Segment guide · Verified June 2026
SMB Background Check Cost: Self-Serve From $25
For small businesses hiring under ~100 people per year. Four vendors publish per-check rates from $25 to $89.99. Self-serve credit card billing, no annual commitment, no procurement gate.
Direct answer
What does an SMB background check cost?
Published rates: TransUnion ShareAble for Hires from $25 Basic, $35 Standard, $45 Premium. Checkr / GoodHire / Verified First from $29.99 Basic. Top tiers run $79.99 (Verified First Premium) to $89.99 (Checkr / GoodHire Complete). All four are self-serve with no annual commitment.
The four published-pricing SMB vendors
| Vendor | Basic | Mid tier | Top tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| ShareAble for Hires | $25 | $35 Standard | $45 Premium |
| Checkr | $29.99 | $54.99 Essential | $89.99 Complete |
| GoodHire | $29.99 | $54.99 Essential | $89.99 Complete |
| Verified First | $29.99 | $49.99 Standard | $79.99 Premium |
How to choose
- Solo owner-operator (under 10 hires/year). GoodHire for the cleanest self-serve UX. Or ShareAble for Hires for the lowest per-check Basic ($25 saves $5 per check vs GoodHire).
- Small business (10 to 50 hires/year). Checkr or GoodHire for the maturity and integrations. Verified First if you have a strong ATS dependency.
- Growing business (50 to 100 hires/year). Checkr for API-first scale. Verified First for the ATS integration story and a slightly cheaper top tier.
- Owner who wants candidate-pays workflow. ShareAble for Hires; the candidate-pays flow is built in.
The hidden cost catalogue at SMB scale
- Pass-through court fees. $5 to $40 per check; $10 to $20 average. At 20 hires/year that is $200 to $400 not in the headline.
- MVR add-on. $9.50 per check (Checkr published). Apply to roles driving a company vehicle.
- Drug screening. $60 clinic / $37 onsite (Checkr published). Apply to roles requiring drug screening per company policy.
- State-specific compliance modules. CA, NY, IL, MA may require additional candidate disclosures handled inside the product or via add-on.
Worked example (Acme Local Cafe Co., illustrative example, not a real company)
15 hires per year on GoodHire Basic ($29.99). No drivers, no drug screening required, hiring concentrated in one US state (pass-through court fees ~$12 average):
- Base tier: 15 x $29.99 = $449.85
- Pass-through court fees: 15 x $12 = $180
- Total annual: $629.85 ($41.99 per check effective)
Forty percent uplift on the headline. Lower than the mid-market case study (62 percent) because there are no add-on screenings.
FCRA compliance at SMB scale
SMB employers carry the same FCRA compliance obligations as Fortune 500 employers. The two non-negotiable steps:
- Written disclosure and authorisation before requesting the check.
- Adverse action process if the check leads to denial: pre-adverse action notice with a copy of the report and FTC summary of rights, wait a reasonable period, then final adverse action notice.
All four SMB vendors covered here include FCRA workflow templates in the product. State and city laws (notably California and NYC) add further requirements.
Where to go next
- Run the multi-vendor calculator at your actual hire volume.
- Open the per-vendor dossier from the matrix for tier breakdown and source URLs.
- Read the hidden cost catalogue for the full effective-cost picture.
- Compare head-to-head: Checkr vs GoodHire, Checkr vs Verified First, GoodHire vs ShareAble for Hires.
Last verified June 2026