike the safest balance between the capability of an enterprise company and the agility of a startup.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“GoodHire - Great for small-to-mid-sized companies, offers transparent pricing and packages starting around $30/check” MiniMax M2.5 · budget prompt · first choice
“providers like GoodHire (for ease of use) ... are generally recommended over the cheapest aggregators” Qwen 3.7 Flash · negative prompt · first choice
Comparisons are drawn for the top three products in each category. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.