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Recruitment · head to head

Checkr vs Manatal

Checkr logo

Checkr

Recruitment

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

From
On request
Rated
-
Manatal logo

Manatal

Recruitment

Low-cost applicant tracking and recruitment CRM with candidate enrichment, sold to both in-house teams and agencies

From
On request
Rated
-

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; Manatal pricing is per recruiter seat, so putting every hiring manager into the system to review candidates multiplies the licence count and erases the price advantage.
  • They diverge on capability: Checkr covers Package pricing, Manatal covers Candidate enrichment.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Checkr and Manatal actually diverge.

Attributes where Checkr and Manatal differ
AttributeCheckrManatal
Pricing modelPer report, plus pass-through court and database feesPer user per month
PlatformsWeb, APIWeb

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 Manatal

  • Candidate enrichment
  • AI candidate scoring
  • Recruitment CRM
  • Multi-board posting
  • CV parsing
  • Careers page builder
  • Custom pipelines
  • Reporting

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 Manatal
  • A startup or mid-size employer wanting self-service ordering through a dashboard without a dedicated screening account managernot Manatal
  • An employer that needs continuous rescreening for driving-related roles rather than a one-time check at hirenot Manatal
  • A company budgeting screening costs that needs to model court fee variance across the states it hires innot Manatal

Manatal

  • A small recruitment agency that needs client, candidate and placement tracking without an enterprise contractnot Checkr
  • An in-house team in Asia Pacific that wants candidate enrichment without paying enterprise ATS pricesnot Checkr
  • A company processing high applicant volume that needs automated ranking to triage a shortlistnot Checkr
  • A recruiter running both contingent search and internal hiring from one databasenot 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

Manatal

  • Pricing is per recruiter seat, so putting every hiring manager into the system to review candidates multiplies the licence count and erases the price advantage.
  • Candidate enrichment depends on public profile data, so accuracy drops sharply in markets where professional networking sites have low penetration and the scores become misleading rather than useful.
  • Integrations with major HRIS and payroll systems are limited compared with Western competitors, so new hire handover is frequently a CSV export rather than a sync.
  • Support operates on Indochina business hours, which leaves European afternoons and all of North American working hours outside the responsive window.
  • Reporting covers recruiter activity and source data but lacks the cohort and quality-of-hire analysis a mature talent function expects, and custom analysis means exporting to a spreadsheet.

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

Manatal

On request
  • Professional$undefined/month
    • Per recruiter seat
    • Unlimited jobs and candidates
    • Candidate enrichment and AI scoring
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Per recruiter seat at a higher rate
    • Custom fields and advanced permissions
    • Recruitment CRM for agency use
  • Custom$undefined/year
    • Negotiated terms for larger teams
    • Single sign-on and security review
    • Dedicated account management

Which should you pick?

Choose Checkr if

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

Choose Manatal if

  • You need candidate enrichment.
  • You also want ai candidate scoring.

Questions people ask

Is Checkr or Manatal better?
Neither clearly leads. Checkr starts at On request and Manatal at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Checkr or Manatal?
Checkr starts at On request and Manatal at On request.
Does Checkr or Manatal run on more platforms?
Checkr runs on Web, API. Manatal runs on Web.
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 Manatal is typically brought in for.
What can Checkr do that Manatal cannot?
Checkr covers Package pricing, API and dashboard, Adjudication tools, Continuous checks. Manatal covers Candidate enrichment, AI candidate scoring, Recruitment CRM, Multi-board posting.

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.

Manatal: Is it for agencies or in-house teams?

Both. The agency mode adds client and placement management; the corporate mode is a conventional ATS. Buying the wrong mode means paying for modules you never open.

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.

Manatal: How is it priced compared with other ATS products?

Per recruiter seat per month. That is not comparable with vendors that charge per active job slot or per employee, so model your real user count before comparing headline numbers.

Checkr: Is pricing different for enterprise volume?

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

Manatal: Where is candidate data hosted?

On cloud infrastructure with GDPR commitments, but region-specific residency guarantees are weaker than EU-native vendors offer, which matters for regulated European buyers.

Manatal: Does the AI scoring actually work?

It ranks reliably against structured requirements such as skills and experience length. It is far less reliable where enrichment data is sparse.

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