eSkill vs Criteria (2026): Customisation, ATS and Volume

eSkill and Criteria Corp are both long-established pre-employment testing vendors, and both are used for high-volume hiring. They start from different places. eSkill starts from job skills: what can this person do with Excel, a chat queue or an accounting ledger? Criteria starts from aptitude and personality: how quickly does this person learn, and how do they tend to work?

This comparison uses what each company says on its own website, checked in October 2026. One disclosure: Cohesyve, which publishes it, sells job simulations for hiring. We cover that as a separate option at the end.

What is the difference between eSkill and Criteria?

eSkill is a skills-testing platform built for customisation; Criteria is a talent assessment platform built around validated aptitude and personality tests. Use eSkill when you need to check specific, practical job skills and want the test shaped to your role. Use Criteria when you want a consistent, research-backed screen of general ability and fit across a large number of applicants.

eSkill describes its tests as covering "hard skills, job ability, and behavioral fit", across hard skills, soft skills, behavioural, personality, aptitude, cognitive and job simulation tests. Criteria calls itself "the talent signal platform" and groups its products into assessments, interviewing and employee development.

eSkill and Criteria side by side

Which offers better customisation?

eSkill. Its site says you can "mix and match questions, upload existing questions, or create them from scratch", and its team can create a custom simulation that "mirrors your real-world job tasks". That suits roles with specific, checkable skills: office administration, customer service, accounting, industrial and healthcare jobs.

Criteria's customisation is mostly in which tests you combine, which modules you include in its modular CTRS cognitive test, and the score range you set for each role. Its core tests such as the CCAT are standardised and normed, which is the point: a CCAT score means the same thing across every employer that uses it. Criteria also has TestMaker, a tool for building your own tests from questions you write, such as a skills test to check job knowledge.

Which has better ATS integration?

Both integrate with the systems most high-volume employers use, so check your own ATS against each list. eSkill names more than 45 integrations, featuring ADP Workforce Now, BambooHR, Greenhouse, iCIMS, Neogov, Paycor, Paylocity, UKG Pro and Workday, with an API for custom set-ups. Criteria's integrations page gives no total but names dozens of ATS and HRIS partners, including Ashby, Bullhorn, Fountain, Greenhouse, iCIMS, Jobvite, Lever, Oracle Taleo, SAP SuccessFactors, SmartRecruiters, Workable and Workday.

The depth of each integration matters more than the count. Criteria's Greenhouse integration, for example, can send a test automatically when a candidate reaches a workflow stage or in bulk, and returns scores to the candidate's record. Ask either vendor for the same detail for your ATS: what triggers the invitation, which scores come back, and whether reports open inside the ATS.

Which is better for high-volume hiring?

For screening very large applicant pools on general ability, Criteria. Short standardised tests, mobile-first and game-based options, and asynchronous video interviews are designed for volume, and Criteria says it has delivered more than 80 million assessments. For high-volume roles where a practical skill decides the hire, such as contact centre, data entry or office administration, eSkill's simulations test the work itself, which a general aptitude test cannot.

A high-volume team can use both kinds of test in sequence: a short aptitude or fit screen first, then a skills test for those who pass. If you do that, keep the total candidate time short; every extra step costs completions.

How do eSkill and Criteria price?

Neither showed prices on the pages we checked. eSkill links to subscription options; Criteria has a pricing page and a free trial. Prices change and depend on volume, so check each vendor's site and compare the total for a year at your real hiring volume. Our guide to assessment software pricing explains the common models.

Choose eSkill if…

• You want to test specific, practical job skills such as Microsoft Office, chat handling or accounting.
• You want to edit the test: mix questions, add your own, or have a custom simulation built.
• You hire in many different job families and want one large library to draw from.

Choose Criteria if…

• You want a validated, standardised aptitude test such as the CCAT as your first screen.
• You want personality, emotional intelligence and risk tests from the same vendor.
• You want video interviewing and later employee development on the same platform.
• You screen international candidates and need a language-independent test such as the UCAT.

A third option: job simulations from your job description

Some teams compare these two because they want the practical signal of a skills test without building one. Cohesyve, which publishes this comparison, works from your job description: it sources and contacts candidates, puts them through an AI job simulation of the real work, and returns a ranked shortlist, so interviews go to the strongest applicants. Plans are subscriptions sized to annual hiring volume, from $199 a month. It does not offer normed aptitude or personality tests, so a team that needs a CCAT-style screen would still look to Criteria for that.

More comparisons

• eSkill alternatives
• Criteria Corp alternatives
• Wonderlic vs Criteria
• The best pre-employment assessment tools

Sources

Checked 21 October 2026. Vendor claims are the vendors' own.

• eSkill: home page
• eSkill: integrations
• eSkill: simulation question style
• Criteria: home page
• Criteria: cognitive aptitude tests
• Criteria: personality tests
• Criteria: integrations and partners
• Criteria: Greenhouse integration
• Criteria: what to expect on the CCAT
• Criteria: CTRS help article
• Criteria: create a custom score range
• Criteria: TestMaker tests