The Best Background Check Companies of 2023

Background check services can protect your business by revealing pertinent information about a candidate’s criminal history, identity, employment and education history, credit score, and more. When choosing an employee background screening service, consider factors like types of screenings available, cost, accuracy and ease of use. To help you find a service that’s right for you, we researched and analyzed more than 100 options to determine the best background check companies in 2023.

The cost of conducting a background check varies greatly, depending on the provider you select and the screenings you want conducted. Some background check companies provide their pricing online, but many do not, meaning you’ll need to contact those companies for a price quote. Nearly every company we reviewed offers discounts for high volumes of reports.

Some background check providers offer preset packages with specific screenings (e.g., Social Security number traces, criminal history searches), whereas others offer a la carte options so you can select the individual screenings you want.

Most of the services we evaluated offer multiple screening packages, typically ranging from basic to premium. The specific price and the services included in each plan vary by provider. We compiled an average of the types of checks typically included in basic, mid-tier, and premium plans and the average costs for those plans.

Basic Background Checks

• Average cost: $30 per check
• Average screenings included: Basic identity verification (Social Security number trace) and criminal history search (searches of national criminal databases and sex offender registries)
• Ideal for: Small businesses that need inexpensive, basic reports to confirm new employees’ identities and check for criminal backgrounds

Mid-Tier (Standard) Background Checks

• Average cost: $60 per check
• Average screenings included: Searches of domestic watchlists and county criminal databases in addition to identity verification and criminal history search
• Ideal for: Small businesses that need to run few to several pre-employment background checks at an affordable rate

Premium Background Checks

• Average cost: $80 per check
• Average screenings included: Education and employment verification in addition to previous tiers’ searches
• Ideal for: Businesses that need to run thorough screenings on potential employees, including confirmation of their education and employment history 

Additional Fees and Requirements

• Minimum commitment: Some companies require you to commit to a certain number of checks each year.
• Drug testing: Most services charge extra for drug testing. Fees range from $50 to $150 per test, depending on how many drugs you want to screen candidates for.
• Setup fees: Some providers charge a one-time setup fee to cover the cost of the account verification process – typically $25 to $50.
• Third-party fees: Additional third-party fees may apply, such as for education and employment verifications and court costs. Fees vary by state and screening provider. They are primarily charged in states that have more complex processes. For example, in New York, court processing fees often range from $15 to $100 per check.
• A la carte options: Many background check companies offer a la carte services, like motor vehicle records and professional license verification, that you may want to conduct. Some companies offer these services solely on an a la carte basis, rather than including them in plans, which can become costly if you need an exhaustive series of checks on multiple people.

There isn’t typically much room for negotiation on the cost of running a background check, but there may be wiggle room in other areas. To get the best deal possible from a full-service firm, here are five areas where you might save some money:

• Setup fees: Ask if you can have the setup fee waived. Some firms will in order to land your business.
• Bulk discounts: If you conduct several background checks each year, see if the provider will give you a per-screening discount.
• Commitment discounts: Ask the provider if they can lower the price of individual checks if you commit to a certain number of screenings each year.
• A la carte pricing: If the company only offers set packages that include screenings you don’t need, see if you can get a la carte pricing on the services you do need.
• Price matching: See if the service is willing to match a competitor’s lower price.

Ask the provider if you need to sign a contract. If so, review it in detail. Make sure it includes all the fees you agreed to and no additional charges. Also check it for any special clauses pertaining to cancellation of the service. Are you committing to a certain number of checks? What happens if you don’t conduct them all? Can you walk away at any time? These are all questions you want answered before you hire an employee background check service.

Employee background checks have become a common part of the hiring process. If your business has never used a background check site to verify an applicant’s history, here are some compelling reasons why you might want to use one.

1. Improve company safety and security.

A recent study by background check company HireRight revealed that 84% of organizations conduct criminal background checks, with 73% using background screening to verify past employment and/or conduct reference checks.

Research shows that employers have good reason to screen potential hires. The HireRight study reported that 84% of employers discovered a misrepresentation on a resume or job application, with 23% of employers stating that their background report screenings uncovered misrepresentations of a candidate’s educational credentials.

2. Hire better-quality candidates.

Most employers believe implementing some type of background investigation in their hiring process ultimately paid dividends. More than 50% of the businesses surveyed by HireRight said it led to better-quality hires.

3. Enhance your company’s reputation and compliance.

Checking a candidate’s background entails more than just calling their references. Employers today have several options as to what they can screen job candidates for. Your industry and business will determine how comprehensive your pre-employment screening needs to be to maintain compliance. For example, a company in the medical field will need to conduct different screenings from a company in the trucking industry.

These are common pre-employment screening and services that background check companies offer:

• Social Security number trace
• Address history check
• Criminal history check
• Civil records check
• Sex offender registry search
• Domestic watchlist search
• Global watchlist search
• Employment verification
• Education verification
• Professional license verification
• Military employment verification
• Professional reference check
• Social media search
• Motor vehicle reports
• Credit report check
• Workers’ compensation history search
• Healthcare sanction check
• Drug testing
• Identity check
• International check
• Ongoing monitoring and alerts

The best background check firms offer a comprehensive array of screening options and add-on reporting to fit your needs. When conducting screenings, many firms go beyond an online database search. For example, when conducting criminal background checks, they might follow up with county courthouses to inspect onsite records. These comprehensive screening options can help you find and hire the best employees, maintain legal compliance, and enhance your company’s reputation.

