Wonderlic vs Criteria (2026): Which Hiring Test to Use?

Wonderlic and Criteria Corp both offer a short cognitive aptitude test for hiring, and both now sell more than that. The main difference is in packaging. Wonderlic gives you one assessment that measures three things. Criteria gives you a catalogue of tests to combine, and adds video interviewing. Both also sell tools for developing employees after the hire.

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 Wonderlic and Criteria?

Wonderlic Select is a single assessment that combines cognitive ability, motivation and personality into scores for fit with a job. Criteria is a set of separate tests, chosen per role, with video interviewing on the same platform. Wonderlic is simpler to set up and read; Criteria gives you more choice of what to measure and how.

Wonderlic frames its three measures as three questions: "Can your candidate do the job?", "How will they do the job?" and "Do they want to do the job?" Criteria calls itself "the talent signal platform" and groups its products into assessment, interviewing and development.

Wonderlic and Criteria side by side

What is Wonderlic Select?

Wonderlic Select has three sections. The cognitive section is timed: 50 questions in 12 minutes. The motivation section (58 items) and the personality section (150 items) are untimed. Wonderlic says most candidates finish the whole assessment in about 35 minutes.

The results are combined into job-specific scores using what Wonderlic calls "built-in role benchmarks" and off-the-shelf scoring profiles for a wide range of jobs. Wonderlic says the results are "simple to use and understand" and that no paid certification is needed for hiring teams. Candidates may receive a Candidate Feedback Report, but no numerical cognitive score. Our guide to the Wonderlic test covers the candidate's side in detail.

What does Criteria offer?

Criteria's best-known test is the CCAT, 50 questions in 15 minutes covering verbal, maths and logic, and spatial reasoning; our guide to the CCAT explains it. Around it sit other cognitive tests, including the language-independent UCAT for international candidates and the game-based Cognify and GAME, plus mechanical reasoning and attention tests.

Its personality range includes the EPP, which measures 12 traits, a Big Five inventory, and profiles built for sales and customer service roles. It also offers emotional intelligence, risk and skills tests, AI proctoring, asynchronous and live video interviewing with an AI scoring add-on, and employee development tools. Criteria says it has more than 4,000 customers and has delivered more than 80 million assessments.

Which cognitive test is harder?

Wonderlic's cognitive section is the more time-pressured of the two: 50 questions in 12 minutes, against 50 in 15 minutes on the CCAT. Neither test is built to be finished. Criteria says fewer than 1% of candidates answer all 50 CCAT questions, and Wonderlic says test takers are not expected to complete all of its 50 questions in the time allowed. Neither is meant to be judged on a raw score alone: Wonderlic reports fit against the job, and Criteria offers suggested CCAT score ranges for common roles, based on large samples of prior scores, and lets you set your own. What matters for an employer is whether the benchmark or range you use is set from evidence about the role, which both vendors help with.

Which is better for high-volume hiring?

Both work at volume, so the deciding factor is your process. If you want one link that covers ability, motivation and personality in a single sitting, Wonderlic Select is the simpler operation. If you want a very short first screen, such as one cognitive test, followed by a one-way video interview for those who pass, Criteria can run both stages. Criteria's mobile-first and game-based tests and its long list of named ATS integrations also suit large applicant pools.

Choose Wonderlic if…

• You want one assessment that covers ability, motivation and personality.
• You want results expressed as job-fit scores rather than raw scores and percentiles.
• You want hiring managers to read results without paid certification.
• Your ATS is one of the ones it integrates with, such as Greenhouse, JazzHR or iCIMS.

Choose Criteria if…

• You want to choose which tests each role gets.
• You need emotional intelligence, risk, skills or language-independent tests.
• You want video interviewing on the same platform as your tests.
• You need an integration with a wide range of applicant tracking systems.

A third option: job simulations from your job description

Both vendors measure general ability and traits that predict how someone might work. Some teams also want to see candidates do the work itself. 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 a normed cognitive test, so a team that wants one as a first screen would still use Wonderlic or Criteria for that.

More comparisons

• Wonderlic alternatives
• Criteria Corp alternatives
• eSkill vs Criteria

Sources

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

• Wonderlic: home page
• Wonderlic: Wonderlic Select
• Wonderlic: frequently asked questions about Wonderlic assessments
• Criteria: home page
• Criteria: cognitive aptitude tests
• Criteria: personality tests
• Criteria: integrations and partners
• Criteria: what to expect on the CCAT
• Criteria help centre: CCAT score ranges, raw score and percentile