Pre-employment testing is one of the most reliable ways to predict an applicant’s future success in a role.
Offering deeper insights than what a resume could provide, pre-employment testing also removes unconscious bias from the hiring process. Plus, it means you don’t have to manually screen dozens or hundreds of resumes, which helps your organization save time and money.
With a range of online pre-employment testing platforms to choose from, it can be difficult to find the right one for your business. To help you out, this article compares the features of two leading skills testing platforms: TestGorilla and Alva Labs.
Table of contents
- How does TestGorilla work?
- How does Alva Labs work?
- TestGorilla vs. Alva Labs: Test libraries
- TestGorilla vs. Alva Labs: Functionalities for hiring developers
- TestGorilla vs. Alva Labs: Video interviews
- TestGorilla vs. Alva Labs: Candidate experience and company branding
- TestGorilla vs. Alva Labs: Enterprise and startup friendliness
- TestGorilla vs. Alva Labs: Quality control
- TestGorilla vs. Alva Labs: Anti-cheating measures
- TestGorilla vs. Alva Labs: Reporting and analytics
- TestGorilla vs. Alva Labs: Customer support
- TestGorilla vs. Alva Labs: Pricing
- TestGorilla vs. Alva Labs: Ease of use
- Conclusion: TestGorilla vs. Alva Labs
- Streamline your hiring process with pre-employment testing
- ✅ Get started with TestGorilla today
How does TestGorilla work?
TestGorilla provides reliable pre-employment testing to help you make better hiring decisions without unconscious bias. It saves you time and money by eliminating the resume screening process.
Our platform features a range of personality, aptitude, and skills tests that give you better insights into your candidates’ strengths and weaknesses.
You can create a customized assessment for the role you’re hiring for – or choose a ready-made test from our extensive test library. You also have the option to add custom test questions to suit your individual hiring needs. After creating an assessment, it’s easy to send it out to multiple candidates.
Candidates can complete a TestGorilla assessment from any device and receive support during the process, if they need it.
TestGorilla’s tests are science-based and undergo a rigorous 28-step quality-control process before going live, so you can trust that test results are reliable. We also use stringent anti-cheating measures to protect the integrity of test results.
The valuable insights TestGorilla offers reduce the risk of mis-hires, meaning you can be confident in your hiring decisions.
How does Alva Labs work?
Alva Labs is a comprehensive testing platform that give you deeper insights into applicants’ personalities, logical abilities, and coding skills. Not only does this help you find the right person for the role, but it also creates a more inclusive recruitment process by removing the need to rely solely on resumes.
The platform lets you choose a test profile that identifies the personality traits and logical abilities relevant to the role. It provides a range of preset test profiles and you have the option to create your own.
You can then send Alva Labs’ mobile-friendly tests directly to candidates. Tests are convenient to complete and candidates also receive a copy of their results. This lets them share their test results with other potential employers.
TestGorilla vs. Alva Labs: Test libraries
Both TestGorilla and Alva Labs’ test libraries provide personality, aptitude, and coding tests to help you find the best candidate for each role.
TestGorilla’s test library
With more than 280 tests in our test library, you can tailor a TestGorilla assessment to the specific role you’re recruiting for. You can test for:
- Cognitive ability
- Language skills
- Personality and culture
- Situational judgment
- Coding and other role-related skills
Tests and assessments are customizable, and you can include custom multiple-choice, video, and essay questions.
Plus, the platform supports international recruitment, with localized websites in 11 different languages, including English, French, Portuguese, and Japanese.
Alva Labs’ test library
Alva Labs offers three types of tests: personality, logic, and coding. The questions are set by the platform and it’s not possible to add custom ones.
Its personality test provides insights into five personality traits: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and emotional stability.
Alva Labs’ logic test assesses general mental ability, which is a top predictor of job success. It offers insights into how a candidate processes complex information, as well as their problem-solving and decision-making abilities.
Its coding challenges enable you to assess candidates’ technical skills across all coding languages and tech stacks. Aside from these coding challenges, Alva Labs doesn’t offer any job-specific tests.
Alva Labs’ test platform supports 14 languages and can be used to recruit internationally.
