9 HackerRank alternatives to make the right hire

If you’re hoping to hire coders and programmers with assessment tools, you’ve probably spent hours searching for the best coding assessment platform, only to find yourself comparing repetitive feature lists and complex pricing structures. 

It’s exhausting trying to navigate through platforms not tailored to your needs, especially when you’re just looking for a simple way to assess skills and hire the right developer.

HackerRank’s coding skills assessments are a popular choice, but the lack of customization and high price tag can be frustrating.

That’s why we’ve created this list of the top HackerRank alternatives that offer unique features, flexible skills tests, and better pricing. Use them to improve your hiring process and find better talent.

Why consider an alternative to HackerRank?

There are more than 1.5 million software developers in the US alone. To find the best talent for your open position, you need to use the right screening tools.

Although many recruiting managers use HackerRank assessments, they aren’t the best fit for every hiring process. Here are the top reasons you should consider a HackerRank alternative:

• Unintuitive interface: The HackerRank coding assessment interface can feel overwhelming, especially for those without a technical background. It often takes several practice runs to understand the system and feel confident enough to test candidates.

• No cognitive ability tests: Although HackerRank does offer some soft skills tests, it doesn’t have cognitive ability tests. These assessments measure candidates’ reasoning, perception, memory, mathematical, and verbal abilities, which are essential for particular roles.

• No one-way video interviews: Although HackerRank assessment questions include live interviews, there isn’t a one-way video interview option. One-way interviews enable applicants to record responses to predetermined questions, which makes it easier for you to screen them effectively.

• Possibility of cheating: Many HackerRank tests are available on the internet, which means that test takers can easily find solutions on Google. This undermines the test’s integrity and makes it difficult to accurately assess candidates’ coding skills.

Summary: The 9 alternatives to HackerRank

More employers are realizing how valuable skills-based hiring is. That’s why 82% of employers use some form of pre-hire screening tests to evaluate the skills of their candidates.

If you’re looking for an alternative to HackerRank that better suits your recruitment needs, here’s a list of the top options:

Hire better technical talent with TestGorilla

Our talent discovery platform helps you test technical and soft skills, personality traits, culture add, and cognitive abilities of your candidates. Sign up for a free live demo to learn how.

The 9 best HackerRank alternatives to enhance your hiring process

Here are the detailed reviews of the nine alternatives to HackerRank that can improve your recruitment strategy:

1. TestGorilla

Best for comprehensive skills and personality testing

TestGorilla is one of the best HackerRank alternatives because it helps non-technical recruiters and hiring managers hire the most qualified talent. You can use it to find top Java developers, WordPress developers, PHP developers, and other technical professionals without having to master these skills yourself.

The platform offers more than 400 high-quality, scientifically validated tests, including popular developer tests, such as the React test for assessing skills in the React.js library.

You can check out the rest of the preview questions from the React test.

TestGorilla also has many personality, culture, cognitive abilities, language, and situational judgment tests at varying difficulty levels. The best part is that you can combine up to five of these tests into a talent assessment that gauges the whole potential of your applicants.

That’s exactly what Lima Innovation Lab (LILAB), a software company, did to improve its hiring process. The hiring managers used a combination of technical and personality tests along with some custom questions to make assessments even more specific.

As a result, the company managed to improve the quality of new hires and boost new employee retention to 90%. That’s in part thanks to the objective nature of these tests and extensive anti-cheating measures, like IP address logging, candidate location tracking, webcam snapshots, and full-screen mode.

You can easily calculate the real-world benefits of skills-based hiring for your company using our ROI calculator. 

The great news is that you don’t have to spend a fortune on trying out TestGorilla. In fact, you can sign up for the Free forever plan and enjoy some of our most popular tests for free.

Pricing: Pricing starts from $75 per month, billed annually, with exact pricing based on your company size (measured by the number of FTEs). All paid plans come with unlimited active assessments and unlimited candidates.

Rating: 4.5/5, 1200+ reviews (G2)

Want to see exactly how we stack up? Check out our TestGorilla vs. HackerRank comparison.

