Sterling Background Check Pricing 2026: Quote Only, No Inferred Rates
Sterling's enterprise quote-only model after the First Advantage acquisition. Why pricing is not published and how to scope a quote.
The fast facts
| Category | Workforce background checks |
| Pricing model | quote only |
| Cheapest published | Quote only |
| Free tier | No |
| Geographic coverage | 15+ countries (US, Canada, UK, Australia, China, others). |
| Source | www.sterlingcheck.com/pricing/ |
| Verified | 17 June 2026 |
Tier breakdown
| Tier | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Enterprise | Quote only | Criminal, drug screening, MVR, employment verification, fingerprinting. Sold as customised package. |
The pricing model in one paragraph
Enterprise quote-only. Sterling's public pricing page is a marketing landing only, with no per-check rates published. Sterling now operates as a First Advantage company following the October 2024 acquisition.
Notes from the pricing page
- Acquired by First Advantage on 31 October 2024; the public Sterling page now displays 'Sterling is now a First Advantage company'.
- Sterling does not publicly disclose its enterprise pricing or escalator terms; year-on-year contractual changes are private to each customer.
- We do not publish inferred per-check rates for Sterling: contact their sales team for an enterprise quote.
The First Advantage acquisition
Sterling was acquired by First Advantage on 31 October 2024 in a $2.2B transaction (First Advantage investor relations). Sterling's public pricing page now displays "Sterling is now a First Advantage company". The combined entity is the largest US background-check provider by revenue, reported at over $1B.
What Sterling sells
- Criminal background checks (county, state, federal).
- Drug screening (clinic-based and onsite).
- Motor Vehicle Records.
- Employment, education, and reference verification.
- Fingerprinting services.
- International background checks across 15+ countries.
Why we do not show inferred per-check rates
Third-party listing sites republish per-check rates for Sterling based on user-submitted data. These numbers vary materially by buyer size and contract terms. We label Sterling as Quote Only and link to its sales contact instead.
What to ask in the Sterling sales call
- Per-check rate at the package depth you need, with a sliding scale by annual volume.
- Pass-through court access fee policy: vendor markup or at cost?
- Setup fee and annual minimum commitment.
- Annual escalator: what is the contractual year-on-year pricing change clause?
- International scope: which of the 15+ countries are in-network.
Sterling vs Checkr at the SMB and mid-market end
For hiring volumes under 500 checks per year, Checkr's published $29.99 / $54.99 / $89.99 tiers will almost always beat a Sterling quote on per-check rate before adding setup and minimums.
Try it in the calculator
The multi-vendor calculator includes Sterling alongside the rest of the workforce, tenant, and consumer-KYC field. Enter your monthly verification volume to see how Sterling's pricing model compares against published alternatives.
Where to go next
- Multi-vendor calculator, estimate annual cost at your volume.
- Workforce background checks, full category breakdown and side-by-side comparison.
- Quote-only vendors, the operational consequences of vendor pricing opacity.
- Methodology, every source URL and verification date.