Test libraries: Comparison chart at a glance
| TestGorilla | Alva Labs | |
| Cognitive-ability tests | Yes | Yes |
| Situational-judgment tests | Yes | No |
| Job-specific tests | Yes | No |
| Software tests | Yes | Yes |
| Programming tests (including coding challenges) | Yes | Yes |
| Language tests | Yes | No |
| Personality tests | Yes | Yes |
| Culture-add test | Yes | No |
| Motivation test | Yes | No |
| Your own custom tests | Yes | No |
| Custom questions per assessment | Yes | No |
| Test recommendations for each job role | Yes | Yes |
| Multiple tests per assessment | Yes | Yes |
TestGorilla vs. Alva Labs: Functionalities for hiring developers
When hiring a developer, it’s essential to test their practical coding and software capabilities. When choosing a pre-employment test platform, look for tests that assess candidates’ coding, debugging, and mobile-development framework skills.
Hiring developers with TestGorilla
TestGorilla’s platform is an ideal choice for hiring developers for your organization. Our platform offers a variety of software skills tests, including coding languages, debugging, and arrays.
With customizable coding challenges, you can create real-life problems for candidates to solve and see how they perform.
You can also use the platform to assess candidates’ familiarity with development frameworks, such as Django, React, and Angular. There are comprehensive tests for other tools like CSS, Bash, and Git.
Hiring developers with Alva Labs
Alva Labs offers a range of coding tests you can use when hiring developers. These practical challenges are ideal for streamlining the recruitment process for developer positions. Understanding your candidates’ practical skills is easy, thanks to a detailed scorecard of their results.
These tests can be adapted for any programming language or tech stack. Developed by coding experts from leading tech companies, you can use these tests as a stand-alone assessment or in combination with Alva Labs’ personality and logic tests.
Functionalities for hiring developers: Comparison chart at a glance
| TestGorilla | Alva Labs | |
| Coding languages | JavaScript, Java, Python, PHP, C, C#, C++, SQL, Kotlin, Ruby, TypeScript, Go, R, Scala, and Swift | Can be adapted to all coding languages |
| Web-development frameworks | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile-development frameworks | Yes | Yes |
| Algorithmic-thinking challenges | Yes | Yes |
| Debugging challenges | Yes | Yes |
| Language-specific concept challenges | Yes | Yes |
| Your own custom coding challenges | Yes | Yes |
| Code-playback function | Yes | Unknown |
| Automated scoring | Yes | Yes |
TestGorilla vs. Alva Labs: Video interviews
Some pre-employment testing platforms offer video-interview features to help you get to know your candidates better. You can use these to conduct one-way or live interviews and create personalized video questions.
These give you a better understanding of applicants’ characters and an opportunity to connect with them on a personal level.
TestGorilla’s video interviews
TestGorilla’s video-interview features enhance the candidate experience while offering deeper insights into your applicants’ skills.
Our platform lets you create one-way interview questions. These are fully customizable, including the length of the candidates’ responses. This feature is an ideal prescreening tool to help you decide whether to invite a candidate for an in-person interview.
You can also record candidates’ screens during coding challenges. This shows you how a candidate solved the challenge and how long it took.
Alva Labs’ video interviews
Alva Labs doesn’t offer any video-interview features.
Video interviews: Comparison chart at a glance
| TestGorilla | Alva Labs | |
| One-way video interview | Yes | No |
| Custom video questions | Yes | No |
| Recording of candidates’ attempts | Yes | No |
| Restrict maximum answer length | Yes | No |
| Recording and playback on any device | Yes | No |
| Rate and comment video answers | Yes | No |
TestGorilla vs. Alva Labs: Candidate experience and company branding
A pre-employment testing platform should prioritize the candidate experience. This not only encourages candidates to complete the assessment but also makes the hiring process more enjoyable and memorable for them.
Features like mobile-friendliness, test length, and support for applicants contribute to a positive candidate experience. Customizing tests with your logo and brand colors further strengthens your employer branding and improves brand awareness.
The candidate experience with TestGorilla
TestGorilla was designed to deliver a superior candidate experience. Our tests are very user-friendly and most take only 10 minutes to complete; and assessments take less than an hour. Candidates can complete them from their mobile devices and don’t need to set up an account.
Candidates can also use our comprehensive candidate guides to gain a better understanding of how to successfully complete assessments.
