First Advantage
Depends
Confidence: Medium
First Advantage fits large enterprises screening high volumes of hires globally, with ATS integrations and compliance demands.
New check
Comparison
First Advantage vs Cisive
First Advantage and Cisive both land on Depends.
Cisive
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Buy if you're a large, regulated employer . healthcare, transportation, staffing . needing high-volume FCRA screening with industry-specific packages.
| Compare | First Advantage | Cisive |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Depends |
| Best for | High-volume enterprise hiring | Large healthcare systems |
| Who it's not for | Small teams hiring a few people a year | Small businesses with occasional hires |
| Privacy | 2026 data breach under investigation; Social Security numbers reportedly exposed.11 | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed. |
| Support quality | BBB and Reddit complaints about delays | Verification delays and candidate support complaints recur |
| Public sentiment | Candidate reviews across Trustpilot (1,080 reviewers), Reddit, and Yelp skew negative over delays and communication, while employer-side reviews are thinner.¹ | Candidate-facing reviews on Reddit and Trustpilot complain about slow checks and verification failures, while aggregator ratings sit around 2.9-3.2/5.13 |
| Biggest gotcha | Slow turnarounds reported; candidates stuck for weeks, delaying start dates.³ | Cisive's own post: 65% of nursing programs face unexpected pricing changes |
Pick First Advantage when
- High-volume enterprise hiring
- Global, compliance-heavy screening
- Greenhouse/UKG-integrated HR stacks
- Regulated industries (finance, healthcare)
When First Advantage is not a fit
- Small teams hiring a few people a year
- Startups needing same-week offers
- Buyers wanting transparent published pricing
- Teams without HR staff to manage disputes
Pick Cisive when
- Large healthcare systems
- Trucking and transportation fleets
- Staffing and BPO firms
- Regulated, high-volume hiring
When Cisive is not a fit
- Small businesses with occasional hires
- Startups needing fast, self-serve checks
- Teams wanting transparent published pricing
- Anyone hiring a handful of people per year
Sources
- First Advantage Reviews | Trustpilottrustpilot.comreview
review
review
review
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official
official
- Sterling Background Check Solutions is now First Advantagesterlingcheck.comofficial
security
- First Advantage Corporation Data Breach - Investigatedfedermanlaw.comsecurity
- First Advantage Q1 2026 earnings beat boosts stockinvesting.comnews
- Read Customer Service Reviews of www.cisive.comtrustpilot.comreview
- Cisive Reviews - RFP.wikirfp.wikireview