Sterling

🎯 Should you use Sterling?

Buy if: You run 500+ hires a year and need defensible background checks with built-in compliance tracking across multiple states.

Skip if: You hire under 100 people annually or need same-day turnaround on criminal checks.

⚡ In practice

• ●Setup: 2-3 weeks for enterprise contracts, SSO integration, and compliance onboarding
• ●Criminal checks: 3-7 business days for county-level searches, slower in rural jurisdictions
• ●Employment verification: 5-10 days when former employers don't respond to automated requests

⚠️ Where it breaks

• ●County court records still require manual lookup in 40% of US jurisdictions, killing speed promises.
• ●Customer support routes through account reps who take 24-48 hours to escalate technical issues.

💸 Is it worth the money?

No published pricing, but expect $50-150 per check depending on package depth and annual volume commitments. Worth it if you're spending legal budget on compliance risk, not if you just need fast criminal checks.

🆚 If not this

• ●Checkr -> faster turnaround for tech startups, modern API, published pricing
• ●HireRight -> comparable enterprise scale, slightly better international coverage
• ●GoodHire -> $30-80 per check with transparent pricing, better for sub-500 hire teams

🎯 Final verdict

Buy for enterprise compliance infrastructure and audit trails. Skip if you value speed over legal defensibility or hire fewer than 300 people per year.