Our platform offers a range of company branding options, including adding your logo, colors, and custom intro and outro videos to assessments. This helps promote your brand while delivering a memorable experience to candidates.
The candidate experience with Alva Labs
Alva Labs emphasizes the candidate experience to reduce drop-offs during the hiring process. Tests take less than 25 minutes to complete and are mobile-friendly.
Alva Labs’ help center includes a collection of articles to support candidates using the platform.
Candidates own their test results. They receive the same report as the hiring company, which they can share with other prospective employers via the platform.
Organizations can add company branding and customize candidate invitation emails and reminders.
Candidate experience and company branding: Comparison chart at a glance
| TestGorilla | Alva Labs | |
| Your company’s intro or outro video | Yes | No |
| Assessments branded with your company logo and colors | Yes | Yes |
| Customizable invitation and rejection emails | Yes | Yes |
| No login required for candidates | Yes | No |
| Mobile friendly | Yes | Yes |
| Help and support for your candidates | Yes | Yes |
| Typical assessment length | 30-60 minutes | 20-25 minutes |
| Qualifying questions prior to assessment | Yes | No |
| Redirect candidates to a URL of your choice after finishing an assessment | Yes | No |
TestGorilla vs. Alva Labs: Enterprise and startup friendliness
Pre-employment testing needs to cater to your business needs, regardless of whether your company is a startup, scaling business, or large enterprise.
For startups, the pre-employment screening platform you choose should be agile and affordable. As your business grows, look for API access, ATS integration, and candidate tracking to support larger recruitment efforts.
TestGorilla’s enterprise and startup friendliness
Whether you’re a startup, scaling business, or enterprise-level company, TestGorilla can support your hiring needs.
Our Free forever plan and other affordable pricing options make pre-employment testing accessible to smaller businesses. And if you’re looking to scale, features like ATS integration, GDPR compliance, bulk actions, and API access support your growing recruitment needs.
Our platform is also ideal for large, enterprise-level recruitment processes with features such as multiple users and rights management and bulk actions to manage candidates, including sending out invites.
Alva Labs’ enterprise and startup friendliness
Alva Labs offers features that support the unique recruitment needs of both small and large businesses.
It has four subscription plans that cater to small businesses, scaling teams, and enterprises. For enterprise businesses, Alva Labs provides bulk actions to manage large numbers of candidates.
It also includes API access and ATS integrations, which help streamline large recruitment processes.
Enterprise and startup friendliness: Comparison chart at a glance
| TestGorilla | Alva Labs | |
| ATS integrations | Yes | Yes |
| Multiple users and role-based rights management | Yes | Yes |
| GDPR compliant | Yes | Yes |
| Multiple candidate-invitation options | Yes | Yes |
| Public links to invite candidates | Yes | Yes |
| Public links for each candidate source | Yes | Yes |
| Bulk invite candidates (CSV/XLSX upload) | Yes | Yes |
| Track candidate stages from invited to hired | Yes | Yes |
| API access | Yes | Yes |
| Bulk actions to manage candidates | Yes | Yes |
TestGorilla vs. Alva Labs: Quality control
Pre-employment tests should be accurate and reliable to ensure the results are fair and valid.
The tests should be science-based and undergo extensive quality checks before release. Other quality-control features to look out for include frequent replacement of test questions and continuous test improvement.
TestGorilla’s quality-control processes
TestGorilla adheres to strict quality control, so you can rely on test results. With experts involved in each phase of test development, all tests are subject to a 28-step quality control process before going live.
Tests are continually reviewed to ensure they assess the right skills and remain straightforward for candidates to use.
We also pay close attention to customer and candidate feedback to maintain the ongoing improvement of our test library.
Alva Labs’ quality-control processes
Alva Labs’ logic and personality tests rely on evidence-based theoretical models. They originate from pilot studies developed in accordance with standards set by the European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations.
Its personality test has also undergone independent peer review.
The platform continually reviews the tests for improvement. This includes collecting data for new question development to replace older versions. A series of quality checks also ensure the reliability and validity of the tests.
