HackerRank Pricing and HackerRank Cost Per Candidate in 2026
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Short answer: HackerRank lists Starter at $199 a month ($1,990 a year, about $165 a month) and Pro at $449 a month ($4,490 a year, about $375 a month), with extra test attempts at $20 each, or $15 when pre-purchased on an annual Pro plan. Enterprise is quote only. Those are the figures HackerRank itself prints in a pricing comparison post. Third-party listings disagree on how many attempts each plan includes, and some report a cheaper Starter after a mid-2026 change, so confirm the current card before you budget.
We pulled the vendor figure, the review-site listings and the overage rule together in October 2026 and worked out what a coding screen costs per candidate. If you are pricing several vendors at once, our pre-employment assessment software pricing table puts eleven of them side by side at 300 candidates a year.
HackerRank pricing at a glance
| Plan | Monthly billing | Annual billing | Extra attempts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $199 a month | $1,990 a year (about $165 a month) | $20 each |
| Pro | $449 a month | $4,490 a year (about $375 a month) | $20 each, $15 when pre-purchased on annual |
| Enterprise | Quote only | Quote only | Quote only |
The attempt allowance is where sources split. G2 lists 10 attempts a month on Starter and 25 on Pro. One review site lists 120 attempts a year on Starter and 300 on Pro. Another reports a July 2026 change that cut Starter to a lower price and a smaller cap. HackerRank's own comparison post does not state the included attempts at all. That matters because the allowance, not the sticker price, sets your cost per candidate.
How much does HackerRank cost per candidate?
An attempt is one candidate taking one test. Divide the plan by the attempts you use. Using the G2 allowance of 10 attempts a month on Starter at $199, a full month is about $20 per candidate, and every candidate past ten costs $20 again. On annual Starter at $1,990 for 120 attempts, it is about $16.60 per candidate if you use them all.
| Candidates tested in a year | Starter on the 120 attempt basis | Cost per candidate |
|---|---|---|
| 40 | $1,990 (allowance mostly unused) | About $50 |
| 120 | $1,990 | About $16.60 |
| 300 | $1,990 plus 180 extra at $20 = $5,590 | About $18.60 |
| 500 | $1,990 plus 380 extra at $20 = $9,590 | About $19.20 |
These are plain divisions of the listed prices under one allowance reading. If your plan includes fewer attempts, the cost per candidate rises. Ask for the attempt count in writing before you sign.
What you get for that price
HackerRank is a coding assessment platform. You get programming questions that run code in the browser, plagiarism detection, role-based certified assessments and a library of real-world problems, with live technical interviews on the same platform. For engineering hiring at scale, that depth is the reason to pay. It is not built for a bookkeeper, a dispatcher or a support rep, and none of the listed plans are priced for that kind of volume of non-technical screening.
When HackerRank is the wrong tool
If most of your openings are not software roles, you are paying a developer-testing price for questions your applicants never see. A support team lead does not need a code editor. A scored test written from your own job post does the same sorting job for ordinary roles.
Assessing AI is honest about the other side too. It has no code execution, no live or video proctoring and no plagiarism engine, so it does not replace HackerRank for engineers. What it does: a job test built from your description, choice questions scored the moment the applicant submits, and audio or video recorded answers from the Starter plan at $49 a month, up to 500 responses, with no contract. For a small team that hires one engineer a year and eight other people, running both can still cost less than the larger HackerRank plan alone. See how that plays out on our TestDome alternative page, the closest comparison for a team that mixes technical and non-technical hiring.
A worked example for a 12-person company
A company hires 2 developers and 10 operations and support people in a year. Say 40 developer applicants reach the test stage and 600 applicants apply for the operations roles. Putting all 640 through HackerRank Starter on the 120 attempt basis costs $1,990 plus 520 extra attempts at $20, about $12,400, and the operations applicants would sit coding-oriented tooling they do not need. Splitting it works better: the 40 developer tests on HackerRank Starter at $1,990, and the 600 operations applicants on Assessing AI Starter, six hiring months at $49 or $294 in total. That is about $2,300 for the year, and each role gets a screen that fits it.
After the screen, the people who clear it still need interviews on calendars. A scheduling tool for business teams handles that step so your recruiter is not trading emails with 30 finalists.
Questions about HackerRank pricing
How much does HackerRank cost per month?
HackerRank lists Starter at $199 a month on monthly billing or $1,990 a year, and Pro at $449 a month or $4,490 a year. Enterprise is custom. Annual billing brings the monthly equivalent to about $165 for Starter and $375 for Pro.
Does HackerRank have a free trial?
HackerRank invites visitors to create a free account, but the company-side plans are paid. Check the pricing page for the current trial terms, because third-party sources disagree. Assessing AI has no free trial, but its generator drafts a sample test first, and the most you commit is one month at $49.
How much does an extra HackerRank attempt cost?
HackerRank states that overage attempts cost $20 each, with discounts available for pre-purchased attempts on annual plans. Pro on annual billing is listed at $15 for pre-purchased attempts. Each attempt is one candidate taking one test.
Is there a cheaper alternative to HackerRank?
For coding tests, other developer platforms compete on price, and the right pick depends on languages and volume. For non-technical roles, a flat plan is cheaper: Assessing AI Starter is $49 a month, $288 a year, for up to 500 responses a month with recorded answers. See the TestGorilla alternative comparison for library-based options.