2. CodeSignal

Best for large-scale hiring with AI-powered evaluations

CodeSignal enables you to assess candidates’ skills in more than 45 programming languages to help you find the best tech talent. The platform’s top feature is its real-world coding environment, where software developers solve problems similar to ones they encounter on the job.

Its interface is more user-friendly than HackerRank for non-technical people. The platform also has good anti-cheating measures, such as screen sharing and webcam monitoring.

In addition to skills-based hiring, CodeSignal offers detailed analytics and AI evaluations that make your job a lot easier. That way, you can screen hundreds of candidates without having to spend hours going through every test.

However, the platform lacks popular personality and soft skills tests.

Pricing: Starts at $24.29 per user per month, billed annually. Individuals can access CodeSignal Learn for free or upgrade to Cosmo+ for $24.99 per month. For larger organizations, custom enterprise pricing is available for more advanced features.

Ranking: 4.5/5, 690+ reviews (G2)

3. eSkill

Best for extensive customization options

eSkill provides a wide range of employment suitability tests, like cognitive and behavioral tests. Its user interface is intuitive and easy to use for non-technical people. However, the platform lacks advanced technical screening functionalities, which is limiting for roles that require programming or coding tests.

Still, eSkill enables hiring managers to tailor tests to specific job requirements. This advantage is helpful for roles that require unique skills or companies with diverse hiring needs.

Another major advantage of eSkill is that it offers one-way and live video interviewing to streamline the hiring process.

Pricing: Prices are available upon request for the Staffing, Basic, Premium, and Enterprise plans.

Rating: 4.5/5, 320+ reviews (G2)

4. Qualified.io

Best for in-depth performance analysis

Qualified.io has tests for more than 29 of the most popular programming languages to help you hire the best talent. The platform features an intuitive user interface and applicant tracking system to improve both the recruiter and candidate experiences.

Qualified.io also enforces anti-cheating measures, such as code similarity and risk detection to ensure a fair evaluation process.

The platform excels in helping employees continuously improve their competencies with features such as performance management and metrics. It also features tools for every step of the recruitment workflow, including skills tracking, talent acquisition and management, and upskilling.

Pricing: Pricing information is available upon request.

Rating: 4.8/5, 400+ reviews (G2)

5. WeCP

Best for recruiters looking for the best anti-cheating measures

WeCP’s best feature is its comprehensive anti-cheating detection, including its plagiarism checker, dynamic rotation, AI proctoring, and live proctors. Recent research has confirmed that machine learning is a highly accurate tool for cheating detection on online exams.

As a result of all these preventative measures, the software makes finding answers before or during the test or coding challenge almost impossible.

The platform has an intuitive design that enables recruiters to find the right talent and create a smoother hiring process. This advantage makes it one of the better HackerRank alternatives in terms of user-friendliness.

With WeCP, you can invite and track candidates and generate reports easily. It also has a comprehensive test library that includes tests for more than 50 programming languages.

Pricing: The starting price is $240 per month for the Premium plan. Pricing information is available upon request for the Custom and Enterprise plans.

Rating: 4.8/5, 80+ reviews (G2)

6. Otomeyt

Best for live coding assessments

Otomeyt’s most impressive feature is its live pair-programming tool. This code editor feature helps recruiters and hiring managers evaluate a candidate’s ability to solve problems in real time during coding interviews.

This platform has a user-friendly interface, although some people don’t like the large fonts because they result in a lot of scrolling on mobile phones.

Otomeyt is one of the best HackerRank competitors when it comes to anti-cheating measures. One notable feature is the ability to compare code with Otomeyt’s code database to detect plagiarism. Other measures include location detection, copy-paste disabling, and full-screen mode.

Pricing: A free plan for individuals. The Professional Plan costs around $150 when billed yearly and provides 75 interviews per month for 15 users. The Business Plan is around $590 per month for 150 interviews and 30 users. Custom pricing is available for the Enterprise Plan, offering flexible options for larger companies.

Rating: 4.3/5, 40+ reviews (G2)

7. HR Avatar

Best for small companies looking for a budget-friendly candidate screening tool

What sets HR Avatar apart is its pay-per-candidate pricing. Instead of signing up for a monthly or annual subscription, you pay for each candidate you assess. This can be ideal if you work for a startup or small company or have varying recruitment needs.

