Tool profile
Zinc: cost, fit and limits
Zinc is a background and right to work screening service made by Zinc Work Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales, that sells criminal, credential, social media and CV checks to employers in three hiring-volume tiers.
What to know first
Zinc sells screening through three tiers set by hiring volume: SMB for under 20 hires a year, Enterprise for 20 or more, and International for borderless hiring. No prices were readable, since the pricing URL returned 404. The security page shows ISO 27001 with a certificate number and names SOC 2. Its only AI mention is a multilingual support chat, not screening.
Zinc at a glance
| Maker | Zinc Work Ltd, United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Free plan | No |
| Entry price | Quote only |
| API access | No |
| Category | Best AI Background Check Software in 2026, rank 8 of 12 |
| Website | zincwork.com |
Who Zinc is best for
UK employers needing right to work checks
The site names government-integrated results for UK DBS, right to work and Cifas, which suits employers that must verify the right to work of every hire.
Small teams hiring under 20 people a year
An SMB tier described as pay as you grow avoids an enterprise contract, though no price is printed for it on the pages read.
Hiring across borders
Criminal checks across 195 countries with published turnaround estimates serve remote hiring, and an International tier is sold for borderless programs.
Zinc plans and pricing
| Plan | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| SMB | Custom quote | For employers hiring fewer than 20 people a year, described as pay as you grow, with no price printed on the pages read. |
| Enterprise | Custom quote | Scalable checks for employers hiring 20 or more people a year, with volume hiring support described on the homepage. |
| International | Custom quote | Checks for borderless hiring, aimed at employers who recruit candidates in several countries, with no price printed. |
Checked November 2026.
What Zinc does
- Criminal checks in 195 countries
- The homepage lists criminal record checks across 195 countries with published turnaround estimates, and says the most popular checks average 3 days. The pages read do not break the estimates down by country.
- Right to work and UK results
- Right to work checks and government-integrated results are named for UK DBS, right to work and Cifas, which ties the product to UK compliance needs.
- Social media review
- The social media check reviews results from six platforms, which gives a recruiter a summary of public posts instead of a manual search. The pages read do not say how the platforms are chosen or how results are scored.
- CV comparison
- A CV comparison checks submitted CVs for omissions, such as gaps or missing roles, and credential verification covers licences and qualifications. The pages read do not say how gaps are scored or shown to the recruiter.
- Admin time claim
- The vendor says screening saves 90 minutes of admin time per candidate. That figure is the vendor's own and is not broken down by check type.
How Zinc handles your data
The security page names ISO 27001 and SOC 2, and the footer shows an ISO 27001 certificate number of 267532. Candidate data handling is described as FCRA and GDPR compliant. Hosting region, retention periods and any rule on training models with candidate data were not stated on the pages read, so the vendor's policy was not checked for this. The homepage names a multilingual AI support chat, which is a service feature rather than a screening model.
Where Zinc falls short in practice
- No prices readable. Pricing is not published on the pages read and the pricing URL returned 404, so a budget needs a quote tied to the hires-per-year tier.
- Narrow integration list. Greenhouse is the only integration named on the pages read, so a team on another applicant tracking system should check connectors first. Connector pricing was not stated on the pages read.
- UK weighting. The named government integrations are UK ones. An employer whose hires are mostly in the United States will find less on FCRA-style county searches. UK DBS and Cifas results are named, but no equivalent US court search is described.
Works with
Alternatives to Zinc
Zinc: common questions
How does Zinc price its checks?
Zinc sells by tier, not by printed list: SMB for under 20 hires a year, Enterprise for 20 or more and International for borderless hiring. No amounts were readable on the pages read. Request a quote that states the price per check and any minimum commitment.
Which security certifications does Zinc show?
The footer shows ISO 27001 with certificate number 267532, and the security page names SOC 2 alongside ISO 27001 as part of a longer list. Ask for the reports themselves if your review requires scope and dates, since the pages read give neither.
How fast are Zinc checks?
The homepage gives 3 days as the average turnaround for the most popular checks, and publishes turnaround estimates for criminal checks across 195 countries. Right to work and DBS-linked results depend on the government service, so plan the start date around the slowest check.
Does Zinc use AI for screening?
No AI is named for screening on the pages read. The homepage names a responsive AI chat in more than 200 languages, which is support tooling. A buyer who wants AI-assisted record review should ask what is automated in the CV comparison and social media review.
Does Zinc connect to an applicant tracking system?
Greenhouse is the one integration named on the pages read. Others may exist, but they were not listed. Ask whether results post back to the candidate record automatically and whether a connector costs extra on the SMB tier. Confirm the connector scope.