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Recruitment · head to head

Glassdoor vs HackerRank

Glassdoor logo

Glassdoor

Recruitment

Employer review and salary transparency app owned by Recruit Holdings, the same parent as Indeed

From
Free
Rated
-
HackerRank logo

HackerRank

Recruitment

Technical hiring platform with a metered attempt allowance and per-attempt overage charges on its entry tier

From
On request
Rated
-

The short version

  • Only Glassdoor has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Glassdoor it shares the same parent company, Recruit Holdings, as Indeed, whose revenue depends on employer ad spend, which sits in tension with Glassdoor's role as an independent employer watchdog.; HackerRank the Starter tier meters candidate assessment attempts (120 a year included) with roughly 20 US dollars per additional attempt, so a hiring surge or an unexpectedly popular job posting turns directly into overage costs.
  • They diverge on capability: Glassdoor covers Employee reviews, HackerRank covers Coding assessments.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Glassdoor and HackerRank actually diverge.

Attributes where Glassdoor and HackerRank differ
AttributeGlassdoorHackerRank
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelFree for job seekers, employers pay for branding and recruiting productsPer month by tier, with a metered annual candidate attempt allowance and per-attempt overage on Starter
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsiOS, Android, WebWeb

Identical on both: 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 Glassdoor

  • Employee reviews
  • Salary reports
  • Interview insights
  • CEO approval rating
  • Job listings
  • Company comparisons

Only in HackerRank

  • Coding assessments
  • Structured technical interviews
  • Screen and Interview modules
  • Role-specific question libraries
  • Proctoring and integrity checks
  • ATS integration

What people use each for

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

Glassdoor

  • Researching a company's culture and management reputation before accepting a job offernot HackerRank
  • Comparing self-reported salary data for a role before a negotiationnot HackerRank
  • Reading anonymous interview reports to prepare for a specific company's processnot HackerRank
  • Checking CEO and leadership approval trends before joining a companynot HackerRank

HackerRank

  • A startup hiring a small, steady volume of engineers where the Starter plan's 120 annual attempts comfortably covers the pipelinenot Glassdoor
  • A larger engineering organisation needing unlimited user seats across many hiring managers, better served by Pronot Glassdoor
  • A company wanting both automated screening and live structured technical interviews in one platformnot Glassdoor
  • An organisation that wants a large, established question library spanning algorithms, system design and role-specific skillsnot Glassdoor

Where each one falls short

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

Glassdoor

  • It shares the same parent company, Recruit Holdings, as Indeed, whose revenue depends on employer ad spend, which sits in tension with Glassdoor's role as an independent employer watchdog.
  • Review authenticity cannot be independently verified, and companies have periodically been accused of soliciting favourable reviews from current employees to offset negative ones.
  • Self-reported salary data is not verified against payroll records, so figures for a given role and company can be inconsistent or dated.
  • Older accounts were required to submit their own review or salary before unlocking others' data, and remnants of that give-to-get pressure can still affect what gets submitted.
  • Employers can purchase enhanced branding pages, which changes what job seekers see on a company's page compared with a company that has not paid for branding.

HackerRank

  • The Starter tier meters candidate assessment attempts (120 a year included) with roughly 20 US dollars per additional attempt, so a hiring surge or an unexpectedly popular job posting turns directly into overage costs.
  • Starter includes only one user licence, so any team with more than one recruiter or hiring manager needing direct platform access must jump to the far larger Pro commitment.
  • The jump from Starter to Pro is a large step, roughly 100 to 450 US dollars a month, with no published mid-tier option for a team that has outgrown Starter but does not need Pro's full scale.
  • As with any automated coding assessment tool, heavy reliance on it as an early filter risks screening out strong candidates who underperform in artificial timed test conditions.
  • Enterprise-tier features such as custom question libraries and SSO are quote-only, making full cost comparison against Codility or other competitors impossible without entering a sales process.

Pricing, plan by plan

Glassdoor

Free
  • Job seeker accountFree
    • Free browsing of reviews, salaries and listings

HackerRank

On request
  • Starter$100/month
    • 1 user licence
    • Screen and Interview modules included
    • 120 candidate attempts per year included, roughly $20 per additional attempt
  • Pro$450/month
    • Unlimited user seats
    • 4,000+ question library
    • ATS integrations included
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Custom quote
    • Custom question libraries and SSO
    • Dedicated support and account management

Which should you pick?

Choose Glassdoor if

  • You need employee reviews.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on iOS, Android, Web.
  • You also want salary reports.

Choose HackerRank if

  • You need coding assessments.
  • You also want structured technical interviews.

Questions people ask

Is Glassdoor or HackerRank better?
Neither clearly leads. Glassdoor starts at Free and HackerRank at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Glassdoor or HackerRank?
Glassdoor has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Glassdoor and On request for HackerRank.
Does Glassdoor or HackerRank run on more platforms?
Glassdoor runs on iOS, Android, Web. HackerRank runs on Web.
Can I use Glassdoor for free?
Yes. Glassdoor has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. HackerRank starts at On request.
What is Glassdoor best used for?
Glassdoor is most often used for researching a company's culture and management reputation before accepting a job offer, comparing self-reported salary data for a role before a negotiation, reading anonymous interview reports to prepare for a specific company's process, checking ceo and leadership approval trends before joining a company. Of those, researching a company's culture and management reputation before accepting a job offer and comparing self-reported salary data for a role before a negotiation are not what HackerRank is typically brought in for.
What can Glassdoor do that HackerRank cannot?
Glassdoor covers Employee reviews, Salary reports, Interview insights, CEO approval rating. HackerRank covers Coding assessments, Structured technical interviews, Screen and Interview modules, Role-specific question libraries.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Glassdoor: Is Glassdoor free to use?

Yes for job seekers; employers pay for enhanced branding and recruiting products.

HackerRank: What happens if we exceed our included assessment attempts on Starter?

Each additional attempt beyond the included 120 a year is billed separately, at roughly 20 US dollars per attempt.

Glassdoor: Are Glassdoor and Indeed the same company?

No, they are separate products but share the same parent company, Recruit Holdings.

HackerRank: How many users does Starter support?

One user licence; teams needing more than one seat must move to the Pro plan.

Glassdoor: Are Glassdoor reviews verified?

No, reviews and salary reports are self-reported and anonymous; Glassdoor applies moderation but does not verify employment or salary details against payroll records.

HackerRank: Does HackerRank offer live interviews as well as automated tests?

Yes, both a Screen module for automated assessment and an Interview module for live, collaborative technical interviews are included from Starter upward.

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