When you’re considering a background check company, first identify the type of data you need to gather on potential employees ‒ that factor alone affects the price and narrows down the agencies that can help you. For example, not all of the services we evaluated handle drug screenings. If this is a screening you need, several services will automatically be eliminated from your list. 

Accreditation and Compliance

Verify that the pre-employment screening company and its searches comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The FCRA outlines how employee background checks must be conducted – for instance, you must obtain the job candidate’s consent to be screened and give them an opportunity to review and rebut what was discovered. Some agencies do not adhere to FCRA laws, and businesses that use these services are opening themselves up to a potential lawsuit.

You also want to verify that the background check company you’re considering is an accredited member of the Professional Background Screening Association (PBSA). This accreditation is given to many of the top consumer reporting agencies that abide by strict professional standards. 

Turnaround Time

How soon you need the results of your screenings should be another factor in which agency you choose. Some sites allow you to search and view results instantly, while others may take up to five days to give you the results. If you can wait a few days before making a hiring decision, you may receive more comprehensive and accurate screening results.

Customization

It is important that you get the exact reports you need from a background check service. As you evaluate agencies, you’ll notice that some only offer preset packages; other services offer specific packages but allow you to customize the plan for the screenings you need.

If you know which screenings and tests you want, ask the agency you’re considering if it will be flexible with its pricing and accommodate your request. One last consideration is that while some services offer a variety of screening types – such as drug tests – their results may take longer.

As part of our research, we reached out to small business owners and HR experts in our community to understand what they look for in a background check provider and what features they find most valuable. This helped us to identify what the best background check providers have in common.

After compiling our research, we found that most small business owners emphasized usability, fast turnaround, accuracy and strong customer support. They also focused on compliance, so we made sure our top providers were FCRA compliant and PBSA accredited.

For example, Jesse Silkoff, co-founder and president of MyRoofingPal, said that although his small business only runs a few background checks per year, a screening platform that is quick and easy to use is essential.

“Although I only hire about three or four employees per year, I do like to run any employees through a background check if they will be interacting with other members of the team and clients, or have access to confidential information,” said Silkoff. “Sterling is an easy-to-use and quick online background check option that gets results within a day or so. I have had a good experience using it.”

Gilad Rom, founder of Huan, chose to partner with GoodHire for several of the same reasons. In addition to its high usability, excellent web interface and fast turnaround, Rom said he likes GoodHire for its responsive customer service. Similarly to Silkoff, although his company only hires roughly three to five employee each year, he said pre-employment screening is a necessary part of that process.

“All small business owners should run background checks,” said Rom. “Employees often have access to company accounts and confidential customer information. You wouldn’t want this sensitive information to fall into the wrong hands.”

According to Tatyana Tyagun, HR generalist at Chanty, a comprehensive, affordable background report is key, which is why her team uses AccurateNow.

“I like that it’s affordable and accessible and works great for our industry,” said Tyagun. “No matter if we want to hire for a senior role or a newbie, it works incredibly well. The information is always accurate, and we get the reports very quickly.”

Business.com strives to research and review companies fairly and objectively. For our review of background check services, we began with 135 companies. We found these companies from the key industry players, other review sites’ recommendations and extensive research on background check services.

After analyzing each company, we condensed our list down to the top 27 pre-employment screening services. From this list, we researched accreditations, company reviews, and features like screening types, customization, technology, report portals, turnaround time and reporting accuracy.

From these 27 screening companies, we chose four that stood out as the best for small business, very small business, self-service and low budgets. We then reviewed each company’s pricing structure, setup fees, contract requirements, employee minimums, mobile access, demos and standout features.

We evaluated these four best picks even further, assessing the customer support, chat capabilities, resources and other features that each company offers. We contacted sales and support representatives by phone, online chat and email, posing as small business owners. We inquired about each background check service’s pricing options, add-on screenings and minimum requirements. These four companies withstood each round of our testing.

There are a few trends we expect this year, primarily involving independent contractors, digital integrations, drug and alcohol testing, and ongoing employee monitoring.

The need for on-demand background checks will continue to be strong in 2023. With gig economy jobs like delivery services on the rise, the need for on-demand background checks has risen in tandem. Employers view freelance workers as extensions of their brands and, therefore, are using background check services to screen candidates just as they screen permanent staff employees.

Another trend affecting background check services concerns further developments in technology. Much of the workforce was abruptly forced to switch to a remote work environment last year, and many of those effects are carrying forward to 2023. This, in turn, has resulted in a drastic need for digital background screening forms with paperless features, e.g., e-signature capabilities. Additionally, expect developments that incorporate digital background screening services into modern hiring processes, such as screening services that integrate with applicant tracking software (ATS).

Other trends we expect in 2023 include an increase in drug and alcohol testing and continuous employee monitoring. Employers have limited control over their remote workers’ behavior from their homes, and some are conducting drug and alcohol testing of their work-from-home employees. Ongoing employee monitoring is also helping employers mitigate risk by staying updated on any new safety and licensure issues after the initial pre-hire screening.