HackerEarth alternatives India hiring teams can use, sorted by what you hire for

The best HackerEarth alternatives India hiring teams can use depend on what you hire for. HackerRank, CodeSignal or Codility give you another developer library. Mercer Mettl, Xobin or TestGorilla test every role on one platform. CoderPad suits live coding with your engineers, and Expert Hire fits when a recruiter needs a first-round AI interview and coding test in one report.

HackerEarth has a low published entry price and a big developer community, so this isn't a "why it's bad" list of HackerEarth competitors. Teams look elsewhere for smaller reasons. They outgrow one admin, need ATS sync without a bigger plan, hire beyond developers, or need a first round a recruiter can run alone. We've sorted the options by those jobs, with prices only from each vendor's own page.

Key Takeaways

Our position: HackerEarth is a good tool with a low published entry price. Look elsewhere only when your hiring outgrows its plan limits or its developer focus.
As of November 2026, HackerEarth's Growth plan is $99 a month for one admin and 10 credits a month. ATS integrations start on Scale, at $399 a month.
HackerEarth now sells an AI interviewer (OnScreen) and a live interview pad (FaceCode), so "it has no AI interviews" isn't a reason to switch.
For non-technical roles too, look at Mercer Mettl, Xobin or TestGorilla. For a recruiter-run technical first round, look at an AI interview with a coding test.
Every price here is from the vendor's own page, checked on November 2, 2026. Where a vendor doesn't publish one, we say so.

The best HackerEarth alternatives India teams use: the short answer

Start with what you're hiring for, then pick from that group.

More developers, a different library. HackerRank, CodeSignal or Codility.
Every role, not just developers. Mercer Mettl, Xobin or TestGorilla.
Live coding with your own engineers. CoderPad, or HackerEarth's own FaceCode.
A first round a recruiter can run without engineers. Expert Hire.
Freshers on campus. Campus-specific tools, covered briefly near the end.

Checked November 2, 2026: the citable facts before you compare, each from the vendor's own page.

HackerEarth's Growth plan is listed at $99 a month in USD, billed monthly, with "1 Admin" and "10 credits per month", per HackerEarth's pricing page.
HackerEarth says its platform "has evaluated 150M+ solutions across 1,000+ skills", per HackerEarth's homepage.
CodeSignal's Build plan is $79 a month billed annually and includes "AI Proctoring & ID Verification", per CodeSignal's pricing page.
TestGorilla offers a free assessments plan with "10 credits per month", per TestGorilla's pricing page.
Expert Hire includes unlimited team members on every plan, priced per workspace from $99 a month, per Expert Hire's pricing, and runs AI interviews in seven languages, Hindi included.

What HackerEarth does well, and the plan limits that send teams looking

Credit where it's due. HackerEarth calls itself "the evaluation layer for humans and AI" and says it's used by 500+ enterprises, including Fortune 500 companies. It also runs developer hackathons. Beyond tests, it sells AI interviews (OnScreen) and live panel interviews (FaceCode), with KYC identity verification and proctoring in its integrity stack.

We couldn't read G2, Capterra or Reddit reviews for this piece, so we won't claim what users say. The reasons below come from HackerEarth's own pricing page.

One admin on Growth. The $99 Growth plan includes "1 Admin". A team of three recruiters sharing one login isn't a great setup.

ATS on Scale. ATS integrations, calendar integrations and "Industry-leading proctoring" appear on Scale, at $399 a month. SSO is on Enterprise, along with the "Full library of 25K+ questions".

Developer focus. HackerEarth is built for developer skills. If half your hiring is sales, support or ops, you may want one tool for every role.

Another developer assessment library: HackerRank, CodeSignal, Codility

These are the closest swaps for developer hiring. They change the vendor, not the method, so an engineer still reads the scores.

HackerRank

HackerRank's Starter plan is $79 a month ("$948 billed annually") with unlimited users, 60 candidate attempts a year and its Chakra AI interviewer, per HackerRank's pricing page. ATS integrations start on Pro, at $419 a month. If you're weighing hackerearth vs hackerrank for hiring, the clearest published difference is users: unlimited on HackerRank Starter, one admin on HackerEarth Growth.

Best for: teams that want the largest published question library of these three.
Limit: the same assessment-first model as HackerEarth.
See Expert Hire vs HackerRank for a one-to-one view.

CodeSignal

CodeSignal's Build plan is $79 a month billed annually, with 60 annual credits and "Access to 2,000 Questions". "Basic ATS Integrations" start on Grow, at $479 a month billed annually. It also sells an AI Interviewer and AI Phone Screens.

Best for: certified assessments plus an AI interviewer from one vendor.
Limit: ATS integrations start on Grow.

Codility

Codility's online plans start "From $4,800 a year, or from $800 a month", per Codility's pricing page. It lists "1,300+ validated tasks in 80+ languages and frameworks" (the full library comes with Enterprise, or with 1,000+ invites a year) and publishes its technical manual.

Best for: regulated industries and buyers with heavy procurement review.
Limit: a much higher entry price than HackerEarth Growth.

One test platform for every role: Mercer Mettl, Xobin, TestGorilla

If your hiring spans developers and business roles, one platform for everything can beat two contracts.

