eSkill Alternative and eSkill Alternatives for Small Business Hiring
The best eSkill alternative for a small US employer is one you can pay for monthly. eSkill sells only annual subscriptions capped by candidates per year, and listings put the floor at $400 a month, about $4,800 a year. Assessing.ai starts at $49 a month for up to 500 responses, with no contract, so a company hiring a few people a year pays only in the months it hires.
Type the role into the generator to see the questions it drafts. If you need a 70,000-question standardized library, proctoring or one-way interviews inside the same tool, eSkill does that and we do not, and the comparison below says so.
Draft a test for the role you are hiring now
No account needed to build your first test. Results appear instantly in your dashboard.
What 100 candidates a year costs on each option
Most small employers screen somewhere between 50 and 250 applicants a year. On a candidate-capped annual plan, the price is the same whether you use the cap or not. On a monthly plan, you switch it on for the months you have an open role.
- eSkill Growth: about $4,800 a year at the listing price, before proctoring
- Assessing.ai Plus yearly: $888 with AI question drafting
- Assessing.ai Starter: $49 for each month you are hiring
Why employers look for an eSkill alternative
eSkill is a serious testing vendor with a very large library and unlimited users on every plan. The buyers who go looking for something else usually are not unhappy with the tests. They are stuck on the terms.
Annual subscription only
eSkill's subscription page answers its own FAQ plainly: plans are annual. A company that fills six roles a year still pays for twelve months of access.
No public price
Growth, Scale and Custom all end in a Talk to sales button. Capterra and Software Advice list $400 a month as the starting price, which you only confirm after a call.
Capped by candidates, not seats
Growth covers up to 500 candidates a year and Scale up to 1,000. Unlimited users sounds generous, but the number that sets your bill is applicants.
Proctoring costs extra
Anti-cheat and AI-powered proctoring are listed as add-ons on all three plans, so a quote that looks like the listing price rarely stays there.
No free trial
Listings show no free trial and no free version. Custom plans mention paid pilots, which is a trial you pay for before you commit.
Library tests are generic
A standard Excel or data entry test says little about whether someone can run your dispatch board or your front desk. Small businesses often need questions about their own work.
How to move a screen off eSkill in one afternoon
Write down the week-one tasks
List the two or three things the new hire must already handle. For a dispatcher that might be routing, customer calls and a scheduling tool; for a bookkeeper, reconciliations and payables.
Let the AI draft the test
On Plus, paste the job description or describe the role. You get multiple choice questions that score themselves plus written and recorded answer prompts. Edit anything that does not sound like your business.
Send one link to every applicant
Paste the link into your job post, your ATS auto-reply or an email. Candidates need no account. Starter covers 500 responses a month, Plus 2,000.
Shortlist from one results view
Choice questions are scored the moment an applicant submits. Your team scores written and recorded answers in the same view, then you call the top few.
eSkill alternatives compared on price and fit
Figures come from each vendor's own pricing page where one exists, otherwise from the listing or contract database named in the cell. Prices change, so confirm before you buy.
| Tool | Price | Billing | Proctoring | Where it wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| eSkill Growth | Quote; listings start at $400 a month | Annual, up to 500 candidates a year | Add-on on every plan | 70,000+ question library, unlimited users, 100+ ATS integrations |
| TestGorilla Core | $142 a month, billed $1,704 a year | Annual | Anti-cheating measures in the product | Large validated library with a published price |
| Testlify Standard | $1,668 a year for 100 credits, $21 per extra credit | Annual, credits expire at cycle end | Listed on its site | Big library, 30-day money-back guarantee |
| TestDome | $20 per candidate (5 pack) down to $7 (600 pack) | Prepaid packs, no subscription | Webcam and screen proctoring | Pay only when you test, coding and office skills |
| Criteria Assess | Quote; Vendr median $13,225 a year | Annual, priced on headcount | Non-AI proctoring included, AI proctoring add-on | Validated cognitive tests such as the CCAT |
| Assessing.ai Starter | $49 a month, or $288 a year | Monthly, no contract | None | Lowest flat price, 500 responses a month, recorded answers, 3 team members |
| Assessing.ai Plus | $149 a month, or $888 a year | Monthly, no contract | None | AI drafts the test from a job description, 2,000 responses a month |
Who should switch, and who should stay on eSkill
Switch if you hire a few times a year
A dental office, contractor or agency filling four to ten roles a year uses a 500-candidate annual cap only partly. Monthly billing matches how you actually hire.
