eSkill Pricing 2026 with Cost per Candidate and Alternatives
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Short answer: eSkill does not publish prices. Its three plans, Growth (up to 500 candidates a year), Scale (up to 1,000 a year) and Custom (high volume), are all quoted, and an annual subscription is required. Capterra and Software Advice list a starting price of $400 a month, usage based, with no free trial and no free version. That puts the entry point near $4,800 a year before add-ons such as proctoring.
If you have an eSkill demo booked, or a hiring manager has asked for a budget number, the sections below give you what is public, what the quote is built from and what the same money buys elsewhere. Every figure is labeled with where it came from, because the roundups ranking for this search mostly say "contact sales" and stop there.
eSkill pricing at a glance
| Source | What it says | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| eSkill subscription page | Growth, Scale and Custom plans; no prices shown; annual subscription required; no limit on users or seats | The only first-party statement. Plan limits are set by candidates per year, not by seats. |
| Capterra | Starting at $400 per month, usage based; no free trial; no free version | A listing figure, not a quote. Useful as the floor for a budget. |
| Software Advice | Starting at $400 per month, usage based | Same data source family as Capterra, so treat it as one figure, not two. |
| G2 | Pricing not listed | No help for budgeting. |
| FinancesOnline | Older pay-per-score packages starting at $850, plus a quoted flat-rate subscription | Describes an earlier pricing model. The current page only shows annual subscriptions. |
What each eSkill plan includes
eSkill sizes its plans by how many candidates you screen in a year. Everything below is taken from eSkill's own subscription page.
| Plan | Candidate volume | What is included |
|---|---|---|
| Growth | Up to 500 candidates a year | Standardized tests, mix-and-match custom tests, the full test library, ATS integrations, behavioral tests |
| Scale (marked most popular) | Up to 1,000 candidates a year | Everything in Growth, plus one-way video interviews, custom questions, test uploads and digitization, team grading |
| Custom | High-volume hiring | Everything in Scale, plus personalized implementation, white glove assistance, test analysis and refinement, assessment consulting, paid pilot options |
Two details matter for the price. First, users and seats are unlimited on every plan, so adding hiring managers does not raise the bill; the candidate cap does. Second, anti-cheat and AI-powered proctoring are listed as an add-on on all three plans, so a proctored setup costs more than the base quote. The library itself is large: eSkill advertises more than 70,000 questions.
How much does eSkill cost per candidate?
This is the number to work out before the sales call, because a candidate-capped annual plan is cheap per head only if you use the cap. The table assumes the $400 a month listing figure applies to your plan. Replace it with your quote when you have one.
| Candidates screened in a year | Annual cost at $4,800 | Cost per candidate |
|---|---|---|
| 500 (the full Growth cap) | $4,800 | $9.60 |
| 250 | $4,800 | $19.20 |
| 100 | $4,800 | $48.00 |
| 40 | $4,800 | $120.00 |
A US employer filling six to ten roles a year with 30 to 60 applicants each lands in the 100 to 250 range, which means $19 to $48 per person tested. That is before proctoring, and before any renewal increase. A competitor, iMocha, writes on its blog that several eSkill users complained about price increases in 2025 and that eSkill does not sell test packages month to month; read that as a competitor's claim, but it matches the annual-only terms on eSkill's own page.
What drives an eSkill quote up
- Candidate volume. Moving from Growth to Scale doubles the cap from 500 to 1,000 candidates a year and adds video interviews and team grading. If you only need the extra candidates, ask whether a Growth plan with a higher cap is possible.
- Proctoring. The anti-cheat and AI proctoring add-on is priced on top of the plan. Ask for it as a separate line so you can see what it costs.
- Implementation and consulting. Custom plans include personalized implementation, test analysis and assessment consulting. That work is valuable for a large program and unnecessary for a company hiring a dozen people a year.
- Contract length. An annual subscription is required. Ask for the renewal rate in writing before you sign, and ask whether unused candidates roll over. The public page does not say.
Does eSkill offer a free trial?
