backgroundsonline.com

What It Is

Backgrounds Online is an employment background screening service for employers, designed primarily to help generate compliant background check reports faster during hiring. It is clearly centered on U.S. employment use cases, covering candidate identity verification, criminal records, education and employment verification, drug screening, medical and government sanctions lists, and also supports international reports.

Core Features and Integrations

Its product coverage is fairly comprehensive. Basic screening includes Social Security number trace, county criminal court searches, national criminal database, sex offender registry, and global watchlists. The more advanced package adds 7-year county and federal criminal court searches, while the comprehensive package further includes employment and education verification. Custom add-ons include state criminal records, civil courts, references, professional licenses, motor vehicle records, employment credit reports, FACIS, OIG/SAM, as well as international criminal, identity, and credit reports across more than 70 countries.

On the enterprise software side, it supports ATS integration, allowing teams to transfer data within the recruiting systems they already use, reducing duplicate entry and spelling errors. It also mentions API Integration for connecting with its system. Its co-branded solution can provide candidates with a company-branded authorization and information submission flow, while giving teams access to an admin portal, bulk invitations, resend/cancel invitation options, and Excel export.

Pricing, Compliance, and Security

Pricing is relatively transparent: Basic is $29.95, Standard is $49.95, and Comprehensive is $99.95. Note that additional county court fees and third-party verification fees may be charged separately, so the actual cost for complex roles may be higher than the listed price. On compliance, the site emphasizes FCRA-compliant results, candidate self-service confirmation of compliance documents, and displays PBSA Accredited and SOC2 Report, indicating a structured investment in employment screening compliance and data confidentiality.

Pros, Cons, and Best Fit

Its strengths include broad screening coverage, clear package tiers, and support for ATS/API integration and branded candidate workflows. It is well suited for U.S. corporate HR teams, recruitment process outsourcing providers, staffing agencies, and risk-sensitive industries such as healthcare, finance, transportation, and education. The downsides are that the crawled text does not disclose API documentation, the specific ATS partners supported, permission models, SLA details, or payment methods. No free plan or trial information was found either.

Access from China and Alternatives

Access from China is unknown. Because its data sources, FCRA compliance, and SSN-related capabilities are mainly designed for the U.S. employment market, Chinese companies hiring U.S. employees or conducting cross-border background checks may consider evaluating it. For background checks on candidates in mainland China, local background screening providers may be a better fit, or companies can compare international alternatives such as Checkr, GoodHire, HireRight, Sterling, and First Advantage.