Note that this model can be more expensive than other platforms if your needs increase. Luckily, there are also unlimited plans and special pricing options for recruitment firms and educational and non-profit organizations.

HR Avatar helps non-technical people make better hiring decisions with detailed reports and insights. Therefore, many recruiters and employers enjoy its user-friendly interface and simple features.

The platform stands out with its comprehensive test library covering cognitive, personality, and skill-based assessments. It also offers video interview capabilities for both live and recorded sessions, as well as automated reference checks to streamline candidate verification.

Pricing: HR Avatar’s candidate credit packages range from $50 to $12,300, depending on the number of candidate credits included. Pricing information is available upon request for unlimited plans and special pricing options.

Rating: 4.6/5, 110+ reviews (G2)

8. Skillspace

Best for gamifying the candidate experience

Skillspace engages candidates with its unique, gamified experience, including coding contests, data science challenges, and internal hackathons, where each candidate can be motivated by seeing their own standings on the leaderboard.

Additionally, Skillspace offers an extensive test library that contains tests for more than 50 programming languages, including Java, Python, C++, and Pearl. It also has a user-friendly interface that enables anyone to use the platform without difficulty.

Pricing: Starting at $199 per month with custom pricing for larger teams or unique hiring needs.

Rating: 5/5, 2 reviews (G2)

9. Vervoe

Best for recruiters searching for a pay-as-you-go plan instead of a subscription

Vervoe’s most interesting feature is its AI-assisted builder. Just type in a job title, and the builder shows you which programming skills and tasks you should add to the test. This enables even non-technical people to create tests to evaluate their applicants.

This platform has more than 300 premade tests. These include tests for all popular computing languages and non-technical tests, such as culture add, personality tests, and soft skills. This is important because non-technical skills like problem-solving are the most sought-after among IT professionals. 

The results come with advanced reporting features to help you find the best candidate.

Pricing: Vervoe offers a 7-day free trial, followed by the Pay As You Go plan starting at $300 for 10 candidates. For more extensive needs, there’s a Custom plan that provides tailored features based on your requirements.

Rating: 4.6/5, 60+ reviews (G2)

Screen faster, hire smarter with TestGorilla

With our talent discovery platform, you can easily screen hundreds of candidates with skills tests created by subject matter experts. Sign up for free to try it yourself.

Start screening with our Free forever plan

Hire top technical talent with TestGorilla

There are several effective HackerRank alternatives that help you evaluate top technical talent. However, if you’re looking to objectively assess software engineers, web developers, and other front-end and back-end technical roles, the overall winner is TestGorilla. 

Our talent discovery platform offers an intuitive interface, a range of technical and non-technical skills tests, a comprehensive set of anti-cheating measures, and a free plan.

These features provide a 360-degree view of job applicants, which makes hiring easier even for non-technical recruiters.

Sign up for the Free forever plan and start hiring developers who have the right skills to help your business grow.

Or book a free live demo to speak to one of our friendly colleagues to see our skills tests in action and get answers to all of your questions.

HackerRank competitors FAQs

If you’re still exploring HackerRank technical assessments and alternatives, these FAQs can help you find all the answers.

What is better than HackerRank?

TestGorilla is a better solution than HackerRank. It offers an intuitive interface, so even non-technical recruiters can use it easily. In addition, TestGorilla provides a wide range of technical and non-technical tests, along with strong anti-cheating measures. Its flexible pricing options, including a Free forever plan, make it a great alternative for businesses of all sizes.

Do companies hire through HackerRank?

Yes, many companies use HackerRank to hire technical talent, particularly for software engineering and developer roles. The platform helps recruiters assess coding skills through challenges and technical assessments. However, companies can also explore HackerRank alternatives like TestGorilla or HackerEarth, which offer a broader range of tests, better user experience, and anti-cheating measures.

Can HackerRank detect cheating?

Yes, HackerRank can identify cheating through various methods like plagiarism detection, browser monitoring, and proctoring features. These measures help identify any suspicious activities during assessments, such as copying code or switching tabs. Although these tools reduce the risk of cheating, it’s crucial to use them alongside other evaluation methods to ensure a fair assessment process.