No. Capterra and Software Advice both list no free trial and no free version for eSkill, and the subscription page does not mention one. Custom plans mention paid pilot options, which is a trial you pay for. To try a screening test on a live role before committing to a year, choose a vendor with monthly billing or a money-back window.
eSkill alternatives compared on price
| Tool | Price | Contract | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| eSkill Growth | Quote; listings start at $400 a month | Annual | Large library of standardized office and industry skills tests, unlimited users |
| Assessing.ai Starter | $49 a month, or $288 a year | Monthly, no contract | Your own job-specific tests with recorded answers, 500 responses a month |
| Assessing.ai Plus | $149 a month, or $888 a year | Monthly, no contract | AI drafts the test from a job description, 2,000 responses a month |
| TestGorilla Core | $142 a month, billed $1,704 a year | Annual | Library tests with a published price and a free plan |
| Testlify Standard | $1,668 a year, $21 per extra credit | Annual | Big library, 30-day money-back guarantee |
| Criteria Assess | Quote; Vendr median $13,225 a year | Annual | Validated cognitive tests such as the CCAT |
eSkill wins where you need a standardized, ready-made test for a common skill (Excel, typing, data entry, customer service) and want every manager in the company to have a login. It is harder to justify for a small employer whose roles are specific to the business. Our eSkill alternative page compares the monthly options side by side. If you are weighing eSkill against the big cognitive vendors as well, our Criteria Corp alternative page compares the quote-only tools on the same terms, and the TestGorilla pricing breakdown covers the one library vendor that does publish prices.
A flat monthly option for small teams
The hard part of hiring for a small company is rarely the library. It is the 140 applications for one bookkeeper or dispatcher posting, and the need to find the eight who can already do the work before anyone spends an afternoon on phone screens.
Assessing.ai is built for that. You describe the role, the AI drafts multiple choice, written and recorded answer questions for it (AI generation is on Plus), you edit anything that does not sound like your business, and you send one link. Multiple choice answers are scored the moment a candidate submits. Written and recorded answers land in one results view where your team scores them, so every applicant is compared on the same questions. The pre-employment testing software for small business page shows how that works as a first screen and covers the legal basics of testing applicants.
The honest limits: Assessing.ai has no 70,000-question standardized library, no proctoring, no one-way video interview product and no native ATS connector. If those are requirements, eSkill or a similar vendor is the right purchase. If the requirement is a good test for this job at a price you can put on a card this week, a monthly plan is the cheaper way to find out.
One more distinction that saves buyers money: testing candidates is a different purchase from measuring how an existing team or department performs. If the real question is whether your processes and culture are holding people back, that is an organizational assessment, and no pre-employment test will answer it.
Frequently asked questions
How much does eSkill cost?
eSkill does not publish prices. Growth, Scale and Custom plans are quoted and require an annual subscription. Capterra and Software Advice list a starting price of $400 a month, usage based, which is about $4,800 a year. Proctoring is an add-on on every plan, and Custom plans add implementation and consulting fees.
Is eSkill proctored?
It can be. eSkill lists anti-cheat and AI-powered proctoring as an add-on available on all three plans, so it is not included in the base price. If cheating risk matters for your roles, ask for the proctoring add-on as a separate line in the quote so you can see its real cost.
Is eSkill legit?
Yes. eSkill is an established pre-employment testing vendor with a large skills library, published plans on its own site and reviews on Capterra, G2 and Software Advice. The common buyer complaints are about price and annual terms, not about whether the product works.
Does eSkill charge per candidate?
Not directly on the current plans. eSkill sells an annual subscription capped by candidates per year: up to 500 on Growth and up to 1,000 on Scale. An older model sold pay-per-score packages starting at $850, according to FinancesOnline, but the vendor's subscription page now shows annual plans only.
What is cheaper than eSkill?
Assessing.ai starts at $49 a month with no contract, TestGorilla Core is $1,704 a year and Testlify Standard is $1,668 a year. Each covers something different: Assessing.ai builds job-specific tests you define, while TestGorilla and Testlify sell library tests on annual plans, closer to what eSkill offers.
What to do next
If you screen hundreds of candidates a year for common skills and want every manager to have access, book the eSkill demo and ask for the plan price, the proctoring add-on, the renewal cap and candidate rollover in writing. If you hire a handful of people into different jobs, run the per-candidate math above against a flat plan, then compare Assessing.ai plans and build a test for the role you have open now.