Softwr

Recruitment · head to head

Checkr vs Gem

Checkr logo

Checkr

Recruitment

Background check platform priced per report, with third-party court fees passed through separately

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Gem logo

Gem

Recruitment

Recruiting CRM and AI sourcing tool that layers onto an existing ATS or replaces it

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Checkr advertised per-report prices exclude court and database access fees, so the real cost per candidate varies by jurisdiction and is higher than the sticker in many counties; Gem pricing outside the small-startup tier is entirely custom and not published, so mid-size and enterprise buyers cannot benchmark cost before a sales call
  • They diverge on capability: Checkr covers Package pricing, Gem covers AI sourcing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Checkr and Gem actually diverge.

Attributes where Checkr and Gem differ
AttributeCheckrGem
Pricing modelPer report, plus pass-through court and database feesPer user per month, by company size and seat type
PlatformsWeb, APIWeb, Chrome Extension

Identical on both: starting price (On request), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Recruitment).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Checkr

  • Package pricing
  • API and dashboard
  • Adjudication tools
  • Continuous checks
  • Candidate portal

Only in Gem

  • AI sourcing
  • Outreach sequences
  • ATS sync or replace
  • Analytics
  • Talent rediscovery

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Checkr

  • A company running high-volume hourly or gig hiring that needs API-driven checks integrated into an existing ATSnot Gem
  • A startup or mid-size employer wanting self-service ordering through a dashboard without a dedicated screening account managernot Gem
  • An employer that needs continuous rescreening for driving-related roles rather than a one-time check at hirenot Gem
  • A company budgeting screening costs that needs to model court fee variance across the states it hires innot Gem

Gem

  • A talent acquisition team that wants sourcing, outreach and pipeline analytics without replacing an existing ATS such as Greenhouse or Workdaynot Checkr
  • An early-stage startup under 30 employees that qualifies for Gem's startup discount programme and wants sourcing tooling from day onenot Checkr
  • A company evaluating whether to consolidate its recruiting stack by moving off a separate ATS entirely onto Gem All-in-Onenot Checkr
  • A recruiting team that wants to resurface past applicants already in their data before opening a new external sourcing campaignnot Checkr

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Checkr

  • Advertised per-report prices exclude court and database access fees, so the real cost per candidate varies by jurisdiction and is higher than the sticker in many counties
  • Turnaround time depends on how fast individual courts process requests, which Checkr does not control and which can stretch well past the advertised average in rural or backlogged counties
  • Add-on checks such as MVR, drug screening and education verification are priced separately, so a full pre-employment package can cost significantly more than the base package price suggests
  • Enterprise-scale volume requires a custom Enterprise contract rather than the published per-report rates, so large employers cannot rely on the public pricing page to budget
  • Compliance obligations under the FCRA and state ban-the-box laws remain the employer's responsibility even though Checkr provides tooling, so legal review is still needed rather than assumed away by the platform
  • Candidate disputes and re-adjudication can add days to a hiring timeline, which matters for roles filled under time pressure

Gem

  • Pricing outside the small-startup tier is entirely custom and not published, so mid-size and enterprise buyers cannot benchmark cost before a sales call
  • Choosing Gem All-in-One as an ATS replacement is a much larger migration decision than adding a sourcing layer, and the sales process does not surface that distinction clearly upfront
  • Seat types (standard versus AI-powered) gate which features a given recruiter can use, so a team can under-provision seats and lose access to sourcing features they assumed were included
  • The startup discount programme has eligibility cutoffs by employee count and age of company, so growing past 30 employees or beyond early stage removes the cheaper pricing path
  • Outreach effectiveness depends on email deliverability and candidate response rates that Gem does not control, so ROI varies by how saturated a company's target talent pool already is with recruiter outreach
  • Switching from Gem back to a standalone ATS after adopting All-in-One means re-migrating hiring pipeline data a second time, which is a cost most buyers do not model at signup

Pricing, plan by plan

Checkr

On request
  • Basic$29.99/report
    • SSN trace
    • Sex offender registry
    • Global watchlist
  • Essential$59.99/report
    • Everything in Basic
    • Identity verification
    • Unlimited county criminal search
  • Complete$94.99/report
    • Everything in Essential
    • Unlimited state criminal search
    • Federal criminal search

Gem

On request
  • Startup (1-10 FTE)$130/month
    • AI sourcing and CRM
    • Analytics
    • Scheduling
  • Gem + Your ATS / All-in-One$undefined/year
    • Custom pricing by FTE count and seat type

Which should you pick?

Choose Checkr if

  • You need package pricing.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want api and dashboard.
Checkr review

Choose Gem if

  • You need ai sourcing.
  • You work on Web, Chrome Extension.
  • You also want outreach sequences.
Gem review

Questions people ask

Is Checkr or Gem better?
Neither clearly leads. Checkr starts at On request and Gem at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Checkr or Gem?
Checkr starts at On request and Gem at On request.
Does Checkr or Gem run on more platforms?
Checkr runs on Web, API. Gem runs on Web, Chrome Extension.
What is Checkr best used for?
Checkr is most often used for a company running high-volume hourly or gig hiring that needs api-driven checks integrated into an existing ats, a startup or mid-size employer wanting self-service ordering through a dashboard without a dedicated screening account manager, an employer that needs continuous rescreening for driving-related roles rather than a one-time check at hire, a company budgeting screening costs that needs to model court fee variance across the states it hires in. Of those, a company running high-volume hourly or gig hiring that needs api-driven checks integrated into an existing ats and a startup or mid-size employer wanting self-service ordering through a dashboard without a dedicated screening account manager are not what Gem is typically brought in for.
What can Checkr do that Gem cannot?
Checkr covers Package pricing, API and dashboard, Adjudication tools, Continuous checks. Gem covers AI sourcing, Outreach sequences, ATS sync or replace, Analytics.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Checkr: Does the per-report price include court fees?

No. Checkr states that standard third-party court and database access fees are passed through at cost on top of the package price, and these vary by jurisdiction.

Gem: Do we need to replace our ATS to use Gem?

No, Gem can run alongside an existing ATS purely for sourcing and CRM; Gem All-in-One is a separate option that includes its own ATS.

Checkr: Can Checkr be used without an ATS integration?

Yes, checks can be ordered manually through the Checkr dashboard as well as programmatically through the API.

Gem: Is there a published price for larger teams?

Only the 1-10 employee startup tier has a public price; larger teams are quoted based on FTE count and seat mix.

Checkr: Is pricing different for enterprise volume?

Yes, high-volume employers negotiate an Enterprise contract rather than paying the published per-report rates.

Gem: What is the difference between a standard and AI-powered seat?

Standard seats cover core sourcing, email-finding and ATS sync; AI-powered seats add sourcing agents, application review and fraud detection.

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