Quality control: Comparison chart at a glance
| TestGorilla | Alva Labs | |
| Proprietary algorithms that continuously improve the quality of each test | Yes | Yes |
| Extensive quality check before tests go live | Yes | Yes |
| Questions replaced after reaching exposure limit | Yes | No |
| Customer feedback used to improve tests | Yes | No |
| Test-taker feedback used to improve tests | Yes | No |
TestGorilla vs. Alva Labs: Anti-cheating measures
Strong anti-cheating measures keep your pre-employment tests fair and the results accurate. Look out for features like disabling copy and paste, screen monitoring, and question cycling.
TestGorilla’s anti-cheating measures
TestGorilla’s platform includes a range of anti-cheating features, including:
- Timed tests that reduce candidates’ opportunity to research answers or ask for help
- Question cycling that makes it difficult for candidates to share questions
- IP-address monitoring to detect multiple attempts to access the same link
- Webcam screenshots of candidates every 30 seconds during an assessment (with their permission)
- Full-screen tracking to flag if candidates leave the assessment window
These measures ensure the integrity of test results and prevent candidates from gaining an unfair advantage over others.
Alva Labs’ anti-cheating measures
Alva Labs’ logic test is timed and adaptive. Candidates have two minutes to complete each task, limiting the opportunity to research an answer or seek external help.
Employers can also later validate a candidate’s results by readministering the test under on-site supervision to uncover any potential cheating.
When it comes to the personality test, there are no right or wrong answers. The questions adapt to earlier responses, so each candidate responds to the statements in a different order.
Anti-cheating measures: Comparison chart at a glance
| TestGorilla | Alva Labs | |
| IP-address logging (to avoid multiple attempts by the same candidate) | Yes | No |
| Logging of candidate location | Yes | Yes |
| Webcam snapshots (with the option to turn on/off) | Yes | No |
| Full-screen mode detection (to avoid research during the test) | Yes | No |
| Randomized questions per test | Yes | Yes |
| Large question pool for each test | Yes (100+) | Yes |
| Questions and answers not visible to employers to protect test integrity | Yes | Yes |
| Time limit on tests | Yes (typically 10 minutes) | Yes |
| Copy-paste disabled | Yes | No |
TestGorilla vs. Alva Labs: Reporting and analytics
A pre-employment testing platform should provide easy-to-read, comprehensive reports to fully understand candidates’ results. Straightforward analytics features help you compare candidates with ease.
Solid reporting and analytics features are necessary to find the right person for the role without relying on unconscious bias.
TestGorilla’s reporting and analytics features
TestGorilla’s platform generates a range of easy-to-understand, comprehensive reports to help you evaluate and compare candidates’ results. You can rank scores against a benchmark.
Individual reports are also available for each candidate, which enables your hiring team to gain deeper insights into their overall performance and responses.
It’s quick and easy to share these reports in PDF, XLSX, and CSV formats.
Alva Labs’ reporting and analytics features
Alva Labs’ ranking tool orders results according to the test profile to facilitate the selection and shortlisting of candidates. You can also use a scorecard system to add your own ratings.
You also get access to candidates’ full test results for more qualitative interpretation. Alva Labs provides online guides on how to interpret test results for individual candidates and in the context of a team.
Results are only shared on the platform to protect data integrity, but you can give members of your hiring team access to test results.
Reporting and analytics: Comparison chart at a glance
| TestGorilla | Alva Labs | |
| PDF reports of assessments and individual candidates | Yes | No |
| Excel and CSV reports of assessments and individual candidates | Yes | No |
| Comprehensive overview for all current and past candidates | Yes | Yes |
| Scoring benchmarks for candidates (including percentile rank scoring) | Yes | Yes |
| Add your ratings and personal notes for candidates | Yes | Yes |
TestGorilla vs. Alva Labs: Customer support
Good customer support is essential for any pre-employment testing platform: It helps customers and candidates troubleshoot problems and make full use of it.
Most providers offer a combination of live chat, email, and phone support.
TestGorilla’s customer support
TestGorilla’s customer support is available via live chat and email. Phone support is also available for Business plan users.
New customers receive a training and onboarding tour to learn about TestGorilla’s features and how to use them. We also regularly post blog articles on skills-based hiring, interviewing techniques, and pre-employment testing.
TestGorilla’s extensive online help center contains a range of guides on how to use the platform for both customers and candidates.
