Codility pricing and the real cost per developer hire
October 24, 2026 6 min read
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Codility pricing starts with an annual subscription and an allowance of invite credits. For an engineering manager or in-house recruiter making two to six developer hires a year, the question is whether that allowance matches your pipeline. Our coding assessment guide explains how testing fits into hiring.
TL;DR Codility Starter costs $1,200 a year for up to 120 invite credits, while Scale costs $6,000 a year for up to 300 credits with a 25-per-month limit. If you also lack qualified candidates, DeveloperHiring Startup costs $99 a month billed yearly and includes sourcing, 40 coding tests and 15 AI interviews per month. Compare the whole hiring workflow before buying credits you may leave unused.
How much does Codility cost?
Codility costs $1,200 a year on Starter and $6,000 a year on Scale under annual billing, according to its published pricing. Custom requires a quote. Starter allows up to 120 invite credits per year; Scale allows up to 300, with use capped at 25 per month. These subscriptions cover assessment tools, not candidate sourcing.
| Plan | Annual price | Invite credits | Platform users |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $1,200, annual billing only | Up to 120 per year | 1 |
| Scale | $6,000 billed yearly | Up to 300 per year, up to 25 per month | 3 |
| Custom | Quote only, multi-year agreements | Confirm in quote | Unlimited |
All plans include unlimited Collaborator users. Starter includes Screen and Interview, a limited task library, leaked-task removal, coding, SQL, multiple-choice and AI-skill tasks, AI Copilot, plagiarism signals, basic proctoring with candidate snapshots, self-serve signup and standard support.
Scale adds a larger library covering engineering, AI and system design, custom task building and standard analytics, with snapshot proctoring. Custom adds enterprise integrations with Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby, Workday and SAP, SSO/SAML, full API access, video proctoring, ID verification, interview recording and a dedicated customer success manager.
Codility labels annual Scale billing as saving 17%. Third-party source noon.ai reports $600 a month on monthly terms, or $7,200 over a year. Treat that monthly option as reported pricing and confirm the terms with Codility. The annual figures above come from Codility's published plan comparison.
Paste events
3 small pastes, from the task text
Tab switches
3 switches, longest 49 seconds
Keystroke playback
Steady typing, edits and reruns
Code similarity
41 percent with Candidate 4158 on helper code
AI-generated code likelihood
Low, style matches interview answers
Signals inform your team. They never reject a candidate on their own.
Is Codility free?
Codility has no free hiring plan. Trials are scoped by Codility's team through a sales conversation, rather than a self-serve free trial. Starter does support self-serve paid signup, which is a different offer. Ask sales what the trial includes and whether its tasks, invite allowance and evaluation period match your intended hiring process.
A free trial should answer a buying question. Check whether the task fits your role, whether candidates can use the environment comfortably and whether the report gives your engineers enough evidence to choose an interview shortlist.
Include the recruiter and an engineer in that review. The recruiter needs clear invitation and result workflows; the engineer needs enough detail to distinguish working code from a convincing explanation. Agree on what evidence would move a candidate forward before comparing reports, so the trial tests your process as well as the software.
What is a Codility invite credit?
A Codility invite credit is the pricing unit used to limit candidate invitations within a subscription. It is not a hire or a sourced candidate. For budgeting, divide the subscription price by the included credits, then confirm when credits are consumed, whether unused invitations return credits and how Screen and Interview usage is counted.
| Plan and billing | Yearly spend | Annual allowance | Cost per invite credit at full use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter, annual | $1,200 | 120 | $10 |
| Scale, annual | $6,000 | 300 | $20 |
| Scale, reported monthly terms | $7,200 | 300 assumed unchanged | $24 |
Codility pricing per candidate equals these figures only if one tested candidate consumes one credit and you use the full allowance. Overage terms are not published. Ask about extra credits, expiry, rollover and the monthly cap before signing. An annual allowance does not necessarily accommodate a concentrated hiring campaign.
#1 Candidate 1026
Node.js, NestJS, Postgres · code, interview and integrity done
#2 Candidate 8313
Node.js, NestJS, Postgres · code, interview and integrity done
#3 Candidate 9331
Node.js, NestJS, Postgres · code, interview and integrity done
#4 Candidate 7707
Node.js, NestJS, Postgres · code, interview and integrity done
#5 Candidate 5356
Node.js, NestJS, Postgres · code, interview and integrity done
How much does Codility cost per hire?