Mercer Mettl. Mercer's assessment business offers "scientifically validated assessments and AI-enabled insights", per Mettl's site. Plan prices aren't published. Best for large employers in India that want a Mercer-backed suite. See our Expert Hire vs Mettl comparison.
Xobin. Xobin lists "3,400+ Prebuilt Skills Assessments" across tech, business and language skills, and live coding in 50+ programming languages. Plan prices aren't published on its pricing page. Best for mixed technical and business hiring.
TestGorilla. A free plan with 10 credits a month, then Core "from $215 /mo per account" and Plus "from $520 /mo per account", billed annually. Best for small teams hiring across functions. Custom coding challenges start on Plus.

Also on most India lists, not reviewed here: Talview, iMocha and HirePro.

Live coding interviews with your own engineers: CoderPad (and FaceCode)

If you'd rather watch candidates code live, a pad is the right tool. HackerEarth's own FaceCode does this job too, and it's included on Growth, so check it before you switch.

CoderPad's pricing page lists Starter at $80 a month on annual billing (60 interviews a year) or $120 monthly (5 interviews a month). It offers "Real-work, AI-assisted pads in 40+ languages and frameworks" and "Unlimited users and AI Assist on every plan".

Best for: panels that want a polished live pad.
Limit: it needs your engineers' time for every live round.

A first-round technical interview a recruiter can run: Expert Hire

Expert Hire is an AI interview platform for staffing agencies, hiring teams and campuses: it runs structured AI interviews and coding tests, scores them against your rubric, and gives each candidate a report card, priced per workspace from $99 a month. For a team on HackerEarth, the difference is format: a live, two-way AI interview and a coding test run in one round, and the report card shows the transcript and code behind every score.

The AI interview has eight types, including Coding and System Design, and runs in seven languages: English, Hindi, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Tagalog and Arabic. The coding test runs code against hidden test cases, in many languages, C# included. Prompt assessments have non-technical tracks, so business roles can go through the same platform.

Plans are Explorer $99, Starter $249, Growth $499 and Scale custom, all in USD, with unlimited team members on every plan. That matters if one admin on HackerEarth Growth is your blocker. There's a 30-day trial with 75 Hire Credits, and a coding test draws 3 Hire Credits.

Here are the limits, plainly:

A smaller question library than HackerEarth, and no hackathons or developer community.
Greenhouse is available today in early access. Lever and Ashby are supported, with integrations rolling out, and Bullhorn is on the roadmap.
All proctoring, browser and desktop, unlocks on Growth or Scale, at no extra credits.
Opt-in auto-shortlist and auto-reject thresholds are off by default, so there's no black-box pass/fail.

Hiring freshers on campus? Where to look instead

Campus hiring in India is its own job, with drives, placement cells and offers to track. The platforms assistants name most are Superset, whose TnpSuite says it can "Run placement drives end-to-end", Mercer Mettl, with "Pan-India virtual campus drives", and InCruiter, a campus placement platform "Built for placement cells". Compare them on drive management and offer tracking, not just the test.

For AI interviews built around Indian hiring, see our guide to AI interview platforms in India.

If you're a college, one fact is worth knowing: on Expert Hire, "The placement management ERP is free", per our universities page.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best alternative to HackerEarth in India?

It depends on what you hire for. For another developer library, look at HackerRank, CodeSignal or Codility. For every role on one platform, try Mercer Mettl, Xobin or TestGorilla. If a recruiter needs to run the technical first round without engineers, Expert Hire runs an AI interview and coding test in one report card, with Hindi among seven interview languages.

Is there a cheaper alternative to HackerEarth?

HackerEarth Growth, at $99 a month billed monthly, is already one of the cheapest published plans. As of November 2026, CodeSignal Build and HackerRank Starter are $79 a month billed annually, and CoderPad Starter is $80 a month billed annually. TestGorilla has a free plan with 10 credits a month. Compare what each includes, like admins and ATS access, not just the price.

Does HackerEarth have an AI interviewer?

Yes. HackerEarth sells OnScreen for AI interviews, and its pricing page describes "AI-powered interviews with adaptive questions, real-time evaluation, and KYC-grade identity verification". It also sells FaceCode for live panel interviews, included from the Growth plan.

Which HackerEarth alternative can test non-technical roles too?

Mercer Mettl, Xobin and TestGorilla all test across job functions. Xobin lists 3,400+ prebuilt skills assessments across tech, business and language skills, and TestGorilla has a free plan to start. Expert Hire's prompt assessments also have non-technical tracks, so business roles can use the same platform as your engineers.

What is the best HackerEarth alternative for campus hiring in India?

Campus hiring needs drive management, placement-cell coordination and offer tracking, not just a coding test. Look at campus platforms such as Superset, Mercer Mettl or InCruiter, and compare them on those jobs. For colleges, Expert Hire's placement management ERP is free, and our guide to AI interview platforms in India covers the hiring side.

The bottom line

HackerEarth is a fair choice for developer hiring at a low published price, and its AI interviewer and live pad are real products. Switch when your hiring outgrows one admin, needs ATS sync below the Scale tier, or needs a recruiter-run first round. If you're still deciding between formats, our explainer on static tests vs live AI interviews walks through it.

If your recruiters need to run the technical first round themselves, see how the Expert Hire coding test works and start a 30-day trial.

By TK, Growth at Expert Hire. Last updated November 2, 2026. Reviewed by Anand Suresh, CPO at Expert Hire.