Switch if your jobs are specific
When the real test is your software, your customers and your process, questions written about the job beat a generic library test on who can start on Monday.
Switch if you need a number this week
Our prices are on the pricing page and a card is enough. No sales call, no pilot fee, and 14 days to ask for your money back.
Stay if you need a standardized library
If you test typing speed, Microsoft Office or industry knowledge across hundreds of hires and want norms to compare against, eSkill's library is the stronger product.
Stay if proctoring is required
eSkill offers anti-cheat and AI proctoring as add-ons. Assessing.ai has no webcam monitoring, so certification-style or high-stakes testing belongs elsewhere.
Or mix both
Some teams keep a standardized test for one high-volume role and use a flat monthly plan for everything else. That is often cheaper than moving up to Scale.
What eSkill costs, and what a monthly plan costs per candidate
eSkill's subscription page lists three plans without prices. Growth covers up to 500 candidates a year, Scale (marked most popular) up to 1,000 and adds one-way interviews and team grading, and Custom adds implementation, consulting and paid pilots. Our eSkill pricing breakdown collects every public figure.
| Candidates a year | eSkill at $4,800 | Per candidate |
|---|---|---|
| 500 | $4,800 | $9.60 |
| 250 | $4,800 | $19.20 |
| 100 | $4,800 | $48.00 |
| 40 | $4,800 | $120.00 |
The table uses the $400 a month listing figure. On Assessing.ai Starter, a month with 150 applicants costs $49, about 33 cents each, and a month with no open role costs nothing if you cancel.
Where eSkill is the better choice
eSkill has things we do not. Its library holds more than 70,000 questions, including standardized tests for common office and industry skills. Every plan has unlimited users and integrates with over 100 applicant tracking systems. Scale adds one-way video interviews and team grading, and proctoring is available as an add-on. eSkill also lists AI features for building tests.
If you run a steady, high-volume program and need defensible standardized scores, that package is worth a quote. The Criteria Corp alternative page covers the other big quote-only vendor on the same terms.
A job test for the roles eSkill buyers use most
Small employers usually look at eSkill for office, customer service and trade support roles. Those are exactly the jobs where a short test about your own work says the most. A property management office can ask how a new hire would handle a late rent call; an HVAC company can ask a dispatcher to order five emergency tickets.
The pre-employment testing software for small business page covers the legal basics of testing applicants in the US, and the pre-employment assessment software pricing table puts eleven vendors side by side on cost per candidate.
eSkill alternative questions buyers ask
What is the best eSkill alternative?
For a large, standardized skills library, the closest eSkill alternatives are TestGorilla and Testlify, both on annual plans. For a small US business that hires a few times a year, a monthly tool is usually better value: Assessing.ai starts at $49 a month for up to 500 responses with no contract.
How much does eSkill cost?
eSkill does not publish prices. Its Growth, Scale and Custom plans are quoted and require an annual subscription. Capterra and Software Advice list a starting price of $400 a month, about $4,800 a year, and proctoring is an add-on on every plan.
Is eSkill an annual subscription?
Yes. eSkill's own FAQ says its plans are annual subscriptions, sized by candidates per year: up to 500 on Growth and up to 1,000 on Scale. If you want to pay only in the months you hire, choose a vendor with monthly billing.
Does eSkill have a free trial?
No free trial or free version is listed on Capterra or Software Advice, and the subscription page does not mention one. Custom plans offer paid pilots. Assessing.ai has no free trial either, but monthly billing and a 14-day money-back guarantee keep the risk to one month.
Who are eSkill's main competitors?
eSkill competes with TestGorilla, Testlify, Criteria Corp, TestDome, iMocha and Vervoe on pre-employment skills testing. Library vendors win on standardized tests; flat monthly tools such as Assessing.ai win for small employers who want questions about their own job without an annual contract.
Can I cancel Assessing.ai any time?
Yes. Monthly plans have no contract, so you can cancel before the next billing date and keep access until the period ends. Every paid plan has a 14-day money-back guarantee.
Test every applicant without an annual contract, from $49 a month
Describe the role, review the draft, send one link. Monthly billing and a 14-day money-back guarantee.