Checkr vs Smarsh Comparison: Reviews, Features, Pricing & Alternatives in 2026

Detailed side-by-side comparison to help you choose the right solution for your team

Updated Apr 2026 8 min read

Checkr

0.0 (0 reviews)

Checkr is a modern background check platform that uses artificial intelligence and automation to help you hire faster while maintaining compliance and reducing manual review for your team.

Starting at $29.99/mo
Free Trial NO FREE TRIAL
VS

Smarsh

0.0 (0 reviews)

Smarsh provides cloud-based archiving and compliance solutions that help you capture, retain, and monitor digital communications to meet strict regulatory requirements and manage corporate risk effectively.

Starting at --
Free Trial NO FREE TRIAL

Quick Comparison

Feature Checkr Smarsh
Website checkr.com smarsh.com
Pricing Model Subscription Custom
Starting Price $29.99/month Custom Pricing
FREE Trial ✘ No free trial ✘ No free trial
Free Plan ✘ No free plan ✘ No free plan
Product Demo ✓ Request demo here ✓ Request demo here
Deployment cloud mobile cloud saas
Integrations Greenhouse Lever BambooHR Workday SmartRecruiters Paylocity UKG ADP JazzHR HiBob Microsoft Teams Slack Zoom Salesforce LinkedIn WhatsApp Bloomberg Webex Box Twitter
Target Users small-business mid-market enterprise mid-market enterprise
Target Industries retail technology hospitality financial-services government healthcare
Customer Count 0 0
Founded Year 2014 2001
Headquarters San Francisco, USA Portland, USA

Overview

C

Checkr

Checkr provides a faster, fairer way to manage background checks for your growing team. Instead of waiting weeks for manual results, you can use its AI-powered platform to automate the screening process for employees, contractors, and volunteers. It integrates directly with your existing hiring tools to trigger checks automatically the moment a candidate reaches the right stage in your pipeline.

You can customize your screening packages to include criminal records, driving history, drug testing, and education verification. The platform also helps you stay compliant with built-in tools for adverse action and fair hiring workflows. It is designed to scale with your needs, whether you are a small business hiring your first employee or a massive gig-economy platform managing thousands of applicants daily.

strtoupper($product2['name'][0])

Smarsh

Smarsh helps you manage the complex world of digital communications compliance by capturing data across more than 100 channels. Whether your team uses email, instant messaging, social media, or mobile text, you can automatically archive every interaction in a search-ready, immutable format. This ensures you stay compliant with regulations from bodies like FINRA, SEC, and FCA while protecting your organization from legal and reputational risks.

You can streamline your oversight process using AI-powered discovery and automated review tools that flag potential policy violations in real-time. The platform is built for highly regulated industries like financial services, government, and healthcare, providing a centralized workspace where legal and compliance teams can collaborate on audits and investigations without manual data gathering.

Overview

C

Checkr Features

  • Automated Workflows Trigger background checks automatically from your ATS and receive real-time status updates as reports progress through the system.
  • AI-Powered Filtering Reduce manual review time by using smart filters that highlight relevant records while hiding non-actionable data automatically.
  • Candidate Portal Give your candidates a mobile-friendly way to submit information, upload documents, and track their own background check status easily.
  • Compliance Tools Manage the adverse action process with built-in templates and automated mailing services to help you meet legal requirements.
  • International Screening Expand your hiring reach by running background checks in over 200 countries and territories through a single unified interface.
  • Continuous Monitoring Receive instant alerts if an employee's record changes after they are hired so you can maintain a safe workplace.
strtoupper($product2['name'][0])

Smarsh Features

  • Multi-Channel Capture. Capture content from over 100 communication channels including Microsoft Teams, Slack, Zoom, and mobile text messages automatically.
  • Enterprise Archive. Store your data in a secure, immutable cloud environment that keeps records indexed and ready for instant search.
  • Discovery Workbench. Speed up legal reviews by searching across all archived content simultaneously with advanced filtering and tagging tools.
  • Automated Supervision. Set up custom policies to automatically flag high-risk communications and reduce the time spent on manual message review.
  • Mobile Communication Monitoring. Capture business-related texts and voice calls on personal or corporate devices while maintaining employee privacy for personal data.
  • AI-Powered Insights. Use machine learning to identify sentiment and behavioral patterns that might indicate fraud or policy breaches before they escalate.

Pricing Comparison

C

Checkr Pricing

Basic+
$29.99
  • Social Security Number trace
  • Sex Offender Registry search
  • Global Watchlist search
  • National Criminal Search
  • Standard turnaround time
S

Smarsh Pricing

Pros & Cons

M

Checkr

Pros

  • Fast turnaround times for standard criminal background checks
  • Excellent mobile experience for candidates submitting their data
  • Seamless integrations with popular ATS platforms like Greenhouse
  • Clean and modern dashboard is very easy to navigate

Cons

  • Customer support response times can be slow occasionally
  • County-level checks may take longer due to court delays
  • Pricing can become expensive for high-volume hiring needs
A

Smarsh

Pros

  • Extensive support for a wide variety of modern communication apps
  • Powerful search functionality handles massive datasets with high speed
  • Reliable automated capture ensures no gaps in regulatory records
  • Intuitive interface for legal teams performing complex eDiscovery tasks

Cons

  • Initial configuration and implementation can be time-consuming
  • Pricing is high compared to basic storage-only solutions
  • Occasional delays in indexing during high-volume data spikes
×

Please claim profile in order to edit product details and view analytics. Provide your work email @productdomain to receive a verification link.