Codility cost per hire starts at $200 to $300 in allocated Starter credits if you test 20 to 30 candidates per hire and consume the full annual allowance. Scale's equivalent is $400 to $600. These are derived assessment costs under a stated assumption, not vendor quotes or the total cost of recruiting a developer.
| Billing option | 20 tested candidates per hire | 30 tested candidates per hire |
|---|---|---|
| Starter, $10 per credit | $200 | $300 |
| Scale annual, $20 per credit | $400 | $600 |
| Scale reported monthly, $24 per credit | $480 | $720 |
The calculation assumes one credit per candidate. Your actual subscription cost per hire is annual spend divided by completed hires, including unused capacity. For the reader hiring two to six developers a year, that produces a different budget.
| Annual hires | Credits needed at 20 to 30 per hire | Starter spend per hire | Scale annual spend per hire |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 40 to 60 | $600 | $3,000 |
| 4 | 80 to 120 | $300 | $1,500 |
| 6 | 120 to 180 | $200 only at 120 credits; above that needs a quote | $1,000 |
Scale still needs monthly scheduling within its 25-credit cap. Neither table includes recruiter time, sourcing or engineer interviews. A small annual hiring target does not make those activities disappear.
Count candidates you expect to assess, rather than everyone who might apply. Then map invitations to your hiring calendar. A burst of recruiting can hit a monthly limit even when the yearly allowance looks generous, while a quiet year leaves paid capacity unused.
Is Codility cheaper than HackerRank?
Codility Starter has a higher annual subscription than HackerRank Starter at the reported prices, but a lower cost per included invitation when fully used. Codility costs $1,200 for 120 credits; HackerRank's reported Starter costs $948 for 60 attempts. Compare consumption rules and unused capacity before treating those units as interchangeable.
| Plan | Annual billing cost | Included testing | Sourcing | Interviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Codility Starter | $1,200 | 120 invite credits per year | Not included | Interview tool |
| Codility Scale | $6,000 | 300 credits per year, up to 25 per month | Not included | Interview tool |
| HackerRank Starter, reported | $948, equivalent to $79 a month | 60 attempts per year | Not included | Interview tool |
| HackerRank Pro, reported | $5,028, equivalent to $419 a month | 360 attempts per year | Not included | Interview tool |
| DeveloperHiring Startup | $1,188, equivalent to $99 a month | 40 coding tests per month | 150 candidates sourced and scored per month | 15 AI interviews per month |
The HackerRank pricing and cost per test breakdown explains the third-party figures and the previously listed $20 overage. Confirm that rate before budgeting. DeveloperHiring's Startup pricing and monthly allowances cover sourcing, testing and AI interviews, while its technical interview workflow asks candidates about their own code.
When Codility is the right buy
Codility is a sensible purchase when you already have a large applicant flow and need assessment infrastructure. Starter can fit a small team with enough qualified applicants. Custom is worth evaluating when enterprise ATS integration, SSO, video proctoring or ID verification is a requirement. Those enterprise features require a quote, not Starter pricing.
Scale also makes sense when its larger task library and custom tasks justify the subscription. Check both annual usage and monthly scheduling. If your bottleneck is attracting qualified developers, buying more assessment capacity does not fill that pipeline.
What are the best Codility alternatives?
The best Codility alternatives depend on what you need to replace. HackerRank is worth comparing for coding assessments and interview tools. DeveloperHiring Startup fits a small team that also needs candidates, because sourcing, coding tests and AI interviews share one subscription. Compare the hiring work each product covers before ranking them by entry price.
For non-engineering roles such as support or sales, you can run auto-graded skills assessments instead of coding tests. Keep the assessment relevant to the role rather than extending an engineering tool to every vacancy.
If you hire two to six developers a year and lack qualified applicants, start with the technical recruiting platform for sourcing and screening. Startup's monthly limits still matter, particularly when several searches overlap, but the plan addresses the missing pipeline as well as testing it.
Which Codility price should you budget for?
Use the published Starter or Scale annual price as your baseline, then request written terms for extra invitations and enterprise requirements. Third-party spending data can help frame a negotiation, but it mixes buyers with different needs. A procurement median is not an entry price and does not describe a small team's required contract.
Third-party platform Vendr reports median annual buyer spend of about $15,000 across 68 purchases, ranging from about $6,000 to $32,200. PricingSaaS lists Starter at $100 a month and Scale at $500, matching the annual prices divided by twelve without establishing monthly billing. Capterra's single $5,000 annual listing is older and conflicts with the published tiers.
Budget from your expected invitation volume, hiring calendar and missing recruiting work. Choose Codility when assessment is the gap. Choose Startup when you also need sourcing and AI interviews, and review the allowances against your next hiring campaign.