Personality Test for Hiring Employees and What Each Costs

Short answer: a personality test for hiring employees costs anywhere from about $10 to $300 per candidate in the US, or $5,000 to $20,000+ a year on a subscription. Per-report tools such as Hogan ($170 Candidate Summary at a US distributor), Caliper (about $265 per profile) and PXT Select ($295 down to $175) are priced for finalists; the Predictive Index starts at $10,000 a year with unlimited behavioral assessments. Two of the best-known tests, the MBTI and Everything DiSC, come with publisher guidance saying not to use them to select candidates at all.

If you are about to buy a pre employment personality test, this page lists what each common option costs, what it is built to measure, whether the publisher supports using it for selection, and what the bill looks like for a company making 10 hires a year. It ends with the cheaper route most small employers take: screen everyone on the job itself, and profile only the finalists.

Personality test for hiring employees, prices compared

Read the table in two halves. The top seven are sold for employee selection and priced either per finalist or as an annual contract. The bottom two are development tools that are cheap per person but that their own publishers tell you not to use for choosing between applicants, which matters if a rejected candidate ever challenges the decision. If you are pricing Wonderlic Select mainly for its cognitive score, our Wonderlic alternative comparison shows what the same screen costs elsewhere.

How much does a pre employment personality test cost per candidate?

A pre employment personality test costs about $170 to $300 per candidate when you buy reports one at a time from Hogan, Caliper or PXT Select partners. Annual platforms such as the Predictive Index or Culture Index start around $5,000 to $10,000 a year and make each extra test close to free, so the per candidate cost depends entirely on how many people you test.

That is why the buying model matters more than the list price. A per-report tool is reasonable if you profile three finalists a few times a year. An annual license only pays off if you test a lot of people, and most companies with under 50 employees do not.

What a personality assessment for hiring costs at 10 hires a year

The fairest way to compare is cost per hire. This example assumes 10 hires a year, 40 applicants per opening and, for the per-report tools, three finalists profiled per hire.

The personality rows only cover finalists, so the other 370 applicants were still cut on resumes. The last two rows test every applicant on the work. You can combine them: screen everyone with a job test, then buy one profile per finalist if the role is senior enough to justify it. On 10 hires that combination costs roughly $3,000 to $8,000 less than putting the whole budget into profiles.

Which personality test is best for hiring?

The best personality test for hiring is one the publisher validated for selection, such as Hogan, Caliper, PXT Select, the Predictive Index or Wonderlic Select, used on finalists alongside a job-related test. Hogan is strongest for leadership roles, Caliper and OMG-style tools for sales, and the Predictive Index for companies that want unlimited behavioral surveys on a fixed annual fee.

If you are torn between two of these, our cost pages go into each vendor's fees in detail: Hogan assessment cost, Caliper assessment cost, PXT Select pricing and Predictive Index cost. If a consultant recommended Caliper and the quote surprised you, the Caliper alternative page prices the options side by side.

Can you use the MBTI or DISC as a personality test for hiring?

No, not for selection. The Myers-Briggs Company says it does not condone using the MBTI for any hiring or selection and calls it unethical, and Wiley says not to use Everything DiSC to screen candidates or make employment decisions. Both are built for development and team conversations, and neither is designed to predict job performance.

Plenty of small businesses still send a DISC link to applicants because it is cheap and familiar. The problem is not the price. If a candidate challenges a rejection, you would be defending a decision made with a tool whose own publisher said not to use it that way. Our DISC assessment for hiring page covers what to use instead and where DISC still helps, such as planning interviews with finalists.

Is it legal to use a personality test for hiring?

Yes, personality tests are legal for hiring in the US when they are job related and applied the same way to every candidate. Under Title VII and the EEOC's guidance on employment tests, a test that screens out a protected group at a higher rate must be shown to relate to the job. Tests that work like a medical exam, such as clinical inventories, are limited by the ADA before a job offer.

In practice that means three things for a small employer: give every applicant for a role the same test, keep a short note on why each question or scale matters to the job, and do not use a clinical psychological inventory before an offer. A test written from the job's own tasks is the easiest kind to defend, because the link to the job is obvious from the questions.

Do personality tests predict job performance?

Somewhat. Research on personality testing finds that conscientiousness predicts job performance across most jobs, but the effect is modest, and work samples and structured interviews tend to predict performance better. Personality results also depend on candidates answering honestly, which is harder to count on when a job is at stake.

That is the practical case for leading with a job test. A question like "a customer disputes a $1,200 invoice they signed for, write your reply" shows how a person handles the actual work, and an applicant cannot fake a good answer the way they can pick the agreeable option on a trait scale.

The cheaper alternative for most small employers

If you hire under about 20 people a year and the roles are office, sales, customer service or operations, most of the value you want from a personality test comes from a short job test sent to everyone, which is what pre-employment testing software for small business is built for. With Assessing AI you describe the role, the AI drafts multiple choice, written and recorded voice answer questions for it on the Plus plan, you edit them, and you put one link in the job post. Choice answers are scored when the candidate submits; written and recorded answers are scored by your team in one results view.

What it does not do: Assessing AI has no validated personality model, no normed scales and no live or video proctoring. If you want a behavioral profile on a senior finalist, buy one from the vendors above for that person. Plans start at $49 a month with no contract, and you can cancel anytime from your account, and the full price list is on the pricing page. For more vendors with cost per candidate, see pre-employment assessment software pricing.

One more distinction worth making before you buy anything: if what you actually want to measure is your company's culture, not the candidate's, that is a different purchase. An organizational culture assessment scores how your teams and processes work today, which is a better input for a culture-fit discussion than any applicant's trait profile.

Personality test for hiring questions buyers ask

Should I use a personality test for hiring employees?

Use one only on finalists, only if the publisher validated it for selection, and never as the only factor. For most small business roles, a test of the job's tasks tells you more about which applicant will do well, costs less per person and is easier to defend. Personality reports are most useful for structuring the final interview.

How long does a personality assessment for hiring take?

It ranges from about 10 minutes for behavioral checklists such as the Predictive Index and Culture Index to 45 to 75 minutes for PXT Select and the Caliper Profile. Hogan's HPI, HDS and MVPI take about 15 to 20 minutes each. Long tests are best kept for finalists, since strong applicants often drop out of a long first step.

Do candidates pay for pre employment personality tests?

No. The employer pays for every personality test used in hiring, and candidates take it free. Be wary of any arrangement that asks applicants to pay for an assessment, since it discourages good candidates and can create legal issues for the employer.

What is a good personality test for a small business?

For a small business, a per-report test such as PXT Select or Hogan through a distributor is usually better value than an annual platform, because you only pay for the finalists you profile. If you hire more than about 30 people a year, compare that with the Predictive Index's $10,000 annual floor.