Alva Labs’ customer support
Alva Labs offers customer support via live chat and email. An onboarding specialist also conducts team-onboarding sessions for new customers.
There is an online help center with information for customers and candidates. It offers hiring guides, blog articles, webinars, and a podcast with additional insights into the hiring process and other related topics.
Customers on higher subscription levels also have access to a dedicated customer success manager or team for additional support and training. However, support by phone is not available.
Customer support: Comparison chart at a glance
| TestGorilla | Alva Labs | |
| Live chat | Yes | Yes |
| Help center | Yes | Yes |
| Email support | Yes | Yes |
| Training and onboarding tour | Yes | Yes |
| Phone assistance | No | No |
TestGorilla vs. Alva Labs: Pricing
Pre-employment testing platforms typically charge a monthly or annual subscription fee. Most offer several subscription tiers with increasing access to features. The best choice will depend on your organization’s size and hiring needs.
TestGorilla’s pricing
TestGorilla offers affordable annual subscriptions to suit the hiring needs of businesses of all sizes.
This includes a Free (forever) plan which offers access to 10 tests, including HR fundamentals, communication, and JavaScript (entry-level).
For full access to our testing library, we also offer three paid plans with additional features:
- Pay as you go: $312 per year
- Scale: $3,900 per year
- Business: $26,400 per year
Users can also take advantage of TestGorilla’s free trial.
Alva Labs’ pricing
Alva Labs offers monthly subscriptions based on the number of job positions.
These include a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) plan that charges per job position. All of Alva Labs’ other subscriptions are based on up to five job positions each month:
- PAYG: no subscription fee + $390 per job position
- Grow: $149 per month
- Scale: $799 per month
Enterprise users can also contact Alva Labs for a quote tailored to their business needs. There is also a free trial for interested users.
Pricing: Comparison chart at a glance
| TestGorilla | Alva Labs | ||
| Plan | Price (billed annually) | Plan | Price |
| Free | $0 | PAYG | $0 + $390 per job position |
| Pay as you go | $26 per month | Grow | $149 monthly |
| Scale | $325 per month | Scale | $799 monthly |
| Business | $2,200 per month | Enterprise | Contact Alva Labs |
TestGorilla vs. Alva Labs: Ease of use
When a pre-employment testing platform is easy to use, your hiring team and candidates are more likely to benefit from it. Features like an intuitive interface, simple test creation, and a clean layout help with this.
TestGorilla’s ease of use
TestGorilla’s easy-to-use design makes it a great choice for employers and candidates alike. It only takes a few minutes to create an assessment and send it out to multiple candidates.
Test reports are clearly formatted for ease of reading and interpretation.
For candidates, TestGorilla’s layout is easy to navigate and straightforward to use. Applicants can complete assessments quickly and easily without signing up for an account.
Alva Labs’ ease of use
Customer reviews indicate the platform is easy to set up and use and provides a smooth candidate experience, thanks to its intuitive design.
Alva Labs’ customer support, especially for its higher subscription tiers, is comprehensive. This helps users quickly familiarize themselves with the platform and its features.
Conclusion: TestGorilla vs. Alva Labs
TestGorilla and Alva Labs offer user-friendly, science-backed pre-employment testing. Their cognitive-ability and personality tests, as well as coding challenges, help you find the best candidate for the role. They also offer scalable features to meet the demands of businesses of all sizes.
But when it comes to test selection and variety and video features to enhance your pre-employment testing, TestGorilla clearly pulls ahead.
With more than 280 tests, the platform lets you create assessments that are tailored specifically to the requirements of each role you’re recruiting for. The platform’s easy-to-use video interview features also enable you to gain deeper insights into your candidates.
Streamline your hiring process with pre-employment testing
Interviews are only one part of the hiring puzzle. Pre-employment testing offers a greater understanding of each candidate and removes any unconscious bias from the process. Plus, it saves you time and money by removing the need to screen dozens or hundreds of candidate resumes – and helps you avoid costly mis-hires.
Pre-employment testing is the key to better, bias-free hiring. With an extensive test library and high levels of customization, TestGorilla is the best platform to help with your pre-employment screening needs.
Find out more about how TestGorilla can improve your hiring process with a free 30-minute live demo.
